By Sherif Ramadan
Very little is actually understood about the nature of business and its scholarly studies by Internet marketers - or what many are calling themselves online these days. The term "Internet marketing" also seems to be associated with a great number of derogatory terms. The common practice of Internet marketers is undoubtedly flawed in that they take numerous twists and turns in order to satisfy their overall objectives.
Trying Too Hard
When I see a web page advertising a product online with words written in 48 pt. bold, underlined, and bright colored fonts I already know, pretty much, what I'm getting without having to scroll down. Anyone who is trying that hard to get your attention clearly has little understanding of what marketing is all about.
Marketing was meant to be subtle and attractive, not evasive and hostile. Think what would happen if household brand names like Nestle or Coca-Cola tried to sell their products with the same ideology as these Internet marketers. You'd be seeing a lot of commercials on T.V that were 90 minutes long and had loud and obnoxious people screaming at you to buy their products right "NOW, NOW, NOW!" before you even understood what it was you were buying.
Forgetting Who Determines Value
Value is really any aspect of goods and services for which consumers are willing to exchange resources (usually money). For example, when you pay for a meal at a classy restaurant the value is high because you are willing to give up more resources in order to satisfy your entire dining experience. When you choose to eat at a fast food restaurant or a hot dog stand the value is fairly less because you aren't willing to pay $200 for a burger or a hot dog that you're eating on the street.
The producer can determine and control the quality of a product, but cannot determine its value. This is because value is in the hands of a consumer. If consumers unanimously decide that crude oil is valueless then producers can do little to change that.
I'm sure a number of people have seen ebooks or software products being marketed online that claim to tell or show you the secrets of making millions over night. The consumer is then dismayed after reading or using the product only to learn that they have spent a good $99 on something that was far less valuable than it first appeared to be. The product may go on to tell you that the secret to making millions over night is to resell this $99 product to more people. Well, what happens when more people continue to purchase the same product and it constantly fails to live up to its image? The product will ultimately become valueless; a principle explained by economics as marginal utility.
Misinterpreting Demand vs. Supply
The nature of economics is fairly complex, but a few simple concepts teach us, fundamentally, what is most commonly used as standard practice for any commercial trade. Almost all Internet marketers seem to defy this very concept.
The laws of demand and supply tell us that if the demand increases for a particular good or service then the price for that good or service will ultimately increase and vice versa. This is built on the principle of limited resources. Because both producer and consumer are given a limited number of resources at any point in time, but have an unlimited number of needs, it's therefore necessary to make some choices -- or sacrifices -- in order to satisfy their most important needs.
For example, the release of the new Sony Playstation III influenced a phenomenal spike in the demand curve of that product. There were more people who wanted to buy the SP3 than there were game consoles in stock. In this case the demand has far exceeded the supply. Yet, notice that Sony did not raise the retail price on the game console itself; at least not as the product was being soled out in stores.
It was the retailers who charged more to the consumers. People were selling the game console on ebay and through other online auction sites at prices two or three times that of conventional retail stores.
Here the limited and declining supply of the product vs. its increasing demand is quite reasonable according to the laws of supply and demand. What is not reasonable, however, are the manipulative tactics many Internet marketers use to gain greater profits from their products.
Transposing Price Margins
When an Internet marketer begins by introducing a new product at an incredibly low price and raises the price frantically as the number of sales go up, this does not comply with the laws of supply and demand. Demand is measured by the number of consumers who are both willing and able to purchase goods and not necessarily consumers who have already purchased the good. Additionally, if the good is digital in nature, such as an ebook or downloadable product, that makes it extremely abundant in supply since the duplication of a digital file is rather cheap and effortless.
What an Internet marketer is ultimately trying to do by pulling off this rapid price change is compensate for the defective nature of their products. Many of these products are informational and become obsolete over time. This means that the producer will be unable to continue selling the product once consumers learn that it no longer satisfies any of their needs. Thus it is the Internet marketers aim to quickly generate enough revenue from the product before the demand falls so that it will still make a profit. This is done by giving consumers more reason to secure their benefits at a lower cost.
Any economist will tell you that there is no benefit from dramatically raising the price on a good or service that is virtually unlimited in supply (or fairly abundant) and draws an increasing demand. In fact this may very well lead to a fall in the demand curve as consumers will realize that the cost of the good exceeds their marginal utility. Marginal utility is a measure in economics to determine how much more satisfaction is gained from the consumption of one more unit of a good or service.
