But WAIT!!
As a "sneak peek", we'll let you look at an index of the 10 Day Masters Course, so you can get an idea of what it goes over!
1. Day One
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Being a great affiliate is NOT about
selling... It’s about PREselling.
1.1. Focus on Maximizing Profit
The goal of any business, including your affiliate business, is to maximize
PROFITS. PROFIT is simply your INCOME minus your EXPENSES.
As an affiliate, there are exactly two ways to increase your INCOME.
1.2. PREsell To Convert
Your strategies and actions as an affiliate directly affect your Conversion Rate.
This section deals with how to PREsell effectively. (Later in the course, we
will cover traffic-building in more detail.)
Let’s look at examples of how “low-CR affiliates” create negative mindsets by
making HOW-YOU-REACH, WHAT-YOU-SAY, or HOW-YOU-REFER booboos.
We’ll begin at the top…
2. Day Two
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Brainstorming Your Site Content
2.1. PREpare, Not REpair
You have just arrived at the most important part of your entire affiliate business.
Yes, I know some of you haven’t started yet. And I know you really want to get
going! And yes...
Wrapping up the necessary preparation work before you begin “doing business”
on the Net will, of course, delay your grand opening. But it’s important that you
take your time to prepare well now. Then there’ll be nothing to repair or repeat
once you launch. You’ll just roar ahead!
2.2. Find Your Passion
Everyone, absolutely everyone, has a special interest... a passion. Everyone
knows something that is of value to others… something that others on the Net
seek.
Passion makes work fun and easy…
• What is it that you love to talk about? Read about?
• What is your hobby?
• What do you do for fun and games?
• What are your natural talents?
3. Day Three
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Develop High-Profitability Topics
Let’s say that you love fashion. You eat, live and sleep it. You read all the
fashion magazines. You head straight to that part of any bookstore. Your friends
beg you to talk about something else “for a change!”
It’s time to brainstorm and prune. Initially, you’ll brainstorm as many related
“Keyword-Focused” topics as possible that are related to fashion. Then you’ll
prune out the low-profit-potential ones.
WINDOW #1 -- THE DEMAND WINDOW
If you're not tapping into the unlimited information on the Web, you're missing
out. Search It! converts you into a business power-surfer.
Search It! has so many useful purposes, for example...
• brainstorming
• competitive research
• domain naming and legalities
• PREselling content idea development
• identification of new monetization avenues
This powerful unique tool is simple to use. Keep it handy on your desktop --
perhaps in the upper left corner of your browser.
WINDOW #2 -- THE SUPPLY WINDOW
Ready to prune out the LOW-PROFITABILITY topics?
Before we can start pruning, we need to check out the SUPPLY of your
“fashion-containing” keywords. In other words, how many sites already provide
content for the keywords that we found in your DEMAND WINDOW (i.e.,
WINDOW #1 above)?
WINDOW #3 -- BREAKOUT WINDOW
By now, you very likely have enough keywords to keep you busy for a while. If
so, give this a quick read and move on to the next section. But...
If you need more HIGH-PROFITABILITY keyword topics, or if you just want to be
thorough, work through this third and final WINDOW. It just might affect the final
concept that you refine and the domain name that you select.
It’s easy to get “concept-keyword-bound.” Resist the urge. Keep in mind that
SUPPLY and DEMAND numbers are still merely gross guidelines that point out
some interesting big pictures. Make your brain the ultimate judge.
4. Day Four
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Plan Your Monetization Models
DAY 4 continues your excellent preparation efforts. The finish line is in sight
where you will register your domain name, confidently knowing that you have not
missed a step along the track. That’s why you will be “thinking” about “M”
now, and “doing” it after you have C T P well in control.
The ideal Site Concept should give you enough flexibility to generate income
through two or three or more different streams. Why is this important?
Two valid reasons come to mind quickly…
4.1. Grow A List Of Possible Affiliate Partners
Remember how we brainstormed the list of KEYWORDS and then chose the
best? We're going to choose affiliate partners in the same way. And, of course,
Search It! will be our super-efficient assistant as per usual.
Solid research sets a solid foundation. That’s why the strategies below try to
cover almost every angle for choosing POSSIBLE PARTNERS. However, being
this thorough can be overwhelming, especially if you are already time-crunched.
