Mar/090
The PPC Basics
Here’s what you need to know about how to do PPC (pay per click).
PPC is a method of charging for advertising on the Internet used on search engines, advertising networks, and content sites in which advertisers pay their host only when their ads are clicked. Advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases that they believe are relevant to their target niche or market with search engines.
On the other hand, content sites, such as blog sites, commonly charge a fixed price per click rather than using a bidding system. Hosts need to ensure that the people who click on their ads are the ones who are going to turn into customers. We don’t want people who just have the tendency to click ads without the intent of buying.
When a host has set up his campaign using all the correct keywords and also all three keyword variations he needs to try and get only potential purchasers to click the ads. Here are some tips on how to do PPC effectively.
Try to limit the people who click on the ads to people who are really interested. The technical term for this is “pre-qualifying”. If you use broad match options and the keyword is broad then it is more likely that the searcher is just researching. So, it is important to focus on buying terms and product numbers. Another pre-qualifying tip is to consider putting in prices in the ads.
Also, don’t forget that the vast majority of people who visit a website do not buy straight away. So, give them something of high value in exchange for their email address. That way you won’t have to keep paying for them through Google AdWords to visit your site because you can email them.
Have two ads in each ad group. Look at the responses and replace the ads which don’t perform as well.
Another tip on how to do PPC effectively is to set up Conversion Tracking. This allows tracking of the effectiveness of each keyword in producing a sale. On the other hand, it does not allow tracing the profitability of each keyword because it doesn’t track sales. However, automatic emails can be set up to deliver data on costs, numbers of conversions and cost per conversions as well as the figures for transactions.
To track the profitability of your Google AdWords account as a whole and also of the individual profitability of each keyword Google Analytics is needed. Although this is more complex to set up, it provides important information for free. Then you are simply left to reduce the bids or get rid of the keywords in your Google AdWords or other search engine marketing account.
Hopefully, the above tips have been informative in teaching you on how to do PPC effectively. So start setting up PPC in your website, and watch as your profits grow with every click of the (mouse) button.
Mar/090
Article Marketing 101: The Perfect Author Resource Box
If you want to really make your article “SELL” then you’ve got to craft the perfect RESOURCE BOX. This is the “author bio” that is below your article body and it’s also known as your “SIG” (short for SIGnature).
Here are the essential items that should be in your RESOURCE BOX:
- Your Name: You’d be amazed at how many folks forget to include their name in the RESOURCE BOX. Your name and optional title should be the first thing in your resource box.
- Your Website Address: in valid URL form. Example: http://Your-Company-Name.com/
- Your Elevator Pitch: This is 1 to 3 sentences that encapsulates the essence of what makes you and your offering unique. Also known as your USP (Unique Selling Proposition).
- Your Call To Action: You’ve got them warmed up and now it’s time to lead them to BUY from you or visit your website. This is where you “Ask For The Sale.” Best to only give (1) specific call to action.
Here are some optional items you could include in your RESOURCE BOX:
- Your Ezine Subscription Address: While getting your interested visitor to surf your website is nice, capturing their email address can help you begin the confidence/trust process. If you’re going to do this strategy, include a URL for your ezine subscription address and do not use an email address for the “join” address.
- Your Contact Information: Such as your business phone number or how to reach you for interviews or your press/media kit. Keep in mind that article marketing is a timeless strategy and you may not have an easy ability to retract what you put in your article once it hits major distribution.
- A Free Report: This could also be part of your call to action or your free bonus report that further enhances your credibility as the expert on the topic of your article.
- Your email autoresponder: I’m not a big fan of this strategy due to the fact that spammers will text-extract your autoresponder address and add it to their spam list. Perhaps this strategy was best for the 1990’s and has now run its course.
- An anchor URL that is related to one keyword or keyword phrase that you want to build SEO strength for. Example: if I wanted to build search engine relevance/strength for the term “Article Marketing,” I’d link up that term in my resource box to my website. This is an intermediate to advanced level strategy and should not be abused by over-doing it. Keep it simple.
What NOT to include in your RESOURCE BOX:
- A listing of every website you own. There is no faster way to dilute your credibility than by posting a half dozen irrelevant URLs that have nothing to do with each other. Best to only post ONE URL that is related to the topic of your article.
- A listing of every accomplishment you’ve achieved to date. No one cares. Keep your resource box brief and to the point. Yes, your resource box should be benefit oriented so that the reader finds value in reading it rather than your ego being justified.
- Advertisements or pitches for products that are not relevant to the topic of your article.
- Keep the size of your resource box so that it’s no larger than 20% of your total article size. Too often I see resource boxes that are 50% of the size of the total article and this is abusive.
