114 Things I Wished I Knew as an Internet Marketer When I First Started

10long years as an internet marketer in some way, shape or form.  You probably haven’t heard of me and I am okay with that.  I have had varying degrees of success though……and failures that had me reeling for months afterwards trying to do damage control.  Here are 114 things that I wish I knew back then when I first started doing the “marketing thang”.  If I had known them then, my “position” in the online would be much different.  Take them for what they are worth…

I have separated different internet marketing techniques from each other to make it more easier to navigate.  Once again, I am not implying I am an expert by any means….these are just some things I have noticed over the years…Feel free to leave your thoughts and add to the list…..

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On Making Money Online

1. Making money online is easy…making money online for a living…not so easy- Probably not the most positive thing that I will say BUT it is real.  Anyone can make a few pennies a month by slapping adsense on their site.  However, to really make money, you are going to need a few more skills than knowing how to build a website.
2. If you want to want to make money online, you will need more than one website…in fact, chances are you will need more than two too…-I once read a question by a mid-level blogger who asked, “which would be easier?…making 3k from one blog or 1k from 3 blogs?”  Obviously, the answer is that it is easier to make $1,000 from 3 blogs.  I currently have 400 websites..some of them do very well, most of them don’t get any traffic at all.  Some sites are two page micro-niche sites highly targeted for one product…others are several hundred pages, monetized for the search engines.
3. You will need personas or aliases as well to throw off other marketers-  Early on into my internet marketing career, I made the mistake of placing all of my sites on one host.  Big mistake.  If you aren’t using aliases, then you are risking your business model…other internet marketers will analyze what you are doing and copy it.  That is fine if you have a site with hundreds of pages of content…not so fine if you have a squidoo page that is making sales for you.
4. So called Blueprints to success rarely work the way they claim-  It isn’t because they don’t work.  It is because everyone is at a different place.  So what works for the Guru will work different for Average Joe Internet Marketer.  Hence, why you hear so many people screaming “scam” and why so many gurus have bad names.
5. You can do things without a dime in your pocket…it will just take longer…sometimes MUCH longer-There is this belief that the internet business world works different than its offline sibling.  The reality is that it doesn’t.  Sure, you don’t need the capital like you would with a brick & mortar business.  But if you have starting capital, you can take off much quicker and start seeing returns than if you were to start at zero.  I am not saying it isn’t possible.  What I am saying is the cards are stacked against you.
6. If you ‘fake’ it, then chances are you will ruin any credibility that someone may think you have- There is absolutely nothing wrong with not knowing something.  After all, we are all just students learning whatever it is we are learning.  However, if you are in the make money niche and spouting off crap, then chances are those of us who know more, will be able to see straight through you.  Same thing applies in whatever niche you choose.
7. The smaller the niche, the easier it is to network with people interested in things you are interested in AND the easier it is to get popular- I learned this coming out of the gate.  My first niche was small and I wound up being a superstar in the niche.  My second niche was the make money online niche and had much different results.  Part of the problem was I didn’t really know what I talking about.  The other part was that the competition was so fierce and the “tips” I was giving out could have been found on any other make money blog.  Oh well, living is learning….
8. Alternatively, the larger the niche, the more resources and time you will have to use to get popular-  If you are in a niche with a sea of a entrenched gurus, then getting popular takes a bit more time.  ProBlogger once claimed that you could see where your blog stood in about 6 months….I don’t think this is the case in popular niches.  I think that if you aren’t in the game within a year, then you may need to re-evaluate your business plan.
9. Unless you outsource your website work, chances are great you will have to learn some basic website building skills- So if you haven’t, why haven’t you started?  When I first got involved with affiliate marketing, I actually did so with a website builder website.  The cost was $30 a month.  I did it because I didn’t know any better.  It took me a few years to figure things out.  And that came at a price….could have save $600 bucks just learning the stuff from the get-go.
