The claims of FFA sites are some of the most hyper-inflated on the internet: “Retire in 6 months!”, “Bring thousands of visitors to your website!”, “Turn water into wine!”  (Okay, I made that last one up.)  I’m here to tell you that advertising on FFA sites and even owning one yourself is pretty much a phenomenal waste of time.

What is FFA advertising?

FFA stands for Free For All.  Basically, an FFA site allows you to advertise your online business for free.  Sounds good, right?  Well, read on.

Why is advertising on FFA sites a waste of time?

Unfortunately your ad is one of hundreds on a website purely devoted to advertising.  When is the last time you visited an FFA site to thoughtfully read all the ads and choose something to buy?  Probably never.  The same maxim holds true for the rest of humanity.  Even if people did visit FFA sites and read the ads, yours is usually removed after about an hour to make room for the next batch.  Even if you are foolish enough to pay for premium placement, the chance of anyone seeing your ad and actually visiting your site is nil.

What if I actually own the FFA site?  Can I make money then?

Probably not.  The point of owning an FFA site is to collect email addresses or “leads”.  Everyone who posts a free ad needs to provide you with their email address.  However, most people submitting to FFA sites now use an automated system and/or second email account so they can instantly delete all the spam email that comes from the hundreds of FFA sites they’ve posted their ads on.  So most of the “leads” you collect will be worthless.

Can I earn commission by signing other people up for FFA sites?

This is the newest dimension of FFA advertising.  If you think you will make money this way, I have some Tahitian Noni Juice I want to sell you.

There are legitimate ways to advertise cheaply or for free online.  Some banner ad exchanges, classified sites, and inexpensive Pay-Per-Click services will bring traffic to your website.  But unfortuantely FFA sites won’t.

internet marketing, online business

In online business, a large amount of your marketing efforts are directed at bringing traffic into your dropshipping website.  One way that you can do this is through a Direct Domain Navigation marketing strategy.

What is Direct Domain Navigation?

Instead of performing a Google search, many people looking for a specific product simply type a generic word into the URL field of their browser.  For instance, if I was looking for mittens, I might type www.mittens.com into my browsers instead of doing an actual search for mittens.

How can you use Direct Domain Navigation to bring traffic to your dropshipping website?

By registering multiple generic domain names that all feed into your dropshipping website, you can capture traffic from Direct Domain Navigation.  The point is to bring traffic from multiple addresses into one website.

If I type www.mittens.com into my web browser, where will that take me?  Hopefully to your website.  Your main URL might actually be www.themittenshop.com, but because you’ve registered other similar addresses, you get traffic from Direct Domain Navigation.

Other reasons why registering multiple domain names is important:

• Though it’s preferable that your main URL be a .com address, you will want to register the .net, .ca, etc. addresses so your traffic won’t accidentally go to somebody else’s site.

• Registering common misspellings of your domain name can also prevent lost traffic.  Wal-Mart lost a huge amount of visitors until they registered www.walmart.com as well as www.wal-mart.com.

• Some major brand names also use the multiple-domain strategy to build websites for a specific promotional event.

What is the downside of Direct Domain Navigation?

Many of the most common generic domain names will already be owned by someone else.  However, with the advent of domain marketplaces, you can often purchase URLs from current owners for reasonable prices.

internet marketing, website design / help

As I mentioned in Friday’s news post, online sales saw their best day on December 15th 2009 when they reached a record $900 million in one day.  However, the e-commerce increase is not equally spread across all retailers.  While the top 25 biggest online retailers enjoyed an 11% increase over the holidays, smaller retailers saw only a 7% jump.  The divide between mega-retailers and the little guys seems to be widening as the big dogs expand their online presence.  Amazon and Walmart alone accounted for 13% of online spending over the holidays.

Competition from mega-retailers bumps up the cost of advertising campaigns like Pay-Per-Click.  To carve out their own presence, smaller retailers are increasingly turning to social media sites.

