Why Are the Next 4 Months So Important?
2009 is going to be a good year for marketers as there are many opportunities and events that you are going to be able to monetize...in addition to all of the opportunities that already exist.
Online spending goes through a few trends throughout any particular year. The summer
months are typically the slowest as people are usually pre-occupied with outdoor activities and vacations. Back to school spending brings a whole slew of online spending, and of course online traffic ramps up drastically through the months of late October to mid December for Christmas shopping.
Does the shopping stop after Christmas though?
Not a chance! Over the past 6 years we have anxiously waited for the months of January - April to hit. These have always been our top money makers as online spending seems to go CRAZY starting in the beginning of January.
Anyone can succeed online and we are helping people every day to achieve the success
they dream of. You do not need to know anything and by no means do you need to be an expert marketer. Since it is global, it does not matter where you are located in the world either!
New Years Causing Change
People have problems or personal goals they would like to strive towards. Our imperfections cause us to want to improve our situation by making positive changes. It has become a tradition to make a personal resolution every year to improve your current situation. This is also known as a “New Year’s Resolution”!
This will tie into huge spending online, in fact, probably the largest influx of widespread spending online every year. As soon as January 1st hits, people make a personal commitment to better themselves. This could be to lose weight, stop smoking, become a better person, get a boyfriend/girlfriend, or improve their health (there are many more!).
These resolutions represent a huge opportunity to us as marketers. We can easily
monetize these markets by setting up targeted campaigns within these industries,
capitalizing on timely “resolution” related emails, and even creatingproducts/services around these particular niches.
The #1 Most Common New Years REZ is ...
DIETING! Many of you have probably already made this resolution.
Millions of people make a resolution to lose weight every year. People could always lose a few extra pounds and what better opportunity to motivate yourself than a brand new year.
What does this mean to us as marketers? First off, a massive audience! People navigate the Internet like it is their last day on earth, aiming to find the “best” solution that will help them accomplish their resolution. People want to lose a lot of weight, and people want to lose an extra 10lbs.
Weight loss may be a difficult market as there is some pretty stiff competition, but it is so vast and contains so many sub-niches and micro-niches, that there is room for 10,000’s of marketers in this marketplace.
This industry is a billion dollar one, and a large majority of all revenue within the dieting industry comes within the first quarter of the year (January to March). There are over 200 million dieting consumers in the United States alone, so this just proves this industry is absolutely massive and is on the minds of more than 2/3 of people.
Quit Your Bad Habits
People take the time at the start off every New Year to address their bad habits. We have already suggested eating/diet as the main resolution that people work to fix every year, but there are some other habits that people aim to curb every year (and these are also billion dollar industries).
One of the main habits is smoking. People know that smoking is bad for them and if you smoke, you will understand the hard work it takes to kick this habit. There are many products and a service out there to help “smokers” quit and this presents us with a great opportunity as marketers.
People are going to start searching for patches, smoking hypnosis, ways to improve and rebuild their lung capacity, information products on how to quit smoking, medications, and pills/rubs to help them quit. You can easily monetize this and take full advantage of this industry throughout the entire year of 2008!
Solutions to help people with these habits are always available and people spend a lot of money online purchasing products for themselves and family members that have any of these habits/addictions. These are also very common resolutions and something that people understand takes MONEY and time to successfully overcome.
This Year I am Going to Fire My Boss
You have likely heard someone say this or you have been saying this yourself. Everyone and their dog wants to make more money, and this could be either be in the form of starting their own business, making money online, getting a new job, working towards a promotion within their company, or investing some of their own money.
This audience is huge and this audience is willing to spend money. These are two things that make for a very profitable industry for Internet marketers. We suggest that if your are going to tackle the financial improvement industry that you choose a specific component of it to start out.
Do not start broad....using search terms like make money online. This will be the beginning and end of any success that you ever dreamed of as it is WAY TOO broad.
Instead focus on more targeted and sub-components of this niche and break it down into types of people:
- people that want to get a new job...