10. Don’t talk about what you don’t know until you can prove that it works- I see this all over the make money niche….folks who are new who want so desperately to “fit” in that they are willing to spout off whatever in the hopes of getting followers.  It rarely works.  Most will be able to read right between the lines.  And if you are getting faulty information, be prepared for some hard nosed questions.
11. If you do talk about what you don’t know about, it should be categorized as a theory- …and I have tons of them…
12. Don’t discount what you are good at to make money online-  I do voice over work on the side (God gave me a radio voice) and do free lance writing on the side.  Most people simply discount what their good at or are looking to make **millions**.  If you want to make money online, then you may need to identify parts of what you do that others will find desirable (skills they don’t have) and use it to your benefit. Good with writing?  Do you have an eye for website design?  Are you a good copywriter?  Got a thing for logos and graphics?  Why not market your talents?  I know…it isn’t passive and you won’t makes hundreds of thousands of dollars doing it but you can make a living online with it.
13. STOP thinking like a blogger and START thinking like a marketer-  Most bloggers who are looking to make money think that delivering content will eventually make them rich.  Usually this mindset will result in hours of wasted time.  
14. You can’t do everything- Give it up.  The most successful marketers usually are operating as a team.  The one man shows have figured out that outsourcing is necessary because there isn’t enough time in the day to do it all by yourself.Currently, I outsource roughly 75% of the work I used to do myself.  What that has done for me is allow me to focus more on my business and less on the other stuff. 
15. Figure out how much you are worth and how much you want to be worth-This I don’t really understand.  There are tons of make money hopefuls that are plugging aways for HOURS and making nothing in the hopes that they will eventually make something.  Maybe they are hoping to play catch up.  I don’t know.  Figure out how much your time is worth.  Drop it down to an hourly wage.  Now work on it.
16. And speaking of goals, do you have any?  Every marketer should have two sets of goals…long term and short term.  The short term will keep you interested and show that you are making progress.  The long term goals can be ones that are a little less realistic but attainable…eventually.
17. Every business should have a plan….you site should be no different.  There are 3 things that you should be doing on a regular basis as an internet business strategy. Short answer?..Manufacturing, Muliplying and Maximizing activities.  If you aren’t doing them, you should re-evaluate your plan.
18. RSS subscriptions are not a good indicator of how much money you will make…it is just an ego stroke..take it for what it is-  Being popular is fun.  But your main goal should not be to have a horde of raving fans who like to read what you are writing.  Your ultimate goal should be to make money online.  Nothing less, nothing more.
19. TARGETED Traffic is the secret ingredient to success…always- If you don’t have traffic, you won’t make money.  But you can have a ton of traffic and still not make money.  The key is that the traffic must be targeted.  People who complain about not making money with adsense don’t understand that in order to really make money with adsense, you need a load of traffic filtering in. The same goes with promoting products online- Most sales letters have a 5-20% conversion rate.  If your site is only getting 10 uniques a day, then chances are you won’t sell much.
20. Very little happens by “accident” in the internet marketing world-  There are a lot of from rags to riches stories floating out there.  But the majority of these cases don’t come by accident.  The internet marketing machine typically is a precise machine and those who break the six figure barrier (or even the seven figure barrier) have a plan….even when it looks like they don’t.
21. Never Sacrifice friends and family for business-  If you are working 12+ hours a day, you need to ask yourself why?  A job will never take the place of the ones who love you.  And if your goal is solely for the money, you may find yourself with a lot of money….but alone….and that would suck.
22. Don’t forget to “give” yourself some free time as well-  It is easy to get compulsively obsessed with the internet.  It is even easier to forgo a night out on the town drinking with the boys when there is so much work to do.  But if you aren’t experiencing new things, then you aren’t doing yourself any favors.  At the risk of sounding hokie, you need new experiences to drive your stories and build content.  Without experiences, there  is nothing creative.  And without creativity, your site will sound, look and feel like every other blog in your niche….and that…well, that’s not a good thing.