Why is Social Media Marketing so important?

1. Social Media Marketing has a heftier influence than you might imagine

The surprise news from ComScore’s analysis of 2009 online-shopping was the level of influence social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have on people’s shopping habits.  A whopping 28% of people surveyed said a social site had influenced their purchase decisions.  At least 7% discovered a favorite online retailer through Facebook, and 5% regularly followed an e-business on Twitter in the hopes of receiving coupons and other promotional offers.

2. Social Media Marketing remains an inexpensive marketing option

While other marketing venues like Pay-Per-Click have risen in price, Social Media Marketing remains affordable.  Many methods of promotion on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, etc. are actually free.

3. Social Media Marketing allows you more creative liberties than some other forms of advertising

Your average Pay-Per-Click ad can be well-worded, but it’s a limited medium in terms of grabbing your customer’s attention and show-casing the personality of your business.  When you post an ad on Facebook or other social media sites, you can include images and even animation.  If you recall my blog post on how Threadless became the first company to capture my business on Facebook, the reason I clicked the Threadless ad was because of the excellent picture of a Little Red Riding Hood t-shirt they displayed above their ad.  Social Media Marketing often offers more creative and personalized advertising options than other venues.

internet marketing

When the Segway PT was under development, known only to the world as the mysterious “IT” or “Ginger”, speculation ran wild that this product would revolutionize the way cities were designed, that everyone would clamor to own one, that Segway would reach $1 billion in sales faster than any other company in history.  While the actual success or failure of the Segway since 2001 is debatable, it’s name has become practically synonymous with hype, and the company has only shipped about 50,000 units to date.  Now you can argue it took airplanes, microwaves, and diesel engines a long time to reach common usage as well, but that is beyond the scope of this article.  What I want to talk about is targeted marketing.

The Segway failed to target a specific market

When the Segway was released, creator Dean Kamen thought everyone would want to own one.  And apparently he thought the $5000 model was appropriate for every need and purpose.  In fact, the Segway PT does not fit every need and purpose.  Had a variety of models been designed, the company might have been more successful.

For instance, one of the main uses to which the Segway is currently put is a transportation device for security guards and postal workers.  Obviously, a unit with a much longer battery life would have been preferable for professionals who have to use the device continually for 8 hours.  The postal workers might also have appreciated some kind of umbrella attachment for rain.

Students looking for an inexpensive commuting option and people who want to purchase the product as a toy would need a basic, cheaper model.

Elderly users might require a seat attachment, larger controls, or perhaps an automatic stop mechanism to prevent them running into trees and telephone poles.

The Segway was marketed to everyone, but it didn’t particularly appeal to anyone.  I’m a big believer in target marketing.  You can’t please everyone, so pick a demographic you can impress.

How do you target market dropshipping products?

1. Everything should be done with an eye to your target market

Who are you trying to attract with your web design?  What do these people want to know when they read your articles?  What is important to them in terms of product quality/style/shipping speed/return policies?  What kind of promotions will be the most effective with your target audience?  People are not looking for the same things when they purchase a product.  Some demographics will value the quality of a certain product, others the trendiness.  For some people, the most important thing will be your return policy (ie pregnant women purchasing bathing suits online).

2. Your target market will not always be the obvious choice

Let’s say you’re dropshipping do-it-yourself products like car-repair kits, plumbing kits, bicycle-repair supplies, etc.  You might be temped to market to your average handy-man.  But that market might already be saturated.  Consider targeting an untapped segment of the population.  If you set up a do-it-yourself site for the single woman, complete with educational articles and plenty of instructions, you could have much more success.  Remember Cathy Curtis who marketed her financial planning services specifically to women who don’t know much about financial planning.  Just make sure your un-tapped market is vibrant enough to support your business.