- people that want to get a promotion...
- people that want to work from home...
- people that hate their job and want to be self employed...
- people in financial trouble looking to earn some extra cash...
- high school students looking to earn money for college...
- college students looking for extra cash...
- etc.
Now that you have the niches broken down a little further, you can focus on what these groups of people are looking for and where they are looking for it.
People that want a new job may be looking on resume/job sites like monster.com and may be doing searches within Google looking for specific jobs within different industries that are relevant to their line of work.
For example, someone may search the following term:
“information technology specialist job”
What if....
You create a page specific to this type of person promoting a product relevant to making money online. How would you make this relevant? Very easy...this is what you would do in this situation.
Create a page relevant to “information technology specialists”. People with this
knowledge have the perfect skills to make money online as they are usually s avvy with the web, can program, and can easily put together websites. However, the missing gap is usually the marketing aspect...the ability to promote products and services online properly.
What if you told these people that you were aware of their skills and you have the perfect opportunity for them that would allow them to work from their own home, and work their own hours? You would likely capture their interest and easily be able to connect emotionally with this person.
Then....
You could either build a list from this audience or you could go into a straight promotion of a product or service that relates to making money online. This person will be informed and much more likely to buy. In addition, then have been shown the relevance between their knowledge set and how they can apply it to earn money without having to find another job (and be able to do it from the comfort of their home).
This is what we call relevance marketing and what you are doing is taking a seemingly irrelevant industry and making it relevant through some creativity and breaking down a broader niche into something that is...you guessed it, MORE RELEVANT!
Need a Date?
If you do, you are definitely not alone. Millions of people make the resolution every year that they are going to find Mr. or Mrs. “Right”. Dating services and technique manuals are big industry year round and even more so during the first 3 months of every year. People make a pact with themselves to get a girlfriend or boyfriend.
Believe it or not, dating is too broad to promote. Don’t waste your time. Focus on the many sub-niches that are within the dating industry, there are literally thousands of them. If you are looking for some ideas, go check out dmoz.org and see what types of dating, the types of products that are out there, and search the forums to find out exactly what people are looking for.
Believe it or not, one of the niches within dating is Vegatarianism Dating! Would you have thought of this without using a directory like dmoz.org for research…probably not!
This is definitely a niche and if you target something like this you are going to be much more successful!
Play the Guitar like a Hero!
Believe it or not, people make “playing a new instrument” or “playing an instrument” their New Years Resolution. People get inspired to play music around the New Year and as marketers we can definitely take advantage of this. You need to remember as well that a large number of people receive instruments as gifts for Christmas.
People are looking to play:
- Guitar
- Piano / Electronic Keyboard
- Drums
These are the main ones. People are not only looking to learn quickly, the reason for them to learn in the first place is so that they can impress others with their musical abilities. If you tap into this emotion through your marketing, you will be able to trigger much higher conversions.
We suggest that you do not try to take on all of these industries at once if you are going to create campaigns geared towards the music industry. Focus on just one, and focus on a single component within the industry.
Relax a Little Bit...
People live fast paced lives. Between work, family, errands, and day-to-day stresses, we never end up taking time out for ourselves. A big resolution for 2009 is going to be relaxing...taking time to sit back and enjoy life.
The main thing people are going to try to do more of is take vacations. This will include not only trips to resorts in places like Mexico and the Bahamas, but local tours, camping, and ski trips.
The audience within this market is large and people are always looking for suggestions of places they can go and ways to get the cheapest fares. There is a slew of products/services within the travel industry and the often times offer the best affiliate tools (in terms of targeting and tracking) out of any program.
Another thing that is big is mental relaxation. Mediation, Yoga, Thai Chi and other relaxation techniques are going to be popular additions to people’s lives in early 2009. You can definitely capitalize on these with your affiliate promotions.
These are obviously not all the New Years resolutions that people make. I can't list all them here as there are likely ones that are so obscure, that it would be difficult for most people to understand (and monetize). Because of this I'm going to provide you with an additional list of some of the more popular resolutions.