4.1.1. Grow Through Search Engines…
I guess a good place to start your search for merchants would be, of course, at
the Search Engines! Do a search for one of your keywords, plus the word
“affiliate.”
4.1.2. Grow Through Directories...
Search and/or Drill Down
Directories are also a good place to research POTENTIAL PARTNERS. An
interesting place to start is…
Search It! > Specialty Hubs and Directories > Yahoo! Wide (STEP 2) >
fashion (STEP 3) > fashion design (STEP 4)
Since this is a large directory and there is a substantial annual fee, it has only
serious merchants. Many of the sites listed here will have affiliate programs so
this search is like hitting pay dirt in a gold mine.
4.1.3. Grow Through Specialized Affiliate Directories
Now let’s investigate your POSSIBLE PARTNERS and add some new
merchants, too. How? Easy...
Search It! > Monetization (STEP 1) > Find Affiliate Programs (STEP 2) >
fashion (STEP 3)
This search takes you to the affiliate directory of AssociatePrograms.com, run
by Allan Gardyne, the #1 affiliate guru on the Web. Allan offers objective reviews
based on his extensive experience in affiliate marketing. His forum is also a
helpful source of information.
4.1.4. Grow through Affiliate Backend
Providers/Networks/Aggregators
There are several companies that provide the tools, technology and services that
online businesses need to register, track, report and pay affiliates. In other
words, merchants don’t have to “do it themselves” because these companies
provide all the backend functionality necessary to run an affiliate program.
The “backend providers” prefer to call themselves “affiliate networks.” Why?
Because they do more than just provide merchants with affiliate software. They
also provide merchants with affiliates, and vice-versa. Since they have a pool of
hundreds of thousands of affiliates, a merchant’s program gets instant exposure
to potentially interested affiliates.
4.1.5. Grow through Alexa
Do a search for the Web site you are evaluating. In this example, we are looking
at modaitalia.net . This was the first result in our Search Engine affiliate search.
Now it's time to use Alexa to find potential affiliates.
4.1.6. Grow Through Search Engines & Directories...
Favorite Tricks
Now for a few of my favorite tricks...
How else can you find merchants through the Search Engines? Easy!...
1) Visit the advertisers!
2) Sniff affiliate sites. (They’ve already done the homework for you!)...
4.1.7. Grow Through Back Links
Remember that CONTENT site, modaitalia.net? You can find the sites that link
to modaitalia.net (as outlined earlier).
Search It! > Back Links (STEP 1) > Back Links to Site (Yahoo! Search)
(STEP 2) > modaitalia.net (STEP 3)
This search yields a number of results. Let’s say your eye catches this site….
123world.com/fashions. From the list of designers, you find two that have
affiliate programs (Reebok and Liz Claiborne Inc.)
4.2. Reduce Risk by Diversifying
One of the major attractions of becoming an affiliate is the small amount of risk
involved. As an affiliate, you have little or no...
• product development expenses
• advertising costs
• inventory to maintain
• overhead expenses (salaries, physical location, etc.)
In other words, affiliates do not have millions at stake.
But you do have one big risk...
If a merchant or backend provider goes out of business, it takes you with it. Let’s
talk briefly about how to minimize this risk...
After you review the affiliate directories and backend providers, you should have
a good selection of programs. How many programs should you choose? How
do you know which ones are solid?
4.3. Check Out Other Monetization Models
Your Most Wanted Response may be to have your visitor buy from one of your
merchants. But what if you visitor doesn't want that product today? Instead she
notices another one of your offerings.
This is a WIN-WIN situation -- your visitor is happy and your Web site is steadily
bringing you a stable income.
Some of the following monetization models will be as low-maintenance as
affiliate programs are (i.e., no product to develop, store, ship, support, etc.).
Others will take more of your time.
4.4. Move Ahead or Loop Back?
You want to select a Site Concept that can accommodate a variety of
Monetization models. If you haven’t been able to find enough good affiliate
programs or identify other potential income streams, you may want to reconsider
your concept.
Return to DAY 3. Keep BREAKING OUT and adding more HIGH
PROFITABILITY keywords. Come back to DAY 4 and find more good programs
that fit.
