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Webmasters and sellers who use viral marketing usually have their different reasons for using it. Some swear by its effectiveness and some like it because it gets them straight to their target market. If you’re still unsure about the benefits of viral marketing, keep reading.

— Getting Infected

Viral. The word alone has a negative connotation, bringing to mind images of disease and harmful microbes. Do not be fooled by the word for even though it carries a negative connotation in the physical world, it means exactly the opposite in cyberspace! Having this misconception could be disadvantageous to you because it could spell the difference between being a webpage lost in online obscurity to being the next new hot site that everyone’s Googling.

Viral marketing is called such because it’s ‘infectious.’ Viral marketing has several advantages for you, and for good reasons, too. It uses one of the most effective and inexpensive marketing tools in history – the word of mouth. I bet you would think twice about thinking badly of viral marketing if you realize that the success of things like GoogleMail or GMail and multilevel marketing – MLM or sometimes called ‘pyramiding’ – were brought about mostly by viral marketing. This example shows any webmaster that the success can be duplicated on the online market.

— Ditch That Vaccine: Three Reasons why it Works:

It’s free. It’s like magic to anyone’s ears. It’s great especially for startup businesses because it can quickly generate interest for your product while minimizing marketing capital at the same time. All it takes is a little hype here and a good word there to get the chit chat ball rolling.

It works. It does so even on a massive scale. If you know your history, some major religions and a lot of minor ones were proliferated through word of mouth. This technique was especially useful then because any written evidence of the new religion meant death to whoever was holding it. This technique is useful now because any written advertisement for a new product means more costs for whoever’s selling it.

The internet is perfect for it. With the advent of email, messenger clients and online community forums, contacting even your long-lost ex to request the return of your music CD is rarely more than several clicks away. This new age of fast and convenient communication is the best possible environment for a marketing technique as dependent on human interaction as viral marketing. Heck, people can talk to their friends even when they’re not online.

— Precautions on Going Viral:

Viral marketing is a great technique because it’s very effective and extremely inexpensive. However, anyone attempting to do it has to proceed with caution. From the very word itself, going viral can easily make your company succumb to illness. Going viral is a double edged sword, they say. In the same way that positive words from peers could positively affect your market’s perception of you and your product, a bad rep could bring everything toppling down. All it takes is one bad interaction or a single bad deal with a customer to spell an impending disaster for your company’s reputation. In order to fully optimize viral marketing, you have to be sure that your customers really like your product and that they’re happy with the way you or your company deals with them.

You’ve heard all the sales pitches for various books, CD-Roms, DVD’s, and other materials that will supposedly turn you into a genius when it comes to making money online. Perhaps you’ve even invested in some of these items to find that they are full of useless information or only teach basic techniques that you already knew. What you’d like to know is how you can really make money online, without a huge investment or getting caught in a pyramid scam.

1. Advertisement programs

Advertisement programs are available all over the internet. How can they help you make money? In this instance, your job is to build a website based on a particular topic, product, or service. Once you’ve published the website, you can sign up with any number of pay-per-click services that will then populate your web page with advertisements. Others who are paying for those ads on a pay-per-click basis literally fund your paycheck. Every time they pay their invoice for clicks on their ads, a percentage will come to you. Imagine building a few small, basic websites with keyword density that will attract lots of traffic and then sitting back to wait for the money to start coming in.

2. Internet Sales

While there are several avenues down which you can pursue internet sales, there are some ways that are smarter than others. When first beginning your pursuit of internet sales, you will need either a product or service that does not draw too much from your pocketbook. Buying a bulk product for discounted rates and reselling those items individually could be a way to break into the market. You can either set up a website from which to sell your product or services, or you can sell from internet auction sites. Many people have made quite a large sum of money selling products on auction sites. If you take into account the fees you will have to pay, the shipping costs, and the materials cost, setting your price at a level to return a reasonable profit, you can have an internet auction sales business that is highly successful. Another way to attract business is to have a unique offering, whether it is a service or product, that few or no other sellers are offering.

3. Wholesaling

Perhaps you’ve been frustrated in the past by having to go to several different places to collect parts and pieces for a project. You want to customize your car, but you have to go to one dealer for wheels, another for body parts, and someone else for paint or decals. Becoming a wholesales means utilizing the ability to purchase wholesale from suppliers and resell the items in question as complete sets. This can be a lucrative business venture because you sell everything as a package, giving you the ability to mark up the price to earn a profit, as well as offering customers the chance to purchase everything they need in one place, meaning greater satisfaction and more return customers.

