4 Steps to Making Money Online

Making money online has got to be every internet entrepreneur's goal. Making LOTS of money is an even bigger ream for many folks. I know that's one of MY reasons for being on the net. So how do you make money on the 'net?

Are you ready for this? You make money on the 'net the same way you make money off the 'net...You gotta sell somebody something. Services or products, your choice. You say you can't sell anything? You don't like to sell?

Let me explain a little something here. Everyone is in sales. Some of us are better at it than others. But, trust me, we've been "selling" ever since we were hatched...

When you first looked into your mother's eyes and greeted her with a big smile, you were selling her on the fact that you were the cutest, most wonderful child on earth and she should keep you around for a while! You were using pleasure, and the promise of "gain" to close the sale...

Later when you had a temper tantrum and Mom and Dad gave in to you and you got that piece of candy, you "sold" them on the idea that if they just gave you the candy, you would stop screaming. This time you were using "pain" to convince your "buyers" to complete the transaction. (Maybe they should have used a little persuasion on you to convince you different...)

Do you have a job? You sell your boss your time on a regular basis. Are you married? You convinced your spouse (sold them on the idea) that you were the only one for them, right?

As you can see, we are all sales persons to a greater or lesser extent. So to make money on the internet, like anywhere else, you have to sell something. To make money...well, we don't really "make" money. I mean, after all, the government is the one who "makes" the money. They print the paper bills that we call money. They mint the coins that we make change with. Money is just a means of exchanging value for value. We trade a dollar's Worth of our time for a piece of paper that will buy us a dollar's worth of someone else's time or goods.

So...to get internet people to part with their money, and give it to you, you've got to give them what they want!

You must determine what it is that floats their boat. And then make it easy for them to give you their money. Why? So you can give them what they want! Finding out what they want is your first step to success on the internet.

Step one: Determine your target market...

The people in your target market should be fanatics. They must become irrational when presented with their "want". They are so emotionally involved with their "want" that they cannot refuse your offer.

You do not want to spend your time convincing your target market to buy your product. That is one of the biggest mistakes that online marketers make...they create a product and then try to find a market to sell to. DON'T DO IT! You'll end up with the equivalent of a virtual garage full of prod-uct and no buyers.

So find a hot, target market of fanatics and give them the best info-product you can on their topic of interest. I'm not going to try to convince you that an info-product is the best product to sell. If you don't already know that, then just trust me on that one.

Step Two: Create a report...

Write a report about your target's want. Give them useful information that is on target. If you have experience along the line of discussion, you can personalize the report. If you know nothing about the topic, maybe you should choose a different target market. However, if you are a good student, you can do enough research on the internet to fill 8-10 pages in a report on the topic. While you are doing your research, keep your eye out for an existing information product that is on topic and has an affiliate program.

Why? Because that is how you are going to make your money. The report you write will include links to the affiliate page of the back-end product you found while doing research for your report. Some may object that your report is nothing more than just a disguised sales letter. Well, truth be told, if you do it right, that's exactly what it will be. It will convince the reader that they must check out the product mentioned in the report. And your ultimate goal is to receive a commission from the affiliate program that handles the product.

OK, so far you have selected a hot target market, and have written a report on topic that you will use to create affiliate sales. So how do you set this up?

Step Three: Build an automatic website...

With the proper kind of website, you can collect important contact information and deliver your report automatically.

By setting up a simple form on the webpage, your website visitor can enter their name and email address and receive the special report by return email. Or you can include a link to a webpage where they can download the report.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING is collecting the contact info.

You want to be able to follow-up with this person who is reading your report. If you just refer them to the webpage of the affiliate program, the affiliate program owner will get their contact info and he will have a customer for life.

You will get nothing but a one-time commission. You won't know who visited your site, what they thought of your report or if they bought the affiliate product...until you get a commission. And then you usually only get a check with no details of who bought what. So make sure, whatever you do, you get a name and email address before you send out your free report.

Oh, by the way, never use a direct download page from an email form page. What I mean is when they enter their email address into the form it must be a legitimate working address because that is where you will automatically send the confirmation email with the download link for the free report. If you don't, freebie grabbers will enter a fake address to get to the download page to steal your free report. I always warn subscribers that they must enter a working address because fulfill-ment instructions will be emailed to the address that they enter into the form. Fair is fair, right?

Let's recap what we have so far:

Step 1 -- Find a hot target market. A popular term these days is "niche". Find your niche. Find a niche you can dominate.

Step 2 -- Create a report. (You could create a full blown product, but that will take too long. By writing the report and checking response to it, you will know right away whether you want to take the time to develop a complete ebook or home study course. For more info on writing a good profit-making report, you can learn more here:

http://www.i-65.com/r/ppr1

Step 3 -- Build an automatic website. The cost of a website has really gone down the last few years. You can find webhosting for less than $10 per month, even $5/month. Autoresponders have come down in price, too.(You need the autoresponders to take care of the automatic follow-up and delivery of your reports.) One place to get a complete package deal which includes webhosting, autoresponders, tracking, training materials, and products with resale rights is Bryan Winters' website:

http://www.i-65.com/r/pbp

So there you have it...three of the four steps:

1. Find a niche...a hot target market.
2. Create a report.
3. Build an autopilot website.

Now step four is the critical step. Without step 4, nobody will know you exist! At least, not on the web...