Synopsis
For those of you who spend a great deal of time online trying to find that perfect solution to make a quick buck this might be a bit of a disappointment. What is not disappointing though is that we now understand why it is Internet marketers spend a great deal of time, effort, and money in creating obsolete products with little or no benefit to the consumer. The need for "a quick buck" has created a vast supply of needless products. Internet marketers will continue to supply this need for as long as it exists.
As far as I can tell, economics did not fail to explain the behaviors of these producers and consumers; if anything it brightened the picture. The limited number of resources we have define the choices we are likely to make because we are faced with an unlimited number of needs, but let us not forget that some of our needs are not as important as others. Moreover, it should be noted that the role of marketing involves some ethical behavior on the part of the producer.
If you're starting a small business and wish to learn more about small business startup, visit the Business-Geek.com website to find affordable small business services.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sherif_Ramadan
Internet Marketing Profit Robbers
By Sean Mize
Internet marketing can be extremely profitable, as I am sure you have probably seen by the many people who have become millionaires online. But what happens with too many people is that they learn and learn, but never put it all into practice. The problem with that is that they never make any real money – but they know all about how to do it.
You can have the most knowledge of anybody online about how to write an email, but until you write a few and start mailing them, you will never make any money. You simply have to commit to action.
When you sit down to work online, have an action plan. For example, write 3 emails, write 3 articles, spend one hour posting to forums, or building 5 squeeze pages. If you do not have an action plan, it is too easy to read your email, read about all the newest, hottest ways to ‘get-rich-quick’ online, and 3 hours later you have nothing to show for your time. The biggest source of failure online is probably the lack of action. To become successful online, you must create action, you must create. And if you do not, you are being robbed by the internet marketing profit robbers.
Commit to doing something productive online every day. If you choose to use article marketing as your primary source of traffic generation, write three articles a day and post them to 20 directories. If you choose forum posting, do it--every day. Commit to 40 posts a day. If you are paying for your leads with PPC or ezine ads, you must monitor every account every day. Know every day which campaigns are making you money and which are not. Constantly test your squeeze pages and email sequences. You must always know why and where you are making money and why and where not.
Internet marketing can be extremely lucrative, but you must apply what you know.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘
Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion
Do you want to learn how to build a massive list fast? Click here: Email List Building
Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 800 articles in print and 9 published ebooks.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Mize
Internet marketing can be extremely profitable, as I am sure you have probably seen by the many people who have become millionaires online. But what happens with too many people is that they learn and learn, but never put it all into practice. The problem with that is that they never make any real money – but they know all about how to do it.
You can have the most knowledge of anybody online about how to write an email, but until you write a few and start mailing them, you will never make any money. You simply have to commit to action.
When you sit down to work online, have an action plan. For example, write 3 emails, write 3 articles, spend one hour posting to forums, or building 5 squeeze pages. If you do not have an action plan, it is too easy to read your email, read about all the newest, hottest ways to ‘get-rich-quick’ online, and 3 hours later you have nothing to show for your time. The biggest source of failure online is probably the lack of action. To become successful online, you must create action, you must create. And if you do not, you are being robbed by the internet marketing profit robbers.
Commit to doing something productive online every day. If you choose to use article marketing as your primary source of traffic generation, write three articles a day and post them to 20 directories. If you choose forum posting, do it--every day. Commit to 40 posts a day. If you are paying for your leads with PPC or ezine ads, you must monitor every account every day. Know every day which campaigns are making you money and which are not. Constantly test your squeeze pages and email sequences. You must always know why and where you are making money and why and where not.
Internet marketing can be extremely lucrative, but you must apply what you know.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘
Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion
Do you want to learn how to build a massive list fast? Click here: Email List Building
Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 800 articles in print and 9 published ebooks.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Mize
3 Common Mistakes that Will Crush Your Affiliate Marketing Profits
By Mal Keenan
As an affiliate marketer, I have made many mistakes over the years. Some I have learnt from and others I still continue to make from time to time. What can I say? I'm a slow learner.
Affiliate marketing is the easiest business to get into when setting up your own online home business. This is so because you don't need your own product, you don't take care of the after-sales process, you don't even have to worry about payment processing. This is all done on your behalf. Your job is to refer prospects to the sales website and collect your check at the end of the month.