Your Perfect Resource Box Conclusion:
The BODY of your article is where you “GIVE” and the RESOURCE BOX is where you get to “TAKE” for your article marketing gift of information. The resource box is the “currency of payment” you receive for giving away your article. Be sure to include your name, website address, your unique selling proposition as briefly as possible and a simple call to action.
Mar/095
Twitter Giveaway – Acer Aspire Netbook (and more)
HOW TO ENTER
1. Follow @ashleybaker89 (that’s me) on Twitter
2. Tweet this to your friends: I just entered to win an Acer netbook – follow @ashleybaker89 & retweet to enter too! http://choprz.com/bhg3s
CLICK HERE to send the Tweet out to your Twitter friends automatically.
The giveaway ends April 30, 2009 at midnight PST. Th winners will be picked at random and notified via Twitter DM. If notified, you will have 24 hours to respond and claim your prize, at which point it will be given to another contestant.
PRIZES
Acer Aspire One 8.9-Inch Netbook: This Model comes with Windows XP, a 160 gig harddrive (unlike some of the netbooks out there – hello Dell? – you can actually store a few files or programs on it) and the 6-cell battery, so it’ll run for about 5.5 hours (what a netbook is for – being able to work with it on-the-go and not charge it up all the time). Of course it’s got wireless and USB ports and whatnot, and has consistently been among the top performing netbooks by review sites.
Mar/090
Product Niche & Design Revealed – Natural Sleeping Remedies
I got my design through from Oki on friday. I think you’ll all agree it’s damn good! I might be changing the picture in the header to my girlfriend though, keep her happy 
So, I finished writing my eBook today. It’s a lovely 34 pages, and VERY informative.
People who want a review copy, please email me: ashley_baker@hotmail.co.uk
Here’s the design & domain.
www.NaturalSleepingRemedies.com
Get your domain fast!
Watch This Space.
Mar/090
Product Launch -13 Days
-13 days.
I haven’t done too much today, I’ve been chatting with the designer to make sure things look ace!
As you can see in the previous blog post, I’ve had other things keeping me busy today!
Next Step - Start preparing my template for my pdf, get a nice header & footer going, so I’ve got something to write around! I’ll also start to research the contents of the actual product tomorow, and I’ll start to get the information together so I can start writing after the weekend.
Short Update – But I’ll try to update every day.
Mar/090
$407.65 In 1 Hour 1 Minute – How?
Yup, last night was a good night.
How Did I Do This?
I’ll take a few minutes to explain..
I’ve been building up a Forex email list, for the long awaited Forex Phantom. I heard that there was a new Forex realease coming, about 2 weeks ago.
Pre Launch: I emailed my subscribers, telling them that a secret launch was happening, that so secret I dont even know the name (I didn’t at this point). And I informed them that the second it was released I would let them know about it.
The Email: I use a sneaky tactic, mainly to get clicks. I say ‘Look at the proof – www.domain.com/proof’, But all /proof is, is a redirect straight to the sales page, which includes proof. I find that it increases people’s likely hood to click the links, and once they’ve clicked and their cookied, it’s up to the sales page to make me my sale.
And there it is! I continued to make another sale about 4 hours later, and only half my list has opened the email, maybe the same again to come?
Mar/092
Product Launch -14 days
So, Here goes. Im planning to create a product, and have my first sale within 14 days of today – So that means a sale by 25th March 2008.
First things first – Research
I came up with the niche just this morning, and decided to do some keyword research, and search the CB marketplace, to check out my competition.
There is some competition, but its not a saturated market, and IMO having some competition gives me a norm to concentrate on. If I can develop a product and pitch, which exceeds the standards of the highest gravity products, I could be in with a chance.
So once I had done some breif research, I realised that this could work..
Domain
I’ve chose my domain (I was suprised its not gone!) and the best thing is, that all the bunch are free.. the .net, .org, .co.uk, .us, .biz, .info etc etc, so that will be good for my affiliates.
Its a 20 character domain, which Is quite long, but I wanted to avoid using a domain with hypens to seperate the 3 words. (If ya’ll think I should get both, or just go for a hypened domain, let me know!)
Design
So im outsourcing the design, mainly because I don’t have the design skills to do a whole webpage. I can do logo’s etc NO problems, but I didn’t fancy doing a whole site, because im on a 14 day race. Anyhow, I used my trusty friend Oki @ www.minisite911.com – His designs are simply SICK.
Whats Next?
The product. Once Oki’s built my design, I will first start thinking about making a nice header and footer for my pdf, so it looks professional.
Then within the next few days I will start to write the product myself. Im aiming for 20/25 pages, and once I decide upon the quality of my product, I will decide a price point. Ive already got $37 in mind, which seems like a nice not to much, not to cheap, and gives me a nice $8.85 earn on each sale with a 75% commision rate.
Stay Tuned & Leave comments!!
Ashley