Internet Marketing - Just the Facts Please

Getting into internet marketing can be a VERY profitable business. Getting into Internet Marketing is not as easy as sliding into a pair of comfortable shoes. One must gather, understand, and use a group of tools to put the puzzle together, and obtain the results one desires.

Obviously, to do Internet Marketing, one needs a website. There are a number of "guru's" who specialize in creating, and setting up websites . Most will even maintain it for You for a monthly fee. You say,"OK, I've got a website - Where do I get the money?"

You then are informed that You must have a product to sell. Most advisors will ask You to list your interests. Then decide if you want to sell THINGS or INFORMATION, ie do you want to sell dog whistles, or an information package on how to use a dog whistle to train your dog. Most advisors recommend selling information products, since they do not require manufacturing, purchasing, stocking, packaging, or packing and shipping. Typically, the cost to produce and deliver an information product is small compared to the selling price. The selling price is determined by the perceived value of the information.

At this time, You will need to decide if you want to develop your own product, or sell someone else's product as an affiliate marketer for them. If you chose affiliate marketing, your affiliate will very likely offer some very valuable marketing tools to help you sell the product. This is a win-win situation. You win by being provided proven marketing tools, and the affiliate wins by increased sales.

Next, to do Internet Marketing, You will need a web address. When You chose and register a web address, or URL, you will find it nice if it shows a relationship to the product you will be selling. Web addresses can be obtained and registered at several places ie:

Godaddy.com

Webhotmonkey.com

register.com

and quite a few more.

"OK, I've got a website, a product and a web address. Where and how soon do I get the money?" HOLD IT PARDNER!, You've got to have a starving crowd. "Say What??" You've got to create a list of eager customers. A new advisor in his or her information package says,"Here is where You do give and take". You ask -" Take dollars?" No, not so fast. You create or find an information package that you can offer FREE at your website, but to obtain it, the prospective customer must give you their name and their E-Mail address. This may be called an opt-in, or a squeeze page.

Now, You find You need another piece of the puzzle - an autoresponder. "A What?" An autoresponder is a service which accepts the input you want in your E-Mails to go to your prospective customers, and then sends it to your customer list at the time intervals you designate. Again, you typically pay a monthly fee for this service.

Like the little kid, You ask, "Are we there yet?" The answer is "Closer, but no prize yet." You ask," What do I need now?" The answer is, you need tens, or hundreds, or hopefully thousands of people to go to your webpage and opt-in to obtain your FREE information product. The people who opt-in for the FREE information package are said to be in the top end of your Marketing Funnel.

The process of getting people to go to your website is called "driving traffic". To become proficient at this skill, you will probably need a mentor - another of these "guru's". There are a lot of people who would help you to get traffic to your website. Your problem is to chose the individual who offers the greatest value - Where do you get the biggest BANG for your buck? In this case, cheapest may not be the best choice - ie, someone who will work with you for $10 per month, but will take 10 or 12 months to get traffic to your website is not a good choice if someone else will charge you $200, and you will begin to have traffic to your website within a week. Here, YOU make the decisions that affect YOUR business. - And it is a BUSINESS - NOT A GAME! If you're not in it to make money, You better get out, and go do something else.

When people opt-in to your website, you must quickly provide the FREE information the people signed in to receive. They are then said to be in the ''top of your marketing funnel." After a Thank You for requesting the FREE information, your auto responder will make them a first offer. Typically, the first offer will be for a product that costs $9.95 to $39.95. The product MUST be a good value for the asking price.

When this offer has been accepted and received, you may then make an offer for an up-grade for that product, or a product that complements the first product. This product will probably be priced at $49.95 to $99.95, and again, MUST be a great value. Bonus products may be offered with this offer, with their declared value, such that the value of the offer becomes even more attractive.

As the customers move down the funnel, You are building confidence that You deliver products that have great value, and they usually get bonuses that make the offers even a greater value. As the customers move down the funnel, the products become more expensive, and should have a greater profit margin for You, the Marketer.

At this point, You have paid your dues, and have make your first dollar - the first of many.

Wishing You success in your journey toward creating a successful Internet Marketing Business.