Why Internet Marketing, Business and Finance? – Part 2
Ok we’ve got Business covered, now on to Internet Marketing.
So what exactly is Internet Marketing?
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to find out actually. Well, essentially it is marketing through the Internet. Duh!
Basically, Internet Marketing = online business or using the Internet as a medium to promote/sell one’s or others’ product.
If you ask me, I think Internet Marketing is a fantastic business model to start off with.
The start up cost is low. For a start, all you basically need is to invest in a domain name and hosting package. Nowadays these doesn’t amount to much. You can get a domain name (.com) for less than 10 dollars and a good hosting package for just 10 bucks per month. That’s it! You can get free hosting though but that is not really recommended as there are a lot of restrictions and limitations.
You may move on to get more tools and resources, and that will add to your expenses, but nothing that is earth-shatteringly costly.
What you do need is an abundance of will as well as the right attitude to put in loads of effort coupled with the all important step of taking action.
Other than cost wise, a website is much easier to build up than say to set up a physical store or premises for business. You can make changes easily and quickly (this is especially so if you do have prior technical skill beforehand), and the end result is really something you can call your own. Your own virtual real estate if you like.
How to get the money rolling in you may ask?
There are many revenue and income models, and the main ones are namely:
1. Affiliate/Referral Marketing
You don’t have a product? No problem! Affiliate Marketing is in a nutshell, to promote other people’s products. There are many merchants out there who incorporate an affiliate program, and all you need is to search for one that is relevant to to your website theme or your interest, and then just promote away!
How to find such merchants? You can start your search at several places such as the various affiliate program providers (e.g. Commission Junction, Clickbank etc) or affiliate directories (e.g. Associate Programs etc). Look for those with good decent products with high payout rate. And you are ready to go.
There are tonnes of ways to promote them, and many people do make a decent living out of just affiliate marketing alone. Associate Programs provide good resources and information on how to embark on the affiliate marketing journey for beginners all the way to advanced experts.
Ewen Chia is one of the best (if not the best) out there when it comes to affiliate marketing. If you are seeking a model/mentor, he is the one to look out for.
2. Selling products
Gone are the days where you usually need a warehouse to store your goods and inventories. With the Internet, you can sell everything without the need for a physical storage space or shop.
Yup that’s right, you can do an online shop, with your own website or even with a blog.
E-products such as MP3 music files, audio books, E-books, softwares or even a combination of e-products package are getting increasingly becoming a popular form of goods to sell. Why? Simply because they don’t take up space (physical space that is)! They are unlimited in supply because everything is in digital form.
You just set up a download page for your products that is linked to a payment processor such as 2Checkout or Worldpay, and you are done.
People can come in to buy over and over again. You have no worries about the supply running out, or warehouse rent and other niggling expenses. Everything is automated. Wake up the next morning, and you can possibly find a sale safely in your pocket! Fascinating isn’t it? Welcome to Internet Marketing.
While e-goods selling is the way to go for now, there is still room for the traditional physical hard goods. Many people publicize their own hand made goods through an online shop, and there are some who do remarkably well at this.
There are also those who just set up a store, and act as a middleman that links up the supplier and the buyer. With this, the supplier take care of everything from the warehouse storage to delivery. The middleman just concentrate on selling, promoting and follow-up customer support. Another good way to monetize.
3. Selling of service
Have a service to sell? Be it online or offline services, a website can be set up to publicize and promote your offering and services. The Internet, when utilized properly, can be an extremely effective medium for spreading the word about your services. The global world can be your potential customer. Your sale can easily quadruple or increase by many folds if you can market yourself the right way online.
4. Membership sites
If you have a great product or service, and can provide good customer support and offer long lasting value to them, setting up a membership site will be a great way to earn a long term sustainable residual income.
What kind of membership site? Providing of Private Label Rights articles every month to members seeking fresh unique content on their websites is one example. Selling updated fresh information (e.g.. Weekly Stock analysis/ratings) that is of value is another.
It’s not hard to set up a membership site nowadays when there are many good membership scripts out there. Just plug it in, do the necessary customization and you are all set. Some companies even do the installation for you. Easy peasy.
5. Infoprenuerial sites
And then there are just website content portal that just gives pure valuable information to visitors (e.g. Debt consolidation site). Such models use affiliate marketing to monetize, or contextual advertising such as Google Adsense or Chitika or Yahoo Publisher Network.
There are many great ways to monetize, and what I mentioned is seriously just the tip of the iceberg. I barely scratch the surface. The Internet Marketing arena is full of possibilities, and how far you go and how much you make really are just limited by your creativity and the amount of effort you put in.
One word of caution though. While Internet Marketing can be a good lucrative form of passive or active income, it is not a get rich quick way. It definitely requires loads of effort and patience to build up a good foundation.
Ignore those get rich quick scam-like programs that you will bound to meet along the way, stay through to your plan and you should be fine. If you are looking for a head start to Internet Marketing, check out Site Build It!. It is one of the best all-in-one Internet Marketing resources and service providers out there.
To sum up all that is good about Internet Marketing, here goes:
- Low start up cost
- Low maintenance (may vary from case to case)
- Ease of making changes
- Website not necessary (though it’s a great advantage to have one)
- Wide audience (the world is your oyster!)
- Ability to automate where you can leave it running on its own
- Wide variety of revenue model
- Possible to have a sustainable long term income
So everything is great about Internet Marketing, but surely there must be some cons? Sure there is. Read here.
Opps!
I just rambled on and on. And this posting has became too darn long! Wanted to initially combine the Internet Marketing and Finance aspects in a final Part 2. Looks like we will have to leave the latter to a Part 3 then.
Sorry for having you put up with my never ending blabbering!
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