On Blogging and Content Creation

1. There is this misconception that in order to be a popular blogger, you need to write daily-  The reality is you need to PROMOTE daily (more on that later).  Writing content and commenting on blogs is not enough. There is no rule that says you need to blog several times a week in order to get popular.  However, if you focus your efforts on organic search, then you will get traffic.  You may even get readers.
2. Page Rank means nothing UNLESS you are building a link farm and selling links- Page Rank is nothing more than an ego stroke and isn’t indicative of how high you will rank for a search term.  Page Rank, in and of itself is actually useless.  There are plenty of PR0 sites that outrank PR5 sites for search terms.  PR has absolutely nothing to do with rankings in the search engines.
3. In order to get “known”, you need to get “out there”, in the community (ies).  The thing that separates blogs from regular websites is the sense of community that it brings-Unlike static websites, blogs require a lot of social networking in order to be successful.  Think of it like being in the school cafeteria and hanging out with people from table to table.
4. If your intent is to monetize your “social” blog with adsense, good luck.  Most social communities quickly get “ad blindness”.  If the ad doesn’t have a solution to the reader’s problem right now, then chances are you are doing nothing more than lowering the CPM. There has been a lot of blog posts from respected personalities that will confer with this theory.  Digg users rarely click on ads…neither do stumble users…and RSS subscribers (your “fans”, who are actually interested in what you have to say will rarely click on ads)
5. Stop looking at readership (ie. RSS subscribers) as the ultimate goal UNLESS that is your ultimate goal-  In other words, if you want to make money online, then building your RSS subscriber base shouldn’t be the ultimate goal.  On the other hand, if you are a fame craving type that likes his/her ego stroked, a lot of fans never hurts.  Just don’t expect to get rich.
6. Do you even know what unique means?  I see people spouting off the “in order to be successful, you need quality content that is unique”.  Then I watch as these same bloggers have the same old same old in terms of content….”how to make money online”…”how to walk your dog…” “how to prevent a yeast infection..”  Nothing new in their content.  It is just told in a different way.  In order for something to be “unique”, it should have some character to it that won’t be found anywhere else.  Think angle. ? Think opinion. Think personality.
7. And speaking of Unique, unique isn’t as necessary as you may think-  Speaking from the viewpoint of a site visitor, I think that unique falls way back in my list of requirements.  My #1 requirement?  That it has the solution to whatever issue I am currently having.   That is of course, that people are finding you through search.
8. In popular niches, chances are your content won’t be unique…your blog needs personality- In the case you are gunning for a saturated niche, you will run into the problem that your content won’t be that unique.  People tend to follow people they can relate to OR people they want to be like (as is the case of shoemoney and johnchow, both of whom have no problem showing off six figure checks).  Since chances are great that they won’t care to be like you, the other option is to get them to relate to you…and a illustrative writing personality (or podcast…or video) will help your cause….even if you aren’t saying much.
9. Worry about getting popular and getting traffic first.  Then monetize-  There are several reasons for this.  But the biggest point I would like to make is why even bother monetizing anything if it isn’t getting much traffic?  A good rule I have is that if you are getting less than 300 uniques a day, it isn’t worth monetizing. ?
10. One carefully planned out long, insightful post is worth more than seven 400 word blurbs on nothing new-  Something to think about when someone tells you that in order to succeed, you need to blog daily.  Blogging daily actually doesn’t give your post the credit it should deserves, right?  More non-blogging days really means more chances for someone to see it from your funnels.  More non-blogging days allows you to formulate great posts rather than mediocre keeping up with the Jones types of posts.  More non-blogging days allows you to promote your posts more frequently.  Finally more non-blogging days allows you to prevent an eventual burnout.
11. Which leads me to the next point..if you don’t have ample time to promote each of your blog posts (or don’t have the traffic for others to promote your posts), then you are blogging too often-  It is easy to get into the building content frame of mind because for most bloggers, building content is fun.  But if you are not promoting each of your blog posts heavily because you are constantly writing, then you are cutting yourself short.  One of the bloggers I follow actually advocates 5% content creation and 95% promotion.  That may be a little overboard, but you get the picture.  Considering that your niche market likely has thousands of websites and blogs that you are competing with, chances are if you aren’t promoting, no one will know you exist…this is no matter how good you think your posts are.
12. When you write something, you should write it out and then walk away for a couple days-  I can guarantee that most people who think that their work is finished will have a ton of new ideas if they give themselves time to breathe.  The sub-conscience mind will do some pretty amazing things.  How many times have you thought of a top 10 list only to think of 10 more things after the fact?  If you aren’t giving yourself some breathing room between your writing and publishing, then you are doing yourself a disservice.
13. If you do decide to blog daily, prepare for an eventual burn out-  There are only so many things that you can talk about on a daily basis in any niche.  I would imagine that the average blogger runs out of steam somewhere between month 4 and month 5. At that point, the posts become yet another blog in the echo chamber.

