Online Marketing Success Blog - Internet Riches - e-Riches 2.0 by Scott Fox

Adsense vs Affiliate Marketing Comparison: Which is Better for Making Money Online?

Both AdSense pay-per-click advertising and affiliate marketing can make you money online.  But which ad strategy is best?

Watch this video response to Click Millionaires member Tony's question about making money from advertising online.

It covers the pros and cons of Google's AdSense PPC ads vs. making money from Affiliate ads, including my recommended strategies for your website.

Both Adsense PPC ads and  Affiliate Marketing CPA advertising are tools which can help make you more money online.

But which is better for your site or blog?

[Click here to visit my YouTube channel if you can't see the video.]

Comparison of AdSense PPC Text Ads vs. Affiliate Marketing Advertisements

Both AdSense text ads and affiliate ads are available to any new website owner for free and easy implementation. 

Both advertising systems also automate much of the work traditionally required to sell, document, and collect payment for advertising.

So how do they differ?  Watch the video for more details but here are some summary bullet points:

PPC Adsense Advertising Pros and Cons

• Low value per click
• Distracting links away from your site
• Less editorial control including competitor ads
• Slower loading pages
• Automatically refreshed ads look fresh for repeat visitors
• High volume with reliable payment

Affiliate Program Pros and Cons

• More research required to pick profitable and appropriate affiliate ads and trustworthy partners
• Disclosures required for consumer protection
• Higher commissions per conversion
• Editorial control because you can pick your affiliate program partner products
• Good targeting to your audience's niche interests
• Strong relationships and increased commissions possible with long term affiliate merchant partners (like my affiliate relationship with www.TrySiteBuildIt.com)
• Potential SEO value from recurring, targeted content required by affiliate promotions

Recommendations:  AdSense PPC Ads vs. Affiliate Ads

High traffic sites that need to avoid "ad blindness" can benefit from PPC ads, while affiliate ads can be best for lower traffic, more editorially-driven sites that can promote affiliate products.

Best answer?  Try both and even mix them. Testing both automatically-generated PPC text ads and more customized affiliate ads on your site is the best way to determine what's most profitable for your site and audience.

Which kinds of advertising do you prefer to run on your websites?

What do you recommend to friends new to website building?

What did I miss?

If you'd like to learn more, join the online advertising discussions in the Click Millionaires Forum here, too.  

And, as always, thanks for reading and watching.

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How to Find a Web Designer and other Outsourcing Success Secrets

How do I find a good website designer?  Who can help me transcribe this presentation or design my logo? 

These are the kinds of questions many Click Millionaires have but aren’t sure where to find qualified help to outsource the projects they are not ready to do themselves.

This new video shares my recommendations about where to go online to find the freelance programmers, designers, copywriters, social media marketers and virtual assistants you need to help grow your Click Millionaire business.

Websites mentioned in this video include these outsourcing "talent marketplaces":

• http://www.Elance.com
• http://www.Odesk.com
• http://www.Guru.com
• http://www.Freelancer.com
• http://www.HireMyMom.com

Or, for more on how to hire and work with virtual assistants (or make money by becoming a virtual assistant yourself), visit VAnetworking.com.

Have you used any of these outsourcing services for your projects?

Which do you recommend and why?

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using Facebook, Twitter or Google+ buttons below?

Should I offer a Partnership Proposal? How to Partner Strategy Tips

Should you partner and how to form a partnership are common startup business questions.

Finding a partner can help accelerate your e-business growth but it can also be dangerous. Here are some of my strategy tips for how to start a new partnership thanks to a question from a ClickMillionaires.com member:

Dear Scott:

My new website has lots of potential and I have many great ideas for growing it. But, I have not implemented many of them due to a shortage of time and a lack of expertise.

Enter my potential partner. She has more time and knowledge, and she is also more involved in social networking than I am. Should I "propose" to her? Any major pitfalls I should consider in proposing a partnership?

Thanks,
Mickey
ClickMillionaires.com Member
Culver City, California, USA

SCOTT FOX'S ANSWER

Hi Mickey,

Finding a partner to grow your new business online can be a great way to accelerate your success. 

