Developing a successful internet marketing strategy is an essential part of your online success. In order to succeed, you must develop and implement a strategic plan that includes all of the following:

• A great product
• A website specifically designed to sell
• A killer marketing strategy

Each step plays an important role in your overall strategy and must be developed to its fullest potential. If even one step fails, your chances of success will be minimal.

Developing Your Product

Your first step will be to develop a great product. You're probably thinking that's easier said than done, but it's really not. The absolute best product is one that you can develop yourself and deliver over the Internet. With today's technology, there is absolutely no reason why you can't create your own product. The knowledge you have within your own mind is extremely valuable. Everybody is good at something, has a special talent or some specialized knowledge. Use this knowledge to create a product.

The key to developing a great product is exclusiveness. Your product should be unique and not be in competition with hundreds of other similar products. You must give your potential customers exactly what they want. Develop a high-quality product that fills a void to increase your chance of success.

Another consideration of great importance is your target market. Keep in mind, the Internet is a global marketplace. Develop a product with a large geographic target and a wide appeal. A great product will fulfill a need or desire and provide instant gratification.

Here are a few of the top sellers:

• Software
• Information
• Private sites
• Internet services

Before you develop your product, do some research -- find out exactly what people want and develop your product accordingly.

The most important consideration when developing your product is quality. Your product should not only deliver what you promise, but should go above and beyond the expected and overdeliver. Your customers satisfaction is of the utmost importance.

Developing Your Website

Once you've developed a great product, your next step will be to develop a great website. Your website must be specifically designed to sell your product.

Everything within your website should have one purpose -- getting your visitor to take action. Words are the most powerful marketing tool you have. The right words will turn your visitors into customers. The wrong words will cause them to click away and never return.

Your words are the entire foundation of your business. Your product, your website and your marketing strategies all depend upon your words. Fancy graphics don't make sales -- words do.

Every word, sentence and headline should have one specific purpose -- to lead your potential customer to your order page. Write your website copy as if you are talking to just one person. Identify a problem and validate that one visitor's need for a solution. Continue to write and explain why your product is the solution to their problem. Tell them exactly what your product will do for them -- why it will solve their problems and how. Pack your copy with benefits and more benefits. Write to persuade -- that's the bottom line.

Developing Your Marketing strategies

Your marketing strategy is the final process of your plan. Your plan must include both short-term and long-term strategies in order to succeed.

Short term marketing strategies are those that bring you a temporary boost in traffic. Although these techniques are very important to your over-all plan, they are only a temporary traffic source and must not be solely relied upon.
Short term marketing strategies include:

• Purchasing advertising
• Bulletin Boards
• Search Engines

Long term marketing strategies are those that bring you a steady stream of targeted traffic over time. These strategies will continue to produce results even years down the road.

Long term marketing strategies include:

• Opt-in Lists
• Freebies
• Content

By creating and implementing a balanced marketing strategy, using both short-term and long-term strategies, you will drive a steady stream of targeted traffic to your website.

If you use this simple formula when creating your Internet marketing strategy and excel at all three, you can literally guarantee your success.

Part Two: Developing Your Product
By Shelley Lowery

Developing your own product to market on the Internet isn't as difficult as you may think. Today's technology has opened a whole New World of opportunity for even the smallest homebased business owner. The knowledge you have within your own mind is all you'll need to develop a successful product.

Everybody is good at something. You don't have to be a Rocket Scientist in order to create your own product. If that were the case, most of us would fail. Maybe you have a special talent or some specialized knowledge. Use this knowledge to create a product.

Researching

Before you begin developing your product, make sure you've done your homework. Research the market to determine exactly what people want and develop your product accordingly. If your product doesn't have a market, it won't be successful.

Your product should not only fill a void, but should also be unique. The less competition you have, the better. If you enter a market in which you're competing against hundreds of other products similar to yours, your chance of success will be minimal. Develop a high-quality product that fills a void and provides people with exactly what they want.

Another consideration of great importance is your product's delivery method. The best form of product delivery on the Internet is automated. Internet users want the product they order as soon as their purchase is complete. This can be accomplished in a number of ways depending upon the type of product. For example, if your product is software or information, it can reside on your server and be instantly downloaded via a link. If your product is a private site, you can provide instant access as soon as your customer's payment has been processed.

Not only does instant product delivery benefit your customer, but it will also benefit you. By completely automating your product's ordering and delivery process, you can spend your time performing more important tasks, such as making more sales.

Brain Storming

The most difficult part of creating your own product is deciding upon the product itself. First of all, you'll need to decide what type of product you would like to develop.

Some of the top Internet sellers include:

• Software
• Information
• Private sites
• Internet services

Once you have determined the type, then you can focus your attention on the subject matter.

