"The Truth About Un-Sexy Marketing

Look at some of your favorite marketing sites... those
you've bookmarked because the writer of the ad
promised to teach you how to become successful.

"I'll show you how to increase the number of your opt-in
subscribers without paying for leads, using worthless free
services, ad swaps, etc."

"Get more traffic to your site quickly with my super duper
1-2-punch method that's easy enough for even my legally
blind, 91 year old grandmother to pull off!"

"Learn how to whip up sizzling ad copy that will increase
your sales and have visitors begging you for more!"

You read over these magic pages with drool sliding down
your chin, and excitement in your heart. You whisper
under your breath, "This is definitely the solution to boost
profit for my business!".

You download the material (or access the membership
site) and as soon as you get your burning eyeballs on the
product, you shout in anger, "This is a scam! I'm not
getting what I thought I was getting. I better get my
money back!".

(Maybe you're not all that dramatic and just quietly feel
like you keep seeing the same old information that's not
exactly for you...)

Sound familiar?

PEOPLE... these sales letters are *NOT* lying to you!

* You CAN increase your subscribers for free.
* You CAN get more traffic to your site quickly and easily.
* You CAN write copy that will greatly increase your sales.

Yes, You Can!

"But, but, but... those ebooks and courses say I have to:
write articles to show potential customers I really know
what I'm talking about... team up with other
webmasters... practice writing copy by rewriting an
already proven copy on paper by hand... put subscription
boxes and pop-ups on my sites... Conduct a split-test for
all my marketing material... research my market...
participate in forums..."

Why, you are absolutely correct!

It ain't sexy, is it?

That's because you were hoping that...

Revealed inside the product is the address to a secret
website where hundreds of thousands of people gather
and wait for you to find them so they can all subscribe to
your newsletter and make you a millionaire.

Or maybe someone will finally confess that those
"guaranteed hits" programs can really work, and the
traffic you get from them are really targeted to exactly
what you're selling, and there really is a place where you
can spend just $10 for a gazillionbillion "hits" that will
convert to a bazilliontrillion new customers anxious to
throw their life savings at you.

How about a magic word, number, or whatever else you
fantasized about... that you simply insert into your
existing site or copy, transforming it into a wild and
uncontrollable money machine without having to put any
effort into learning how to write...

Whoa there, hot stuff! Take a cold shower and come
back in 10 minutes.

Look through your hard drive and see just how many
marketing products you own. Have you read through
them all? Do you put into practice, split test, and fine-
tune all that they teach you?

How many articles have you written for the market you're
targeting? Are you testing different pay-per-click
techniques? Do you split test your web and sales copy?
Name 20 webmasters or online business owners you've
contacted to possibly team up with.

What inspired me to write this is an e-mail I received from
someone who asked to cancel his Internet Marketing
Support Network membership.

"Cancel my account and refund my money [$1]. I need
to make money ASAP, but, what you teach in there is
how to find and create products and instructions on how
to sell it on the Internet. That's not what I'm looking
for."

So, what were you looking for? To pay a buck and wake
up the next morning to find thousands of dollars in your
bank account just for being a member?

It's an inevitable fact. No matter what those sales letters
say, you must be prepared to sweat. It takes effort,
testing, persistence, perseverance and constant
improvement and fine-tuning to be successful.

No matter how boring a technique or strategy may seem,
give it a try. You won't find it so dull once you start
seeing the orders come in : )

I'm SO not sexy. I'll leave that to JLo and Ben.


_________________________________________________________
Carmen Maranon of MarketingChick.com :: I'll reveal how to squeeze out *Every Last Drop* of PROFIT from your marketing, no matter what your experience, or how much traffic you're getting. Subscribe to my Journal at http://journal.marketingchick.com

The Power of Topic Specific Search Engines

By S. Houlsey

What are Topical Search Engines?
Simply put, topical search engines are search engines
focused on a specific industry, sector or topic.


While many marketers are scrambling for links, any links, an
area that is often overlooked is topic-specific search
engines. What many don't realize is that these engines do
produce traffic, and they often contain traffic that is very
targeted. Anyone who has taken the time to analyze weblogs
and track sales sources will likely see that targeted
traffic converts at a significantly higher rate than
non-targeted traffic.

A savvy online marketer realizes that often, the quality of
the visitor is far more important than the quantity of
visitors. Web marketers should focus their energies on
attracting targeted traffic whenever possible.

For example, if you sell saddles, advertising on a site
related to horses or advertising on a topical search engine
like http://www.horse-stall.net will bring significantly
more sales than advertising on a generic web site or search
engine.

Niche engines are considerably smaller than general search
engines but they can still be quite lucrative. The small
size of a niche or topic-specific engine ensures that the
there are few competitors, and advertisers are generally
willing to pay a little more for the focused traffic.
Advertisers appreciate the unique benefit of reaching a very
targeted audience who have a higher likelihood of purchasing
their product or service. As a result, topic-specific search
engines and directories are a burgeoning market. There is
far less competition in niche directories and dominating a
specific market segment and establishing brand recognition
is significantly easier.

It is virtual suicide to attempt to compete with the
behemoth search engines like Google. Web-surfers are
interested in simplicity and efficiency, which translates to
as few clicks as possible. This is an area where Google
really cannot compete with a topic-specific search engine.
Creating a simple, clear navigational structure of related
content while cross-promoting related products or services
will increase the site's value.

Advertisers will also flock to search portals that are
industry-specific, as they appreciate the unique benefit of
reaching a very targeted audience who have a higher
likelihood of purchasing their product or service.

Consider the niche search engine, Alarm Tools -
http://www.alarm-tools.net . The traffic this portal
attracts will be of significant interest to manufacturers of
security equipment or emergency supplies. Imagine the
targeted traffic that an alarm company could receive from a
link in the above search directory.

Comtemplate the quality traffic a financial planner could
glean from an RSS search directory focussed on finance and
investing at http://www.finance-investing.com .

Locating topic-specific search engines is not all that
difficult. Consider using the resources provided by Search
Engine Watch, Web Search Engines, and Search Engine Guide to
locate engines that are topic-specific:

Search Engine Watch -
http://searchenginewatch.com/links/article.php/2156351
http://www.web-search-engines.net/directory/topic-specific.
Web Search Engines - html
Search Engine Guide -
http://www.searchengineguide.com/searchengines.html

Qualified 'clickers' or interested buyers is what it is all
about; whether you are selling a product or advertising, the
more targeted the traffic the better the fit. As an
advertiser, consider topic- specific search engines. As an
online marketer, consider creating a niche search portal, as
the market is ripe.

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a wireless text messaging software company.