On Search Engine Optimization

1. Search Engine Optimization takes time..prepare for it and don’t be disappointed if you don’t get instantaneous results.- Expect that ranking will take some time….and don’t be disappointed when it takes months to get in the game, if it takes that long.
2. I have found the quickest way for a beginner to learn basic SEO is to use the Keyword Snipe Model.- ? Keyword sniping is basically taking a non-competitive keyword and focusing all of your SEO efforts on solely that keyword.  It is a great model for beginners because beginners will see results fairly quickly and it will give them confidence to go after keywords with more competition.
3. Search Engine Optimization is not hard and something that every marketer should at least know the basics of…
4. Regardless of what you think, getting indexed quickly rarely matters much- I see this in forums all the time…folks worried about getting indexed.  In reality, it rarely matters (unless you are promoting an upcoming product launch).  Even if you get indexed, what kind of traffic are the search engines going to immediately bring you?….probably not much…
5. If you are trying to be a “PURE” White Hat, SEO wise…you will lose-  First of all, if you are doing anything “unnatural” to bolster your site ie. link building, then you aren’t a pure white hat.  But if you want to still be like Hank Hill (king of the hill reference), then you will lose…especially if you are in a competitive market. Competitive markets use grey hat tactics.
6. If your idea of marketing is trying to game the system (black hat)….you will get tired- There are very few pure black marketers that I know of either.  The few successful black hat marketers have white hat projects that they funnel their black hat money into (kind of like laundering money).  But the idea that these guys don’t really “work” is a misconception.  Sure, a lot is automated.  But the reality is that they get their sites ganked on a regular basis…and I don’t know about you but building sites on a weekly basis is hardly fun.
7. Google and other search engines don’t rank websites…they rank pages.  This is actually just a pet peeve of mine when I am talking to a client about what they want to attain from their website.  Sure, surrounding contextual content within the site is important (because is gives the search engines some assurance that your website, on the whole is very relevant and may garner site wide links in the search engines) but the bottom line is google will rank web pages.  Sound logical right?  After all, if you have an article on how to make a cartoon, you want that visitor to land on that page and not your home page.?
8. There are more search engines than google-  Sure they don’t get the large piece of pie, but they do get visitors.  And a lot of times, depending on the niche, they could actually do better.  For instance, most computers automatically come with MSN as the default browser.  MSN users are a lot like AOL users…they are rookies.  And rookies typically mean easy pickings for selling things online….plus, you don’t have as many competitors.  By the way, black hat marketers know this and for the most part, typically disregard trying to get listed in google’s search engine.
9. The purpose of doing proper search engine optimization is so the search engines know how to categorize your page-  Because of this, the search engine spiders normally start getting clues from the millisecond they step into your site…..your domain name is one clue>>>your title and meta tags are another clue>>>your content is another>>>internal and external links are another….
10. Your Domain Name choice DOES play a factor in how your site gets ranked- People argue with this notion and although a domain name won’t make or break your search engine position, it is one **clue** that google uses in its algorythm to identify you.  Plus, do a search for any keyword.  Chances are you will see sites listed on the front page for that result….accident?…hardly…
11. The Age of Your Domain also plays a factor in search engine position-  I actually learned this fairly quickly when I was testing out why articles from authority article sites could get such great positions.In my test, I created a blog and wrote a few pages targeting the exact same keyword as the article (which had position numer 3).  The result was less than impressive.  While I was able to ‘get in the game’ (I was on page 2), I had great difficulty reaching the first page despite the fact that I threw all kinds of backlinks at it.  My summation of the test?…article directories that have age and authority will certainly outpace newer blogs with little to no authority.
12. There is no such thing as “off-page” optimization- The name implies that somehow you can optimize things that are supposed to be beyond your control. It is called link building. ?
13. Ads, whether they are affiliate based or contextual will almost always get you ranked lower than a site that has no ads-  …at least in the beginning…Just a thought.  Most bloggers and websites immediately worry about how they are going to break the bank with their new site.  I don’t put ads on my site until I am within 20 pages of the first page AND it is getting targeted traffic.  Besides, if you have no traffic, what is the point?