If your concept is just so narrow and esoteric, you may want to stop the jet from
taking off. In that case, return to DAY 2 and investigate the next concept on your
“short list” of Site Concepts.
5. Day Five
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Refine Final Concept And Register Domain Name
5.1. Refine Your Site Concept
It’s time to do some rigorous evaluating of the info you’ve collected in your
MASTER KEYWORD LIST and to make any adjustments to your Site Concept.
Earlier in the course, we chose “fashion” as a Site Concept for our primary
example. We also looked at other concept examples like “Botticelli” and
“pricing.”
These Site Concepts were mere starting points. As you worked your way
through DAYS 2, 3, and 4, you built your MASTER KEYWORD LIST for the
“fashion” Site Concept. This list is literally your site blueprint. for each of your
keywords, it...
• shows you SUPPLY and DEMAND data -- best idea is to start writing pages
about words with the best numbers for profitability
• contains SUPPLY SITE INFO... information about sites that rank well
• suggests POSSIBLE PARTNERS, merchants with affiliate programs that you
would be proud to represent
• gives you IDEAS FOR CONTENT -- possible topics for you to write about.
5.2. Develop Your VPP
Ideally, your domain should reflect your Valuable PREselling Proposition
(VPP). Your VPP answers, in very few words and hopefully with just a touch of
character, the two critical questions about your Site Concept...
1) What specific and high-value information does your site deliver?
2) What is your unique positioning for this delivery (i.e., what is your angle of
approach)?
A good VPP transmits these answers loud and clear to your visitor so that she
immediately understands what your site is about. And the single best way to do
that?...
Include your VPP in your domain name!
5.2.1. Example 1 -- A Tight Niche
“Pricing” is a nice, tight concept. You can use your SUPPLY and DEMAND
WINDOWS to brainstorm many HIGH-PROFITABILITY keywords that are
directly related to pricing. And, as we saw, you can also BREAKOUT into other
areas, too... areas that would be of interest to serious business people (ex.,
“fulfillment” or “copywriting” or “product development”).
5.2.2. Example 2 -- A Bit Too Narrow
Now let’s look at a few possibilities for our second Concept Keyword example,
“Botticelli” (you’re pretending to be a big fan of his.) Only one problem...
You find yourself in a bit of a bind. Now that you’ve done DAYS 3 and 4, you
can’t find enough profit potential (HIGH-PROFIT KEYWORDS and related
POTENTIAL PARTNERS) to make a pure “Botticelli site” sufficiently profitable.
So you keep doing DAYS 2 and 3 on progressively broader concepts until you
find enough profit potential to proceed. Work your way up from Botticellli, to
Renaissance art, to all artists, to “everything art.”
5.2.3. Example 3 -- A Bit Too Broad
With “pricing,” we found ourselves at just about the right profit potential level. So
it was not necessary to grow the concept.
With “Botticelli,” we needed to widen the concept to capture more profit potential.
With “fashion,” we’ll need to do the opposite -- narrow it down to a “do-able” yet
profitable level.
5.3. Refine Your Domain Name
A good domain name is...
• short and sharp
• meaningful -- conveys a clear message
• easy to spell
• easy to remember
• unique, descriptive, and “you”
• solid, classic, not hokey
5.4. Register Your Domain Name
To register your domain name, you need the services of a registrar. There are
zillions of them. If you are using one that makes you happy, stick with it.
Otherwise, check out...
A low cost/high quality domain registrar...
http://www.OOOdomains.com/
A site that evaluates registrars...
http://www.domainnamebuyersguide.com/
A comprehensive list of registrars...
http://www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html
6. Day Six
**********
Build A Site That Gets The Click!
Let’s just take a look back at what we’ve done…
• examined PREselling and its effect on Conversion Rates (DAY 1)
• identified a potential niche concept (DAY 2)
• brainstormed a list of profitable keywords (DAY 3)
• researched quality affiliate programs and other income streams (DAY 4).
• chosen a domain name that reflects your VPP (DAY 5).
6.1. Follow the Winning Formula
Showtime! Like any great show, whether it’s baseball, or the theatre, or the
Olympics, a successful outcome is all about preparation. And boy, have you
prepared!
And all that preparation has convinced you that your show should be...
