Internet marketing in simple sense is the process of selling goods or services online using the medium of internet. Affiliate marketer is the middleman between the vendor of the services and the buyer.

So what do you think an affiliate marketer does in the whole process and what are the basic points to adhere in the process?

User or Buyer mindset: Have you ever thought what is in a buyer’s mind when he searches for any information online.

Basically a user search solutions for his problem. The problem ranges from “buying an engagement rings” for his loved one, buying a car insurance to finding solutions for his snoring. As there are many problems and needs hence the solution. This very phenomenon has given birth to number of info products and services marketed online.

So as an affiliate marketer, your first and the very important role is to find out the mindset of the people in your niche. If you have gained insight then half the battle is won.

From my experience I am presenting some points which must be followed irrespective of niche and the product you are selling (for which you are an affiliate)

Provide correct information: Always try to provide correct, accurate and to the point information to your users without bluffing. Do not mislead them as it will harm your authority over subject and you will loose them forever. If you are presenting any contradictory fact, you must provide the proof for the same. For an example we all know that AIDS is incurable, if you make any contradictory statement on this, you must give them proof from any authority over the subject. Users are generally a little aware on the topics they are searching about and if you present them wrong information, it will give a bad impression about you.

Always avoid sub-standard content and present them with high quality content. Do not always stick to textual content. Create content in a form (like video, audio, slide show etc) which is easy understandable and accessible to your niche users. It is better to create a 5 minute high quality video that creating a 50 page textual content.

Solving problems and Preselling: Basically people need solution for their problems, and your duty as an affiliate marketer is to solve them by presenting them with high quality relevant information and products. You have to instill confidence in them that their problem is solvable, when you have done this the next step is to present them the product and make them believe that it is the best solution available

As an affiliate marketer you are not doing any direct sale instead you do preselling, that is to warm up the visitor for purchasing your affiliate product and preselling can be done only by following the steps above.

Instill confidence, solve problems, Presell

Never Hardsell: Never try to hardsell because people like to choose and not to be forced in their buying decisions. So Presell and not hard sell. If you become successful in gaining confidence of your users you will never need to do it. If they are convinced that their problems can be solved and the product you are referring is the best one for the purpose you will ultimately make a sale.

So friends these are the points which are applicable for every niche and you must modify your mindset in the way to play a long game in affiliate marketing.

What are other points in your opinion which must be followed? Post here for all of us to know.

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What is image optimization: Image optimization is a process of sizing, naming and presenting an image in a way that it becomes feasible for search engines to find it, extract information from it and categorize it so that it can be presented in the image search results for a relevant query of a user.

There is a user perspective also which I will discuss in a minute.

As present, search engines are unable to read any information in an image or graphic and it will take the technology some time when automated bots such like of Google’s or yahoo’s can read the pattern or layout of an image and extract information from them.

So there are some elements which are used to inform search engines about the details and content of an image. Such elements are image name, image alt tags, image title attribute, image reference tag … and some more

So basically image optimization is done to inform search engines about the content of an image, it has become more important because nearly every search engines have lot of image searches and if your images are well optimized for a particular query of keywords, there are chances of getting a lot of traffic through image search alone.

Just have a look how many options Google offer for image search.

You can search for any type, any size or any color of image, guess how would be they categorizing these images… YES right by using all textual factors related to an image (This is my opinion, as I know with my experience, however actual elements considered is only known by Big G)

Now we will discuss some important points about image optimization.

Using proper name: Use proper and relevant names for your images. Many image capturing devices like digital cameras, webcams, scanners etc name images in their saving terminology like DSC302.jpg or scandl%12.jpg etc. This is an improper way to name images. So the correct way of naming is using relevant keywords. Example if you have an image of olive tree, name it like olive-tree-image.jpeg.

