Regardless of what you’re doing, due diligence should be part of the equation. Like most of you, I’m always looking for the newest or easiest way – to market either a product, ebook, or such on the Internet.   So, when I received an email from one of the Internet’s long-time gurus touting a program that would [...]]]>

Regardless of what you’re doing, due diligence should be part of the equation. Like most of you, I’m always looking for the newest or easiest way – to market either a product, ebook, or such on the Internet.   So, when I received an email from one of the Internet’s long-time gurus touting a program that would allow me to publish content in a manner similar to Click Bank, my interest was piqued.   Seems I could upload my content, set my own price and share the link to start making sales right away – and for free – I was impressed.   But I wanted to know more.

I visited the multiple links embedded in the email and found that each one went to the same page.  No where could I find any information about the website and the process to make all this happen.  No terms and conditions, no user agreement defined, and no privacy policy.  All the stuff you need and want to know beforehand. Bottom line, I had a lot of questions… particularly since it would appear they are based out of the country.

In addition, there was also an affiliate program tied in with no clarification. All of this had me wondering….

1. Who are the owners running this system?
2. How long have they been in Internet Marketing?
3. Do I maintain ownership of my product once it’s on their site?
4. How are payments made when a sale is made?
5. Who gets the affiliate sales monies… and how is it paid?
6. If there is a problem, which country’s laws are used for resolution?
7. How are product returns handled?
8. Can I remove my product when I want with no penalty?
9. Will you at sometime charge for this program in the future? And if so, can I opt out at that time with no cost?

In all honesty, I have to say I did not go through the sign-up process… all this information may have been available there. But for me I like to know what I getting into before I have to sign up. And, while everyone is hoping to find the best money-making program out there, you have to know what you’re getting into before ‘signing’ on the dotted line”  which means taking a deep breath and spending  a little time to perform the necessary due diligence before making a decision and commitment.

For those that may not be familiar with PSAs, these were unpaid ads that [...]]]> February 7, 2011 AdSense Blog:   It was announced that Google will be retiring their PSA program (Public Service Ad) in an effort to develop more effective opportunities for their non-profit partners.  The new program is Google Grants if you would like to read more.

For those that may not be familiar with PSAs, these were unpaid ads that would display on your site if Google wasn’t able to match a paid ad.  There were many reasons an AdSense ad may not  have appeared . . .   from content to simply not having been crawled. 

15 Reasons Your AdSense May Not Display

• Site has not yet been crawled
• Site may contain sensitive for which relevant ‘paying’ ads will not display
• Your account may be under review or disapproved
• Site has restricted access using robots.txt exclusion
• Site is using session IDs in the URL
• Site is using frames
• Ad unit is set to display image ads only
• Webpage may not contain enough content
• Content does not comply with program policies
• AdSense code was placed within an IFRAME
• Webpages are behind a password protected login
• Too many URLs have been added to your account filter list
• Site is primarily in unsupported language
• Ad code has been modified
• Page contains a refresh tag

Publisher Bottom Line

If you have AdSense ads on your website and have selected to display PSAs when no relevant ads are available, you will now see a blank space. If you have in the past selected to show either a ‘color’ or non-Google ads from another URL this change will not effect you.

However, if you have opted-in for PSAs and want to make changes to your AdSense options, this can be done by logging into your AdSense account —> AdSense Setup —> Manage Ads.

From here you can make and save any changes to your ads. You will notice that when making these changes – or setting up a new AdSense unit – the option of selecting a PSA is no longer available.

Helpful Hint: Make using a non-Google URL easy by maintaining an HTML document that has link information for all the corresponding AdSense unit sizes you are using. You should have one replacement URL for each AdSense unit  size and for each URL you want to use as a replacement.  You can then easily copy and paste the URL into the appropriate box when setting up or editing your AdSense units. 

Conclusion

Although PSAs are being retired this is not to say that your website is guaranteed to display ad units.  Review the above list and review your  pages to see if you need to update your website to comply.

Had a phone call from an old acquaintannce last week. She was looking for help with her web page. It would seem that she ‘signed-up’ and paid for a program (Fortune Learning Systems) but [...]]]> Before we get started with the table templates wanted to share the following with you . . . .

Caution :: Caution :: Caution

Had a phone call from an old acquaintannce last week. She was looking for help with her web page. It would seem that she ‘signed-up’ and paid for a program (Fortune Learning Systems) but was now having trouble getting them to deliver on services as promised. She wanted to know if we could help her get her website working (which we couldn’t). However, we did give her some questions to ask.