They are as follows:
- Depression
- Self improvement / become more positive
- Make new friends
- Become part of a club
- Get a new hobby
- Take up a religion
- Do charity work / donate money
- Learn to read
- Fix up the house / Renovation
- Buy a new car
2009 Event Schedule & Marketing Strategies
Valentines Day
Next to travel, jewelry is the biggest revenue generating industry online. People spend millions online every year within the jewelry industry, and the biggest surge in sales for jewelry takes place prior to Valentines Day.
So how do you take advantage of this? It is actually easier than you think because of the sheer size of this industry. Think of all the different types of jewelry there is out there? There are watches, earrings, necklaces, cuff links, chains, pendants, rings, and engagement rings to name a few.
Then there are various types of the following, which you can get much more specific with. Think of all the brand names of watches. There are literally 1000’s of different types of watches...and you could easily take advantage of these keywords through your article marketing or PPC campaigns. What about rings.... diamond rings, ruby rings, stone rings, platinum rings, 14K gold rings...this list goes on.
If you hyper-target your audiences within the jewelry market, you will run into great success. Here is a simple rule to follow however to avoid losing money. If the commission works out to be under $20 for a specific jewelry item, then avoid promoting this via PPC. Article marketing is more cost efficient for lower end items, while Pay-Per-Click should be reserved for higher commission items.
Remember, both guys and girls get gifts on “V” Day, though a majority of the spending does head in the female’s direction. Do NOT forget this when creating your campaigns!
Valentines Day is not only a one year thing. It takes place every year and the same
people spend money on it every year. This presents the perfect opportunity to build a mailing list. You could keep your list interested in other offers (related to their loved ones) throughout the year and then cash-in on your list with next year’s Valentine’s Day!
Remember, people tend to shop earlier online than offline, so you should start your
Valentine’s Day promotions in January. This way people will be able to receive their gift in time for February 14th.
On another note, many people do not have "valentines". The dating audience usually tends to be looking for someone special around this date and they tend to make very emotional purchases. Single people will also indulge themselves in their own gifts during this time, pampering themselves. This is a completely different audience, but is also one that can be taken advantage of prior to Valentines Day.
Super Bowl
The only sport that sells out every single stadium for every game in the US is FOOTBALL. There are a lot of die hard fans in the NFL and the focal point of the entire year is the Super Bowl. Who will be crowned the Super Bowl Champs in 2009?
Where there are die hard fans, money is being spent. What do football fans spend money on besides beer and pizza? Well, one of the biggest is the actual tickets to the games. People will be spending a small fortune on tickets for Super Bowl and many of the ticket reseller sites offer affiliate programs. This is one way to monetize the NFL crowd.
Here are some other suggestions:
Build a list. Football fans are interested in many different topics, and football hype lasts 8 months of the year. This is a very powerful list to have and the volume of traffic you can utilize to build your list is quite massive.
People will buy new TV’s just for the Super Bowl (believe it or not). You have probably seen many electronics companies like Best Buy take advantage of events like this, but these sorts of promotions can easily be taken online. Plasmas, LCD, DLP’s, Projectors, etc are all hot items in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl.
Huge stakes are put on the Super Bowl as many people bet on the outcome. This is
done online in many cases and the gambling aspect of the Super Bowl can be monetized. People like to organize huge party’s and these often require party planners...how to have the best football party of 2008 (you could easily build a list with a guide like this) and people would likely pay for it.
These are just a few ways you can take advantage of Super Bowl. Remember that football fans love their teams (and the sport) and it is a year round opportunity!
The UEFA Cup
Soccer (or football, depending on where you live), is the most widely watch sport in the world and if you did not know this already, it presents us as Internet marketers with a huge opportunity to monetize any event related to it.
Although the UEFA cup is not quite as large as the World Cup (on a global scale), it is an important event for many people as there is a lot of hype and a large following around the UEFA cup. So do you know how to make money this event? Here are a couple techniques and ways you can take advantage of this.