14. Keyword Density is not that important anymore…Semantic terms are.  There are still debates raging about exactly what is the optimum percentage for a keyword. The reality is that google has all but done away with this model because it can be gamed.  Keyword proximity and semantic terms are the new buzz.
15. Keyword Research Tools should be only used as tools…nothing more-  First of all, keyword research tools are very broad estimates for traffic and it can be unsettling to someone who relies on them as a meter for traffic.  For instance, I have a sneaking suspicion that Google’s adwords tool inflates their numbers for prospective Pay-per-click marketers.  Can’t prove it but you know how that goes.  Keyword research tools are hardly the “holy grail” of marketing.  They are a good tool to have though…just not the end all to make money.
16. The best way to test a keyword is to run a Pay-per-click campaign to test traffic volume and interest- I know…no one likes to pay a couple hundred dollars to do research but what would you rather do…build a site for months only to realize you are going in the wrong direction OR take a week to test it for volume using pay-per-click?  Using PPC can help take the guess work out of market research.  It can also help you target the keywords that actually convert.
17. Until things change, the #1 most important thing to ranking in the search engines is backlinks.  You can outposition others most of the time by simply having more quality backlinks than them.  I know.  It is terrible because it means that the big players can throw huge amounts of money at link brokers to out rank those of us who are financially challenged.?
18. Blog Commenting is not a backlink strategy-You are social, sure.  You may get traffic, yeah.  But unless you can derive some gameplan to include your Keyword in the name, then you will only be ranking for your name.  And that is probably not your plan, right?  Plus, the authority juice from comments is not that great.
19. Neither is spamming submitting your pages on social bookmark sites- If anyone can do it themselves, chances are it won’t mean much in the algo.  And since social bookmark and scuttle sites can be done with automation tools now, I would say that google has probably reduced their effectiveness as far as backlinks are concerned.
20. In fact, the best link you can possibly get is a link anchored with your keyword in the content of the article-  There is nothing more authoritative than a link within someone’s article.  Google sees a link within content, as something that is supporting the article.  The anchored link just verifies to the search engines that your page is what you claim it to be.  Make’s sense right?
21. Getting ranked is not hard.  Almost all sites are ranked for something.  I have seen people brag about their ranking #1 with a million competing pages.  Unless this was done by design, then it shouldn’t be recognized as something groundbreaking.  Getting ranked for something obscure is not that big of a deal…I will use this blog as an example…even though this blog is very new with little content, I currently rank in the tip 10 for 25 keywords…do I get traffic from these keywords?  Not much.  Getting ranked for anything is easy…Getting ranked for competitive terms is a complete different thing.
22. Once you do get ranked for a competitive term, get ready for a fight-  The push and pull nature of the search engines can almost exhaust even the most diligent SEO.  For competitive terms, prepare to have to continue building links.  In fact, staying on top of the search engines for competitive terms requires a defensive plan.  The battle never stops.
23. Stop thinking in terms of keywords…think in terms of market and market share
24. Start looking at keywords as conversation and stop looking at numbers behind the keywords- Go beyond “keywords”…it is easy to look at keywords as “numbers”.  In actuality, a keyword is nothing more than a conversation.  The art of choosing keywords is more of a guessing game as to what you think someone will query.  Some places to get clues is Yahoo answers and the forums in your niche. ?
25. Start making your link building look as natural as possible-  If you are focusing only on getting backlinks from high PR sites or your link campaign is built solely blog commenting or submitting to directories, you should realize that this just doesn’t look natural.  Same goes for having all your backlinks pointing to your home page.  NOT NATURAL….just a thought.
26. Spend more time building links to your deep pages and less time pointing it directly to your home page-  Once again…it just looks more natural. Plus, given the fact that google ranks pages rather than websites, there is a greater chance that you may automatically pull traffic from your deep pages than your home page.
27. Reach for the stars for your Primary keyword…then get more realistic with your secondary keywords- Unless you are building a site for a particular product, then you should always make your primary keyword super competitive.  The popular thought is if you want to rank for “how to improve your golf swing”, you should build a mini site for this keyword and ram it home.  I say that if that is your goal, then you are shorting yourself.  Why not think of building a site with the primary keyword, “golf for beginners”?  That way, your primary keyword is “golf for beginners” but your ultimate keyword is “golf”.  Now build pages and become an authority on golfing.