The standard (and critically important) partnership advice here is to sit down with your friend to talk through roles, expectations, etc. Spend some time planning together and talk through specific growth or marketing plans you have to see how she can contribute.

I would be careful about using the word "partner", however. That implies a 50/50 split before you even have the discussion!

I would also be sure to get it in writing. Whatever "it" is doesn’t have to be a formal contract but even just a series of emails can be VERY handy later.

How to Partner Strategy Tips

Then I have 2 additional non-standard partnership strategy points that can help you avoid a nasty partnership "divorce".

Date Before You "Marry" Your New Partner

1. Start thinking and acting like you own this venture (because you do) and that it's already valuable (because it is). If your new partner wants to be part of it, that's great and you're happy to share IF she performs.

You don’t need to "get married" and give up ownership to her as a full partner if all you really need is to incentivize your potential partner with a revenue share or profit-sharing.

For example, how about she gets 30% of the revenues for 3 years but you continue to own the company? That leaves you in charge of the real decisions but pays her for her help with no immediate cash out of your pocket.

Even if you want to make her a full, equity partner you don’t have to just give her 50% of the venture all at once. Instead she might earn X% per month for as long as she continues to meet expectations and mutually agreed goals. (I know that sounds awfully lawyerly but you can soften it up, of course.)

How About a Partner "Pre-Nup"?

2. Partnerships don’t usually fail when things are going well, they fail when times get tougher.

So, I would spend as much or more time planning for bad scenarios:

• What happens if 6 months from now she isn’t interested anymore?
• What if she (or you!) can only work part-time because of a new baby or sick relative?
• What if she gets sick?
• What if she moves?
• What if she decides to start a competitor?
• What if she fades in and out of involvement?
• What if she wants to continue but there isn’t enough money for both of you?
• What if the business needs to raise money or you need her to pay her own expenses to travel to some conferences?
• What if you need to bring a third partner?
•  Etc. Etc.

You can and should consider these many common partnership scenarios and agree in writing as to what happens to your partnership (and each partner's responsibilities and compensation) in each case.

I also recommend reviewing Chapter 24 "Partners – Should You Share Your Million Dollar Idea?" in my first book, Internet Riches.

So, to continue the analogy from above, how about slowing down your "partnership" process?

A "quickie wedding" is not your only partnership option.

Instead I'd recommend some dating first, then a long engagement, and then a written "pre-nuptial" partnership agreement, too, before you just elope to Las Vegas!

I hope that's helpful. Let's discuss more in the Click Millionaires Forum.

All my best for your success,

Scott Fox

p.s.  Join us at Click Millionaires for more helpful strategy advice from me and other friendly members from around the world!  Learn more here...

Do you have partnership strategy tips to share?

What has worked (or not worked!) for you when partnering with others?

Thanks for reading and commenting. 

(Please click to LIKE or +1 this post if it's helpful to you!)

New Podcast: Click Millionaires Radio!

Last week's live Click Millionaires Radio show offers you some fun and helpful business-building answers.

Click on the player to listen for helpful discussions about:

• your About Us page
• online video
• social network software
• blogging
• and more! 

(And if you don't see the player, click here to listen online at ScottFox.com or download an MP3 here.)

Click Millionaires Radio Podcast MP3 Archive (FREE)
Listen to previous episodes of Click Millionaires Radio anytime here or subscribe for free future episodes on BlogTalkRadio or iTunes. 

Thanks for listening!

What do you think? 

Any follow-up questions?

Do you like this kind of shorter, live show better than my longer interview shows?

How to become an Expert online?

What does it take to be an expert today? 

Here are 4 ways to turn your real world but "non-expert" experience into interesting (and potentially profitable) expert businesses.

Dear Scott Fox,
I have interests in several areas, but I'm concerned that I don't have enough experience to be considered an "expert". How can I overcome my lack of experience to make money as an expert online?

Thanks,
Gary
Trinidad, Caribbean
ClickMillionaires.com Member

SCOTT FOX'S ANSWER

Hi Gary,

You are right - being perceived as an expert can unlock lots of great money-making opportunities and the rules have changed for becoming an "expert". 

Traditionally "experts" were those with credentials – PhD, MD, MBA, etc. But the Web has opened millions of smaller niches where there are no academic credentials.  For example, who has a PhD in how to buy cheap car insurance or how to attract Facebook followers?