People that play soccer , want to become better. If you promote a program or service
that offers people techniques and skills to become a better player and “play like the pro’s”, you are going to attract a large fraction of the soccer audiences (as many of them are players).
People that watch soccer want to watch it (even when they are at work). There are
many programs out there that allow you to watch TV online, and these are very fitting for those that have to work when the UEFA Cup is on.
People that watch soccer want the gear of their favorite players/teams. There are many stores online that sell soccer jerseys and other apparel of teams and players that will be playing in the UEFA cup. People will be looking to buy these items leading up to and during the cup.
People that love soccer are probably the most die-hard fans out of any sport in the world (even more than the NFL). They are interested in soccer year round. This is another excellent opportunity to build a list as soccer is played year round.
Halloween
Halloween is a funny time of the year. Not only do people go costume crazy around this time, the online spending seems to ramp up as it marks the last day of October...and November brings on the early Christmas Shoppers (people tend to buy online much earlier than offline).
You should plan ahead for the costume market. There are many sites out there that people visit and info products that people look for to be the most creative on Halloween!
You should also consider the fact that people are back into full swing at this point. People are back to work, kids (and adults) are back to school, and people begin to spend a larger percentage of their time indoors...and this means on their computer. This is a ripple affect that increases online spending.
Halloween marks an opportunity for Halloween related promotions, but also marks the ramp up of online spending!
Presidential Election in the United States
This is going to be one of the biggest events in years because of all the turmoil that the US has been in the last couple of years. This will likely be the biggest presidential election in US history with the largest following.
There are many different ways you will be able to take advantage of this traffic, and if you are creative you will be able to build some huge and targeted lists from this election (think different topics of concern.... people that want lower taxes, need to earn more money.... people that want a better educational system).
What if you set-up a campaign telling people that you will show them how to minimize their taxes...if they sign-up to your mailing list? Now you are building a list of people that are looking for financial support. What about looking for information about working as an illegal immigrant (another huge topic in this year’s debate)? You could build a list off of this audience which happens to have a multi-billion dollar purchasing power!
Again, you can keep up-to-date on all the latest news by setting up a few Google Alerts on this subject. Taking advantage of hot topics during the election will be where a bulk of the opportunity resides.
One of the hottest items during these times is t-shirts. People create funny, politically motivated t-shirts using programs like cafepress.com and zazzle.com. These are easy to do and it does not cost you anything to build a store and start creating your own t-shirts for resale. This is just one idea, but definitely another effective way to take advantage of the year long hype that is going to pertain to the election.
Christmas
Many Internet marketers make most of their money online because of Christmas, especially those that promote products that relate to something that people buy for gifts. These are typically retail gifts like toys, clothes, jewelry, appliances and electronics, but sometimes do include services, info products as well as odd ball gifts (like buying a star!).
Christmas can be turned into revenue in so many different ways and introduces
opportunities not only for affiliates, but to create your own products and services. People tend to be very free with their money over Christmas, buying for others but also themselves.
Conversely, it also can be a difficult time for people because of the financial strain that it causes, so this is another marketing angle (and emotion) that can be triggered. If you have a program/service that can help people during a time like this, then you can definitely monetize it as an affiliate (or if you are the product owner, as a merchant).
Here are some of the hottest industries for Christmas:
- gadgets
- electronics (digital cameras, mp3 players)
- gaming consoles / games
- jewelry
- toys
- clothing/shoes
- chocolate/flowers
- tools
- appliances
- books
- novelties
- online gift cards
- make money/debt assistance
Christmas is a big time of year online for us as marketers. I'm not going to underemphasize this fact, and because of this, I'm going to give you some very powerful research resources that you can use to find hot industries next Christmas and find items to promote:
Amazon Top Sellers
Shopping.com Product Categories
eBay Pulse
Google’s Hot 100
Boxing Day
If you have a list, this is a perfect time to hit it up. People tend to be very loose with their money on Boxing Day, often times because they received money from friends and family over Christmas and other holiday events.
