ResearchByDave.Com » The Idea Bin

Traffic Generation Ideas Part Four

Dave — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 01:04:13 +0000

This is part four in a series of how to generate traffic to your website or blog.

1) Participate in Giveaway Events. Not only can you join a giveaway event to get some good products you can use and resell yourself, but you can also use them to drive traffic to your site! By joining as a contributor, you can create a giveaway product and offer it on their site for others to download. MANY marketers build very nice opt-in lists by using these giveaways and if they participate, you should take note of that fact and participate as well! Your giveaway item should be useful to those downloading it. Because you want to earn their trust and keep them on your list…so you can sell to them later on. Almost every giveaway event allows you to send the visitor to an opt-in form to collect their name and mail – and then deliver the freebie to them. So, it is best to have a way to collect that information. I would suggest a good autoresponder service – such as Aweber or GetResponse (these are without a doubt the two top autoresponder services on the net.) You can find out about these Giveaway Events by joining several email lists of better known marketers. To find some, you can go to Gurudaq.com – which lists MANY of the top internet marketers. To give you a start, here are a few current Giveaway Events:

Use these wisely and often, and you should easily be able to get a solid 500 to 2000 new potential clients in a short amount of time!

2) Use Free Advertising sites. There are several highly traffic Free Advertising sites that you can list your website, blog, or product on. Again, you can try and sell on these sites, but a better use is to use these sites to get traffic to your site by offering a freebie. Here are a few of the more well known sites you can try:

3) Craigslist. What started as a local directory has blossomed into one of the most visited classified site on the net. I read that they receive something like 8 billion page views a month…hello!! You can try and get yourself a little piece of that pie! One note of caution to begin with: the users of Craigslist are very good at spotting and reporting spam. It must be used wisely to benefit from their traffic. Some hints:

Pick an appropiate category to post in.
Become a member and get involved in their discussion groups.
Don’t SPAM!
Instead of selling an item, create a freebie to give away. Collect name/email with opt-in.
Don’t post too many things at one time. Spread it out over time.
Use a Google Gmail account.
DO NOT TRY and sell affiliate products – those are very easy to spot and will get your ad deleted.

One thing you can try to do is lurk around the “wanted” section (inside the For Sale category). Find people that want to buy a certain item you are interested in. Then go to Ebay, do a search for what they want. If you find items that would meet the Craigslist user’s needs, join Ebay’s affiliate program, insert your affiliate id with the item for sale, and email the Craigslist user with what you found. You are not selling an affiliate product. You are offering them a way to find the item they WANTED to buy!! Just an idea!

4) Use your 404…..404 error pages I mean! So this is not really a “traffic generation” tip, but MANY webmasters do NOT make use of their 404 pages, which is WASTING TRAFFIC! You can edit them and send that traffic to any place you want….send them directly to your home page; send them to an offer; send them to an affiliate page….the main point here is to take advantage of that traffic. Here is a Google Search for 404 Error – as you can see there are many resources you can check out to learn how to create a custom page.

5) Blogs. I know I mentioned submitting your site to directories, but in case you have a blog (and YOU SHOULD), you should also submit your blog to the various blog directories. Not only that, you really need to make sure you utilize your RSS feed that is built into most blogging platforms (Blogger and WordPress being the two most popular.) I would also suggest that you “burn” your feed with Feedburner’s free service! (oh by the way, did you know that Feedburner is now owned by Google?) Burning your feed allows your feed to be easier to subscribe to. When a user clicks on your Feedburner Feed link, they are taken to a page that offers them several ways to subscribe to your feed. Ok…and WHY do we want to have a way for people to subscribe? So they are updated via their RSS Reader whenever you update your site! RSS Readers are becoming VERY popular and if you don’t utilize this feature, you are wasting traffic. RSS feeds provide users with a convenience…a simple way to stay informed of when a site is updated. It makes it easier for them to find niche-specific sites that they feel are valuable to them…if you can’t see the value in that, I give up! Only kidding!! You WANT niche-specific traffic. You NEED that niche-specific traffic….because it is MUCH easier to make a sale to those people that are already interested in your niche. Make sense? I hope so!

Anyway, here are some resources:

6) Email Advertising – Solo Ads. While many may find this to be non-effective anymore, I say poppycock! Email advertising (Solo Ads in particular) can be a very effective and cheap way to drive traffic to to your site…if done properly and if you make sure you are dealing with a reputable company or list owner. There are MANY places that will sell you an email list – 75 million for $29.95 … are you that gullible?! If so, just send me the money instead…I can use it to help the hungry! Anyway – there ARE some good places to buy from…and the best way to find them is ask your fellow marketers that have used them! Many say that they tried and didn’t like them – probably because they used them wrong or their offer was not targeted. As in other methods, you can try and sell via an email ad, but you may have better success offering a freebie in exchange for a name and email address. Get them in your own traffic funnel before you “sell” them. Make them want to buy from you by offering them quality products and information.

