What Does It Take To Succeed As An Internet Marketer?

I have been working extra hard over the last 30 days which got me to thinking -"What Does It Take To Succeed As An Internet Marketer?" Of course, the definition of success is subjective to each person. Let's be realistic and talk dollars and cents.

Each of us have set a monetary goal for ourselves. (If you haven't done this, stop reading and go do it now.) One of the things I have learned is there is no quick way to achieve your long term monetary goals.

This is why it is important to break down your goals in to steps. Let's say you want to achieve a monthly income of $1000 each month. How can you achieve this goal. What programs are you using? What is your success rate? What is your retention rate?

These are all important aspects you need to consider when designing your daily routine. If you are using a program which pays you a $10 monthly commission on each active referral, then you will need 100 active referrals to achieve your goal. If you have a success rate of 1 in 10 sign ups per legitimate contact, then you will need to make 1000 contacts to reach your goal. If your retention rate is 50%, then you will need to replace 50% of your referrals each month.

Now break this down in to weekly and daily goals. If you can get 50 contacts a week or 10 per 5 day work week, then it will take you 20 weeks to meet your goal of 1000 contacts. But, if your retention level is 50%, then you will need to add 10 weeks to you goal plan. This will give you a legitimate capability of reaching your goal in 30 weeks. If you take the time to look at a plan pragmatically, then you will understand why most people quit before they meet their goal.

So, What Does It Take To Succeed As An Internet Marketer? It takes a goal, a plan of action, and the determination & patience to see it through. If you became an Internet Marketer to Get Rich Quick, then I suggest you look for another business.

Can You Succeed In Affiliate Marketing?

What is affiliate marketing? According to Wikipedia: "Affiliate marketing is a marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliates marketing efforts." In other words, you market a product for someone else and are then compensated when the product is used or purchased. This is a way for one person to build Multiple Income Streams without any or a minimal out of pocket expense. Can You Succeed In Affiliate Marketing? Here are some points to consider when choosing a program that is right for you.

Most companies do offer free memberships with an affiliate program. There is, also, usually an option to upgrade where as an affiliate you will make a higher percentage commission. Many programs even reward the affiliate through several levels. There are several things I look for when checking out affiliate marketing programs. As I am a beginning marketer, the cost of the program is always a primary focus - How much will it cost me to participate as an affiliate? As I mentioned, most programs offer a free affiliate a lesser commission than they do the paid members. What is the difference in the commission pay out and would it be worth my while to upgrade? This is where I look for a One Time - Lifetime Membership Fee. There are many programs that are now offering this option and if it is affordable, I will jump on this Lifetime Membership. You can't beat pay one time and continue to get paid for Life.

The next thing I look for is the compensation percentage level the company is paying to its affiliates. A standard good rate is 50% and anything above that is really good. On the other hand, anything below that is probably not worth your time. Remember, you are the one doing the marketing for this company and you should be rewarded for your time and effort.

More important compensation information is how many levels does the company pay its affiliates? If you can find a company which pays through 5 to 10 levels, you have found yourself a great money making opportunity. If you can use the power of numbers to leverage yourself in the marketing world, your success can be unbridled.

One more thing which is very important when deciding what affiliate program to market. Will you be paid one time or will you earn a monthly residual income from your marketing efforts. Of course, earning a monthly residual income should be your primary goal. LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN: EARNING A MONTHLY RESIDUAL INCOME SHOULD BE YOUR PRIMARY GOAL. That is what all online marketers are trying to accomplish. Work hard today and get paid for your efforts tomorrow and beyond.

These are the key points you want to consider when you are deciding which affiliate marketing programs will be a right fit for you. If you pick some good programs and market them effectively, you can succeed in affiliate marketing. Now it is time to find a good Down Line Builder to make your marketing efforts much easier. Remember, you want to build Multiple Streams of Income and reap the benefits month after month.

Marketing YOUR Business

I have been asked to write and entry about my favorite marketing tools. I have been working on some page sites which list my favorites and give a brief description. Before I get to those, I want to stress how important it is to CAPTURE your prospects attention.

The majority of the time you will only have a few seconds to grab the viewer. Whether you are using safe lists or traffic exchanges, your TITLE is the most important part of your ad. You have to GRAB the attention of the viewer at the very beginning or you have lost them. I recommend you do some surfing and see what grabs your attention. Did the title leave you wanting more information? Did you believe the title? Did you find it funny or amusing? After surfing, you should realize what kind of information gets your attention and then build your titles accordingly.

