“How Do I Make Money Online?”
PART #2
I created this mega-article as a special free gift - to give a helping hand to anyone who is asking the question "How do I make money online?" There's no catch! This article is completely free - and is, essentially, an ultra-condensed version of what you will find in the 99-page Internet section of my 330-page eBook. However, make no mistake - the information in this article packs a punch! I've done my best to make it the ultimate summary of the current playing field. If you apply these principles well, they could get you off to a very good start with making money on the web. If you like what you find here and are serious about learning more about how to make money online - check out my eBook. Enjoy! - Alex Newman, January 2009 ***** This article on making money online is divided into four separate PDFs: PART #1 - TRAFFIC PART #2 - CONTENT PART #3 - MONETIZATION PART #4 - TWELVE "RULES OF THUMB" THAT I LIVE BY Read / download the other three parts now - absolutely free - at: http://www.money-while-you-sleep.biz/how-do-i-make-money-online.html *****
PART #2 - CONTENT
There's an art to creating good content. Whether it is in-depth, well-researched articles, or videos of your hamster juggling peanuts - there are a few simple guidelines to follow. 1) What is "Good"? People visit the internet for a number of reasons. Some want to learn, some want to communicate, some want to meet new people, some want to make money, others want to shop, others want to be entertained. And so, good content is simply content that helps people to achieve these objectives. Many marketers come unstuck here. Some may view my example of the hamster juggling peanuts as very poor content. But for someone wishing to be entertained, it is excellent content. From our point of view - good content is that which makes a positive impression on our target market and causes a highly favorable reaction.
A majority of internet users, these days, want to be entertained. While creating entertaining content may achieve a very high number of views, these users typically are not "shopping" and so such traffic will often be harder to monetize. Consider which of the above user demographics you are targeting with your products or advertising. Then create relevant content that will fulfill their reasons for visiting. 2) Make your content "approachable". Much of the content you might see online, is not very "friendly". Regardless of how good it is, it puts people off before they even begin. The point is - you have to get through the "six second barrier" - which tests have shown is the amount of time it usually takes a viewer to decide whether they want to stay or go. This means, first creating a good headline or title, a good subtitle, and breaking up blocks of text into small, edible chunks. Good headlines are essential. This point is so very often forgotten by internet marketers. Their content may even be really good. But unless you find a way to capture attention immediately, the viewer will not stick around long enough to find out. Observe your own internet browsing habits. Chances are, you "skim" through a large number of pages before finding something that makes you settle. It is possible to test various headlines using a split tester and measure the performance of each. Another aspect is page layout. A clumsy or confusing layout will alienate visitors and make them leave. 3) Overall Quality. The quality of what's on offer is obviously important. I think the biggest obstacle most people face in this regard is simply rushing to get things finished as fast as possible, because they are hungry to start making money. It's really worth going the extra mile to make something better than the competition - because people are skimming through many pages looking for "the best". The content that looks as though it will be the best, is the content that gets the attention. And the content that fulfills that promise is the content that gets shared. 4) Research. What's needed? What is there a shortage of? What do people want? What's hot right now? It's important to ask these kinds of questions, and to get some answers, before committing to a project. Often, you can use your own level of interest as a radar - so ask yourself; What would you most like to find online? 5) Campaign Synergy. Campaign Synergy is my own term for the overall "coherence" of a web site, from a conceptual point of view. It is a little difficult to describe - but it is something that it is important to get an understanding for. Your web sites, web 2.0 profiles and other content should, ideally, all have a theme or "frame" that is coherent. You should be able to summarize in a couple of sentences what your site is about, why it exists, what kind of people it is aimed at, and why they will like it. Your content should all reside "inside the frame" and should exist for a reason. For a highly oversimplified example - I don't really want to create articles about golf clubs on a site that is about making money online.
