Common Pitfalls of the Internet Marketer
By John Stone
Posted Monday, August 30, 2004
I have watched the Internet closely for the past several years and have noticed an exciting trend. Business opportunities are opening for the average Internet user. The real advertising network, word of mouth, has an opportunity to be compensated for its hard work. Single income families can supplement their income without taking on a job delivering pizza. You get my drift...
The most prevalent pursuit today is the Multi Level Marketing "Biz in a Box" program. The concept is simple, someone is selling a promise of instant wealth, and for a price you can make the same promise. Don't get me wrong, there is money here. We just need to keep our eye on the ball. Most people end up giving away money, spending too much time away from the family and failing to produce any kind of real income.
The reason for failure is simple, you lack the skills and knowledge to recreate the years of experience your up line used to capture you! Sure you have a detailed marketing plan provided by your up line. It outlines how to make a million dollars without spending a dime. But look at these mistakes, they are probably why you are not producing like you thought you should.
1. Using FREE Web Hosting. I know, this is a big benefit to you. No out of pocket cost. But let's get real. You are offering a program that promises to put LOTS of money into the hands of the reader. How come you can't afford a quality web site? You send the message that your system does not really work!
2. No Domain Name. This seems trivial, but a domain name, especially a .com or a .net provide a sense of staying power. Using a sub-domain provided by a FREE or Discount web host looks like you don't plan to stick around. It smells of "Grab and Go" advertising.
3. Using FREE Email Addresses. I think you see where this is going. You are making a claim that you can put $2,000 a month or more into the hands of your reader and you can't afford to do better than a Yahoo or Hotmail email account.
So, what should you do? You must make every attempt to look credible. The failure reasons are all about perceptions of credibility. I am not telling you to spend gobs of money. What you don't realize is that REAL solutions are not that expensive. And with a little bit of money comes massive marketing power and the presence that is credible. Let's look at what every successful Internet marketer is doing and what it will cost.
1. Get a Domain Name. Make a name for yourself. A name you can live with for life. As you build momentum on the Internet, you will become known by your domain name. This can cost anywhere from $15 to $35 per year.
2. Purchase Web Space to Host Your Domain. This is not all that much. Professional Accounts can be found starting at $12.95 from many reputable organizations. Don't be surprised by a price of $14 to $30 monthly.
3. Use an Email Address Associated with Your Domain. This is one of best forms of advertising you can purchase. If your domain is GetRich.com, all your emails come from GetRich.com, not Hotmail. Who gets the advertising? This comes with your web hosting account so there is no additional costs.
4. Purchase an Auto Responder. Capture incoming emails to your domain and send each and every one of them a customized email. A quality affiliate program or MLM will come with all the emails you need to send. Think about it! Companies provide this service for between $6 and 25 per month. As an alternative, you can purchase software to run on your web site for between $50 and $800. Expect $100 for the quality programs
5. Create a Links Page. Search engines rank partly on the basis of how many people are linked to you. Having a links page allows you to post your links to others sites and provide them with a place to advertise theirs. It's truly Win-Win. This can be done for free on your web site if you do it by hand. You can purchase programs that do this work for under $50.
6. Submit to the search engines. Here is where you can save some money. Optimize your web pages on your own. If you don't know how, you will learn in one of our upcoming news letters. Find the free submission services. If you can, try to get a link on another web site and submit that page! To your success,
John Stone
(http://stoco.net)
(http://pubmgr.stoco.net)
About the Author
John Stone is the founder of Stoco.net, a service based Internet site dedicated to delivering solutions for the small business owner. John has released several commercial software products and provides web hosting at discount prices. Software products include small utilities for organizations, automation and web site control including Publication Manager (an Email Auto-responder) and Ad Manager (a web page automation tool). John is also recognized as a Perl automation expert and offers advice to the Internet newbie through Stoco.net and MaxTrafficExchange.com.