To make any sales at all, you must have visitors to your website.

So how do you get visitors? Every way you can think of to generate traffic. I remember receiving an email from a trucker one day. He was complaining about a van doing the speed limit on I-65, south of Louisville, KY. He had copied my web address from the back of my van, visited my website, got my email address, and then sent me the note about driving so slow on the highway. I guess the vinyl lettering I picked up at Home Depot and put on the back of my van worked! Just a few bucks for a little outdoor advertising...

Put your web address on everything. Put it in your email signature. Put it on your business cards, letterheads, and in all of your print ads. Anywhere someone may see it. I even have a T-shirt with my web address on it! Another place to get traffic is online discussion forums. You must be careful not to spam the boards...some forums do not allow any kind of links to be posted. However, most forums do allow a "signature-type" link at the end of a good post.

The key to forum participation is to contribute good, solid information on topic. DO NOT post a "Check out my new ..." type of post with a link. You will get zapped. Make your comments on topic, make them informative, and positive. By visiting on a regular basis and posting good quality additions to the forum, an occasional link to your website will be accepted.

That link can bring many new visitors to your website. For more info on forum marketing, read Rebekah Nahai's ebook:

http://www.i-65.com/r/forumprofits

Ezines are another good way to get traffic. You can buy an ad in a good ezine and attract traffic to your website. Prices vary according to the number of subscribers. Be careful and check out the ezine before you place your ad. Ask for references. Reputable ezines will be glad to give you references of satisfied advertisers. Just because an ezine claims 50,000 subscribers, it doesn't mean any of them are reading the ezine on a regular basis. A targeted ezine with a small list of loyal subscribers will often produce more response than a big list full of Hotmail accounts. Be careful when paying for ezine advertising.

An even better way to get response from an ezine is to write an article and submit it for publication. You simply include a resource box at the end of the article. The resource box is your free "advertisement" at the end of the article.

You submit the article to ezine publishers offering them the right to use it in their ezine if they will include the resource box. If you get published, you get a free "ad" that could be worth hundreds of dollars and might generate a windfall of profits from your website. Jim Edwards has written a great resource about writing articles for ezines. Check it out here:

http://www.i-65.com/r/words

One of the fastest ways to generate traffic is from a J.V. If you can get the endorsement from a big-name guru, you could get a flood of traffic to your site. An endorsement letter sent to the guru's list by the guru saying, "Check out JDB's ezine...it's really great...subscribe here: LINK" can do wonders for your subscription list. I have been fortunate enough to have the benefits of an endorsed ezine article and received many new subscribers through JV's. (FYI, J.V. is short for Joint Venture.)

Search engines will eventually find your website and you may get some traffic from people searching Google and other search engines. Making your website search-engine-friendly is something you will want to do, but is beyond the scope of this report. Search engine optimization is a real challenge as they seem to keep changing the rules all of the time. As soon as someone finds a clever way to beat Google at the game, then Google will change the rules again.

A relatively new twist is Google Adwords. These are PPC (pay-per-click) ads that are placed on the Google search pages according to specific keywords. Many folks are making a good ROI on their Google Adwords campaigns. You need to know what you are doing since you are paying so much per click for your ad to be placed on the Google page.

For more information on Google Adwords, check out this link to Perry Marshall's webpage. He offers a free e-course to learn about Google Adwords. To sign up for his course, go here:

http://www.i-65.com/r/pmga

1. So are you ready to get started as an Internet entrepreneur?
2. Do you know your target market?
3. Have you chosen a niche to dominate?
4. Do you have any ideas for your niche report?
5. Are you ready to build your website?
6. Do you have your promotional campaign all lined out?

These are the four steps to making money online...

1. Find a tightly, targeted niche.
2. Write a report on a hot niche topic.
3. Set-up a website to distribute your report with an automatic list-building system included.
4. Promote your website!

Remember, your report will include references to affiliate products. Those references will include links with your affiliate ID. You will receive affiliate commissions based on the click-thrus from your report.

The more you promote your website, the more times your report is downloaded and read, the better are your chances of getting an affiliate sale. AND if your report becomes very popular, you just may have an idea for a new, fully-devel-oped ebook or ecourse!

So put on your thinking cap, get out a notebook and pen, and start writing down your ideas. Your online success could be just one idea away... You can find more advanced information about how “You Can! Make Your Living Online” by going to

http://www.internetprofitscoach.com .

Sources : John David Bradshaw- The #1 After50 Entrepreneurs' Coach "Together, we can make the impossible, possible!" http://www.makingmoneyonlineafter50.com