The rules and tools of Internet Marketing have not been same even on the Internet. It has changed a lot over the year. But three things remained at the core of it, and will always remain so. These are the things we will discuss in the following paragraphs.

Content

Content is the driving force behind media. Media is nothing if not content serving engine — I know it is marketing vehicle as well, but that is the hidden part of it, which we all feel convenient in ignoring. So to make our media vehicle (read websites, blogs, or forums, etc.) successful, we need to have high-quality content that keeps the visitors reading and asking for more. This eventually will make them join our mailing list.

And do I need to tell you what a stupendously big e-mail list can do to your online business!

Conversion

What is the goal of website content? What is the reason behind its being? Have you asked these questions? If not then now is the time to ask so because I am going to tell you the answer to this question.

The ultimate, mega, final goal of content is to persuade, nudge, or coax our customers to buy from us, or to subscribe to our mailing list. In other words, the ultimate goal of content is to push people to take desirable action. So again, it went out to content.

Who said content is not important…huh!

Community

This is the final C. This is what we want to build around our product. This is what Harley Davidson got, and other bike brands do not.

A community is so powerful that it can save a company from inevitable bankruptcy. It saved Harley Davidson in early part of 20th century, and it even forced Coca Cola from changing its formula in 1980’s.

Building such a loyal fan base is not going to happen in a day, and for more than 99% of businesses it never happens. But this should be the ultimate goal of a business, for this is very rewarding. You should build, foster, and nurture a community around your product.

Is there anything that can pull all your customers together? Find out what it is and start working upward, until you have a community that grows itself.

Who said organic community…?

The 3Cs we discussed above can easily make or break your business. You should, therefore, take measured steps and not let any of the three go out of control.

Article writing

If you can write a well-researched article on the given topic then this is the job you have been waiting for. Many people needs 500+ words articles on various subjects, and if you think you can provide a well-crafted article then tell them about your desire to help. And also provide some samples of your previous work.

Blogging

Blogging is another thing that a freelance writer can do. You can either write your own blog or work as a staff blogger for big and established blogs. As a staff blogger, you are supposed to write a predetermined number of posts per day, and for that you may get paid on per blog post basis, or on per month basis. You can have more than one blogging job at one time.

Résumé writing

If you know how to create a well-crafted CV then the world of jobseekers is waiting for you. Seeing the competition for each vacant seat, everyone wants his CV to stand out from the crowd and for this one seeks professional help. You need to know what kind of CV works for what industry to succeed as a professional Résumé writer.

Press release writing

A press release is as important for a web-based company as it is for any brick and mortar company. Press release writing is a specialized task, and if you know how to write one then the world is waiting for you. Well, not exactly, but still there are plenty of press release works available both online and offline.

Web content writing

Whoever needs a website, needs content for the website. You can also choose this niche, if you know how to express everything a company needs to say using the given number of words than this is the right kind of writing job for you. You may also need to write about terms & conditions, FAQS, and help pages for the company along with home pages, services, and about us page.

Once you’ve got your niche idea, you need a place to make a blog.  You can start your own by hosting the blog on your own server with your own web address, but this could be extremely costly.  The best idea is to go to a place like Blogspot, or WordPress to start out in building your audience.  Membership is free, and make the process of designing your blog as quick and painless as possible.

Now you just need to pick a good theme that invites people into your world.  This way your blog is visually appealing.  By being pleasing to the eye, people will be more likely to actually read what you have written.  Which is the other key to a good blog, good writing.  The writing is what people come to see, so make sure yours is worth their time.  Be informative and interesting, with a healthy dose of entertainment.  That’s the recipe for blog writing success.

Now you need to find a good program for putting ads on your site.  Most people go through Google’s Adsense, as it’s the easiest and fastest to use.  Adsense works by giving you money anytime someone clicks on an ad on your site.  You can earn anywhere from $.01 to $15 per click.  Ad placement is a fine art as well, so choose ads that relate to your site, so that people will be more likely to click on them.

From there it’s just about networking yourself.  Try and make friends with other people in the industry, as part of the success of established bloggers is through other blogs.  By making a network you benefit off of everyone’s traffic.  Through exchanging links with a blog similar to yours, you allow yourself to be noticed by the more successful blogs readership, affording you the opportunity to get yourself noticed.  The more traffic you can generate, the more chances you have for ad clicks.  So choose your ads wisely, and build that blog traffic!

How much do you deserve?

This is going to be tricky. You have two big giants to tackle: The pay rate in the niche you have chosen to write and the amount paid to new writers like you. For this, you will have to do some research. Ask as many people as you want to ask, and go through as many project postings as you can and see the bid people have made there. This will give you an idea about how much your niche pays.