We all hope it won’t happen to us.  We keep our typing fingers crossed.  But one day, it will.  Web site owners who have been doing business online for some length of time know all the trouble one hacker can cause. Once a hacker gains access to a Web site they can do a devastating amount of damage to an established business. It is for this reason that most online businesses hire a team of Web site security specialists to make sure this never happens. Whether it’s people who just accidentally entered a forbidden part of a Web site or those who hack into a system deliberately, the goal is to prevent it before it happens.  Here are three steps you can take.

Use Digital Certificates

Any Web site that does business online should use digital certificates. This helps to protect sensitive data when passed using a form. This could include anything from person’s social security number, credit card information, to his or her address and contact numbers. It is important for Web site owners to be able to assure their clients that their Web site is secure. A digital certificate goes a long way towards allowing clients to trust a business is legitimate and entrust sensitive information to it.

It is, however, important to be careful when buying a digital certificate. It is vital to not obtain one that is outdated or which has been sabotaged by a hacker.

Keep Security Regularly Updated

Some of the most important security procedures include methods to make sure a Web site’s forbidden pages are inaccessible to anyone who lacks authority to view them. This includes tracking that person’s IP and recording it. This will help protect Web site owners from people trying to illegally access, download, or alter the Web site’s files. As a last resort it will also help authorities track down where an offender lives and, if necessary, whom to charge with a crime.

As criminals constantly devise new ways to circumvent modern security, security procedures are constantly being updated to ensure that the latest version includes protection against these new security threats and risks. It is the Web site owner’s duty to make sure that the security is up-to-date. This makes the correction of such problems, if they arise, easier.

A Web site owner should also regularly change the Web site’s administrator password, observing all the common sense rules regarding password creation. Although many do not take this step, simply taking precaution can help prevent a costly breach from occurring.

Monitor Online Activities

It is absolutely vital for a Web site owner to monitor all of their online activities. Many Web site owners have unwittingly caught a computer virus by downloading something or clicking on a Web URL link while browsing the Internet. These kinds of mistakes are common and can be avoided by simply taking reasonable measures to provide security for their computers.

Email from unknown people should be treated suspiciously, particularly if an attachment is included. Often these attachments have a Trojan, virus, or other malicious software packaged inside them that will burst free when the attachment is downloaded. Although most new computer security products are aware of these viruses, a brand-new virus can remain undetected until it is discovered by security professionals who then update their protective software to counter the new threat.

For the owner of a Web site, every virus and illegal access that is prevented on their personal computer represents a lot of money saved. Perhaps more than most anyone else, Web site owners get their money’s worth when buying security products. A Web site owner can lose their Web site and all their earnings from a single breach by a single hacker, even if that breach is on their home PC if that computer has been used to access restricted areas of their Web site. The peace of mind a few security software purchases can bring are more than worth the cost in dollars.  Remember the old adage: penny wise and pound foolish?  This can apply to managing a site in today’s increasingly fraught environment.  Are you being pound foolish?

Have you noticed yet that more and more people around the world want to work from home and make money online?

Have you ever wished you could just wake up whenever you want, have a cup of coffee, turn on your computer, work for a couple of hours online, and then spend your time with your family and hobbies? Indeed, working from home gives a lot of benefits, freedom and income.

However, many people wrongfully think that making good money online requires a website and huge investment. Here’s a fact: you can start making hundreds of dollars per month within weeks with no upfront fees and even without a website.

How?

Affiliate marketing allows you to earn commissions for selling other people’s products or services online. As you study every word of this article you will become amazed at how easy it will be for you to get started earning cash on the Internet because you can join any affiliate network at no cost.

For example, you can join Clickbank:

http://www.webmastertools4u.com/cgi-bin/jump.cgi?ID=4

In order to learn more about marketing Clickbank products, make sure to read their website, FAQs and information in your member’s area.

Then go to Clickbank’s “Marketplace” and browse the categories that interest you. When you find a product that interests you, visit it’s pitch page and read the sales letter. I even suggest you buying the product that interests you. You’ll understand why this will increase your affiliate earnings by the time you finish reading this article.

When you find a product that you would like to promote, press on the “Create Hoplink”, enter your nickname that you have entered when joining Clickbank and create your affiliate link (hoplink) which you will be marketing on the Internet at no cost.