WORLDSBEST-FashionFactory-outlet-stores.com
Yes! What started out as “fashion” has turned into a site about fashion factory
outlet stores. After all, you yourself love buying clothes and shoes at a great
price. Oh the thrill of stopping by a new freeway-side outlet mall and finding
beautiful, cheap buys at a Tommy Hilfiger outlet!
6.1.1. Your Visitor Wins
Your visitor must get what she is looking for -- outstanding information.
OVERdeliver with original, high-value info. If you don’t do this, she simply clicks
the BACK button to the Search Engine and says... “Next!”
6.1.2. The Search Engines Win
The Search Engines are in business. Their product is the quality of their search
results. Help them make their product better, and they’ll love you.
Search Engines use computer programs called spiders to go out and bring your
site back to its home (i.e., the Search Engine’s database). Then when someone
looks up, let’s say “factory outlet stores,” another program decides whether your
site or a site with a similar theme is more relevant.
6.1.3. Your Merchants Win
Your merchants want sales. As we have seen, the best way to deliver that is
through outstanding content that gains your visitor’s confidence and increases
your credibility. Then use “in-context” text links to refer/recommend/direct
those visitors to places that you believe will deliver great value.
6.1.4. You Win
YOU must win, too, of course. How?
Ah, that’s the easiest part. If you get the first three WINS right, you will succeed.
Think about it...
OVERdelivery to your visitor ensures repeat visits, confidence and ongoing
sales. The Search Engines will never ban you. And, as you become a superaffiliate,
your merchants will pay you more and more, perhaps even giving you
special bonuses and deals!
6.2. Think “Pyramid” For Your Site
Your Theme-Based Content Site is made of a home page that gives the “what's
in it for me” about your site. It elaborates on the VPP (Valuable PREselling
Proposition) and delivers the major benefit statements (more on contentbuilding
in the next section).
6.2.1. The Structure of Your Site As A Pyramid
The home page crowns the pinnacle. It’s a Keyword-Focused Content Page
(KFCP) that focuses on your Site Concept keyword. Your home page should
never link out of your site -- it’s too early. (The only possible exception would be
for Google ads.)
6.2.2. The Content of Your Site As A Pyramid
Your home page introduces your theme and your Valuable PREselling
Proposition. It answers the “what’s in it for me” question that a visitor is
probably asking herself about your site. It can make or break that important “first
impression” of your business.
Focus on your Concept Keyword. Always, always, always remember you have
two audiences -- your visitor and your spider. There’s no point in creating a
fantastic home page that no one will find.
7. Day Seven
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Build Free Traffic
7.1. Work With The Free Major Search Engines
The Search Engines will provide you with lots of traffic as long as you work with
them rather than against them. The process is not complicated. And as you will
soon see, it keeps you moving forward -- building out your site so that you
create even more ways for visitors to find you…
7.1.1. Submit Your URLs
Submitting your site to the engines is a necessary task. If you wait for the SEs’
spiders to find and index your entire site, you could wait forever. Submission
hastens the entire listing process along, and guarantees your site doesn’t get lost
“between the cracks.” Result? You gain maximum and controlled exposure.
7.1.2. Track The Engines’ Spiders
Even after you do submit, some of the engines take weeks, even months, to
send their spiders over to your site to “bring back the goodies.”
How can you tell when a spider visits your site?
The answer is simple. Each SE’s spider has a name, which shows up in your log
files when it visits your site. For example, Google’s spider is called “Googlebot”.
Yahoo!’s is called “Slurp”. MSN’s spider is called “MSNBot.”
7.1.3. Check And Monitor Presence
First, the good news… you’ve been spidered! That means you’re in, right? Not
necessarily. However, it does mean that the Search Engines know about you.
Yes, you are on their radar, but you may not yet be included in the databases
from which they draw their results. So that leads you to your next mission…
Monitor each engine to ensure it lists your pages. Once your pages start
showing up in each SE’s database, they are ready to be delivered to an eager
search audience.
7.1.4. Evaluate The Performance Of Your Pages
At this point, your pages are spidered and indexed. But there is one small catch.
In order for people to visit your site, they must find it first. Being indexed is not
enough. Ideally, you need to have a Top 10 listing on a SE’s search results
page to get any exposure at all. Most surfers will not check out more than ten
listings in their search for information.