Boxing Day goes hand in hand with the best sales of the year and most companies try to unload any of their extra inventories that are left over from Christmas...and just in general monetize the spending that takes place on this day. A lot of the online companies offer special “deal” linking codes on Boxing Day that you can send out to your lists or put on your web pages to increase conversions.
People didn’t get everything they wanted and this can be used as a marketing tactic.
2009 TRENDS
A Happy Customer is... A POWERFUL ONE! 2009 is all about the consumer experience. Consumers’ lives are busy. We are all consumers, so just think about the day-to-day customer service you receive. Was it a good experience and did it impact your perception of the company in a good or bad way? Chances are it did.
Companies like Starbucks were built off of a consistently good customer experience. You know that the people there are going to be friendly, helpful, and that your cup of Joe is going to be consistent. If it is not, they compensate your for their wrong doing.
The same model should be applied to the Internet. People are beginning to think that
companies online do not offer customer service because they do not get responses from emails, their support is outsourced and is of low quality, and the overall experience tends to be a poor one.
By becoming a consumer centric you will have the upper hand over most of your competition. It does not hurt you to put your email address on your page to allow your potential customers ask you questions about what you are offering. This will typically boost conversions drastically.
Customer service does take time, but look at it this way. The more service you provide to your customers (or potential customers), the more you know about them. You learn exactly what they are looking for, what emotions are going through their head, and consequently, their “hot buttons” that will trigger sales.
So...make it your goal to provide better customer service in 2009. Whether you are an affiliate or a merchant, this should be part of your business!
The Green Revolution
Global warming, depleting natural resources, melting glaciers, hybrid cars, solar energy, biofuels, wind farms....these probably all ring a bell.
Like 2008, ‘going green’ is going to be in for 2009 as well. People are conscious of the problems that are environment is facing and are making efforts to improve their contributions to bettering the earth. This more times than not impacts their purchasing decisions and causes the green crowd to realign their spending.
The green revolution is definitely a consumer “hot button” and by focusing some of your efforts towards going green, you will impact your bottom line. What about if you offer to donate money to a carbon offset if someone buys your product or from your site? What about if you state that your servers or website is run on solar energy? This will impact people’s decision to buy from your site or somewhere else.
There are few products that you can promote online within this area, but you can focus on people trying to save money on gas, converting to more earth friendly vehicles, conserving energy in their households, or taking advantage of new technologies like solar and wind power.
Time is Money
Time! What does it mean to you? Days are getting shorter and not enough people are
taking time out of their busy schedules to relax. This was big in 2007 and will remain big in 2009.
Here are two different components to this trend; things that save people and companies time, and things that allow people to enjoy their free time. People have been very easy to exchange money for time in the past years with so much activity going on, blackberry messages never giving businesspeople a break, and the daily stresses and time drainpipes (like traffic, computer use, and political and environmental changes).
There is going to be great opportunity for marketers to help people manage their time better, take advantage of their free time, and companies and people looking to improve time efficiency (and ultimately cost efficiency).
One thing that everyone dreams of is working from home. They see this on TV and in magazines and it appears to be the solution they are looking for. Well, working from home is now an option and can free up time once you have built a solid business and this is just one way you can capitalize on this market.
Another trend is companies looking for new ways to keep their employees interested.
They do this by giving new types of incentives and by hosting off-site company events and meetings. They do this to try to resolve the overwhelming work environment and this is a market that Internet marketers can take advantage of.
Let’s think of some of the keywords that will trigger these “time focused” audiences...
- save time...
- free up....
- ways to relax...
- work less...
- work from home....
- manage time...
- shorter hours...
Time is something on everyone’s mind and there is not really a specific market you can target with the “trend of making more time”, however it is an emotional “hot button” for anyone that is living a busy lifestyle.