Using Proper Format: There are lots of image formats for images and graphics which are used for formatting images. It is better to keep your images in .JPG format and not in .GIF, as the former is standard for images and latter is the standard for graphics. Further discussion about image format is out of scope of this article and if you need to learn more visit here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_file_formats

Using ALT tags: Use proper alt tags which are relevant to your image, do not try to stuff your keywords. Just keep it simple and clear. If you are naming your image as discussed in point 1 above, you can simply keep the alt tag as your image name. But make sure to not use same ALT tag for two or more images on a single page.

Make your images folder accessible to search engines: Make your images folder, the folder where you store your images, accessible to search engines.

Using TITLE attribute: Title attribute add meaning to an image, so use it but here also follow the same old rule, do not stuff keywords and use same title in two or more images on a single page.

Using Image feed: if you have a very large number of images on your website (generally product based websites) then you can also make an image feed just like sitemap and submit it to search engines.

Wherever possible put images in between content.

Keep the number of images on a page to minimum.

While naming the images, in ALT tags and image TITLE attributes used words like pic, picture, photo or image along with the relevant keyword.

User Perspective: The points we have discussed above are mainly for search engines, now we will look some image optimization factors which is related to user experience.

Do not use big and bulky images on a page and it makes the webpage to load slower, which is very irritating from user point of view. An average user will not wait for more than 10-12 seconds for a webpage to load, in this way you are losing a genuine visitor.

The quality of the images used must be above average, do not use distorted or fade images

Always use images which are relevant to the page content.

Do not use scraped images; use your own or use stock images. If you use images from other website without their permission, you will dilute your authority and there are chances to hook in copyright infringement.

Image Optimization Plugins for wordpress: There are plugins available for wordpress users which they can use for optimizing their images. Below are some of them.

SEO Friendly Images

WP Smush.it

You can also try Google Image Labeler

Are some points left behind? Post here to let me know and I will include it in the post..

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If you are not new to internet marketing world, you would probably have heard the most popular saying in the internet marketing world “Content is King” and really it is the ace in a pack of card.

But an ill structured, non-targeted and information less content is similar to a joker between the aces and kings in a pack of card.

So what is essential, the content must be targeted to the audience, in the language the niche speaks and must be valuable.

Below are some points if kept in mind and taken care of, you can prepare very good content for your website, which not only your audience will like but will have high chances to become viral establishing your authority.

Know your targeted audience: The first and very important fact is “know what your audience needs”. I have seen many newbie and intermediate internet marketers and bloggers, who write in a way that resembles that they never tried to know the need of their audience and they write just for the sake of writing. So you please do not try the same and provide valuable inputs.

Basic problems of the audience: Try to find out the basic needs and problems of the audience of the niche you are concerned. Do not bluff and always do your best to solve problems or atleast provide simple steps to find solutions. Heyyyyy……. What does it mean …..? Let me try to give you an example.

For an example: if you do not know clearly about any specific topic, no matter, provide them various links to authority sites, where they can find solutions. Never think that you will loose your visitor forever, no not at all, rather you will gain trust in the eyes of your visitors as well as search engines because doing this you leave a message that you are committed to provide solutions.

So note a point in your mind that always keep the requirement of your audience handy before you write content. You can get a feel about their requirements by visiting different forums and blogs in your niche.

There are two very common things which will appear in your mind when you start writing (how I know it? Because I have also traversed the same route before I started to know all this) first is “what I am going to write is well known among my niche” and the second is “what I am going to write is not known by anyone” …..   Both these doubts are just myths. So never think of all this and always try to provide real solutions for the problems (problems doesn’t means to provide medication, it means to be informative on the subject you write.)

Age group, demographic factors: Age and demographic factors must be kept in mind while preparing content. Why? Because a concept which a teenager can understand in a simple way, an old age person cannot. So you need to find other ways to make the person understand.

So understand the demographics of your audience.

Targets of the niche: Targets in other words we can call “needs” must be kept in mind. Got confused….? No need to …..! A target of the niche means what your audience prefers – text, video or audio. So provide them with the solution which they can easily use.

Use easy ways to create content: use the most informative and easy way to create content. Content never means only chunk of text, it may be in many other forms e-book, audio, video, music. Slide show presentations.

