Internet Marketing Speed

HI James,

I’ve started a review site for a technical product. Should web directory submissions be part of my traffic strategy?

Thanks,

Steve

Everyone talks about making money online; however, it would be helpful to have you give us the url of a site that is actually making money for you.

How old is the site? Monthly approximate income?

Thanks,

John

“… Should web directory submissions be part of my traffic strategy?”

Hi Steve,

Yes – you can submit to some directories to help you get traffic. There are major directories and smaller ones. Some are paid and some are free.

In each market there are special directories that deal with just that market (Verticals) and they have more targeted buyers.

The main benefit is SEO from linking so that your site gets higher placement in the results.

The easiest way to submit to directories is to outsource the task to a person to do them for you. The next best option is to use a program like IBPromoter to semi-automate the process by using the directory locator and pre-filled form submission tool. I have had good success with both.

“it would be helpful to have you give us the url of a site that is actually making money for you.

How old is the site? Monthly approximate income?”

Hi John,

I mentioned in the post I will not be revealing niches. The problem is when you do that, lazy people just swipe the site and your income drops.

For this reason I don’t put many of my sites in my name or even on the same servers.

Part of the path to being successful online is to test and implement. You will need to find your own formula and differentiate from your competition.

Rest assured, there are many people making a full time living online.

There are a few styles of sites discussed in the report I can give you some guidelines:

-Your own product sites can make you thousands every month consistently.

-Some sites can be put up and make money instantly if you are doing an affiliate ‘pounce’ on a hot new launch. You are likely to make between $1k – $7k within the first week if you pick the right one to promote.

-Other general affiliate sites are evergreen and make between $500 – 410k per month on autopilot.

-Small list builder “squeeze” page sites can generate thousands of names. You can make good returns from those lists of you use CPA, sell the leads or have an autoresponder affiliate list.

It does not take long to build a site that can make profits.

If you don’t even want a site you can sell Internet Marketing services to a local business very quickly.

Hi James,

Which do you find a more effective platform for obtaining SERPs: Wordpress blog (with tweaks like All in One SEO Plugin, etc) or siloed HTML site in XSitePro2?

I’m building a couple “conduit” style site and am wondering whether which of Chris’ templates to build off of.

Best,
Allen

“Which do you find a more effective platform for obtaining SERPs: Wordpress blog (with tweaks like All in One SEO Plugin, etc) or siloed HTML site in XSitePro2?”

Hi Allen,

I use both Wordpress and Xsitepro2. Either can index (minutes) and rank fast and hold search engine positions. The HTML of XSitePro 2 is very easy to maintain (no script updates) and is easy to optimize since the settings and structure lend themselves to seo data required..

For static sites like sales letters xsitepro 2 is great. I quite often attach a wordpress blog behind the XSitepro2 site to drive traffic with comments and bookmarking etc….

The Wordpress blog is an awesome machine too – my favorite version is the paid version SemiologicPro like this blog. It has a lot of extra goodies for search engine stickyness. Most wordpress blogs will require a fair bit of manipulation to get them really seo friendly.

You can make normal pages with wordpress and it is certainly an option to have a stand-alone Wordpress blog. It requires a little more upkeep and has lots of free cool plugins with a strong developer network.

The speed of XSitepro2 and easy customization of template and look makes it good for building simple websites in a hurry. It is easier to ’skin’ an xsitepro site with a new template and less mucking around for custom graphics.

The other thing for review sites is you want to be able to tweak conversions so adding graphics, videos and navigation menus are all quicker in XSitePro.

if you want the ’social’ element like commenting and you have time release posts – then a blog makes sense.

I just love them both.

For a simple fast three or five page review site I still favor XSitePro2 with a custom skin and then a later add a blog behind it to drive traffic and lock in postion.

For a large content site with big authority SEO gravitation – then Wordpress.

regards

James

RE: Burning IM Question – IM Speed

James…

Here is the question that I want to ask you or any other successful internet marketer whenever they offer to sell me or give away their deepest, darkest money-making secrets.

If this information is so good that it is making you so much money, why would you want to let others in on the secrets? If this is a bonafide formula for making money in a particular way, why don’t you think that others doing it will dilute its money-making effectivenmess for you?

Thanks for your usual “rigorously honest” answer.