3. You can’t market to people you don’t know

Why are mom-preneur and stay-at-home mom sites so successful?  Because they’re usually designed by actual mom-preneurs and stay-at-home moms.  These women know their market – they know what needs to fill.  If you don’t understand your market, you’re not going to be able to target correctly.  So if you’re trying to dropship products to the Spanish-Catholic crowd and you’re an Alabama Baptist, you’re going to need to do a lot of research.

Maybe I’m way off and the success or failure of the Segway had more to do with how nerdy you look riding one, but I think targeted marketing is a necessity for almost every dropshipping product.

internet marketing

We’ve talked before about how PPC (Pay-Per-Click advertising) can bring traffic to your dropshipping website.  But did you know that you can also use PPC to drive traffic to your eBay store?

The benefits of bringing outside traffic to your eBay store are more than a simple increase in sales:

1. When you bring someone directly to your store from outside of eBay, eBay credits 75% of your store fee.

2. If you are a member of eBay’s affiliate proram and your customer is a first-time buyer, you can actually earn commission on top of your eBay credit.

How can you get affordable PPC for your eBay store?

As anyone who has used PPC knows, it can be very expensive to purchase more common keywords like “shoes” or “boots”.  However, more specific long-tail keywords can be very affordable – say “embroidered cowboy boots” or “hand-made Chinese boots”.  This will bring in traffic with a better conversion rate anyway – if I’m searching for Chinese boots, I’m not going to buy anything from your cowboy boot eBay store, and I’ll just cost you money in PPC.  Thus, specific long-tail keywords can result in more profitable traffic as well as being less expensive to purchase than general, popular keywords.

eBay, internet marketing

One of the absolute most important aspects of website design and online business marketing is improving your SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.  The whole point of SEO is to get your dropshipping website listed at the top of the search engine response pages for keywords relevant to your business.  If you are operating a chocolate-dipped fruit store, you want your business to be the first one that shows up when I Google “chocolate fruit”, “chocolate-dipped fruit” and even more obscure keywords like “gourmet gifts” or “wedding shower treats”.  Efficient SEO will bring in a ton of business, often more than you could pay for through Pay-Per-Click advertising, banner ads, flyers, etc. – that’s why it’s so important.

I’ve talked a lot about basic SEO techniques in previous posts, but you should be aware that search engines are constantly tweaking their algorithms to make the search experience better for users.  This means that you need to stay up to date with what the search engines are looking for.

One aspect of SEO that has become increasingly important is video.

Posting how-to and instructional videos is a great way to improve your SEO and get your business noticed, particularly for new or smaller businesses that have a hard time competing in traditional SEO.

3 things to remember when adding video to your website and your marketing efforts:

1. Video files need to be properly titled with keywords so they’re searchable.

Search engines often can’t read anything other than text (for instance they can’t read your logo if it’s an image instead of text).  Titling your video and posting a short summary or description is helpful both to search engines and to people visiting your site.

2. Your video needs to be valuable.

Your video needs to provide valuable information, blow people’s minds, or at the very least make your visitors laugh their socks off.  If your video has no value, nobody will want to watch it, link to it, or recommend it to friends.  Informative is probably the easiest note to hit, so film a video on how to perform an amazing card trick, how create the perfect rosettes for a birthday cake, or a review on the latest ergonomic bicycle helmet.  Obviously the video should be related to your product line, so the aforementioned videos would be on websites selling magic tricks, cake decorating supplies, and cycling gear.

3. Promote your video and your website on other venues

Post your video on YouTube and other popular sites.  By including a link to your website, you can bring in traffic.

SEO, internet marketing, website design / help

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a very useful way to bring traffic to your website in the early stages of your online business when you’re still building your search engine page ranking.  PPC advertising is a system where you pay for ads on search engine pages and other websites.  You bid for the best placement, and then you pay a set amount, say 10 cents, every time someone clicks the link to visit your website.  PPC is beneficial to online business-owners because you don’t pay simply to have your ad posted, as you would with a traditional billboard or tv ads – you only pay when people actually visit your site.  You can also strictly control your costs, because once your agreed-upon amount is depleted – say $300 – your ad is immediately removed.