If you would like to develop a software program, but aren't capable of writing it yourself, consider hiring a professional. If you would be interested in developing a desktop software program, simply visit a Search Engine and search for "software developers." If you would like to develop a software that resides on a server, search for "scripting services." Although this type of product will be the most expensive to develop, it can be very profitable.

Information is a big seller on the Internet and is also the most inexpensive to develop. Your information can be in the form of a report, an ebook or even a private site.

Internet users are starving for information, as that is what the Internet is all about. They have a sincere desire to learn and will search for the information they desire. The best form of information is "how-to" information that teaches or informs in regard to a specific subject. Even if the subject is very unique, the Internet is a great market for even the most niche products.

If you'd like to develop a product that is very inexpensive to create and has a great profit margin, then an informational product is your best bet. Most informational products are compiled into a downloadable file better known as an ebook. In order to compile your files into an ebook, you'll need to purchase a compiler. Prices start at around $25. You can find a complete list of compilers here:

http://www.web-source.net/web/Ebooks/Compilers/

For further information on creating an informational product, you may read the article entitled, "How to Create, Sell and Distribute Your Own Informational Product." http://www.web-source.net/info_products.htm

Here are a few subjects to give you some ideas:

Recipes
Cooking
Sewing Tips
Gardening
Canning
Makeup and Skin Care
Weight Loss
Self Improvement
Health and Fitness
Child Development
Teenagers
Romance
Dating
Relationships
Divorce
Single Mothers
Single Fathers
Teenage Mothers
Teenage Fathers
Home Decorating
Home Remodeling
Home Maintenance
Plumbing
Carpentry
Small Appliance Repair
Home Buying
Auto Mechanics
Auto Buying
Home Finances
Home Business
Computers
Internet

Internet services are also very profitable. However, this type of product requires more of your time. In addition, you must be an expert in a given field in order to provide a quality service.

Here are a few popular Internet services:

• Web/Graphics Design
• Copywriting
• Software Development
• Marketing Consultant
• Publicist
• Search Engine Optimization/Submissions

Alternative Products

If you'd rather not develop your own product, you may want to consider selling someone else's product. You can find hundreds of great affiliate programs here:
http://www.associateprograms.com/

If you would be interested in selling some of the top name brand items, the following website will provide you with hundreds of legitimate drop shippers. These companies will allow you to sell their products on your website and even ship them to your customers. (There is a $39.95 per year fee for this service)
http://www.electronicdartshop.com/dropshipsource.html

Summary

Developing your own product is an essential part of your online success. Take your time and make sure you do your homework before you begin. No matter what product you develop, quality is of the utmost importance. Provide your customers with exactly what you promise and more -- over-deliver.

If you develop a quality product that fills a void and provides Internet users with exactly what they want, your product will be a success.

 

Part Three: Designing Your Website
By Shelley Lowery

Designing a website specifically designed to sell your product is an essential part of your success. Everything within your website should have one specific purpose -- getting your visitor to take action.

Creating a professional website specifically designed to sell will take a great deal of time and effort, as there is much more to take into consideration than just the design. You must look at a much broader picture and plan each step very carefully.

Every part of your website must be strategically designed, from your overall design to your sales copy; each will play a very important role. Your visitor's first impression will almost instantly determine whether or not you're going to make a sale.

Your website should be simple in design with the navigational links placed at the top, left or right side of the page. It should be designed in standard HTML with no Flash or fancy plug-ins and very few graphics. Unless your graphics specifically pertain to your product or enhance your site, you probably shouldn't include them. Your site should load very quickly and each additional graphic will add additional load time. In addition, there should be no banners or outside links of any kind -- nothing that will distract your visitor's attention.

You must specifically design your website to rank high in the Search Engines. This involves much more than just including META tags. Your design, text, title and image alt tags all play a very important role in determining how your website will rank.

Title - Your "Title" should contain your most important keyword or keyword phrase that you think potential visitors will use when performing a search. Instead of capitalizing the first letter, type it in lowercase, as most people type in all lowercase letters when searching.

Description - Your description should contain your most important keywords and describe your product in detail. You want your potential visitors to know exactly what you're offering. Your description should be less than 200 characters.

Keywords - Select the most appropriate keyword and keyword phrases, in different variations, that you feel your potential visitors will use when performing a search. The more targeted the better.

You can find a variety of tools to assist you in creating an effective list of keywords here: http://www.jimtools.com

You can also download a great little freeware program called, GoodKeywords http://www.goodkeywords.com. This program will assist you in developing a list of targeted keywords for your website. In addition, it also includes a site popularity tool that enables you to check your site's popularity.

Heading tags - Search Engines pay close attention to the text displayed within the "Heading" tags. Place your most important keyword phrase within a "Heading" tag.

Graphic Alt tags - Place a readable sentence containing your keyword phrases within your graphic "Alt" tags.