Jack

Hi James,

Subject: Keywords

Which is better for SEO optimisation/ranking:
a) 2-3 VERY strongly related words/phrases?
b) 5-10 strongly related words/phrases?
c) or gunshot approach and have a list 20+ of whatever related phrases you can think of?

Does Google/et al accept option c) or are we penalised if we use more than X keywords?

Many thanks
Rick

“If this information is so good that it is making you so much money, why would you want to let others in on the secrets? If this is a bonafide formula for making money in a particular way, why don’t you think that others doing it will dilute its money-making effectivenmess for you?”

Hi Jack,

I see that question quite often in forums.

If you are really asking – do I only make money by selling make money products? – then the answer is no. Lets hit that one on the head right now.

The stuff of mine you see in public is only the top of the ice berg.

Most of my current income comes from:

1) Selling non-make money related physical and digital products and information as an affiliate in many different markets. I find offers and drive traffic to them working on increasing conversions and refining the system.

2) Helping big businesses get more online traffic, clients and conversions. I don’t take new clients anymore. The first few I got on-board have stayed from day one.

3)I create and sell information based “how to” products that help people use things like software etc….

4) Coaching other to grow their business using the same systems and techniques I use.

5) Property and Stock Investments.

Yes – I have products in the Internet Marketing Niche that focus on how to do things. Seo, Marketing, Use Software etc…. I don’t have any Get rich quick products and I don’t promote MLMs.

All of my activities are managed by using that system i wrote about in the report. I am sharing my System.

What I wrote in that report is the formula I used to get to where I am now.

The techniques in the free report are actually going to help people. If more people applied best practice then we would have more value added into society by entrepreneurs who create solutions.

** The Internet Marketing zone is so big you cannot run out of opportunity **

I estimate I have several years worth of ideas and content to keep me busy so I don’t mind helping a few others.

This was a report based on my current refined system. After the first 1000 downloads I have had some great feedback on it and I have noticed no drop in my earnings yet. in fact the opposite has occurred.

Also, many of my best strategic partners and affiliates have come from my reader and student base. The ones who really apply things stand out and usually seek more information.

Entrepreneurs can only make money if they solve problems – so they are usually contributing in a good way.

I am not handing people my list of proven keywords or my hard gained niche research or client base. I am however teaching them how to get their own.

Most of my products (including a bunch of them I have yet to make available) are designed to help other people shortcut the pain and problems associated with learning how to be free.

In the internet marketing market I have encountered many people who have spent thousands and are no better off than when they started, This was usually because of two reasons.

One – They handed responsibility for their success to somebody else. They fell for the dream of a magical program that promised to do all the hard work for them. Marketers know how to push the buttons.

And two – there was someone there ready to take the money and not deliver any more than persuasive dreams. Did you know for example that people make poor decisions when they are tired or sad? Many people buy products late at night when they can’t think properly, only to regret it later. It is a fact that some people sell “money making” products that were never going to work. By the time they make enough money to show big earnings and bombard the prospect with enough brainwashing emails to sink a ship the prospect will just buy because they have fallen for the social proof of big earnings.

Point – ** Not all marketers have your best intentions in mind, you are just a meal ticket **

Have you tried getting an answer from big name gurus help desks? It just does not happen in many cases.

So I am saying that there is a big big opportunity for anyone who is prepared to work hard and smart in this space and provide valuable solutions.

I tend to read and try things and ask experts and then over time develop a distilled formula for doing things more easily or in a concise way. Eventually people find out and ask me to help them too. The next step is I document it and create a way for MORE people to get access to it. This is a leveraged activity.

The next step is the people I help tell other people and then more people ask for help – so I end up creating a system to help more people at once. This of course tales time and effort so – yes – I do charge for that and people happily pay it. It is still cheaper than learning it yourself.

It is only fair I can make a profit for helping others. They only pay if they see value.

From a young age I worked many hard years as an employee building up other peoples businesses and learning everything first hand through my own efforts. In business I always got a big buzz from helping others and it is no different now. I like seeing people achieve.

When I give away information I still get a reward because people get to know my stuff and then they are happy to take my recommendations on other products or my own paid products.

Just a note about some of the deepest secrets:

Some of the methods I am about to release I almost did not because they are very powerful but in some cases people have leaked parts of the method.