So today to make money as an expert you don't have to "be" an expert as long as your audience "perceives" you as one.  If the audience believes you know more than they do, you ARE an expert in their eyes.

And even if you don’t know "more", if they like you and trust you, then they can be guided by you as a fellow traveler in search of the same goals.

That opens the door for you to establish yourself as whoever and whatever kind of expert you want to be. Exciting stuff!

4 Winning Approaches to Becoming an Expert

I see 4 types of expert online today:

1. Traditional Expert: A doctor, lawyer, engineer, etc. Someone with traditional academic credentials and recognized professional standing. It's great if you already have these credentials but if you don't it can be hard to catch up.

2. Niche Expert: Here you may have experience in a non-recognized field. Maybe you grew up working on old cars, or have traveled a lot, or know every line of dialogue from all the Star Wars movies. These "credentials" make you an expert but only in a narrow area.

3. Just in Time Expert: You are passionate about a topic but fairly new at it. For example, you've recently remodeled a house or home-schooled your two children. Here you are more expert than most folks but not yet a "black belt". I call this a "just in time" expert because you are basically just a step or two ahead of your audience in your expertise level.

4. Co-Learning Expert: Because the Net allows such easy, free, and rapid communication (as opposed to traditional expert routes like book publishing), you can also position yourself as exploring a new field WITH your audience.

Co-learning is a great way to position yourself as an expert because you can build community with your audience as you explore a new field together. Here you take reader questions, maybe blog or participate in a forum, and make a point of sharing what you learn as you go along. Your very lack of experience can be used as a friendly selling point because you are "in it together" with your audience.

"Sharing the journey" like this is a legitimate approach online these days. It also works well in hosting other experts. You can ask them the questions your audience wants answered. Do that enough times and soon you'll be able to answer the questions yourself! (Or write the ebook, do the radio interview, etc. – just like a "real" expert.)

If you succeed at becoming a Co-Learning Expert, you will soon evolve into a Just in Time Expert, and then to a Niche Expert, too.

Given a choice of several interests, I would recommend picking one (or at most two interests), and really focusing on them.

If you can build up your expertise through the "levels" above, your expertise won't be in question for long. And that creates the credibility that you can use to design a new lifestyle business based on your new expert status.

I look forward to hearing more about your "expert" Click Millionaire business soon!

Best,
Scott Fox

Join us at Click Millionaires for more great strategy advice from Scott Fox and other friendly members from around the world!  Learn more here...

 What do you think of my "expert types"?

Do they match your experience?

 

Call me Live on Wednesday!

Listen and call-in LIVE to a rare  telephone call-in edition of the Click Millionaires Radio Show next Wednesday, July 6.

Want to chat? Have a question for me? How can I help you?

You'll be able to listen live here and also be able to talk to me live on the air at 6pm ET (3pmPT/11pmUK)!

Write down this phone number (646) 716-4641 so you can call me on Wednesday.  I'll be happy to help with your online marketing, e-commerce, and lifestyle business questions - or just say hello!

(PLUS - Everyone who calls in live will be entered to win free passes to my "Social Media Marketing for Business" course!)

Don't Compete on Price Alone - Product Differentiation Online

Don't compete on price alone. That's one of the quickest ways to LOSE money in your online business.

Instead you need to develop differentiation strategies that attract higher margin purchases. 

For example, price guarantees, free shipping, and product bundles can help differentiate you from competitors. But those tactics still cost you dollars with every sale. 

Better ways to increase customer retention and loyalty (and avoid price competition) are premiums, freemiums, contests, ebooks, mp3s, or other "extras".  These low cost giveaways can increase the perceived value of your products online and support higher prices.

This short video will help you brainstorm some unique value-added promotions to increase your customer conversions and profit margins.

(Watch this pricing differentiation strategies video here or here if you can't see it.)

How do you avoid pricing yourself out of business?

Any suggestions on good differentiation or premium strategies?

Please comment below and click to "like" this post if you do!

Thanks for watching and reading.

SEO Keywords - Where to Put Keywords for Maximum SEO Benefit

Correct SEO keyword placement can attract free search engine traffic to your site.