Having an ultra-coherent, strong frame around your site like this, and being very clear in yourself as to its definition, is invaluable. If a user can identify, subconsciously, the reasons why they are there, without having to scratch their heads and say "So, what is this site, exactly?", you will be on the right track. I don't really hear this talked about much - but it's essential. Real campaign synergy occurs when your marketing, your content and your monetization systems are coherent. Even the logo, color scheme and overall "flavor" of the site should reside comfortably inside the frame. Take a look at some of the most successful web sites. You can "get your head around" what they are, quite easily. Campaign synergy flows right from choosing the best keywords to target, right through your content, to the choice of advertising systems. The quintessential point here - and this is massively important - is that synergy should be implemented at the design phase of the business, rather than as an attempted add-on, later. Many people attempt to start with a product - and they have not examined the market, or the niche. Others may start with a domain name, and attempt to build out synergy from there. Your content's objective (what you want it to achieve) and its function (what it achieves in the eyes of your users) need to be synergistic. I go into much more detail on this in my eBook. 6) Doing away with content. This section is a little controversial. No doubt you've heard a thousand times the old adage: "Content is King".... In many cases, it is absolutely true. However there are, ultimately, two possible strategies as far as content is concerned - and I want to mention them for the sake of completion. Strategy number one is to create lots of high quality content - and it is the practical, sensible way to go for many people. However strategy number two is to dispense with the idea of quality content altogether. Whoa! Now, of course, certain of the big web sites will do their very best to insist that you create quality content. They will preach in lofty tones about the "quality" of the internet and their self-appointed nature as its custodians. They may even "judge" your pages and decide, entirely at their discretion, how much to charge you for advertising based on their perception of your site's quality! Whoever heard of such a thing! And of course, we all want a "high quality internet".... But I would simply be lying if I was to say that creating quality content is the only effective way to make money online. There are those who make extremely good money with little or no content of their own. Quick example - buying banner traffic and sending it to iframed CPA affiliate offers. A complex game - but there is much gold in those hills for sure.
Remember the adage of part one: If you have ways of getting large amounts of traffic, you can monetize it. And yes, you can still monetize it without content of your own! Now although it might seem at first glance that not having to create content will simplify things, going the no-content route is often more difficult. This is an important point to grasp no-content it is often perceived as more simple because there is less "building" to do. But what you lack in content, you will have to more than make up for in technical skills and knowledge of systems. And you may even face opposition from some quarters. Having said this, if you do manage to achieve success through such a method, you may be able to achieve automated income. For a short while. So you can quote me on this one - as, as far as I am aware, no-one has ever said this before: "Content may be King, but no-content is Queen." Another example of a minimal-content strategy is Traffic Arbitrage. Put simply, traffic arbitrage is the art of buying traffic for a certain price, and selling it for a higher price. And some have found that, seeing as you get the money when the visitor leaves, a clever strategy is to make an oversimplified web page with an easy, profitable exit. Now of course, this is frowned upon by some. And the pitfalls are numerous. But, it works for some and that is why I am mentioning it. Google has of course hit back at these strategies with their quality score algorithms. But remember, Google's traffic is truly a micro-fraction of what's out there. There are billions of clicks for sale in other places – often way cheaper than Adwords. If you buy your traffic elsewhere, and are able to convert it profitably, you will have need of neither Google's traffic nor their philosophy. ***** Content, ultimately, is merely a strategy. And every strategy has its opposite, which can sometimes hold true. The simple point to bear in mind is that if you do not have much in the way of content, you will need methods of getting traffic other than through referrals by other users - and you will need to send it directly to where you want it to go - typically to advertising. Please note - I do not advocate any form of spamming. Don't go there. END OF PART #2 ***** This article on making money online is divided into four separate PDFs:
PART #1 - TRAFFIC PART #2 - CONTENT PART #3 - MONETIZATION PART #4 - TWELVE "RULES OF THUMB" THAT I LIVE BY Read / download the other three parts now - absolutely free - at: http://www.money-while-you-sleep.biz/how-do-i-make-money-online.html ***** © Alex Newman 2009
DISCLAIMER: “How Do I Make Money Online?” by Alex Newman (“This Article”) is provided for the purposes of general information, ideas and entertainment - and is not to be considered as, or as a substitute for, specific business advice or any other form of professional advice. No guarantee is made as to the accuracy, timeliness, usefulness or profitability of This Article and its contents, nor of the suitability of This Article and its contents for any purpose whatsoever – and Alex Newman (“The Writer”) specifically disclaims all liability arising in conjunction with use of these materials. Ideas from This Article are implemented at your own risk. None of the contents of This Article are recommendations to buy, sell or trade anything. If you are undertaking a business or investment enterprise, or are in doubt over legal / business matters etc, please seek appropriate professional / legal advice. DISTRIBUTION: You are welcome to make copies of This Article and give them away, print them out, link to them, post them on your web site, include them as bonuses with your own products etc – but only on the strict condition that they are left absolutely intact, unshortened and unedited, with all links remaining unchanged.