Search Engine Marketing first began to show up online before the turn of the century when consumers used search engines to assist them in finding products and services and the companies that sold them. As time went on these search engines starting booming in usage. Thus began the birth of Search Engine Marketing.

The practice of using search engines to market a business is so incredibly common now that search engine marketing, or SEM, has become its own industry with vast amounts of information available to all who would dare take advantage of it. You can find tons of information from its origins and even controversial subjects that can even destroy a marketers marketing efforts. The valuable information though are all the strategies you can use to help create a successful, long term viable online business.

So what is Search Engine Marketing?

Well…it’s a term that describing all the various marketing techniques used to make your website or blog more visible to the search engines.

There are two very specific forms of Search Engine Marketing techniques that marketers can utilize. The first technique uses free methods and the other uses paid methods. The free method of search engine marketing includes using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – optimizing a website page or blog so that search engines can easily find it. The paid method includes buying Pay Per Click (PPC) advertisements. There are certainly other methods of buying advertisements, such as media buying, but PPC is the major technique used.

Search Engine Optimization involves using various strategies including keyword rich tag lines and articles during the creation as well as the maintenance of a website. Alternatively, Pay Per Click advertisements are sponsored listings in which the advertiser (website owner) pays the search engine to “spotlight” the site in return for payment each time the link is clicked. Both forms of Search Engine Marketing can prove to be invaluable for a struggling website and can easily increase the traffic brought to the site.

Free and paid for advertising each have their pros and cons. Free advertising doesn’t cost money but takes more time. Paid advertising is much faster to implement but costs money. The form of Search Engine Marketing that takes the most effort and maintenance is Search Engine Optimization.

If you are into article marketing, you must create a series of articles, blog posts, forum posts, etc. By including your links you are able to direct the traffic to you want to your website or blog. These articles typically display keywords that are relevant to the site’s theme of the business being promoted.

An example is if a writer is hired to promote a company whose service specializes in Identity Theft Protection. The writer would use relevant keywords inside the article like “Identity Theft” or “Identity Protection”.

The goal with writing articles like this is to saturate the internet with keywords and keyword phrases that trigger the search engines to list your site within the search results pages as per the request of the consumer.

Writing an article for SEO purposes takes a lot of work. When writing for the purpose of marketing products and services for a company you need to capture the full scope of those products and services. To do this effectively you need to provide researched information and that takes a lot of time (and possibly maybe even a monetary cost as well to some extent. Where one article may be geared towards specific information such as for teaching or technical aspects, another article may geared towards a simple or casual approach.

Even these casual approaches in writing articles can have marketing undertones by providing hints at what is to come. These round about methods of marketing is great at capturing a reader’s eye, especially when it seems they are not interested at that particular time.

If your articles are to be Search Engine Optimized articles they must also be “search engine friendly”. A friendly article is one where the keywords you want to “tag”, in relation to your website, are alerted by the search engines when consumers are searching for your specific service or product.

Search Engine Marketing is it’s own booming industry by anyone’s standards. With the proliferation of web-based businesses growing everyday, SEM is a force not to be reckoned with. The best part is that it doesn’t matter if your online business is large or small.

All businesses alike have the same chance to be successful on the Internet if they use proper search engine marketing techniques and strategies. The only two requirements that you need to meet are a certain amount of time and/or money…and of course the right information at the right time.

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Learning the basics of Adsense can help you make money with Google’s program and it is also possible to become successful in this area, but you need to understand the difference between knowing what you can do with Adsense and believing you can do it.

Because earning Adsense income is residual in nature (and if done properly can add significant growth to the success of your business), it is something you should be considering seriously and carefully before starting your program.

By learning some basic techniques of Adsense, you may be quite surprised at the amount of money you could me making on the side. What I like about making money with Adsense the most is that once set up, there is no need to go back there again. Once it is up and running, there is very little else for you to do…except…to watch and make sure it continues to run.

One thing you need to get out of your head is that THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE RIDE. There will always be a certain amount of action you must take to get a certain amount of results. Zero action gets you zero results. Any system” requires maintenance and upgrading. Your system needs a set of rules and task or to-to lists that needs paying attention to. Some tasks need to be done daily while other tasks done less often. But before you can get your system up and running you need to…

Have a Plan of Action

There are far to many people that that use a “shot gun approach” when trying to make only online. They throw everything they got into it without really knowing what they have or even what the rules are. An example here would be putting up a site with a bunch of PLR articles and waiting for people to just come an click on their Adsense ads. I am not saying that you won’t succeed. What I am saying is that you “probably” won’t succeed.

If you want to make more money by using the Google Adsense program as a source of your income, then you need to have a plan as to how that is going to happen. More importantly, your plan needs to be realistic and based on fact rather than on Internet hype and false claims.