7.1.5. To Tweak or Not to Tweak?
How to Avoid the SEO Quagmire
Many Webmasters, experienced and otherwise, fall into the trap of excessively
adjusting or tweaking their Web pages in order to improve SE rankings. (I use
the term “tweaking” to refer to the constant experimentation with keyword density
and keyword placement in the various page elements.) It is absolutely essential
that you avoid the quagmire of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and focus
instead on building your business.
7.2. Improve Your Link Popularity…
Build Incoming Links
“Pleasing” the Search Engines and your human visitors is why it’s important for
you to develop an effective linking strategy. Links are one kind of off-page
criteria that measure human reaction to your content.
The more sites that link to your site, and the more important the linking sites are,
and the closer the linking sites are to the theme of your site (even to the topic of
individual pages), the more “popularity points” Search Engines award to your
site (and page).
7.3. Build Word of Mouth Buzz
Building word-of-mouth buzz is a secondary traffic-building technique.
Depending on your situation, some of the strategies outlined in this chapter will
work very well for you. Others will not.
Either way, wait to investigate secondary strategies until after your business has
a solid foundation of quality content. In other words, until you have at least 50
quality content pages, your efforts are better utilized by focusing upon…
8. Day Eight
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Build Paid Traffic
8.1. Start Your Pay-Per-Click Campaign…
Open Accounts with Top 8 Engines
Pay-Per-Click Search Engines (PPCs) allow you to bid for specific keyword
placement. They provide great opportunities for driving low-cost, supplemental
traffic to your Web site.
However, PPCs are best investigated after you have a built a solid foundation of
content based upon C T P M.
8.2. Google’s AdWords Program
Trust Google to take the pay-per-click concept to the next level. Many of the
protocols inherent to Google’s AdWords program are now being adopted (or
copied) by other services. (LookSmart and Overture come to mind.)
Is AdWords better than your average PPC?
In some ways, it’s better and more flexible. And in some other ways, it’s worse.
The AdWords program is definitely much harder to wrap your head around, and
it’s definitely a lot easier to lose money at! However, once you do grasp its
power, you will become a convert! So what makes AdWords different?
8.3. Submit to Major Directories When Financially Appropriate
Directories are a different beast from Search Engines. They do not spider pages.
Instead, a human editor reviews each submitted site and decides whether that
site “makes the cut.” Think of directories as gigantic bookmarks of qualified,
quality sites, organized into categories and sub-categories.
In the old days, the major directories were able to drive a significant amount of
traffic. Today, however, the human-compiled directory model is simply too slow
and inefficient to keep up with the rapidly growing Net. Very few surfers use
directories to perform their keyword queries because they cannot provide the
breadth of diversity and relevance of search results that the major SEs can.
8.4. Pay For Listing/Placement At The “Free” Search Engines
Over the last few years, the SEs have been gradually phasing out their paid
inclusion programs. Today, Yahoo! is the only major SE that maintains one.
Paid programs limit the SEs' ability to develop competitive databases from which
to draw targeted search results. Obviously when you implement such a policy,
you eliminate vast amounts of business owners who cannot justify the cost of
inclusion. This leads to inferior search results. And when search results are
poor, visitors will go elsewhere and ad revenues plummet.
9. Day Nine
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Build Traffic Through Relationship-Building
9.1. Build Relationships With An E-Zine
The most common Backup Response on the Web is the e-zine (an e-mailed
newsletter). Once you have some decent numbers, it takes only a day to get an
e-zine up and running.
A good e-zine tells its readers to revisit you…
• to click on something missed during the first visit
• to respond to an announcement you make
• to see new content you’ve added
9.1.1. Build a Sales Page For Your E-Zine
How good of you to provide a free e-zine! But will your visitors subscribe?...
It’s free but… you still need to sell the idea that another piece of e-mail is a good
idea. After all, your visitor is going to give up her e-mail address and the time it
takes to read what you send.
9.1.2. Develop A Format Template… And Stay With It!
Readers like familiarity and predictability… so develop a template, and stick
with it. Make only minor, incremental changes every now and then, saving your
last issue as the template for the next one. From top to bottom, here’s a quick
list of things to address in your format...
