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Ezine marketing is extremely effective, and really untapped, if you know where to look. This article assumes you already know something about ezines, and what ad placement terms are (e.g. top sponsor ad, solo ad, bottom sponsor ad, etc.)
In this article we will discuss the techniques that have helped individuals on my team collect literally thousands of leads per month. One husband/wife team actually snagged 2000 targeted leads in one day! To get those kind of results, it takes research and patience.
First of all, get it in your head and realize that you have something extremely valuable to share. (If you don't have something valuable, find a different opportunity or product. You must believe in the company you work with/for). Figure out who you want to share it with. This will be your target market.
When you have something valuable to share, all you have to do is show people who are interested in your service where to find the information. That's all that marketing is: finding your market! You do not need to sell them anything. You have to write a good ad, but the whole point is that they sell themselves since you have shown them what they are already looking for.
Your target market may not always be whoever first comes to mind. For example, I am a leader with a direct sales/network marketing company, and I am very familiar with the type of person I want to work with. Most network marketers only market to other business opportunity seekers.
I do not advertise in the ezines that are cluttered with other business opportunity seekers that are only subscribing to see their own ads. Rather, I advertise in places like self-development ezines, because that type of person is looking for growth and change. That is the perfect attitude to be an entrepreneur. They are looking to improve their life, and I have the perfect vehicle. I can show them that road.
I also market to loan officers or people in real estate. These are people who are self-reliant, are used to working on commission, and they deal with other people on a daily basis. These are the type of leaders I want for my team.
If they are making money but have no time for their families and are ready for a change, they are looking for my message. I can show them a path to working from home and having more flexibility while increasing their income. How could that person not want to hear more from me?
Great resources for finding quality ezines is the www.DirectoryofEzines.com, www.Ezines-R-Us.com, and www.BestNewsMarketingGazette.com. Of course that is not the end - all - be - all of directories, but it is a good place to start. There is a paid membership for some, but it is worth it.
Test and track each ezine! (More about that in Part 3). If you have a smaller budget, or if you want to test a bunch of ezines, go with the top sponsor ad. Go ahead and send a content-appropriate top sponsor ad in 10 or 50 ezines and track the progress.
Which one brought you the most leads? You'll quickly find out if it's a responsive ezine, then you can drop in a solo sponsor ad. You got a good response from the top sponsor, so expect bigger results form the solo. However, do not even bother with the middle or bottom sponsor ads even if they are cheaper.Seriously, you get what you pay for.
Eventually, the higher priced solos will probably produce you better results, but that is not guaranteed. However, the fact that is costs more means that there is a demand.They produce results! Where there is smoke there is fire, so once you can afford the really expensive solos (some run even a couple thousand dollars) do it.
Coming in Part 2:
"What are the 7 essential questions you must ask before posting a single ad?"
When you finally have had enough the old slug you refer to as "the boss", maybe it's time to get serious about some extra income. Everyone has to start somewhere and Internet marketing has opened up the floodgates for start up entrepreneurs. Perhaps you have heard the acronym JOB means just over broke.The first time I heard that it struck a nerve.
Although beginning any new endeavor into a new field can be frightening, the onset of your online business doesn't need to be.
Just remember this key point...Build yourself a highly targeted email opt in list. These faithful subscribers will become your life blood and ticket to kicking the boss to the curb in the near future.
So let's begin with a few basic necessities you will need to get yourself geared up and ready to roll.
1. In every instance, bar none, begin by researching the market you intend to provide your product to. You may believe you have the next best thing since sliced bread to hit the market, but you may be surprised to find out that the rest of the world doesn't share your opinion. You can easily find out if your product has a market by entering keywords into any search engine and seeing how many other folks are also advertising or posting content about it.
For example: If your niche is sexy lacy panties... your market may be limited to the certain part of our society that perform in our "more mature" nightlife professions or teen age boys searching for a few giggles online and wouldn't buy your product anyway. The other side of the coin may be Ipods or the PS3 game box. Now there are two very popular niches at the time of this printing.
At any rate , I would suggest you find a market for a product you are passionate about and do your due diligence in researching the market for it.
2.Does your market have the money to spend? Here's an important and often overlooked step. If you know your market has money to spend and is spending it online, you just eliminated one worry from the equation. Here's a quick and easy method to find out. Go to google.com and search different keywords for your product. Along the right side of the first page of search results you will see a series of "paid advertisements". (if your product is selling well online ) Keep a watch on these ads for a couple of days and see if the same ones stay there. If these people are continuing to advertise there then it is good indication that these ads are making them decent profits and people are spending. On the other hand, if there are no paid ads or just 1 or 2, perhaps the market is not spending as much as is needed to support the cost of the ads.
3. Know your product inside out. Even if you don't have a product , there are many affiliate programs you can be a part of for free and earn generous commissions from simply by promoting someone else's product. This is the best and easiest way to get started if you do not already have your own product.
Check out clickbank.com or commissionjunction.com to sample just a few. It is highly beneficial to buy the product you will be promoting and use it thoroughly. side note: clickbank has an eight week refund policy. If the product is great you won't need it anyway. Just begin promoting it. If you are promoting your own product I will presume you are an expert already, but refresh your knowledge just to be sure.
These first three steps can be done in very little time and with a minimum of effort. I do recommend spending as much time as you need to research your market and your affiliate product. You will reap what you sow and you will be pleased to know that your time was not wasted when the subscribers begin to pour in.