On Article Marketing

1. There is more to article marketing than producing mass volumes of articles- Most bum marketers fail because they think that if they inundate a niche with article after article, that they will be able to saturate the market.  While it is true that they are saturating the article directory site with articles, the real traffic comes from the search engines.
2. Only use the article marketing for two reasons- Backlinks and traffic- Article marketing is good for developing quality (although these days quality is suspect) backlinks with anchor text for your primary keyword.  It is also good for traffic…provided that google ranks the articles high in the search engines.  If an article directory is not ranking high in the search engines, then there is no reason to use them.
3. The best article marketers know that in order to get the most bang for your buck, you need to do keyword research- You need to do keyword research for all things internet marketing related.  That is, unless you are like this blog and are doing it for vanity purposes.  In that case, you don’t need to do anything but write….just don’t expect to get rich doing it.
4. The best article marketers make liberal use of keyword modifiers to get listed in the SERPS- This is the “secret sauce” to article marketing.  The traffic you will get from places like ezinearticles will typically be other marketers and writers looking to see what you are doing.  The real traffic will be coming from the search engines for your keyword…that is ideally speaking. Pepper in modifiers like “cheap”, “best”, “free” ect. into your title and watch yourself land on the first page for that term….and first page = more traffic.
5. When in doubt, take a look at articles that are already doing well in the search engines- Some article directories (like ezinearticles) will give you the amount of views that an article will get.  Not only that, they also give a TOP 10 list of the most viewed articles in the past 90 days.
6. If you do a little research, you will find that most of these article views are the result of getting ranked for one or two of their long tail keyword strings.  Now what could you learn from this?
7. The resource box should be the #1 selling point on your article-  Not discounting the article, but your goal isn’t necessarily for the visitor to read the article and think you are a smart guy/gal.  The purpose is to get them off that page and onto your site/landing page.  Because of this, they must feel like there is something in it for them to go to your page.
8. Unless you are writing articles solely for traffic or building your brand, Your Landing Page should have a point to it You landing page should always have a point-  And the clearer the better.  In other words, if you are trying to grab email addresses, you should have a page that is solely geared for them to give that information to you.  If you are shooting for adsense, then there should be no distacting links to click on other than the adsense ads. If you want RSS subscribers (which I have no idea the monetary benefit of that..but whatever), then you give them a chance to subscribe to your feed and make it clear that that is your intent.
9. There is nothing wrong with looking at other websites, like associated content, ehow, and helium for articles that are “sticky” and getting good positions in the SERPS.- Other sites (like associated content) give general page view stats. ?
10. Don’t waste your time on article spinners…they are all junk-  In all the years I have been doing this, I have yet to find one spinner that was really readable.  Don’t waste your time with them.
11. Duplicate Content only matters if you are a new site with nothing but duplicate contenton your website OR you have no authority or trust-  Google will give the credit of the duplicate content to the site with the most links and trust.  That is how it works.  I actually tested this on one of my 10+ year domains….was ranking for it within a month with 3 links elsewhere. ?
12. Despite what the critics say, article marketing is still alive and well and can be a great way to fuel traffic and get backlinks-  Article marketing still works.  I have a pet site that still gets roughly 50 uniques a day from 1 article that took me 15 minutes to write.  It is 2 years old.  Think about it.

On Getting Traffic to Your Website

1. Everyone wants to know how to get traffic to their site…very few actually want to put in the work to grab that traffic- Possibly the most frustrating thing most webmasters have is to try to get traffic to their site.  Most claim that they would do anything to get it.  Then, when they do know, they don’t follow-up.  Why?  Because frankly, it ain’t fun.
2. There is no magic bullet for getting traffic- People want magic bullets.  Marketers claim that they can give them this magic bullet.  The real deal is that there is no magic bullet.  Stop buying into the hype and start doing the things that will get you traffic.
3. Start thinking about traffic coming to your site as funnels.  The more pit stops with your link that you have out there, the more reach your site will have.  More reach = More traffic.
4. And speaking of funnels, if you are constantly building a supporting network of sites to your money site, then you will get supporting traffic-If your site is about dog training, then you could make other sites with long tails that support various articles on your site.  Use Squidoo, Weebly, and other parasitic sites liberally. Build supporting networks for your posts…not just your main page.
5. Guest posting is not only a good way to build traffic but a great way to network- AND it builds credibility…
6. If you can’t get others to link to you (for traffic), then you are going to have to go about creating funnels for others to reach you-  This could include forums,  social platforms, articles, building axillary and websites from parasitic hosts, ect.
7. Commenting is NOT an end all to get traffic- Sure it is social.  But if you are hoping to reach critical mass by commenting on the biggest blogs out there, chances are your message will get lost in the mix.I do have a THEORY that long, informative comments could bring in more people that may “stick” on your site but that is just theory at this point (as I haven’t tested it). ?
8. Analytics are a must for analyzing traffic and developing more content that will get more traffic-  If you aren’t studying your analytics, then you aren’t optimizing the traffic you are getting.  If you keep getting traffic from a particular keyword that is bouncing the minute they reach your page, you should think about writing a page built specifically for them….that is…if you even care what your searchers want.
9. Not all traffic should be considered equal- If you are getting traffic socially, then chances are you aren’t making much money- Reason?  Because social traffic arrives at your website for different reasons than organic or pay-per-click traffic.  Does that mean that social traffic is useless?  Absolutely not.
10. It isn’t the amount of traffic you get…it is the amount of targeted traffic you get- I repeat this bullet because it is just THAT important.  Traffic for traffic sake is just an ego stroke.  Whatever metrics you use for success (whether it is conversions, RSS subscribers, low bounce rate, ect) traffic in the general sense is not the traffic you really want.  If a visitor comes to your site and finds what they are looking for…now THAT is success.
11. Aside from pay-per-click, getting top positions organically is hands down the best way to get targeted traffic.- ? People can argue this fact all they want.  But think about it.  You have a problem…what is the first thing you do?  IF you are like me and hundreds of thousands of people out there, chances are you do a google search for the answer.  Voila!  Thousands of pages that may have the solution to your problem.  It doesn’t get much more targeted than that.
12. RSS Directories are a good way to bring in traffic- You can check out my list of Free RSS directories.
13. Press Releases can also get the word out for your site-  However, in order to really maximize your traffic potential with press releases, you need to really have an interesting story to stand out from the crowd.  You can check out my list of free Press Release sites.
14. Spend less time writing content and more time promoting your site- Once again, not to beat a dead horse, writing content will get looks but it is how you promote your site that will determine how many looks you get.  Sounds like a no-brainer to me but most think that the opposite is true…if they build hundreds of pages of content, that they will get traffic.  You should be spending 5-10% of your time on content creation and the other on promotion…like link building.