The downside of PPC advertising is that the traffic can be of very low quality – meaning, visitors have a high “bounce rate” (they leave immediately after landing on your home page), or your traffic has poor conversion (you have plenty of visitors but they don’t buy anything).  You can also have an issue if you’re paying for international visitors, but you don’t ship out of the country.

Obviously, you need to choose the right PPC service for your online business.

Which is the best Pay-Per-Click service?

The biggest and most popular PPC option is Google Adwords.  Google generally brings the most traffic to your site, and the traffic is of relatively high quality.  The problem with Google is it is usually the most expensive PPC option.  Many small businesses find it difficult to compete with the big brands in PPC on Google.  (It helps if you bid for placement at the end of the day or end of the week.  Many large companies have a set PPC budget on a daily or weekly basis – once their fund is exhausted, PPC becomes cheaper for the little guys.

What are my alternatives to Google Adwords?

If you prefer not to use Google for reasons of cost or because you want a more specialized PPC program, you can consider the following options:

1. Yahoo! Search Marketing

Pros: Like Google, Yahoo! is a popular engine with a well-established program and quality traffic.

Cons: They are likewise expensive, though some keywords are cheaper.

2. MSN AdCenter

Pros: Known for quality traffic and a very useful keyword research tool.

Cons: Poor reviews for their difficult interface and overall useability.

3. SearchFeed

Pros: SearchFeed purports to be a more specialized PPC service.  They promise more targeted advertising, which could be beneficial for people selling niche products – in particular they offer geo-targeting (traffic from your specific country).  They are generally much cheaper than Google.

Cons: Smaller services like SearchFeed have been accused of providing lower-quality traffic.  However, since the service is so much cheaper, you may still get a better ROI (Return on Investment).  For example, if you received 100 visitors from SearchFeed for the same price as 10 from Google, as long as 10 or more of those visitors are of comparable quality, it’s a better investment.  But it’s quite possible that all 100 of your visitors could be useless.

Note on SearchFeed: If you are receiving inappropriate traffic (too many international visitors, scam clicks, etc.), you can call the company and ask them to tailor your placement.  This has resulted in better traffic for some users.

4. 7Search

Pros: Known for their high ROI, which they claim is better than Google’s.

Cons: As with many of the smaller services, users have reported receiving 100 visitors from all over the globe for every 1 from the US.  If you’re not planning on shipping internationally, this could be a problem.

5. MIVA

Pros: Quite inexpensive, and offers a list of under-bid keywords that you can advertise for pennies.

Cons: Accused of having a very high automated traffic/scam traffic rate.  Some users claimed to have spent hundreds of dollars without receiving a single viable sale, though others reported a positive experience with a good return on their investment.

Most of the reviews I’ve read on messageboards, blog posts, articles, and so forth are very mixed.  The best course of action is probably to try a few different PPC services and monitor your conversion rates and overall ROI very carefull.  I would recommend starting with Google, and then run the same PPC ads through other companies as well.  (You need to use the same keywords and post on the same days/times so you can isolate the real value of the service.)  Many PPC services offer a $25 or $50 credit for signing up, which would allow you to test their results without spending too much money.

internet marketing, selling products online

According to a recent survey by Netcraft, there are more than 182 million websites on the world wide web.  Of that 182 million, how many are retail sites?  A LOT.  So how can you make your online business stand out from those thousands, even millions of other websites?

Develop a strong “point of difference” for your online business

“Point of difference” is a term for the outcome of product differentiation.  Business economists see product differentiation as an important strategy for businesses everywhere.  The modern man (or woman) is innundated with countless advertisements and product choices every day: products that stand out due to a strong point of difference are better noticed by consumers.  Furthermore, a clear and distinct brand image helps foster customer loyalty.

Your point of difference could be something quirky, catchy, or trendy, but I believe differentiation is most successful if it fills a need in the market that is not already being met.