Now that we have that established, let's get to marketing. Safe list marketing is a highly effective way to reach a large number of prospects. You can join most safe list for FREE or you can upgrade and receive additional benefits. Here is my site with recommendations for safe lists. SafeLists
Another popular method for creating traffic for your site is by using traffic exchanges. I have been using traffic exchanges for approximately 5 months and have received a monster amount of traffic to my web sites. Here is the site with my recommendations for traffic exchanges. TrafficExchanges
There are a variety of other tools I use to market my opportunities. Some of these tools are so simple to use but their value is tremendous. If you plan on marketing on Safe Lists and Traffic Exchanges, you will need some of the tools I have listed at my FREE Marketing Tools Site.
FreeMarketingTools

I hope you find this information useful. I am an average person trying to earn a living marketing on the Internet. I love social networking and hope you will connect with me at my main social network, Peoplestring. Here is my personal friend link: Catherine D. White

What kind of Person Are YOU?

I was walking out of the Dollar Store last week when I came across a penny on the ground. I bent over and looked to see if it was heads up or heads down and then I picked it up and put it in my pocket. What kind of a person are you? If this had been you, would you bend over and pick up the penny or would you just keep walking and let the next passerby pick it up?

I began thinking about this the last few days after reading a post in the forums section at Peoplestring. Basically the post was from a guy who was disappointed with his Peoplestring earnings for the month. He felt he had put in a good effort and was not rewarded for his work. So as I sat there thinking about a response to his post, I thought of the penny on the street which I picked up. Every time I see a penny on the street, I do pick it up. Why do some people pick up the pennies and some people just pass them on by?

When I was just a kid, I remember going to the store with my Mom and getting some candy. I had 3 pennies left as change and when I went outside of the store I threw them up in the air and they bounced on the pavement. My Mom promptly made me go around and chase them down. Then she explained to me the value of a penny. It was not just the worth it had today but the worth it will have tomorrow. Plus, she explained, if I keep adding pennies to the pile, then I will eventually have a substantial amount of money. I guess this is a lesson I have never forgotten.

So, while I understand the frustration of not making a substantial amount of money quickly, I, also, understand the value of collecting small amounts of money today. At Peoplestring, when you join you are able to make small amounts of money today. What Peoplestring is really about is helping the average person find the pennies on the street. It is FREE money and Peoplestring has found it for you. Plus, if you put in an effort and build your People String, then you will be rewarded with larger amounts of money in the future. So, my questions is this: What kind of person are you? Will you pick up the penny or leave it on the ground?

Join me at Peoplestring. I am the one with my head down looking for pennies.

Time Management

I just returned from a very refreshing vacation. My last post was about using auto responders. I am proud to announce my list of prospects grew while I was on vacation due to the use of auto responders in my marketing. This is a valuable tool and great time saver when it comes to returning emails for informational purposes. If you aren't using an auto responder, I highly recommend Traffic Wave as the best auto responder on the market. If you want more information, check out my last blog post.

I had a lot of time to reflect about my time management while I was on vacation. I consider myself a Mompreneur, which is a term I stole from my facebook friend Meghan Arnold. I am a Mom and an Entrepreneur. As a Mom, I decided to not spend anytime on-line while my kids are awake and wanting my attention. If you are a parent, you know this limits most of my day. So, how do I squeeze in the extra time to do all things I want to do on-line? This is what I decided I need to figure out while I was on vacation.

First, I am going to have to figure out how much time I can squeeze out of each day. If I stay up a couple hours after the kids go to bed, then I can get, at least 14 hours a week on-line. Then, I am going to have to prioritize what I want to get accomplished on-line. For me, this is going to require making out a schedule of daily events. I work much better with a schedule. It may seem silly, but if you don't make a schedule then you may find yourself lost on a project and neglecting a priority you had set for yourself. So, I feel a schedule is quite important if your time is limited. My priority for this week is making a 14 hour schedule. I am going to prioritize my techniques and set my days up by this new schedule.

I think as a Mompreneur a schedule could be the most important marketing tool I can use to get things accomplished. If any of you parents out there have some recommendations, I would be glad to hear from you. Just contact me at catherinedwhite@peoplestring.com

Goals and Marketing

Today is Mother's Day. What a great day to sit and reflect on accomplishments and goals. I feel like I have accomplished quite a bit over the last 5 months. I set my personal goals and I am right on track for the year. One third of the way, through the year, this is a good feeling.

I have learned some valuable information about marketing on-line. I think the most valuable information I have learned is -Help Others Succeed and Success Will Follow- Very Simple, yet so hard to comprehend for so many people. Really it is quite easy to offer help and support. I am excited about the concept of helping others on my team succeed. It is such a great feeling to get a personal referral. I am looking forward to my team members feeling this success.

As I sit here reflecting, I have decided to set some NEW Personal Goals. Only this time My Personal Goals will have to do with my team. Helping my team become successful is the most inspirational idea I have had yet. I can't wait to get started so this post is short and sweet.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL THE MOMPRENEURS!