In recent products they have not really done it in a way that is easy to follow and in other cases they have not seen the full potential behind them. (Or deliberately left important parts out).

Once someone joins them all together they will figure out the whole formula, and no doubt release that – so I might as well be that person right?

It forces you to innovate and push to a new level.

I hope that answers your question Jack.

“Which is better for SEO optimisation/ranking:
a) 2-3 VERY strongly related words/phrases?
b) 5-10 strongly related words/phrases?
c) or gunshot approach and have a list 20+ of whatever related phrases you can think of?

Does Google/et al accept option c) or are we penalised if we use more than X keywords?”

Hi Rick,

I keep each page based around only one or two words/phrases. If you use natural language then you will pick up searches for other terms anyway.

Go to Google and type your keyword into the keyword tool. If you use some of the top few results in your text, as anchor text links to your site and as other pages on your site you will get noticed for your main phrase.

The idea is to keep it highly theme related. The context of your site will be very clear to Google.

Regards

James

Hi James,

What is the best way to start affiliate marketing?

There is just so much out there – that I do not know where to start!!!

Thanks.

AFTAB.

“Which is the best way to start affiliate marketing”

Hi Aftab,

Mentoring with someone who is already getting the results you want is the best way.

If that is not an option then learning from good material is the next best option. There is a lot fo stuff out there as you mentioned and you need to narrow down a business model.

The review method is probably easiest – where you have a page that ‘pre-sells’ a certain product.

You will be researching a problem that people face and then providing the solution.

To do this look for what people are already buying. If there are already reveiw sites and PPC ads for certain products then you probably have a market.

Join the affiliate program and get yourself a link.

You will need to reaearch keywords and craft your web page. Ideally you do this with your own website (you need a domain name and hosting).

If you cannot do that then use a weebly.com page or a squidoo.com lens.

You make a compelling review and then direct your traffic to the merchant. It would be ideal to collect the name of as many visitors as you can too.

Once you have a name you can send more nice emails and vluable content to your new friend automatically using an autoresponder.

Once you have this system set up you will want to drive traffic to your page.

Do this by making your website optimized with SEO information. You can also write articles and submit them to directories or syndicate them to other websites for links.

You might learn PPC marketing by studying the google training.

You can post in forums with your link at the end of your post.

You can submit articles to video sharing sites to get visitors and links.

That is a simple plan and you could learn a lot trying that.

Regards

James

James,

I have invested in 2 mentoring programs which only left me more broke and frustrated. These were with the gurus and I mean gurus – no jokes here.

What I found was:

1. As a newbie – the learning curve is steep. It takes time to “Get It.” Having said that, the price just does not justify the time taken to learn. It’s like a sword on top of your head. On the other hand I might want to learn the system in 3 weeks – maybe the tools are not in place to accelerate this process.

In my last mentoring stint, I found my GURU mentor trying to sell me another product. When I declined to his requests, then I found the teaching were not keeping up to how much I could absorb. I am not saying your services would be similar – but after spending well over $5000 I am a little skeptical here. Help me make an informed decision.

2. There is always a cost on top of the mentoring program that one has to pay to get started. What are we talking in terms of getting started?

Thanks.

AFTAB.

Hi James,
Great Report. For a beginner to intermediate marketer, how should you go about creating a system for your marketing efforts? And when attempting a new strategy or business model, what benchmarks do you use to determine if something is successful enough to continue?

“how should you go about creating a system for your marketing efforts? ”

Hi Kevin,

I make a file for each new campaign both on my computer and in my office. In that file I put everything relating to that project. Keywords, designs, ideas, artcicles, backups and templates etc…

I have as checklist for each project so that I can simply tick the boxes as I roll through a campaign. Some sections have a tick box checklist too – like my traffic cheat sheet.

I outsource many parts of the project so that my main role is that of marketer and project manager. That way it is systemized.

Think of each project as a complete system and reverse engineer it. You can create a step-by-step ‘to-do’ list based on each step that is required to make the whole system.

“what benchmarks do you use to determine if something is successful enough to continue?”

Profit.

After expenses (time, effort and money) I measure my return on investment. I have a diversified portfolio so I don’t even mind small profits as long as they do not take much time. A campaign that returns $500 – $1000 profit on autopilot per month adds up over a year so is worth spending a few hundred dollars and a day to set-up.