I’m am not telling you that there are some people making a lot of cash through Adsense. There certainly are people making good money, but what you may know know is that they spent a lot of time studying how Adsense works. They gathered information and they tested their pages and they probably even spend money trying to find ways to make Adsense work for them…in other words…they followd a specific plan of action to get them to where they want.

Work Your Plan Always

Just because the Adsense program is a “set it and forget it” type technique to earn income, there will always be changes involved. Nothing in this world remains perfect forever. You need to hold yourself accountable to your plan and really work your plan until you have either reached your goals or discovered that your plan of action just isn’t working. If it isn’t working, you shouldn’t say that you failed because you just discovered a method that “does not work”.

When you find what does not work, stop wasting your time and energy on it and move on. You need to work on your plan each and every day until you find something that works. Once discovered, break down what you did step by step and write it down. Why? …so you can repeat this process for other similar projects (part of your system)

Continuing To Learn as You Go

Once you’re found what works today, does not mean it is going to work tomorrow. Things change as time goes on. New methods get discovered. The only way to find out which method works better than another is to TEST, TEST AND TEST AGAIN.

You can even have one method applied by two different marketers and you get two different results. Because each marketer has their own different style and skills. The more you can learn the more you are able to refine your techniques of making money online with Google Adsense.

Just remember that knowledge and action don’t always go hand-in-hand. It is the knowledge that you apply is what will determine your success. It is not just your plan you need to worry about. It’s your “plan of action” that will be the determining factor in your success.

As you learn from your new found Adsense knowledge, you discard what doesn’t work and document what does does. Your plan will be adjusted on an on-going basis. Of course, if there are too many adjustments that need adjusting, it may be time you started to outsource this work.

As wonderful as earning residual income from Adsense is, there is a lot to learn and master if you are really going to be successful at it. As you learn, create your plan and revise it as necessary. Then put your Adsense plan into action and adjust if necessary. As your experience grows so will your income.

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7:30 PM – That was a good dinner, but now it is time to learn something new, and update all the newsletters and emails needed to keep everyone informed. Affiliate marketers know that the more valuable the information they provide, the more appreciative their subscribers will be and the more profits to be made.

One strategy the affiliate marketer does effectively is to provide valuable content more often than they promote products. Not only are the subscribers more appreciative of all the resources they get, but it becomes easier and more profitable when they promote other fellow marketers products.

8:45 PM – By now, the affiliate marketer has already had a 12 hour day and is nearing the end of the day. It is time to relax soon and maybe do some exercise and get some fresh air. Of course there is still some time to post some comments on blogs related to your affiliate business. Posting good comments with a link to your site can be a great way to get some fast traffic to your sites.

9:30 PM – To finish off the day it is time to post a few updates on your Twitter account. As each update that you post can be a maximum of only 140 characters, you don’t need to spend much time here. You follow some people related to your market and you ask some people to follow you; it’s that simple.

While on Twitter, you see a woman who asks a question on affiliate marketing and you respond. She appreciates your help and decides to subscribe to your newsletter. Could she be your future customer? It’s up to you as an affiliate marketer.

10:15 PM – Enough already. It’s been a successful day. What will tomorrow bring?

This day in the life of an affiliate marketer may differ from day to day. You may do less and you may do more. But, one thing the successful affiliate marketer does is to, at least, do something everyday to help you progress to the success you want to achieve.

Being a successful affiliate marketer sure seems to be a lot of work. Of course the more you put into your efforts the more you will get out of it. And don’t forget the old saying that “there’s more than one way to skin a cat” . In other words, there are many methods you can employ in your affiliate marketing business.

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1:45 PM – Now that lunch is finished, it’s time to sort through all your affiliate related resources and materials, including any advertisements, banners, and sample emails for your affiliates. You know that the more information your affiliates can use to promote your products the higher your profits will be.

As the affiliate marketer becomes more successful and is beginning to earn more profits, they may also have more work to do. Responding to email inquiries from prospects and customers may need to be done more often throughout the day. After all, people appreciate it when their inquiries are answered promptly, effectively and above all, professionally.

3:00 PM – Once their “customer services” requirements have been met it is time to log onto some chat rooms, social networking sites and forums so they can interact with other affiliates. They discuss strategies and answer any questions that may arise. The affiliate marketer knows that they will accomplish at least two things here.

Firstly, they establish credibility and expertise in their market by becoming involved. It shows they care about what they do and want to help others succeed as well. Secondly, they know that the more they interact, they higher the chance that someone will click on their affiliate link placed within their “signature” at the bottom of their post.

4:30 PM – By late afternoon, the affiliate marketer decides it’s time to work on their newsletters and emails sent through their autoresponder system . Yes, the affiliate marketer needs to be able to communicate to their prospects and customers and email marketing is still one of the best ways to do this.