How can you find market needs that are not being met?

1. Study the online community

By participating in message board discussions and reading blog posts, you can determine whether emo guys are interested in a “man makeup” website, or what products your average scrapbooker is hankering for.

2. Examine your own needs

Countless successful buisnesses have been formed by people who were trying to solve a need in their own lives – like the mompreneurs who create the perfect maternity pants or the hot new toddler toy.  Take your basic business model, say “online sheet music store”, and ask yourself, what do I wish the average music store would offer that it doesn’t?  What would make me visit a particular sheet music store over another?

Remember, when formulating your business model don’t say “It’s going to be just like Zazzle” or “It’ll be like CoffeeGeek”.  If your site is just like a bigger, better established website then you won’t be able to compete.  Use your point of difference to stand out from the crowd.

internet marketing, online business

With eBooks growing in popularity, you may wonder if there’s some way you can make money off an eBook.  In fact, there are two simple ways you can capitalize on eBooks.

1. Sell An EBook To Hobbyists

If you’re operating a website dropshipping jewelry-making supplies, fishing rods, chess sets, cake baking supplies, snorkling masks, anything hobby-related, you could write and sell a how-to manual: “How To Decorate Birthday Cakes”, or “5 Easy Steps To Becoming A Chess Champion”, for instance.  Selling your eBook on your website accomplishes two things: first, it brings in additional income, and second, it can attract traffic to your site.  Even if your product isn’t really hobby-related, say a website of motivational products, you can still write an eBook, like “10 Days To A Happier You”.  If you’re creative, you can write an eBook related to almost any kind of website.

2. Give An EBook Away For Free

An eBook can also be beneficial to your website even if you’re giving it away for free.  One of the biggest problems websites have is conversion: turning traffic into customers.  Not everybody who visits your website is going to buy anything.  The more people you can get to buy, or at least come back a second time, the more profitable your Pay-Per-Click Ads and other promotions become.

One way to secure repeat visits is to gather email addresses.  If you offer a free eBook on a popular topic, you can obtain your visitor’s email address in order to send it to them.  Then later you can email them a coupon or notification of a sale on your website to encourage them to return (obviously you don’t want to be obnoxious or spammy about this).  In this way, you can create a connection with your visitors so they don’t stop at your site once and never return.  If the person is impressed with your free eBook, they will almost definitely come back to your webiste, particularly if you have other educational articles and valuable content to attract them.

internet marketing, online business

The 80/20 rule was first postulated by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who in 1906 noticed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population.  This rule was applied to business by Joseph Juran who believed that 80% of a company’s sales tend to come from 20% of its clients, a group of brand-loyal customers who marketing guru Philip Kotler termed “heavy users”.  Many economists believe that the 80/20 rule effects most aspects of business – 20% of your advertisements will bring in 80% of your traffic, 20% of your products will account for 80% of your sales, and so forth.

How can you use the 80/20 Rule to help your online business?

The key point is to figure out which products and advertisements make up that crucial 20%.  If you can determine which products and advertisements bring in the best results, you can focus your efforts and resources most effectively.  So how can you isolate that crucial 20%?

1.Website Statistics

One of the best ways to zoom in on your most successful marketing campaigns is by monitoring your website statistics.  Determine which Pay-Per-Click ads and which promotions are really working for you.  There’s no point dumping money into a keyword or banner ad that doesn’t bring results.

2.Sales Statistics

You need to rigorously monitor your sales to see which products are getting the most interest.  You can then reorganize your product pages so your big sellers get the most exposure, and alter your advertisements to optimize your keywords for those products.

What about the crucial 20% of customers?

The 80/20 rule doesn’t mean that you should try to find your best customers and treat them better than everybody else.  ALL customers should be treated in such a way as to never lose repeat business.  However, you might want to institute promotions that cater to repeat customers, like free shipping on their second order, or a coupon for 20% off including in their packing materials.

internet marketing, online business