Sounds easy, right?
Well compared to setting up your own product or service, affiliate marketing is a lot more straight forward. However, there are a few pitfalls that could seriously damage your profits if you don't take them into consideration when getting started.
Here are three of the most common mistakes that are familiar to all affiliate marketers:
1. Not Using the Product or Service Beforehand - This is quite obvious really! If you haven't used a product or service then how are you going to effectively sell it to others? Don't get me wrong, I have sold products in the past without knowing what I was selling and have indeed made some sales but this is the wrong way to go about an affiliate marketing business. Not only will you quickly lose the trust of your email list members but it is simply not as effective as when you can give an honest review of whatever you are offering.
You don't always have to buy the product. Try contacting the product owner, explain that you wan't to help them sell their product and ask for a copy in order that you may review it. They won't always comply. The more successful you have shown to sell products in the past the more likely they are to send you a complimentary copy. If all else fails, buy the product, you will soon make your money back in affiliate sales.
2. Promoting the Wrong Affiliate Product - I see affiliate programs out there offering commissions as low as 5% on $30 products. Personally I would not go near these. Some internet marketers will offer commissions as high as 75% to get you to sell their wares. 50-75% is common for info products and this is what you should be aiming for when starting out.
It is also prudent to check how successful sales of the product has been. You can be almost certain that if there are a lot online marketers selling a service that it has proven it's ability to sell to a target market. Clickbank also list their affiliate products in order of sales ability so this is a good place to start.
If you chose a product with either low commissions or a crappy sales record then you will be losing a lot of money on both counts. The important thing to remember is that you can make a lot more money out of the same workload IF you make the right decisions.
3. Joining too Many Affiliate Programs - This is one I am personally guilty of, but I'm learning to focus my resources and am finding more success doing this. Have you checked your email inbox lately? No doubt it is filled with the latest hot offers. 99% of these are being sold by affiliate marketers.
It is all too easy to sign up for every new service that comes along promising instant profits for affiliates. You could find yourself a member of tens of affiliate programs and no further on in terms of increased income.
Find a suitable product, following the credentials in step 2 and focus on this. At least wait until you are making a profit in one program before moving on to another.
If you follow the steps above you will be off to a great start in the affiliate marketing arena and will significantly maximise your profits. You will certainly start off on a better track than most burgeoning affiliate marketers.
Mal Keenan is editor and publisher of Home Business Tips Newsletter: Best rated home based businesses To Find Out What Was My Greatest Lucky Break in My Six Years of Frustration check out: Top home base businesses
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mal_Keenan
As an affiliate marketer, I have made many mistakes over the years. Some I have learnt from and others I still continue to make from time to time. What can I say? I'm a slow learner.
Affiliate marketing is the easiest business to get into when setting up your own online home business. This is so because you don't need your own product, you don't take care of the after-sales process, you don't even have to worry about payment processing. This is all done on your behalf. Your job is to refer prospects to the sales website and collect your check at the end of the month.
Sounds easy, right?
Well compared to setting up your own product or service, affiliate marketing is a lot more straight forward. However, there are a few pitfalls that could seriously damage your profits if you don't take them into consideration when getting started.
Here are three of the most common mistakes that are familiar to all affiliate marketers:
1. Not Using the Product or Service Beforehand - This is quite obvious really! If you haven't used a product or service then how are you going to effectively sell it to others? Don't get me wrong, I have sold products in the past without knowing what I was selling and have indeed made some sales but this is the wrong way to go about an affiliate marketing business. Not only will you quickly lose the trust of your email list members but it is simply not as effective as when you can give an honest review of whatever you are offering.
You don't always have to buy the product. Try contacting the product owner, explain that you wan't to help them sell their product and ask for a copy in order that you may review it. They won't always comply. The more successful you have shown to sell products in the past the more likely they are to send you a complimentary copy. If all else fails, buy the product, you will soon make your money back in affiliate sales.
2. Promoting the Wrong Affiliate Product - I see affiliate programs out there offering commissions as low as 5% on $30 products. Personally I would not go near these. Some internet marketers will offer commissions as high as 75% to get you to sell their wares. 50-75% is common for info products and this is what you should be aiming for when starting out.