Yes, by now it’s 6:30 PM and the successful affiliate marketer has already worked a full day and there’s still a few more hours to go. For now it’s time for some late dinner and maybe get a little sunshine before getting back to work. They know that all this work will pay off in the end and that is exactly what motivates them.

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As simple as it is to become an Affiliate Marketer, it has never been easy. Before the age of computers, being in the affiliate marketing business required heavy use of telephones, long distance charges, typing letters and sales pages along with other forms of media. Just to get the latest updates and to track their progress was a chore not to be relished on.

What used to take weeks and even months to accomplish can now be done in a matter of hours or days. Rather than working from an office, the affiliate marketer can now make money online from home. All they have to do is wake up, go to their computer, connect to the Internet and begin their work.

With technology at hand and some basic typing skills the affiliate marketer would start the day…and it goes something like this…

One thing to note is that some marketers begin their day depending on the market they are targeting. An affiliate marketer in Germany wanting to target subscribers in the United States may begin their day at midnight due to the differences in time zones.

Nevertheless…

08:00 AM – Once the computer is turned on the affiliate marketer may check their emails and respond to any inquiries as part of their customer service. They may check out new developments in the network or possibly their sales statistics they need to keep track of.

10:30 AM – After some time, they decide that their website or blog needs to be revised because they know that a well-designed site can increase sign ups from visitors. It can also help in the affiliate’s conversion rates. From there, it is time to add one more article to their site or a new post to their blog.

11:45 AM – Now, it is time to start submitting their affiliate program to some directories. They know that these directories can attract people to join your program to help you promote your products.

12:30 PM – Before lunch time, you decide to track down any sales made from the affiliates that joined your program. There may even be some phone orders and mail you need to track down also.
Looks like it’s going to be a late lunch. Such is the life of an affiliate marketer.

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The more you test your market the more your chances are to find the right method that works for your business model. Once found, you can begin to fine tune your method towards market domination of the affiliate product you are promoting. One thing, however, you do not want to do is just focus on one method of marketing your affiliate product.

Testing takes time, and time is money. While you are testing your method, start working on another method while keeping track of the previous one. While this second method is underway, start working on a third method. Continue this process and track your results. In time you will see which result will bring you the most revenue.

Marketing Methods

I’m sure you are probably already familiar with many of the popular Internet marketing methods used in affiliate marketing today but we’ll name a few of them here.

Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) – is when you, the advertiser pay a certain amount of money every time someone clicks on your ads. Different keywords cost a certain amount of money per click. Marketers can bid on their chosen keywords if they want to run ads to be placed on publishers websites.

Forum Marketing – is an online discussion forum that is dedicated to the niche market you are interested in. Once you join, you are able to post relevant comments as well as ask your own questions. One good way to gain credibility and authority is to answer questions instead. The key here is to get known as an expert in your niche. While you should not openly market your own products here, you are able to include a link in your signature line that leads back to your website or product sales page.

Article Marketing – My favorite method to market products is by writing, distributing and promoting articles. You write articles or outsource them by paying others to write them and submit them to article directories. The best article directory by far is EzineArticles.com . The articles should contain information that is relevant to your niche and depending upon the article directory, you either include links in the body of your article or in the resource box at the end of your article.

There are many things you can do with articles. I usually like to take the longest and best version and put it on my website or blog. I will then make a second version and submit it to EzineArticles.com. I will then make at least two more versions and submit those to some of the other top article directories out there like ArticleCity.com and Isnare.com.

Email Marketing – Email Marketing is not a very viable option unless you have a website, but it can still be done. With email marketing, you collect email addresses from those that are interested in your niche. The most effective means to collect those email addresses is by offering your subscribers something of value and usually for free. You can offer them an ecourse, an ebook, or even a newsletter. Each has is good and bad points.

If the potential subscribers are interested in your offering, they will type in their name and email address. Upon confirming the email they receive from you, they will subsequently receive whatever offer you have promised. Because they have agreed to receive your emails, your are now able to send them periodic emails to advertise your products, services or special promotions. Just beware that you should be sending them a mix of good content as well as your promotions or you will just be declared a spammer by them. If that happens your subscribers will just unsubscribe.

A new method that is becoming popular and has been compared to email marketing is by using a new Web 2.0 site called www.Twitter.com . It is simply a micro-blog where in 140 characters or less, you are able to keep in touch with other people of similar interests. More on this will be discussed in future article, but once you join you can then find people to follow you. If you like I’d love for you to join me at www.Twitter.com/JoeBlue .

Test Your Marketing Methods

As mentioned above, you need to test your marketing methods to determine which one will bring you the best results. Before testing your methods you need to track your methods. You can use tracking scripts from Google Analytics and place their code on each page you want to test.

Once your scripts are in place you can begin testing your sites. One method that many successful marketers use is called “split testing” . An example of split testing is when an affiliate marketer offers the exact same product through two or more marketing methods. It could even be the same method, but maybe using different wording – like two different headlines.