Marketing On-line For FREE

I have been marketing on-line heavy for approximately 5 months. This, by no means, makes me an expert in the field. But, I am a quick study and I am always looking out for tools to help increase my marketing success. As I promised in my last blog post, I want to share the most effective FREE Marketing tools I have found so far. Instead of taking up a whole blog post explaining the tools, I have made an entire website dedicated to this topic. As time goes by, when I find more tools or better tools, I will keep this website updated. So here is the site: FREEMARKETINGTOOLS4U I hope these tools are helpful and increase your success.

I have, also, created a website listing my favorite traffic exchanges. I feel that traffic exchanges can be a good marketing tool in their own way. This is a random way of creating traffic for your personal website. And, of course, traffic will lead to sales. I have listed some of my favorite sites. And again, as I branch out I may find other sites to add to this list. Here is the site: MARKETINGTOOLTRAFFICEXCHANGES

There are enough tools and information on these two websites to keep you busy setting up marketing campaigns for your business. I would be glad to answer any questions and give you assistance if you get stumped on your project. Just contact me at: catherinedwhite@peoplestring.com Best of luck. If you would like to connect with me further, I mainly use Peoplestring as my social network. Connect with me there: CatherineDWhite If you are not a member yet, Join Here and we will automatically connect as friends.

Marketing Tools

As I have been investigating Marketing Tools over the last 4 months, I have found some unique and valuable programs. Of course, there are some real clunkers out there too, so watch what you sign up to use.

The most valuable tool I use is FREE. This is social media or social networks. Facebook, Myspace and Twitter have been the sites of the past. But now, there is Peoplestring too. Peoplestring is a social network full of people looking to make money on the Internet. I don't care what you are marketing this network is full of eager patrons who want to earn a living on-line. No matter which networks you use, if you are genuine and friendly, this is the Best FREE Marketing you can get.

The next best tool I have found is an Instant Splash Page maker. A splash page maker is an easy way to make an advertisement linking to your primary page. They are short, to the point and used to GRAB the ATTENTION of your potential prospect. Instant Splash is the easiest and quickest to use. Plus, it makes a very nice branded page. A branded page is a page with your personal photo or logo. To brand yourself, you want to use the same photo or logo on all your advertising and marketing promotions. Besides branding, this program offers a mini auto-responder or you can use your own. They give you a site rotator and access to a free banner maker. Plus, you get a twice a day mailer for any people you may refer to Instant Splash.
I highly recommend this program. You can join as a FREE member or make more pages as an upgraded member. This is one program I definitely recommend the upgrade option.

I don't want to over load you with information in one posting. In my next blog post, I will cover more marketing tools.

Marketing On-line

I have been learning how to market on-line for about 5 months now. It has definitely been a learning process. Anyone who says you can make $10,000 a month by work 30 minutes a day is either lying or a veteran marketer. I find myself spending, at least, 30 minutes a day just answering messages and emails.

I am learning how to automate some things but I am not a very techie person. So, this in itself is quite time consuming. Teaching yourself how to market and save time actually takes up quite a bit of time. For me, educating myself is the most time consuming task I am doing.

There are thousands of programs out there that claim they are the best at their speciality. Whether it be auto-responders, list builders, splash page makers, banner makers, or traffic exchanges, they all claim to be the best. You could spend days sifting through each of these specific areas trying to find what you think gives you the best quality at the best price. And yes, there are some free programs.

So, how can you save time picking which program is going to work for you? Whatever your business opportunity might be, you need to find a person who is successful in that program and find out what that person is doing to succeed. If you can pick the brain of someone who is succeeding, you are one step ahead of the game. Plus, this will save you loads of time investigating the different programs. I guarantee this person is using good programs.

Let's say you now have your programs picked out. Now you have to learn how to use each program effectively for your personal marketing campaign. This can usually be learned by watching tutorial videos or reading the information. Again, this will take time.

For me, I am learning something new everyday about marketing. While I am learning how to use these programs, I am still finding time to do some on-line marketing. Otherwise I feel I would be at a stand still. So, my business is still growing as I am learning how to effectively market. I guess it is kind of hit and miss for me but I am getting some results.

I feel I am a typical average person who wants to improve my life with extra income from on-line marketing. I have another income but I would like to replace that income with a nice residual income from my on-line business. It's a great dream. I get frustrated because I feel it is taking so long to learn everything. I don't believe in doing something half way or I would just stick with my hit and miss marketing. I want to learn how to do it right. I believe I have found the right tools and I am heading in the right direction. Now, I just have to find the time to learn how to use these great tools.

So, let me close with an old saying "You can't rush success." I don't know who said it or when but it is true for me. Or, what about this one "Patience is a virtue". Wise words that I am trying to live by in my day to day life of learning how to become an effective on-line marketer.