Some of the metrics I use are 100 – 200 clicks to test a new product for PPC. This will get you a good idea where things sit. If that goes well I will order 10 articles and start building an SEO friendly name capture site to build a list.

I also like to choose markets where I can compete fast. I don’t need massive markets to go well – a middle size target will give a good balance.

The key is to pick things you can leverage for a later gain like recurring products or have a client base you can build. That way even if you lose a little on the front end while testing you can pick it up later.

James, you mention that you use a “Checklist” for managing your web sites?

Would it be possible for us to have a copy of it to modify and use for our use?

Thanks,

John B.

Hi James,

I’m really enjoying this thread.

Your recent comment was great. I can read between the lines but I share John B’s curiosity about your checklist. Also, you mention a traffic cheat sheet. I couldn’t find that among your products. I have the old version of the XSitePro Cheat Sheet but I don’t think that’s what you mean.

With all the long-winded traffic videos currently on the market a lean, mean little cheat sheet would be most welcome.

Cheers,

Steve

James

I have a question about estimated search volumes.

A keyword phrase I searched on google G-trends returns 88 searches (I presume this is a day), which would be 2640 a month.

The adwords tool (set to broad) suggests the number is 4400 for last month (October) but an average of 8100 a month over the last 12 months.

I know these figures cannot be exact, but there is quite a bit of disparity between them. How should we interpret these results and are these the best tools for researching niches and keywords?

Thanks in advance,

Rob

Hi Rob,

Most keyword tools have different numbers. I go for the macro rather than the detail.

The tools that I use for this are all listed at http://www.SuperFastKeywords.com and the one that is very good for research is Market Samurai.

The other two for niche research are Niche Inspector and Micro Niche Finder.

Good niche tools show things like seo competition, ppc competition and search volume. Some show trends and commercial intent as well…

Regards

James

Hi, I have just joined a CPA network, and as a newbie can someone tell me do I need a website with domain forwarding, and is redirects the same as domain forwarding, any comments for namestick that hosts and forwards to domains.

Thank You in advance
Charles

Hi Charles,

You do not need a domain that re-directs.

A good domain company is namecheap.com

For hosting I recommend Hostgator

Thanks James, I do have a reseller account at hostgator which I use for some adsense sites. but I am trying some ads with google and use my site as the display url and I want to know about forwarding the ad to the destination url. and hostgator lets me redirect, but does this mean the same as domain forwarding, or is one better than the other ?
Charles

This message for Steven,
from you, Which country is that offer designed for and what is the exact issue you’re seeing when trying to load the link?

from me- the ad was to Australia, and using worldproxy202 my link worked ok, but the ad was disallowed maybe because of direct linking, that is why I am trying to find out more about domain forwarding.
Thank You….Charles

Hi Charles,

You can re-direct through Hostgator but the Display URL must be the same as the destination URL you are seeing in your proxy browser

Hi James, Read your report excellent work I’ve been at this now about 4 months (newbie). I have one site up as an affiliate site and building another for myself using XsitePro 2 will be a review site but also selling digital products. What special software will I need for customers to be able to download from the download page. That’s a newbie question right? Thanks ahead for any input!

Hi James,

With the matter of Australian domain names (i.e. james.schramko.com.au)now being able to be registered and sold, are you aware of any companies like those mentioned in http://www.dnjournal.com/ytd-sales-charts.htm whereby people can get valuations and sell domain names in Australia.

Maybe you get to touch the subject at this weekends seminar.

Thanks.

I don’t sell domains but I buy a lot!

The US market has been free compared to ours for ages. Much easier to buy and to sell!

Any suggestions for xsite pro users who want to integrate a blog as seemlessly as possible?

George, you may want to check out this XSitepro to Wordpress integration kit HERE

Wish to start a Seo Membership Site:

Hi james….by the way love xsitepro, bought it through you and got the xsitepro cheatsheet which made it worth it buying it through your affiliate link..yes your ebook was worth the investment into xsitepro via your link…;>)

Based on my cousins suggestion and being that I am not earning money online via affiliate programs I needed something to hold me over while I make this happen and also help self fund my online affiliate marketing expenses.