On Listbuilding…

1. It isn’t how large your list is…it is how responsive your list is….having 10,000 emails doesn’t mean anything if only a small percentage is opening and reading your emails.  If you have a responsive list of 1,000 people, then this could trump a larger list from the “guru” marketers.
2. Connection is the ultimate key- Well crafted stories that are in line with your offer work very well in building a responsive list.  As a listbuilder, your primary objective shouldn’t be to collect email addresses….your primary objective should be to connect with those who are on your list.  Think entertainment.  Think informative.  Now isn’t those novel?
3. Freebie lists should eventually be sectioned off…buyers from freebie seekers…- Almost all list building gurus and bloggers alike think that “free” is a good way to go to turn visitors into subscribers.  The problem with the “free” crowd is that most won’t bite on things that cost.  Those who do bite, need to be funneled into a separate buyer’s list.
4. Never be afraid to test verticals- A buddy of mine sent an email with a story about a 75 year old client that shot 8 hole-in-ones in his lifetime and asked for similar golf stories from his audience.  Out of 18,000 people on his list, 323 responded with their own story.  His list is in the restauranteur niche.  Now tell me, what do you suppose he could send these people?  Do you think they would respond to golf products or tutorials?
5. Co-regs are hardly ever as targeted as they should be… I have been seduced by the co-reg bug.  After all, how much easier could it be to pay .10-.25 per sign up.  Well, the problem is that most co-regs offer a list a very broad and less targeted group of people to use.   It is best to separate them from your main list UNTIL they become buyers.
6. Credibility and authority shouldn’t be mistaken for giving away free stuff..ever…Alot of new marketers think that building credibility is as easy as giving away junk to their audience.  This rarely really builds a connection between yourself and your audience.  Credibility and authority are the things that you say…not something that others say for you.