With the tracking script in place, the the marketer can then track where his sales are coming from and have a clearer sense of which method is bringing him/her the best results. Because rules, regulations and competition are constantly changing, you will likely need to continually test your affiliate marketing methods throughout your affiliate marketing career if you want to stay on top of the game.

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I used Wordpress plugins but because they keep updating to a new version, sometimes these plugins don’t work anymore unless the plugin itself gets updated.  I knew there had to be a better way.  Well, I found it.  I’ve been looking at Google Video and YouTube trying to find a good video tutorial solving this problem.  I’ve seen probably thirty or so videos trying to find a simple solution, yet comprehensive enough to satisfy my needs.

This video is only eight minutes long, but it gives me the exact answer to putting Adsense Ads on my blog.  Let me know if this solves your problems or not.

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Your conversion rate will certainly be lower by using affiliate links than with Adsense ads, but each conversion through affiliate links has a much higher value.  If a visitor click on one of your Adsense ads you may make anywhere from a few cents to a couple of dollars.  But if they click on your affiliate link and purchase the product you can make ten to twenty times as much, if not more.

This being said, there are times when Adsense makes sense.  Websites that are built to attract search engine traffic may be suitable for Adsense ads if the site has a lot of content, even if that content is low on quality.  Google Adsense frowns on these “made for Adsense (MFA) sites, but that doesn’t mean there is a workable solution for you to still earn an income.

You can even have an Adsense blog like this one, with categories devoted purely to Adsense related content, where Google Adsense ads are displayed along with Affiliate links in the sidebar.  As long as the content has some quality to it, there is the possibility of earning revenue from both Adsense and Affiliate products.

Another example is a site that serves up ads that offer high per click values.  A site or blog that features ads paying only a nickel may be better suited for affiliate sales.  However, if you can isolate certain keywords that generate a dollar per click or more, then the math can rapidly change to your favor.

The problem with chasing expensive Adsense clicks is the amount of competition.  Adsense-based Internet marketing models exploded in popularity a few years ago and if you are one of those who are entering this field now, you may find yourself up against a lot of tough competition.  This is especially so in the more lucrative niches with high click values.

If you have your web site or blog(s) set up, I would really love to hear your experience with Adsense Ads and what your strategies have been.

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Why would they want to buy anything from you if you sound stupid.  Put another way, how can you make any money if the members on your list won’t open your email if you sound like a nut.  So many of us have mailboxes that are overflowing with email and yet email marketers are still too lazy to put in a little effort and time to use a subject headline that makes their list want to open their email.  If you don’t take this issue seriously, then you are throwing your profits out the window.

Spend a little time on your email title .  As mentioned above, your goal is to attract their attention and to encourage them enough to actually see what it is you have to say.  If what you do have to say is compelling enough, the chances of your profits increasing should also increase.

The sad part about this is that this led some marketers to rely on gimmicky or really dumb headlines.  Sure, some of these titles may increase open rates, but they don’t really have a positive effect on your sales which is your second goal.  I received a few emails lately with a subject line that read “You Made A Sale Today”.  When I opened it the first sentence said – “Wouldn’t you like to receive notifications like this everyday….blah blah blah”.   I either deleted the message or unsubscribed immediately.  The thing that got me was that a couple of these emails were from well known marketers.  You’d think they would know better.  Guess not.

People, that includes me, can get really pissed off when subject titles don’t match what’s within the content of the email.  As mentioned above you will probably either just delete the email or unsubscribe from their list.  So, take some time to write a good title and attract their attention but please,  DO NOT abuse your list with gimmicky approaches.  That is the one time when an increased open rate won’t be good news for you!

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But as great as it is many people are losing money with their email. As great a tool as email marketing is, it still has a few potential shortcomings. These problems can  hurt the bottom line for many trying to make a living online.

Depending on the service you use to send emails, your credibility could very well be at stake. Knowledgeable people are not as likely to trust email coming from AOL.com than from another service, for instance. Vanity type email services that were all the rage in 2001 just don’t do the trick anymore as it once did. So if you have a website called funnybunnygal.org, leave that email account called support@funnybunnygal.org alone. It won’t work.

You will also find other email services that have a bad reputation because of misuse by countless spammers. This has caused me many problems as I have received thousands of spam email mixed up with important email that gets hung up in all the spam filters. You really have to be careful with your service as some email providers have filtering strategies that are so aggressive, they end up filtering your valuable messages from junk or spam email.

I hope you get the jest of what I’m trying to say here. It isn’t so much the reliability factor. Don’t get me wrong. Reliability is still important, but it isn’t the issue it once was. But there are other considerations that have entered the picture, which I will get into in future posts.

For now, the biggest single thing you can do for your online business…if you are serious about your business, is to use an email address that will help your reputation and will help you to grow your business more effectively.

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