Here are a few resources that I see mentioned by well-known marketers:

7) USFreeAds. While they are not as loved by Google as they once were, they do still get indexed by Google fairly fast. USFreeAds has three different ways you can post an ad – Free, Gold Membership, and Premium Membership (check out that page for more information on each level.) The best way to use them is to create ads that are designed to drive traffic to your site or blog. What is nice about the Premium version is that you can run an unlimited number of ads at a time….while you are limited to 25 ads at a time with the Gold version. Unfortunately, their Free version, according to their own site, does not allow you to run ads for a commercial purpose. The Gold version is only $10 a year…very affordable! Worth a test drive anyway!!

How to Make Money with Private Label Rights

Dave — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 02:55:00 +0000

Private Label Rights (PLR) products are a great way to make money as an internet marketer.

What exactly are Private Label Rights? Simply put, Private Label Rights (the rights) give you permission to basically do anything you want with the product … and you can put YOUR name on it as YOUR product! You do have to be careful in reading the exact rights being offered to you. If you ever have a doubt, contact the person selling you the PLR product and make sure you are clear about your exact rights!!

The great thing is that there are many different places you can get PLR products and several ways you can use them to make money.

Here are some ways you can use PLR to make money in internet marketing:

Sell the product “as-is.” It’s quick and easy (just make sure of your exact rights!). While you can do this with PLR products, it may not be the best way to make money from them. I suggest that unless you get a PLR product exclusively or be a First Mover, you should avoid just selling your PLR product as is.
Change it up a little and then sell it. The main idea behind PLR products is that they give you permission to modify the product and then resell it as your own, unique product. Doing this, you can add your own “flavor” to the package, making your version of a product stand out.
Repackage it with other products. And then resell it! You can use the PLR product as a bonus to one of your other offers. Or perhaps, you can use it as a piece in a series you offer.
Use the PLR product for content on your site. Let’s say that you received a PLR product about Healthy Eating Strategies. You own a blog about healthy habits. Break up the content from that PLR product, and use them as blog posts! Think about this: if the product is long enough, you can have a whole year’s worth of content at your fingertips, ready to post as you see fit!! Talk about a time saver
Article marketing. Just as you can break up the product for blog content, you can also create articles on your subject from that same product! And in case you don’t know, article marketing is a great way to get your name and site out there for others to find…i.e. BACKLINKS! Also, since most article databases allow you to use a Author Bio box at the end of your article, you can have a link back to your site or blog…i.e. TRAFFIC!
Use it for list building. I am sure you have seen those giveaway events that get mentioned at least once a month! Take your new PLR product, change it up a little, add/change some graphics, and post it as a giveaway item in those giveaway events! Nearly all of those places that have the giveaway offers will allow you to use an opt-in form that needs to be filled out before they can download your freebie. Collect their name and email, give them your modified product, and sell them with your other offers!

I hope this has given you some ideas on how to use PLR content to help you make some extra money online!

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please….comment below!

Dave

CamStudio Pro – A Nice Alternative to Camtasia!

Dave — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 23:10:15 +0000

Camtasia is one of the best video capture programs out there … but it’s also not cheap It runs about $300. IMO, it is well worth the money and I do use it…BUT if you are on a tight budget, I have an great alternative for you to check out…
It’s called CamStudio Pro.

It was created by David Guindon, a fellow marketer and programmer and costs less than $30.00!!

Not only can you easily create a video capture of your screen, you can use the built-in web page editor to create a page for you!

Some quick benefits:

Create video webpages from AVI or WMV video files using the Video Webpage Designer
Integrate Google Adsense or any custom html into your video webpages using the Video Webpage Designer!
Flash videos for uploading to the web works in Firefox and Netscape!
Record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files.
and much more … just check out Dave’s site!!

If you have wanted to implement video on your site and don’t have the $300 for Camtasia, I would definitely recommend checking out CamStudio Pro.

Here is a way you can use the software:

“How to Market Other People’s Products on Google Video and eBay at the Same time!”

Enjoy!!

Dave

Idea No. 2 – CPA/PPL, Freebies, and Groups … oh my!

Dave — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 23:32:58 +0000

CPA = Cost Per Action
PPL = Pay Per Lead

Essentially, CPA/PPL programs pay you a flat fee for having your customers complete a task .. for example: filling out a survey, completing a credit card application, completing a loan application, etc.

How can you make money from this?Ah, glad you asked!

There are several versions of these CPA/PPL offers … some require the person completing an offer to submit their name, address, phone number, and credit card info. While others only ask for a name and email!

I would suggest finding “free” offers that do not require a credit card and then let your imagination run wild!