1) I believe I read something by you that you created a membership site with Xsitepro, what was your good and bad experience with what you used

2) How many times per week should I answer their questions by email so it does not eat up all of my time

3) What is the best membership software that one can only buy and not free and what is the best free one since money is an issue for me …is wordpress a good option for a free option for now?

4) Levels of membership should I create a bronze silver gold membership and what ideas could be offered to each level of membership…looking for a way to create more income if possible?

5) Would adding teleconferences to my members as part of the membership a good or bad idea and if good what teleconference software should I use that is inexpensive once again money is an issue at this moment for me..:>(

Thanks …edwin

@edwin,

I make membership sites using Xsitepro by publishing the site behind a password protection.

You can use DLGuard to make a membership area.

The questions about answering questions depends on how you set up the membership to start with.

For very low cost membership software you could use Membership ease

Wordpress is also good for membership sites. The free way is to use password protected posts.

You can use free teleconference call programs or paid webinar programs to build content.
Regards

James

I have a seasonal niche website that I would like to sell.
Where is a good place to sell at?

@Alejandro check out http://flippa.com/ for buying and selling websites

Hi James, Just a question here I once read that you created some membership sites with XSite Pro 2 and I was just wondering how the heck you did this? Please get back to me concerning this situation! I really want to figure this out using XSite Pro 2 and how the hell do you blend a membership script into a XSite Pro 2 website??????

Please Help Me I am so close to fixing my own problems I am that close but there is always something else in the way ?
Joseph D my

@ joseph,
You simple make a copy of the site template and load it to a password protected directory.

You can use C panel for a basic membership or something like DL Guard for a membership gateway. If you do that then make sure you use the .php extension and put the DLG code in the scripts section for site-wide protection.

Thanks James, a straight forward answer that goes a long way to help fellow marketers in the broad sense and probably answered a lot of questions for anyone having the same problem.

Thanks again, Joseph D

James, do you if XSitePro can make websites that have the linking on top in drop-down menus, such as website at http://www.smoothfitness.com ?

If so, where can I find that?

@John yes Xsitepro 2 has this function. You can make java script rollover navigation menus in the website layout mode.

Keep in mind that this type of navigation is not easily read by a search engine and will not be as effective for SEO as plain text navigation.

Hi James – I just read your Internet Marketing Speed report and think there are some excellent points in there. I really like the focus on getting things done when time is scarce.

As someone who has a family, day job, and part-time online business (which I’m aiming to turn into a full-time income by September 2010), the things I need to learn most are TIME MANAGEMENT techniques and processes.

I’ve been learning about PPC and SEO for the past year, and follow a market research methodology created by Glenn Livingston for developing my own products. I currently sell one product profitably in a health niche, and will be launching another within the next month.

So in a nutshell, I’ve got the knowledge to build an online business. My challenge is finding the time to IMPLEMENT.

This leads me to a couple of questions:

(1) In the next version of IM Speed, can you elaborate on the workflows you follow in conceptualizing, developing, and marketing a new product? Detailed checklists would be much appreciated.

(2) When will your coaching club be open for new members?

Thanks again,

Moe

Hi Moe,

It is very simple to manage products. You see what people are already discussing and having problems with (HInt – forums) and then collate a solution for them.

I will usually spot an opportunity, name a product, then get my research. Once I feel ready, I collate and prepare the deliverable s on the same day.

Then you start a launch sequence etc…

I have several mindmaps, checklists and tutorials to spill here and in the forum (SFR). This next six months is my content creation and marketing time.

SuperFastResults may open for 48 hours VERY soon – then it will close again for a while.

Hey James,
I need some help with the more technical aspects of affiliate marketing, like; once I have my product, how do I structure the connections and download of product from various sources? I need a detailed product that can help with all the steps after product creation to final delivery of product.

If you have a course or product that can help with that, all the better!

Thanks – I’m thrilled to have found you. I too have experienced the “funnel” of here a piece of information now please buy this and this and this from me to get the rest. You’re providing real value, and I appreciate you!
Kate

Hi Kate,

Sounds like you are creating your own products or bonus products to use an an affiliate marketer.

I outline a lot of this in my XSPCheatSheet however that is XSitePro specific.

What I will do is a series of videos on this blog showing you the step-by-step getting a product to the market process.

I will also publish IMcheatsheet for this purpose.