On Copywriting and Adcopy

1. AIDA is the beginning foundation of all ad copy- Attention, Interest,Desire,Action…a good ad has all 4.  Most ad copy (at least from my experience) is typically missing something.
2. WIIFM should be your main focal point when copywriting- Effective ad copy has everything to do with what your product, service, whatever…will do for THEM, the consumer.  Most of the time, this has nothing to do with what the actual product does….it is what will happen after the consumer uses the product, service, ect.
3. If possible, use all media platforms in your ad copy-  Some people are visual, some people like to hear what is possible.  Others like to see what is going on.  
4. Social proof is a must for ad copy-  You need testimonials.  If you are featured in MSN, then show it off.  Social proof says emphatically “I am credible”.  And people need to know that they won’t be scammed or bamboozled.
5. The best ad copy to study is actually right in front of your face- Open your mailbox.  Look at your junk mail. Direct mail marketers are probably the best copywriter’s out there.  Now…Go to the grocery store.  Take a look at the magazine rack.  Look at Men’s Health, Cosmopolitan, Home & Garden.  Study their front pages.  They are all trying to sell you on purchasing their magazine.  Study it, perfect it and you may never have to purchase an expensive copywriting.
6. People buy because of benefits, not features-  In a nutshell, a benefit is something that will be derived from using the product.  A feature is something that they may learn.  
7. One thing that will greatly improve your conversion rate is to not have other distracting links on the page-  Adsense pros know this.  If you only give your audience two options, then they will choose one of two. (hitting the back button or clicking your link).  Just something to think about.
8. Nothing will engage a prospective buyer more than a story-  Don’t forget this.  Stories humanize ad copy.  If you can develop your storytelling skills, then you will be successful because you will be able to engage your peeps.
9. If you don’t have much credibility, you can always attach your wagon to someone else’s star-  Building credibility and authority is very hard, especially when you are trying to sell something.  If you have seen ads that say things like “as seen in newsweek and eBay”, you have got to admit that it makes you think that they must be credible just by association.  A lot of times, how they are seen is nothing more than a paid ad in those rags.  Being associated with something credible will always help your credibility.
10. You should always have a call to action…this is whether you are writing ad copy or whether you are simply “blogging”.  This is whether you are trying to sell something or whether you are trying to get RSS subscribers.  This whether you are gunning for email addresses or you want them to click on a link.  People will do what they are asked to do…you just need to give them direction.
11. Never take someone’s results as being indicative of your success-  You can model yourself after successful ad copy but don’t just assume that it is going to produce the same results.
12. Ad copy should always be tested, tracked, then re-tested…and you should never stop testing-  It took me years to get this through my thick skull.  Why?  Testing sucks.  It is boring.  It is tedious.  But if you, as a marketer, aren’t testing, then you are likely not getting the results you could be getting.  And it doesn’t stop there….one test is not enough.  The pro marketers never stop testing…
13. Pay close attention to white space…or you will lose them before you get your message across-  This is something that I am constantly battling with.  After all, reading on the internet is not like reading a book.  And therefore, you need to make use of white space, bullets and images to help move your message.  Personally, I suck at this.

On Social Media Platforms, Forums and Web 2.0

1. Understand that the web isn’t just about YOU and your marketing plans-  We, as web marketers sometimes forget that the people who we are communicating with on the other end are people.  We get so focused on what we and our products are about that we somehow lose those we are trying to connect to.
2. That said, the social web is about sharing and networking.  Share interesting content and you are bound to find others who may deem you as like them.  And we all want to be liked, right?
3. If you use the social web platforms as they were intended, you will be far more impacting than if you were to spam your audience-  If you are using Twitter with the sole intention of selling stuff, then chances are you will disengage the audience you are trying to reach. One of the things that has confounded marketers is how to market to the likes of facebook, twitter, ect.  I think Maria said it best…..Social media should not be used as a means for sales. It’s more a tool to facilitate aspects of your sales process.
4. You can’t “do” all the social platforms…choose a couple and become a maven for that social platform-  So many people want to get their hands on every social platform.  The reality is that you can’t…no one can (well, I guess you could outsource the work).  Do you want to be on the front page of digg?  Well, you are going to have to work it.  And usually this involves being “social”.  And being social takes time.
5. You are either entertaining or super informative (this really applies to managing social platforms and building a social network…if you aren’t either of these, you aren’t on the map-  Choose one, choose both.  But understand that the bulk of people who will follow either want to be entertained or informed.  Either give them relevant AND compelling information OR entertain them. If you can do both, you will be a winner. If you are neither, then it may be time to look for another job.  And no, that e-book you are selling for $47 is not the definition of informing people.
6. And speaking of being informative or entertaining, the real key to working the social media platforms is to establish a connection with your audience.  If you don’t connect with them, they won’t connect with you.  If you don’t say something that gets them thinking or laughing or crying, then how are they going to tell you apart from all of the other boring and uninformative blogs out there?
7. Forums are filled with information and MIS-information…and can be a huge distraction- It is easy to get distracted by becoming a member of a forum.  The “community” part of a forum will suck even the most dedicated marketer away from his/her work.  And the worst part of forums is that you can find yourself running in the wrong direction…quickly.  Use forums to be a part of the community.  Or use them to funnel traffic to your site.  But if you are opting for the second, keep your objectives tightly focused.  Spending hours in a forum is nothing but a time waster.  Alternatively, question anything that comes out of the forums.  While forums have great information, they are also where many misinformed people try to eek out a living by “informing” others.  Just be aware that the ones with the most posts under their belt rarely are doing what they claim (especially in the IM world).  After all, what is the old saying.  Those who can…do.  Those who can’t, Teach.

Feel Free to comment on this or add other things that YOU wished you knew when you first started internet marketing..

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