It is also prudent to check how successful sales of the product has been. You can be almost certain that if there are a lot online marketers selling a service that it has proven it's ability to sell to a target market. Clickbank also list their affiliate products in order of sales ability so this is a good place to start.
If you chose a product with either low commissions or a crappy sales record then you will be losing a lot of money on both counts. The important thing to remember is that you can make a lot more money out of the same workload IF you make the right decisions.
3. Joining too Many Affiliate Programs - This is one I am personally guilty of, but I'm learning to focus my resources and am finding more success doing this. Have you checked your email inbox lately? No doubt it is filled with the latest hot offers. 99% of these are being sold by affiliate marketers.
It is all too easy to sign up for every new service that comes along promising instant profits for affiliates. You could find yourself a member of tens of affiliate programs and no further on in terms of increased income.
Find a suitable product, following the credentials in step 2 and focus on this. At least wait until you are making a profit in one program before moving on to another.
If you follow the steps above you will be off to a great start in the affiliate marketing arena and will significantly maximise your profits. You will certainly start off on a better track than most burgeoning affiliate marketers.
Mal Keenan is editor and publisher of Home Business Tips Newsletter: Best rated home based businesses To Find Out What Was My Greatest Lucky Break in My Six Years of Frustration check out: Top home base businesses
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mal_Keenan
Which Online Business Course Is Right For You?
By Jo Han Mok
Copyright (c) 2007 Jo Han Mok
When you want to start an online business you have to plan what you're going to do and stick with that plan. An online business, whether part-time or full-time is a very crucial thing to consider because of the amount of hard work and dedication you have to contribute.
When choosing an online business system, you have to evaluate the opportunities and find the one that suits you the most and work on it. There are many different prospects online and many more will arrive in time to come. This is because the internet is constantly changing and you have to keep up with current trends in order to be on the same level as everyone else.
There are many different systems online by various successful internet marketers who each and every one of them has their own set of plans to succeed. Their mindset and teachings may clash with the courses taught by other internet marketers. Hell, I wouldn't want my copywriting teachings to clash with let's say, adsense. Thus it is very important that you evaluate these systems first, before proceeding on to one mentor and system to master and stick with it throughout your whole internet marketing career.
There are many well-known online business courses and I'm going to talk a little bit about them.
Copywriting
Considered by far as one of the most profitable businesses online, copywriting is an ultimate skill that you can learn to master in order to boost sales and profit. You can apply it to many different forms like salescopies, e-mails and newsletters. It is basically an art of direct response advertising that can boost sales by almost 63%, because of the ways and skill like advanced mind control techniques used, to make a customer buy that product. Copywriters are always needed by organizations offline to increase sales. On the internet for that matter, you can always depend on copywriting to heavily promote your own product or other people's product as an affiliate.
Affiliate Marketing
If you do not have the means and ways to make your own products, why not promote others? There are millions of products online, whether physical or digital for you to promote and once there's a sale, you may earn commissions from it. The greatest thing of all about affiliate marketing is that you do not have to worry about the payment mode, the shipping costs, customer services etc. An example of the places where you can find products to promote is at www.Clickbank.com and www.Amazon.com. You only need to set up a website/blog with great content, bring traffic into it, apply copywriting methods if need be, set up a link to that promotes that product, and if a customer buys the product from your link, the company would provide commissions to your affiliate account.
However, doing affiliate marketing is easier said than done. You have to learn a lot of techniques and skills that can help you get started. With an astounding mentor, you can learn how to drive traffic to your site, learn what search engine optimization is, what RSS feeds are etc. It takes around 1-2 months to properly learn and administer these techniques in order to succeed as an affiliate marketer.
Adsense
Adsense is a programme by Google in which you can generate advertising revenue. Basically, when you have set up a website/blog with great content, you may set up a small part of your site reserved for Google Ads. The great thing about this system is you do not have to worry about what kind of ads Google places in your website, as the GoogleBot will have a look at your site and see what topics or niche you're referring to, and it will place ads that are relevant to that site. For every click a person makes on the Google ads, you will receive an estimated amount of 40 cents. To get the best out of adsense, you have to learn the optimal places to place the ads, what sizes they should be, the font, color etc in order to get the maximum click through rate.