1) Name your E-zine. You want your subscriber to smile in recollection when she
sees it. Make the name short, memorable, descriptive, and relevant.
2) Subject, including Issue Number and Date
3) Small logo
4) First text block -- start off your e-zine with a catchy benefit-oriented slogan. For
example, under your Cactus Gardening logo, you might type into your first text
block...
9.1.3. Set Up Your Subscription
You’ve already created a form for subscribers on your sales page. You may opt
to include this form on other pages, or at the least include a link from other TIER
2 or TIER 3 pages to your sales page.
Some people create pop-unders to advertise their e-zines.
9.1.4. Advertise Your E-Zine
List your newsletter in major e-zine directories on the Web. You’ll find these
work much the same way as the main directories (discussed in DAY 8). Drill
down through the categories and sub-categories to find the best place and
submit your newsletter to the most appropriate section of the directory.
9.2. Build Relationships With Other Technologies
On average, your visitor will need 7-13 exposures to your message before
getting that click. Your e-zine is one way to increase exposure, but Webmasters
use other methods to build familiarity as well…
9.2.1. Build Relationships With Forms
Forms are an easy and safe way to communicate and interact with your visitors
and customers. SPAM-bots can read e-mail addresses off your Web site so
having a Contact Form in place of an e-mail link is essential.
Forms usage is limited only by your imagination…
• conduct a survey or poll
• create a series of sequential Autoresponder messages or an e-course
• collect feedback from your visitors
• get leads or referrals
9.2.2. Build Relationships With A Blog
An e-zine generally goes out from once per week to once per month. If you have
enough content to write more frequently, consider a blog or Web diary. Give
your visitors daily updates on your topic, offer your opinion on some aspect of
your theme, and/or announce a new feature offered by one of your affiliates.
9.2.3. Build Relationships With RSS
Don’t confuse a blog with RSS. Your blog is the content. RSS is how you
distribute your content.
Think of it like your local newspaper. The blog is the newspaper. RSS is the
paperboy.
But what exactly is RSS?...
“RSS” stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” And that is exactly what it is... a
new way for you to distribute content. That content can be any electronic
communication (Web pages, m3ps, video, etc.)
10. Day Ten
************
Know Your Visitors
10.1. Analyze Your “Big Picture” Traffic Stats
First, the big picture...
All traffic-reporting software packages cover the basics... average number of
visits, visitors, and pages viewed per day, as well as the totals on a per-month
basis. Here’s what those terms mean...
• Visits -- the number of visits to your site
• Visitors -- the number of different people who visit your site (ex., a visitor
could account for 10 visits)
• Page Views -- the number of pages viewed by all the visitors during all the
visits. A single visitor might view only one page... or twenty.
10.2. Explore Click IN Analysis
Let’s talk about Click IN Analysis first...
Click INs occur when people click on an OFF-SITE link and come into your
Theme-Based Content Site. Click INs cost you time and/or money (explained
above).
So analyze what works (do more of it) and what fails (drop or improve it).
In order to do Click IN Analysis, you create special tracking links. You create
these links specifically to track the success of your OFF-site promotional
campaigns. You place a different link in each of your promotional campaigns so
that they are easy to track.
10.3. Explore Click Through Analysis
Click throughs occur when people click on a link on your Theme-Based Content
Site and leave it. (They don’t actually leave since you pop open a new window
for them!) We should actually call them “click outs” -- but since the industry is
used to “click through,” we're stuck with that term!
Click throughs earn you income. Why? Well, it all depends where those click
throughs are going...
11. The Road To Success
***************
What a long way you’ve come. Take a look! The Affiliate Masters Course has
helped you to...
• understand the difference between selling and PREselling (DAY 1)
• develop your best Site Concept (DAY 2)
• brainstorm profitable topics (DAY 3)
• plan potential monetization models for your site (DAY 4)
• refine your Site Concept and registered your domain name (DAY 5)
• build a site that gets “the click” (DAY 6)
• generate free traffic (DAY 7)
• evaluate ROI and if appropriate, utilize paid traffic (DAY 8)
• establish credible long-term relationships with your visitors (DAY 9)
• use statistics to know your visitors (DAY 10)
Note: There are 193 QUALITY PAGES IN THIS COURSE. |