Here are some CPA/PPL Networks you can check out:

Google’s CPA/PPL is built inside of their AdSense program (they call them referrals!)
In fact, the sweet thing about these “referrals” is that they ENCOURAGE you to draw attention to the ads! Unlike their regular AdSense ads, where you can be banned for doing so!!

Other CPA/PPL Networks:

http://www.azoogleads.com
http://www.maxbounty.com
http://www.cj.com (they are in there, just have to look for them!)
http://network.hydramedia.com
http://www.clickbooth.com
http://www.jumboaffiliates.com
http://www.rocketprofit.com
http://www.clixgalore.com
http://www.bettertextads.com
http://www.adster.com
http://www.leadermarkets.com
http://www.primaryads.com
http://www.revenueloop.com
http://www.cpaempire.com
http://www.copeac.com
http://www.leadflash.com

OK, so you have signed up for some of these networks.

Now we have to get some traffic to see those offers!

Here’s a hint or two
Social Networks (MySpace, etc…)
Videos (talk about the great offer(s) – give a link)
Blogs about the offer – Articles to help drive traffic
Squidoo / Hubpages
Groups & Forums

NOTE: some CPA/PPL networks allow incentive marketing – essentially, with incentive marketing you can tell your visitors to check out an offer and in return, you will send them something for their time – that something can be a free report or even money! Be sure you understand the specific rules for each offer to make sure you can use incentives.

Personally, I would try and find incentive-allowed offers because you can get a higher response rate from your visitors! WHY? Because you are giving them something in return for their time!

Go through the networks you signed up with and find the offers you are going to market. Get a good 10-20 offers, hopefully in the same general or similar niche. The reason is that you can get them to take a look at and fulfill multiple offers if they are related!

Create a webpage, Squidoo lens, Hubpage, or blog with your offer on it.

Then, go into Squidoo, MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, hi5, Multiply, Google Groups, Yahoo Groups, Forums, etc…and find an appropriate group you are trying to target with you offers. START interacting with the groups! Become one of them … have your signature line say something like “have a free resource book on _______. PM or email me for information!”

Find or create a short report about your subject … make sure it is worth something! Spend a little time to make it a very useful freebie!

Then, as you build a relationship inside these groups, you will start to get people sending you messages about your free book. Tell them in return for taking a few minutes to look at your website/blog/lens â€¦ and checking out the offers there, you will send them your ebook! I would make sure your offers are free to them AND hopefully do not require a credit card (yes, there are freebie offers out there that do not require the person to enter a credit card!)

Form here, it’s a matter of checking your stats to see if your stats are increasing and you are getting credit for your signups! Ask your visitor to email you after they complete the offer(s). Then, email them with your Freebie!

It should not be that hard to find 10-20 people a day to fill out the offers

That would be a decent side income for maybe an hour or two of work per day!

Idea No. 1 – Yahoo Answers

Dave — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 23:24:23 +0000

In case you don’t know what Yahoo Answers is – it’s an “Ask a Question – Get an Answer” website run by Yahoo – which, IMO, was a copy of Google Answers’ service (which, sadly, is now discontinued.)

Anyway – you can find Yahoo Answers here: http://answers.yahoo.com

I suggest in the research section to use places like Yahoo Answers to help you with digging for both a niche idea and product idea to fill that niche.

But that is not what this is really about…So here is the idea:

Use Yahoo Answers to get traffic. Not earth-shattering news, I know…but stay with me.

Most, if not all of the responses to people’s questions come in the form of the answer (when you get one) written in the reply itself or by a person posting a link to a reference site.

SO…why not try this: Post a reply – saying something like: “Hey questiongirl101! I was just looking for that information myself the other day – found some interesting things!! Take a look here – I have your answer in a video I made for you!”

Post the link to a video YOU CREATED about whatever the problem and solution is.

Now, either inside the video or on the page that has the video embedded … you can post a link to a clickbank item you found that may help the person, OR post a link to a product you created based on your research of their problem.

Be very careful though about how you go about getting the person from the Yahoo Answers site to your site. The users there are very quick to point out spam. And even if you had the perfect solution to their problem (even as a freebie) – you get flagged for spam…your post (and your account) is gone!!

Ok .. for that matter, you can try this with the various other Q-n-A sites out there!

Here is a list:

Lycos iQ – http://iq.lycos.co.uk
The Answer Bank – http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk
Questionville – http://questionville.com
AllExperts – http://www.allexperts.com
Askeet – http://www.askeet.com
Wondir – http://www.wondir.com
Just Answer – http://www.justanswer.com
Ask a Question – http://askaquestion.ab.ca
Ask the IPL – http://www.ipl.org/div/askus/
Answer Bag – http://www.answerbag.com
Questionize – http://www.questionize.com