In order to make money online, you’ll have to promote your affiliate link by using any of the 3 methods that don’t require a website:

1) Forum posting
2) Article writing
3) Pay-per-click (PPC) search engine marketing

But before you can start using any of the above methods, I must warn you that each of them requires your time and work. If you think that it’s easy money, you’d better go watch TV or keep browsing the Internet.

But let me confess something: If you are like me, and if you are ready to put some time and effort, in the next few minutes you’re going to learn how to transform your life and start making cash on the Internet by marketing affiliate programs.

Marketing your affiliate link via forums

One of the easiest ways for beginners to earn affiliate commissions is to post comments in forums related to the product that you have chosen to market.

Now follow my path. All you have to do is go to your favorite search engine and find online forums related to the theme of your product. Create an account at each forum. Then go to update your profile and create a signature with your Clickbank hoplink. You can do that later after you have done some comment posting and see how other marketers use their links in their signatures.

Then you should browse the topics where you can provide useful tips and answers to the questions that people ask. If you have bought the product that you want to promote and you are happy with it, you should tell others about it’s benefits and how it helped you.

Consider this that it’s not enough to post a couple of comments and expect to earn thousands in commission. You should select several forums that interest you and keep visiting them and posting comments for at least a month. Try not to sell your product but help people. When you have posted hundreds of comments, people will treat you as an expert and the sales will start rolling in.

After you have spent some time posting comments to forums, you should notice that some topics and questions are asked again and again. If you already know how to help people, you should start writing articles and promote your affiliate links in them.

Affiliate marketing using article distribution

In order to get started you should visit some article directories, for example:

http://www.ezinearticles.com or http://www.isnare.com

Find articles that deal with the topic of your product and read them. Notice the “Author Bio” section at the end of most articles? It’s the place where you’ll market your affiliate link too.

But before you can start marketing, you should write your article. It’s really easy. Don’t say that you cannot write. If you can post comments in forums, you can write articles!

Simply, think about helping people, about the problems they try to solve in forums.

Now take a sheet of paper and start writing. The articles don’t have to be long. Just describe the problem and how it should be solved.

Then register with some article directories, write your “Author Bio” section with your hoplink and submit your article.

For maximum results, try to write and submit at least one article per day for at least one month. If readers love your articles, they’ll visit your link and buy from you. Webmasters will publish your articles on their websites and newsletters. At the end of the month you should see some affiliate commission in your Clickbank account.

Pay-per-click search engine marketing

When you have received your first checks from Clickbank, you should consider promoting your product using pay-per-click search engines. However, notice that this method requires payment for each click and may be quite complicated for beginners.

Some PPC search engines may even give you a sign-up bonus of up to $200, so it’s worth doing a research online and signing up.

In order to increase your affiliate earnings, you should also consider learning how to mask your affiliate links and how to track which marketing methods provide the most revenue.

You should also try to join other affiliate networks and promote different products and services.

As you can see, you can start making money online quickly, even if you don’t have any money or website. Don’t give up too soon, find and read more information about affiliate marketing and your success is guaranteed!

Article marketing is becoming more popular as webmasters realize the value in their content. Because of article marketing’s popularity, there are literally thousands of article directories all over the internet, with new ones being launched every day. Today, finding the right article directory can seem to be a daunting task.

So, the question becomes, how do you determine which article directories are the best?

Though there are several websites where you could find hundreds of article directories ranked according to popularity, it is best that you make your own evaluation based on your niche as well as your personal preference. Here are a few factors for you to consider when ranking article directory sites.

1) How old is the site?

With the launch of the Wayback Machine, it is now possible for anyone to check web pages that have been archived since 1996. Enter the names of the article directories you are considering and find out how old they are. In this case, the older the better. Google looks at site age for trustworthiness.

If you can’t find a site in the Wayback Machine, try doing a whois search. This will give you the date the domain was first registered.

2) Find Google and Yahoo backlinks

If you have already submitted articles to various article directories, enter the title of a few of your older articles and do a Yahoo as well as a Google search.

See where your article is ranked in the search. The articles that are in the top few spots would have been submitted to well-established directories or what Google considers to be the best content display.

The higher up an article directory is listed on Yahoo and Google, the more effective it is.

3) Look at PageRank

PageRank is the numeric value that Google assigns to every web page and is an indication of the importance of a website. The numbers range from 0- 10, with 10 being the most important. Submitting your articles to directories with higher PageRanks can increase your exposure manifold.