In this screencast I show you step-by-step how to configure the keywords for a new website.  Watch the quick video to see where to put keywords in the meta tags, keywords, titles, description and other fields to help improve search engine rankings from Google, Yahoo, or Bing.

Follow this simple process to setup your new website keywords for maximum SEO traffic:

(Click here or here if you can't see this SEO keywords video.)

In this screencast video I'm working on a Typepad blog, but the principles apply to any Wordpress blog or other type of website, too.

Was this helpful to you?

What did I miss?

Please comment below or "like" this post, too. 

And, here are some of my other most popular blog posts about Search Engine Optimization:

- Most Common Website Design SEO Mistakes

- The Easiest SEO Tip

- Free SEO Tricks to Improve Your Search Engine Rankings

- SEO Keyword Research - How Much is Too Much?

- Free SEO Keyword Research Tool

- How to Choose an SEO Consultant

Thanks for visiting today.

 

Which Domain Names should I buy?

Scott,

I have been thinking about domain names and my question is how important is it to buy .NET, .INFO, .ORG, .CO, .US domain names as well as the .COM name?

Additionally, is it smart to buy the plural or singular form?  If I would like my new domain to be example.com, should I also register examples.com?

This may seem silly, but I would hate to buy a new domain name and have a competitor pop up because I didn't do my due diligence.

Thanks for the help!

Click Millionaire Jennifer
Flowery Branch, Georgia

 

SCOTT FOX'S ANSWER

Hi Jennifer,

This is a great question.  You are smart to think this through before your competitors catch on and buy your domain name's variations. 

Of course you should start by buying .COM.  The .COM domain extension is still the clear leader, especially in the US. 

After that how many domain names you buy depends on your outlook for the business and your budget.

I usually buy .NET since that's the second most recognized extension and I also buy .TV because I think the whole web is turning into something like interactive television.  (You can make a similar argument for buying .MOBI domains, too.)

.ORG is also nice if your business has a non-profit or charity angle to it.

I usually stop there.  Even though they have been available for years I still have never seen a serious business using .WS, .BIZ, .INFO, .US, etc. 

Also, spelling variations can be valuable.  Plurals and common misspellings are important if you are getting a lot of traffic and/or have an easily misspelled (or just mis-typed) domain. 

I usually buy the 1 or 2 most obvious ones of those variations also.

You can see that this is quickly adding up... 

So, the bottom line is to look at your wallet and compare your budget to your growth projections.  Buy a few domains today to get started and protect yourself, then buy more as your business grows and makes the variations more valuable and also brings in revenues to pay for them.

However, if you're super confident in your new biz and have the money, I would buy all the domain name extensions that you can afford.  It's a cheap form of insurance against competitors squatting on your turf.

I hope that's helpful.

Best,
Scott

p.s.  Domain name purchases at my InternetMillionaireDomains.com are appreciated if you don’t already have a registrar picked out.  I give the profits to charity.

Which domain extensions do you prefer?

Did I miss any good strategies to share with Jennifer?

 

What Can You STOP Doing this Year?

You told me that finding more free time was your #1 obstacle in one of my recent reader polls.   

So, I thought hard about this and came up with a time management solution – do less!

Watch this short, three minute video for my hopefully helpful take on reducing your obligations to find more free time.

What can you STOP doing to free up your time?

And what advice can you share in the Comments below?

(Or, if you are a Click Millionaires member,
please join the discussion about "Doing Less" in the Forum here.)

 

Please click below to LIKE this post on Facebook if you do!

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Please see the Legal & Disclosures section for more details.

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Thanks for reading!

The 4 Most Important Social Media Tools (aka Where Should I Start??)

What are the best social media marketing tools today?  Wondering where to start your social media marketing efforts?

Getting started in social media marketing can be overwhelming.  So if you're new to social media this short video can help you identify the most important social media tools for business. 

Shot in beautiful Redondo Beach, California, watch to hear about what I call "The Big 4" of blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

 

Learn how to start social media marketing and why I think these 4 best social media tools are the top priority for any new online marketing efforts.

What's your opinion?

Do you agree that these are the 4 best social media marketing tools today?

Which social media tools work the best for you?

  Please "like" this video or comment below!