I know that with times as they are, there are a lot of people looking for a way to stay home and earn a few extra dollars …. or maybe start a new career on the Internet. All I can say is PLEASE  investigate any program you may think you want to pursue or invest in.  Look on line for scam reports, Better Business Bureau reports, blogs that monitor scams, etc. before investing any money. If it sounds too good to be true – it probably is.

Follow-up to this situation as of 12/21/2010- her web page is now up and running – but the items she mentioned not liking are still there. 

7  Steps to Setting up an Internet Business

For those planning on setting up an Internet business next year, the list below will give you an idea as to the order of things to-do. After you read through the list, there’s  a link  to the page for snagging the  HTML table templates for copying.  

The following steps are in order to follow – after you do your due diligence with regard to investigating a niche or product; signing up for any affiliate you want to use; reviewing the legality of the product in your state and other states; getting necessary tax papers, bank accounts, etc.; and procuring the necessary equipment to run the business, ie., computer(s), computer programs, fax machine, telephone lines, digital cameras, etc.

1. Decide on type of internet business. Do you want to . . .

• promote your existing business (service or sales),
• sell someone else’s product,
• sell your own product,
• or blog (use to promote affiliates).

2. Purchase domain name - make sure ‘keyword’ is in name if at all possible

3. Secure hosting – make sure provider offers access to cPanel, shopping cart, stat programs, email accounts, etc.

4. Build website – or have built

5. Search Engine Optimization - keep up with current changes to search engine algorithms and make adjustments to website as needed

6. Promote website/blog by using the following . . .

• Search Engine Submittal
• Free Directory Submittal
• Backlinks via . . .
  • Forums
  • Articles
  • Related blogs
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Free online classified ad sites

7. Continue to add fresh, new content and update website bi-weekly at the very least.

Getting Started with a Website

If you’re not using a blog as your platform, you’ll need a website to showcase your services or products. For this you’ll either have to hire someone, use a ‘box’ program like Dreamweaver or write it yourself.   There are a lot of good reference books that are easy to understand.  Our favorites are the Quick Start Guides.

When having someone build your website, you should thoroughly investigate their credentials beforehand. Get information regarding all costs involved – cost to build as well as any ‘hidden’ costs associated with registration.  Then compare costs if you were to launch it yourself. 

What You Need to Know

When contracting someone, make it understood you want complete control of passwords and usernames, etc.;  all accounts registered (you want control of everything in your name).  Get a detailed  schedule for completion of  the website with a written contract.   And,  also get a signed agreement that if the schedule deadline is not met there will be a monetary discount applied to the overall cost. You should also get references and talk to past clients.

Regardless of which method you use to get your website up and running, you should know some HTML basics so you can review your website source code and know what you’re looking at.

You will need this knowledge to be able to make minor HTML changes, add in affiliate or AdSense links and codes, as well as check for-  and change –  search engine optimization tags. This is particularly true if someone else is writing your page or you use a box program. Not every website builder is knowledgeable in search engine optimization and not every box program will have the most recent search engine requirements.

Table Templates

We’ve coded six different HTML table templates that you get from the Table Templates page. Note the   <!– –>    tags inside each table define the information for that section  so you will know where to put your text and images.

Note that the spaces shown are arbitrary and the table will be centered on the page. The space for the banner image will be determined by the size of the image used; the sidebars are all set for a width of 150 pixels; however,  this can be changed to any width.

If you like, you can use one layout  for the main page and a different one for internal pages of the site. These are all basic table layouts. Just copy and paste them into your HTML editor.

Once you’ve done this, you will need to include META tags, select desired background colors, set the CSS for individual pages, include images, links, navigation and text.  Links to get code can be found here –  ‘Table Templates’  - or from the ’6 HTML Table Templates’ page in the left sidebar.

When you’ve completed the page, save it and upload when ready. Final thought, the page you will want to use for the home page must be saved under the name ‘index.html’.

While each method [...]]]> I don’t know of anyone – in Internet Marketing (IM) – that isn’t familiar with using Google’s AdSense as a method to monetize a website or blog. AdSense has come a long way since those first years . . . and today, there are several ways AdSense ads can be used.

• Content
• Search
• Feeds
• Domains
• Mobile Content
• Mobile Applications

While each method has it’s own unique application, this post primarily will be concerned with the two categories of ‘content’ ads. These two categories are links and text/image ads – with both types targeting ad content that is relevant to website content. Or, as defined by Google . . .