Online Auctions
Online auction sites such as eBay or Yahoo! Auctions have made people around the world become successful entrepreneurs. The great thing about auction sites is to sell the products that people halfway around the world could rarely get. For example, a handmade antique statue of Krishna from India needed by an antique collector in the US. You can also sell products that are cheaper than other places to save cost. If you're selling physical products, you have to learn how to take images of the product, the shipping rates, traveling time, drop shipping, terms and conditions etc. You may find certain books that help you in setting up and maintaining a successful online business on online auctions.
You may find out more about other internet business courses available and think about what you realize you should do in starting up an online business.
Jo Han Mok is a #1 bestselling author and a masterful planner in developing successful online business courses. Find out how he can make you discover the internet millionaire within! Visit his website at http://www.internetmillionairecode.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jo_Han_Mok
Copyright (c) 2007 Jo Han Mok
When you want to start an online business you have to plan what you're going to do and stick with that plan. An online business, whether part-time or full-time is a very crucial thing to consider because of the amount of hard work and dedication you have to contribute.
When choosing an online business system, you have to evaluate the opportunities and find the one that suits you the most and work on it. There are many different prospects online and many more will arrive in time to come. This is because the internet is constantly changing and you have to keep up with current trends in order to be on the same level as everyone else.
There are many different systems online by various successful internet marketers who each and every one of them has their own set of plans to succeed. Their mindset and teachings may clash with the courses taught by other internet marketers. Hell, I wouldn't want my copywriting teachings to clash with let's say, adsense. Thus it is very important that you evaluate these systems first, before proceeding on to one mentor and system to master and stick with it throughout your whole internet marketing career.
There are many well-known online business courses and I'm going to talk a little bit about them.
Copywriting
Considered by far as one of the most profitable businesses online, copywriting is an ultimate skill that you can learn to master in order to boost sales and profit. You can apply it to many different forms like salescopies, e-mails and newsletters. It is basically an art of direct response advertising that can boost sales by almost 63%, because of the ways and skill like advanced mind control techniques used, to make a customer buy that product. Copywriters are always needed by organizations offline to increase sales. On the internet for that matter, you can always depend on copywriting to heavily promote your own product or other people's product as an affiliate.
Affiliate Marketing
If you do not have the means and ways to make your own products, why not promote others? There are millions of products online, whether physical or digital for you to promote and once there's a sale, you may earn commissions from it. The greatest thing of all about affiliate marketing is that you do not have to worry about the payment mode, the shipping costs, customer services etc. An example of the places where you can find products to promote is at www.Clickbank.com and www.Amazon.com. You only need to set up a website/blog with great content, bring traffic into it, apply copywriting methods if need be, set up a link to that promotes that product, and if a customer buys the product from your link, the company would provide commissions to your affiliate account.
However, doing affiliate marketing is easier said than done. You have to learn a lot of techniques and skills that can help you get started. With an astounding mentor, you can learn how to drive traffic to your site, learn what search engine optimization is, what RSS feeds are etc. It takes around 1-2 months to properly learn and administer these techniques in order to succeed as an affiliate marketer.
Adsense
Adsense is a programme by Google in which you can generate advertising revenue. Basically, when you have set up a website/blog with great content, you may set up a small part of your site reserved for Google Ads. The great thing about this system is you do not have to worry about what kind of ads Google places in your website, as the GoogleBot will have a look at your site and see what topics or niche you're referring to, and it will place ads that are relevant to that site. For every click a person makes on the Google ads, you will receive an estimated amount of 40 cents. To get the best out of adsense, you have to learn the optimal places to place the ads, what sizes they should be, the font, color etc in order to get the maximum click through rate.
Online Auctions
Online auction sites such as eBay or Yahoo! Auctions have made people around the world become successful entrepreneurs. The great thing about auction sites is to sell the products that people halfway around the world could rarely get. For example, a handmade antique statue of Krishna from India needed by an antique collector in the US. You can also sell products that are cheaper than other places to save cost. If you're selling physical products, you have to learn how to take images of the product, the shipping rates, traveling time, drop shipping, terms and conditions etc. You may find certain books that help you in setting up and maintaining a successful online business on online auctions.
You may find out more about other internet business courses available and think about what you realize you should do in starting up an online business.
Jo Han Mok is a #1 bestselling author and a masterful planner in developing successful online business courses. Find out how he can make you discover the internet millionaire within! Visit his website at http://www.internetmillionairecode.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jo_Han_Mok
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