Text - All of your keywords and keyword phrases should appear throughout your text. If any of the keywords you placed within your META tags do not appear within your text, the Search Engines will ignore them. Your keyword phrases should appear at least three times within your text, but no more than seven.

Another consideration of great importance is the use of "Tables." If you'd like to set up your website using tables, try to place your "Heading" text above your "Table" code. If this isn't possible, make sure you include your keyword phrases within your top left "Table cell" to assist you in ranking higher in the Search Engines.

One final note, always place your most important information above the fold of your web page. This is the top portion of your web page that is visible when your page is first loaded, without scrolling. This is the most important part of your entire page -- use it wisely.

Your website is your product's storefront and will play a very important roll in determining your success. Take your time and do your homework before you begin. You may be pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

Part Four: Writing Effective Sales Copy
By Shelley Lowery

A professional looking website is a very important part of making sales. However, without effective sales copy your website will be useless. Words make sales, not fancy websites.

Your words are the entire foundation of your business. Your product, your website and your marketing strategies all depend upon your words. You must learn how to write persuasive words specifically written for your targeted customer. You must feel your customers needs and write your copy with passion, excitement and benefit.

Your text should be written in a black, legible font with a light background. Avoid using fancy fonts or backgrounds that will make your text difficult to read. When you begin writing, write in small blocks of text with a space between each block. There is nothing that will make your visitor click away faster than a sea of black text, so make sure you use plenty of white space.

Begin your sales letter with a powerful headline that demands attention. This headline is the most important part of your entire sales letter. If it doesn't grab your potential customer's attention, they won't bother to read the rest of your letter. Your headline should be displayed in a larger bold font and demand your potential customer's attention to intrigue them to read on.

Use subheadings (headlines) throughout your letter to capture the attention of those who just scan your text. Your subheadings should provide highlights of each section of your sales letter and be displayed in a larger, bold font.

Once you've captured your potential customer's attention with your powerful headline, you should now direct their attention to your introduction. Write a brief paragraph about your product to let them know exactly what you have to offer them. Keep your introduction brief and to the point with no filler content.

Once you've written your introduction, continue to write and tell your potential customer why your product is the solution to their problem. Tell them exactly how your product will benefit them. Identify a specific problem and promote your product as the solution. This can be accomplished with the use of questions that identify a specific problem that your product will solve. Ask your potential customer questions that you know they can identify with -- feel their needs.

Every word, sentence and headline should have one specific purpose -- to lead your potential customer to your order page. When writing your sales copy, direct your words towards one specific person. Use words like "you" and "your" rather than "them" or "their." Write as if you are speaking with just one person -- one on one. Write to persuade, that's the bottom line.

Use the following formula when writing your website sales letter:

A - Attention - Use a powerful headline that demands attention
I - Interest - Intrigue interest and create curiosity
D - Detail - Provide details about your product or service
A - Action - Call for action

Many Internet users are apprehensive when it comes to making a purchase on the Internet. You must put their mind at ease by displaying your full name, company name and contact information. In addition, you must completely remove their risk. Provide your potential customers with a solid, no risk, money back guarantee. This will put their mind at ease by building their confidence in you and your product. In addition, include some of your testimonials within your sales letter. Make sure you don't create a separate page for your testimonials, as they most likely won't be read. Place your testimonials throughout your sales letter to ensure their visibility.

Studies have shown that long sales copy out-sells short sales copy. However, some visitors do prefer a short sales letter. To accomodate both types of preferences, you can provide both. For those visitors who prefer a short sales letter, provide them with an opportunity to click through to your sales page throughout your sales letter.

When writing a long sales letter, keep in mind that with each additional click, you will lose a percentage of your potential customers. Have you ever read a sales letter page that forced you to click through several pages to continue reading the sales letter? Many Internet users find this very frustrating and just click away. Try to keep your sales letter all on one page for the best results. Your visitors would probably much rather scroll through a long sales letter than click through and load another page. Their time is very valuable -- accomodate them.

Once you've written your sales letter and packed it with all of the benefits your product has to offer, your next step will be to "call for action." Ask for the order and provide an easy ordering process. Continue to reassure your potential customer by reminding them of your personal guarantee and lead them to your order page.

For potential customers that still aren't convinced, provide them with free bonuses just for purchasing your product. Many times, you will find that your customers purchase your product just for the free bonuses.

Your final step will be to close your sales letter with a PostScript. When your visitor scans your sales message, chances are, they'll read your headline, subheadings and your PostScript message. Place your most important benefits within your P.S. message. It will get read.

Write your words so that they seamlessly flow together from your beginning headline through to your order page. Pack your copy with all of the benefits your product has to offer and keep it simple. The simple, well designed sites with great copy make the sales.