Text and image ads – “Ad units contain either text ads, image ads, or both. The ads are targeted to the content of your page using contextual and placement targeting.”

Link ads  - “Each link unit displays a list of topics that are relevant to your page. When users click a topic, they’re brought to a page of related ads.”

Each ad type has its own advantages, depending where on the page you plan to use it. While setting up an ad unit is relatively easy in that it is menu driven, there is one aspect of the ad set-up you should be aware of managing to maximize your IM potential.

Set-Up:  More Options Link

This section of the set-up allows you to choose what to display in the ad space should a relevant ad unit not be available.

Displayed in the More Options area (bottom of page 2) you will see the three alternate space ‘fillers’ available . . .

1. PSA – Public Service Ads
2. Non-Google ads – Ads from another URL
3. Color - Fill space with a solid color you choose.

By definition, the two obvious ones are PSA and Color.  The PSA is Google’s choice of an ad that is public service oriented – typically for an educational, charitable or non-profit organization.

The ‘fill space with color’ choice allows you to choose the color you want from a chart of pre-selected colors. This color will then be used to fill in the ad space if an ad is not available. This color might be the same as the background, a complementary color or a color that blends in with the page’s established color palette.

However, the non-Google ad option should be the one you want focus on. This option allows you to create banner images for other URL’s giving you added exposure for your other IM business ventures. These URL’s can be for other sections of the same website, an affiliate program, other websites you might own or a blog you want to publicize.

To use a non-Google URL, select the radio button next to that selection. Next, you would fill in the address where the ad can be found. That seems pretty simple and gets the job done – but there are a few other things to remember so your ad displays correctly and gets the message across . . .

1. Use the complete URL for the replacement ad in the space provided (http://www.yourdomain.com/replacement_ad.jpg)
2. The ad to be substituted should be the exact same size as the one it will replace.
3. The replacement ad should be uploaded and available online.
4. The replacement ad should contain information so the visitor knows what the business is offering and how to contact someone
5. The replacement ad should contain the website address (if applicable). (www.yourdomain.com)

Conclusion

Not only does Google’s AdSense program offer a way to earn money by displaying relevant ads, but also it gives you the option of using that same space to benefit your other IM programs should an ad not be available. So, take advantage of the opportunity offered and build a library of replacement ads – in various sizes. Then you can use those in lieu of a PSA or a plain colored block selection when setting up new ad units . . . this will make your page look more professional and those non-profit spaces become potential monies .

We probably get a hundred or so emails every week from people trying to sell us or get us to promote some program or the other.   Most most of the time  we delete and dismiss them.  However, once in a while – like the two aforementioned programs – a new program comes along that is innovative [...]]]>  

We probably get a hundred or so emails every week from people trying to sell us or get us to promote some program or the other.   Most most of the time  we delete and dismiss them.  However, once in a while – like the two aforementioned programs – a new program comes along that is innovative and makes sense. Such is the case with Clickbank Predators.

If you’ve been reading our blog regularly, you already know that ClickBank is one of the best ways to earn money on the Internet. ClickBank Predators has made being a ClickBank affiliate easy. They have created a program that allows you to put up ClickBank products (or any other affiliate product) on your own pages – all done by a click of the mouse. Eighteen clicks to be exact.

This program is automated – and according to Chris and Jerome – you can have your first site up in about 15 minutes.

Sounds almost too good to be true right? All ‘legit’. There are no ‘black hat tricks’ used – all on the up and up.

Won’t everyone else be doing this?  Won’t  there be competition? Of course, life is full of competition. But the early bird gets the worm – so don’t delay.  If you’re looking for a simple way to earn a few extra bucks, this program might just be exactly what you’ve been looking and waiting for.  This program just went live this week – so you can be one of the first ones to take advantage of it before it hits mainstream.

Still not sure this program is for you …… What if I don’t like it after I’ve purchased it?  What if it doesn’t work for me?  What if I simple change my mind?

Not a problem. You can try this program RISK FREE for 60 days!

Yes, risk free for a whole 60 days.  If  you purchse the program and find you’re not making money in those 60 days … all you do is request a money-back  refund. No questions asked. What could be simpler?

So, if you would like to be in Affiliate Marketing but  HTML, CGI, JAVA and the like are not to your liking - give ClickBank Predators a try.

Click here to get more information and  take a few minutes to watch the  video - you’ve got nothing to loose and everything to gain!