Gone are the days when technology had limited capabilities and exposure, we are now living in such a world where technology has made every form of media feasible to common audience.

It is better to create a 10 minute audio or 15 minutes video, than to create 150 pages of content of text. The aim should be to give you message clearly to your audience. Also keep in mind your audience age group and their preferences.

So always think that which type of content would be most suitable on the topic you want to convey as well as your audience would like to read and then prepare yourself in the same manner.

Apply these points as I discussed with you in this post and you will realize that you were missing a lot in preparing content for your audience.

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Hello all my fellow SEOs, internet and affiliate marketers today I am going to discuss a very important and not only important but the basic idea after why we became or want to become internet marketers. This post seems to be little off topic but these are the basic points which makes a way for affiliate marketing.

But before we start on the topic let us have a look on a story of a young man named Joe. The fact which makes the story even more interesting is that Joe belongs to a middle class average Indian family and lives in a metropolitan city, say Delhi. His family is educated, and belongs to service class who are dedicated slaves of 9 to 6 rat race.

As Joe grows up in an environment where there is stiff competition and to overtake everyone in life is the only aim whether it is study or games.

His parents have a very high expectation from him that he will excel in studies and sports as well.

He has been brought up in an environment, where he watch his parents working 9 to 6 everyday and do not have any time for each other neither for him.

And as time passes some facts and points make a permanent room in his mind and soul. Some bulging points would be:

1. The life of an average person is very tough and you have to fight everyday to survive.
2. The work for a middle class family born boy is to grow up with good education and then find a good job to maintain social and financial status.
3. Work for full life until the age of retirement and then spend your life doing meditation and Pooja & Bhajans (service of lord)

Sounds familiar? Now who is Joe? I am Joe and you are Joe and every common man is Joe.

The story of an average American or anyone in developed countries might be slightly different but not much. The basics though which we all have is to study and do a full time job to gain social and financial stability.

So what are your reasons to start with internet marketing? Crossing all these barriers, find a new person in you; discover a new world through new vision.

There might be many reasons, from independence to flexibility of work or making more money or aiding your existing one, and I would love if you will share it with us.

Now comes the point what were the reasons behind my entry in the fascinating cyber world and internet marketing.

Freedom: The first and foremost reason for my entry into internet marketing is freedom. Freedom from whom – freedom from the mentality of 9 to 5 slavery. When I think what my life in real is. I wake up in the morning and start preparing to go office, whole day I work for someone else who pays me salary, in other words I am trading my time for money. I have 9 hour job, adding the time of commuting around 2 hours and the time to prepare myself physically and mentally before and after office around 3 hours. In total I spend around 14 to 15 hours a day for making a living from my full time job. I am not including the emotional stress and wear out I face in commuting, specially on the roads of New Delhi, where you will get a red light at every kilometer and jams every second one.

So I need to free my self from this time trading and rat race and I want to spend my time in a more meaningful manner.

More Free time: This is the thing which I need more badly than money. Not only I but I am confident that every human being and those who knows that a day only has 24 hours and a year only 365 days, need more free time to spend with his family or with their hobby. But if we want to achieve it with the traditional way of making a living (that is a full time job of 9 to 6) it seems an impossible task. I do not remember whether I took a week long vacation with my family in the last 3 years. So you need any other way (legally) and internet marketing is the best opinion, where you can do everything and all you need is a computer and internet connection.

More Money: I never thought that I can earn more money investing same time online (we all know time is money ) than in my regular job until I started myself in online marketing. The average salary of a highly skilled person with an experience of more than 5 years is around Rs. 2500 per day for a 14 hour job(with lot of tension: 14 hours = 9 hours job+ 2 hours in commuting+ 3 hours in other stuff related to my job). That barely converts to rupees 2500/14= 178 per hour (means merely $4 per hour, much less the money a pizza delivery boy in the US earns per hour)

So if done right, internet marketing can pay you 1000 times more than this average earning and without any hassle and pain which you face every day in your regular jobs.