Visit freelance forums and blogs

Freelance forums and blogs are the goldmines of resources. Hence, you should consider being regular on one or more freelance forums and blogs.

What are the best practices?

Not knowing the best practices of the industry and not applying it are two different things. You should research and find out not only the rates, but the prevailing best practices of the industry as well. You also need to know the payment terms used by the genuine employers.

Find Jobs

This is what you were preparing for all along. Visit different blogs, freelance exchange websites and get yourself registered, if asked to, and start applying for the jobs that interest you.

Fill in all the details in the form, when registering into freelance exchanges. I would recommend uploading your image as well, and not any avatar or any funny picture. You should look professional, in the photograph. I prefer it this way because a photograph tells the prospective clients about you, and on the Internet, everyone prefers doing business with an idiot whom they know then any undercover genius about whom the clients have no clue.

Research your clients

To safeguard your interest, you need to do some research on the clients before you accept the job proposal sent to you. Not every client is created equal. Some are crooks as well.

Read, Read and Read

It comes at the end of everything, isn’t it? That is why it is important. You will have to read as much as you can: read about freelancing tips, read some authors from your field, read how things are changing, etc.

This brings us to the end of the Freelance Writing Checklist series. I wrote three articles in this series, links to which are provided below:

Freelance Writing Checklist part -1

Freelance Writing Checklist part -2

Freelance Writing Checklist part -3

Hope you liked the series, your views and reviews are welcome. You can either use the comment box to share or view or you can mail me on bikramksingh [at] gmail [dot] com. waiting to hear from you.

With the economic crisis right here, right now, many businesses are diverting their funds from payroll (very unfortunately) to marketing and advertising with the idea that that is the best investment for their immediate and future growth.

The past:
Newspapers (print ads): Great eye catching graphics and slogans. But aren’t we all now trying to “go green”? How many of us still get the paper delivered to our door? Isn’t it easier and quicker to “go online”? Why bother thumbing through all those pages when we can just type in a keyword and click search.
Television advertisements (commercials) range from a few seconds to several minutes (also program-length infomercials). Advertisements like this have been used to sell every product imaginable over the years. And can cost millions! But so many of us would rather use our favorite tool, the REMOTE, to channel surf, or at least mute those dreaded minutes of commercial time.

Food for thought:
We are in crisis mode, and that is when people turn to brands they know and trust, which translates to value. So, companies will be looking for more cost-effective ways to reach their target audiences. And that is online marketing, with almost instant feedback as to what is working and what isn’t, via the web pages you search, the newsletters you sign up for, the ads you click on, etc…

Many companies now have forums or blogs which create feedback from consumers so the new buyer can get that very important recommendation from the end user, much like a recommendation from a friend or family member.

The future (NOW):
Many experts predict that internet advertising in the USA will continue to rapidly increase within this economic downturn forcing a reduction in overall advertising spending. Many companies will be transferring much of their marketing budget from traditional (TV and print) to the new online media, which will most likely become the major avenue of advertisement over the next few years at a very high rate.
The snowball effect:
Online audiences watch what they want to watch, when they want to watch, and where they want to watch. It’s not just your grandmother’s PC anymore! Cell phones, Blackberrys, Iphones, MP3’s, etc… This audience is sure to increase as technologies progress and becomes more and more available.
There’s no turning back now…online advertising IS the future.

Many people believe that in order to build a website, one must learn HTML or any other type of programming language. You can find free HTML editor to use and this is one way to make a website the easy way.

Probably if you are still a beginner, the hardest part for you might be learning how to build a web page. You better forget about learning how to use Dreamweaver because you might find it very difficult. Learning to build websites can be fun and at the same time you can also gain profit. You can make money with affiliate programs. At first, I really did not know anything about using Dreamweaver or FrontPage in building websites. What I do was I kept on searching and finally found some programs that really gave me a jump start. These programs are the ones who helped me in making money online daily.

There are a lot of reasons why it is important to build your own websites; one of them is because it is cheaper. Once you learn how to make your own website, then there’s no need for you to call for anyone in case you need some changes.

Using blogs to generate traffic is the best and the only free website building tool that you need to use. It is the best way to learn how to make your own website for free. If you will browse the internet you can find that there are tutorials which show you the ways on how to build a web site using different free blogging software.

Of course, you can’t be an expert right away. For me, I was using trial and error on building my website. After learning more and more, you will find that your website will get better and better.

Know more about the steps in building a website. It is also important to know how to build a money making website. You can make money online using free search engine traffic.