Can You Really Make Good Money From Internet Marketing?

This posting will be written in English for the benefit of one good long-time pal of mine from Singapore. Well, during the World Internet Mega Summit in Singapore, I managed to catch up on an old friend, and of course, the usual questions popped up, especially, “So where are you working now?”

hahaha … due to my past experiences with the reactions of folks to the answer, I hesitated at first to say what I did but then decided, to hell with it, just say it, so I mumbled something about doing business on the internet, i.e. internet marketing.

Bless my dear dear friend, because he was interested to know more.

Note that this is not the typical response I usually receive when I mention: internet marketing, internet business, online business and its derivatives.

The responses are more along the lines of:

==> “Aah … you’re into one of those online investments schemes! Me too! Last time I invested US$1000 in Fraudfund.com and I had 5 people as my downline. I managed to make $22 before the website got shut down …”

==> “Internet business? Load of crap! Scam one, you know! So many fraud and scam one …”

==> “Wah, you’re still unemployed?! What’s the use of all that degree and Masters from England? Nevermind, I can get you a job at my friend’s cousin’s sister’s uncle’s company.”

Yup, and those are from the nicer folks.

So can you really make good money from internet marketing?

That depends. On you.

You see, like any other business, you must have a plan. Making money on the internet is not just setting up a website and hoping that people will automatically come and buy your stuffs.

Let’s list down the basics of starting a business online:

1.) Research you target market on the net, i.e. research your niche, your keywords for that niche.
Remember: HIGH SEARCH + LOW WEBSITES ON TOPIC = Very Profitable.

2.) Build your site. Set up your hosting and domain name.

3.) Make money by:
- creating your own product - reports, ebooks, software, etc.
- promoting your own services - freelance programmer, accounting services, paid reviewer, graphics designer, web designer, etc.
- promoting affiliate products.
- selling memberships to members sites, either your own or as an affiliate.
- promoting network marketing products and services.
- through adsense and similar services.
- flipping websites.

4.) Generate traffic to your website:
- search engine optimization / organic search
- through pay-per-click (PPCs like Adwords, Yahoo Publisher Network, etc).
- article marketing (article directories like ezinearticles, goarticles, etc)
- forum marketing
- video marketing (YouTube, GoogleVideo, etc).
- podcasting
- marketing on social sites like MySpace, Squidoo, etc.
- press releases (PRWeb, IMNewswatch, etc)
- blogging
- through RSS feeds
- free / paid directory listings
- email marketing.
- banner ads (yes, they’re still alive or Yahoo won’t be using them extensively…)
- reviews on other people’s websites / blogs.
- SMS or text-message marketing.
- … and don’t forget good old offline marketing, especially if your niche is a local thing. Use brochures, pamphlets, radio ads, etc.

5.) Duplicate. If one site is making money, for instance, maybe $500 per month, try building 10 more.

So, can you really make good money from internet marketing?
Yes. But it depends on YOU.

Are online businesses sustainable?
It can be. Your website should NOT be a get-rich-quick (GRQ) scheme to milk money from your visitors one morning only to be offline and gone in the evening. Build a website as though it’d be online forever. That means you create quality, honesty and integrity into your business.

You must create good content for your visitors, provide information that is relevant to your topic and build rapport with your readers. Great after-sales service is a must after customers have bought your product or services. If your after-sales services are poor or your products are crap, be assured that news travel fast on the Net and before you know it, your website will be flamed on some blogs or forums for providing crappy goods and crappy customer support.

Okay, that’s all for now. Cheers.

Galadriel.

UPDATE:
Today, 27th of June, also happens to be my father’s 55th birthday!
So I just want to wish AYAH a Happy 55th Birthday, may you live long and prosper!
And Ayah, thank you for being my inspiration and believing in my business!

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