So my second concern was more money, I do not want to open a SWISS bank account but I need more…. ( Yeh Dil Maange More… aaha … )

Lavish lifestyle: Just think of a life when you wake up in the morning after taking your full sleep and fresh eyes and no red lines in your eyes as you always did. After doing all usual stuff take your breakfast and then enter your home office which only takes a minute or two to reach. You chose your working hours and you never need anyone’s agreement on this. There is no one to complain that you are late and ask that you need to change your habits of regularity. You are your own boss and you can decide your working hours.

Just think of it and you will get immense pleasure, just thinking about it and if it becomes reality and what will happen if it becomes reality

Residual Income: Have you ever though how long can you trade your time for money, up to the age of 50, 60 or more …. OK Good and what after that. Some intelligent and money savers, save a large part of their income in various investment schemes for their retirement.

But a very simple question, if you spend Rs. 20k today to maintain your life style, keeping the present inflation and other factors in mind you will need at least Rs. 200k a month for maintaining the same lifestyle after 30 years.

So the fact is that we can never work in the same way forever. I do not have such physical, mental and spiritual strength to work for such as long time and I do not know about yours? Do you have it?

So what we need – residual income, means autopilot income, where you invest you time, money and intelligence one time and encash it for a long time and sometimes forever.

And internet marketing is the only way by which you can get residual income.

So friends these were the reasons why I chose internet marketing and I am confident that I will achieve all the points which I need for a happy life with the help of the very internet marketing…

I hope you all would like this post.

What are your reasons to join the internet marketing world? Post here and it will become an inspiration for others…

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A website is nothing if it does not receives traffic, no matter how good it is or how valuable services and products it offer. So traffic is lifeline of any online business, not only online but off line business also need traffic, suppose you have a mega store but no visitors. So what’s the profit in it if there are no buyers?

Now back to our topic and that is traffic generation for your website.

The best way to generate targeted traffic to your website is search engine optimization and for that you need lot of relevant links.

Today we will discuss two easy and effective way to attract targeted traffic to your website, if done right.

Forums posting: Forum posting is an easy way to generate backlinks and traffic. My suggestion for all of you is to join at least 5 forums related to your niche and actively participate in discussions. Provide solution of the problems which members are discussing about.

Join 5 forums and use one forum for one hour a day. That means you visit each forum once a week.

If you will actively participate in forums you will be benefited in several ways.

You will get relevant Backlinks to your website, through signature links or links in the posts.

With time members will take you as an authority on the subject and will listen to your words. You can use your reputation for pre selling some offers, but please make sure you never try to hard sell, because people like to choose and not to be forced to buy some thing and never refer any poor quality product because it will diminish your authority

Forums act as a platform for people of single mental orientation who discuss a core subject. In this way you can get ideas for preparing content for your website. Pay attention to details and try to extract about the topics people are talking about and prepare your content for the same. In this way you can develop a lot of content for your website, which in turn will give you more authority over the subject, better rankings and traffic.

Blog commenting: blog comments are another tool for getting backlinks and direct traffic. Find your niche relevant blogs, you can simply do it by Googling “your keywords” inurl:blog . Find a relevant post read it and try to extract the information it provides and then you can comment on the post. Remember never try to spam them, as the comments will never get approved

Think in this way, you have a blog with good traffic and authority and some one posts a comment like “hello nice information” with a link to his website, will you like to approve the comment… NO you won’t, so when you are not ready to approve someone’s creepy comment why would others do the same.

So contribute some valuable and useful content to the post and the chances of getting approved will be the maximum.

Many of you will be concerned that many blogs add nofollow tags to the links in comment. Do no worry, nofollow links are still crawled and counted but their link juice transfer power is less. You can read more about nofollow links here at: Off Page Elements: Alternative ways of link building

So starting using forum posting and blog comments today for your link building and traffic campaigns and if you will do it right, you will see good rankings and surge in traffic in coming weeks.

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