Increasing Your Bottom Line Online and Offline

A

Affiliate Marketing is the marketing/promotion of another person/company products or services with the reward of a “commission” for any sales (or traffic) generated by promoter . Some tips for a successful affiliate marketing strategy include becoming familiar with the topic or product. It should be something you know or have an understanding about and if you are passionate about the product you will have a greater chance of successflly promoting to your audience. Use the promotional options offered by the company you are representing. That includes their banners, emails, social media promotion, etc. Build a site around the product you are promoting or at least make the product relevant to your own products/service. Promoting somehting that makes sense to your audience will in most cases result in a higher return than promoting something totally unrelated. Join a affiliate network like Linkshare to find good partners to promote.

B

Blog. Blogging can achieve results much faster than can a traditional website. And having one these days is the standard. In fact, most people will go to a website and look for the blog. Why? because that is how they get to know the site owner. A blog is the voice of the person behind the company (or should be) It is a place to be real and transparent, share ideas, tips, resources. Give things away. Ideas that can help your audience will help you increase traffic to your site and ultimately can add to your bottom line.

C

Contests. Use contest to promote your product/ service. Be sure you define your marketing goals (what you want to happen as a result of the contest). Clearly state the rules, use social media properly and offer prizes that would entice people to want to sign up and “play.”

D

Direct Marketing is an online/offline way to promote your business. Tips to success include a clear call to action, attention grabbing headline and text, get creative and be sure you follow up and follow through. Use testimonials. Brand yourself.

E

Ebooks are still a popular way to promote your business. You can give them away (or a part of one), you can sell them (be sure you put them on Kindle and other ebook selling sites) and you can leverage them to showcase your expertise in your industry.

F

Freebies can be a great way to generate leads. Ebooks, special reports, video tutorials, white papers can all build a list and get more traffic to your site. To monetize the freebie, include links throughout your give-away to items you sell.

G

Gather data. Its important to know the who, what, where, when and why of the traffic to your site. Who visits, where they come from, when they visit and why they visit are all important analytics to monitor what’s workign and what’s not.

H

How-to’s are one of the most searched items on the net. Create how-to tutorials, using videos, ecourses, PPT (I like slideshare for sharing how-to’s).

I

Infographics are an excellent way to create content that is shared across many platforms. It tells a story in pictures and words and gets people talking and thinking.

J

Just do it. Doing nothing is not an option. If you don’t do anything, you won’t get anything, and you won’t add to your bottom line. Try something new. If that doesn’t work, fix it, modify it and try it again. If that still does not work, do something different.

K

Keep records of what worked and what didn’t – similar to studying analytics, study the programs you had the most success with and those that fell short. Do more of the first. Keep doing it until it no longer works. Most marketers get bored of a marketing program long before it ceases to produce results. Trying new is fine but the tried-and-true have worked for many companies for years with great success.

L

Leverage all the opportunities you have to promote your website online. Learn to cross promote, collaborate and corner the market to achieve long-term success.

M

Mastermind your way to success. Find others who have a specialized field of expertise and share resources and ideas with them. Read the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Most of the ideas Mr. Hill shared in that book are still relevant today. Ask anyone who has been in a mastermind for any length of time and she will tell you it is one of the best decisions she made to grow her business.

Part two of the A to Z of Internet Marketing will cover New Media thru Zig

Heidi Richards Mooney is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of WE Magazine for Women, a WordPress Web Designer, the author of a dozen books and a social media consultant and trainer. Heidi has interviewed hundreds of experts on Social Media Around the World. In 2003 Heidi was named one of 50 women shaping the Internet by the International Virtual Women’s Chamber of Commerce. In 2009 she was named a Twitter Woman to Follow by Only2Clicks.com. She works with solopreneurs, professionals and small businesses in ecommerce, direct sales and retail. Follow Heidi on Google Plus