Healthy is IN
More and more people are beginning to focus on what they eat, the activities that they take part in, and the lifestyles that they choose. The benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle have been shown to enhance someone’s life physically as well as mentally. Because of this, the health trend is definitely a growing one.
Consumers are paying higher prices for organic foods and to have a lifestyle that is
deemed healthy. Natural foods, raw foods, healthy supplements, vitamins and herbal
medicine are hot for 2008.
Exercise is becoming less of a chore and more enjoyable and exciting with the new trend classes making a larger presence. Instead of just running on the treadmill (which many people are still doing by the way), there are many new training techniques and ways people can strive to get fit. Yoga, Thai Chi, Mixed Martial Arts, Karate, and alternative exercise equipment are going to be big in the coming year.
What About Those Baby Boomers?
We are 26 years old, and our parents (whom are baby boomers) are either just recently retired or will be retiring within the next couple of years. What does all this baby boomer hype mean for us as marketers? Will this open up new opportunities for us online, and if so, where do you go to find them (and how do you make money from them)?
Baby boomers are retiring. This audience is spending money on things that retired people do. Many retired people have hobbies and many people seek out new hobbies when they retire.
Some of the common things people are going to be spending time is doing leisure
activities. Playing golf, boating, relaxing with their families, scrap booking, learning to play an instrument, and crafts are some of the more obvious ones. All of these industries will be top performers in 2008 with large volume traffic...and traffic equates to revenue if you promote to your audience correctly.
As we get older, our bodies are typically not as robust as they once were. Medical bills are on the minds of people that are retiring and this opens up marketing opportunities for people to looking insure themselves in the event that something does happen, medicines and cures for people that have existing health problems, and support and financial solutions for people with current health bills. These are vast markets and these are major topics of concern (and something people are looking for online).
Housing...THE Downfall
What goes up must come down. The world housing market has experienced a huge surge in the last couple of years...it has grown too fast, must faster than the rate of inflation. This usually means that the market is overpriced and because of all the sub-prime lending woos that have taken place, the foreclosure market is back (unfortunately).
House prices have taken a significant hit (primarily in the USA) and rates have increased, pushing people out of their homes. Not only are there going to be a lot of foreclosures in 2009, it is going to be much more difficult for people to borrow.
There are many angles that you could approach this. You could offer support for the people that are forced to foreclose their homes. You could offer some foreclosure buying secrets to prospective buyers. You could help people find ways to get a loan in this “hard-to-get-a-loan-market” by providing them with different credit options or pointing them towards some loan institutions (many high commission ones online). There are also foreclosures listing portals that have affiliate programs.
The foreclosure market is already prominent in the US and may trickle into other countries as well. This is definitely a trend to keep your eye starting in 2008.
What can be said about social networking besides that it plays an important role in most peoples everyday lives. Whether a band is setting up a new profile on myspace.com, someone is posting a new photo album on facebook.com, or businesses are headhunting a specialized employee on linkedin.com, the interactivity between people all over the world has never been more prominent.
Think this market is dying out, think again. Social networking is continuing to grow at a rapid pace and everyone seems to be getting involved. Everyone from small children to their grandparents is using social networks. Facebook is now sitting at number 7 position on the entire Internet!
These networks represent massive audiences, and where there are audiences, there are
opportunities for marketers to make money. This includes Facebook applications,
creating groups around your ideas, driving traffic (and sales) to your website through your profile, building your websites, creating business relationships, networking, adding affiliate links to your profiles, and even advertising on these networks by hyper-targeting your specific audiences.
Think social networks were big in 2008…well 2009 is only going to be bigger. These
networks are going to evolve and new opportunities are going to be unveiled with every new change!
Here is an elaborate list of Social Networking Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites
Time For An Upgrade
People are looking to upgrade. Each year there are new products, and new upgrades
people make to their existing items. These items include things they use on a day-to-day basis.
Companies to look out for are Apple, Google, and Microsoft as they are often the innovation and launch centers of many new products and services every year.
Whether it is someone getting the newest iPod, getting their hands on the newest piece of software or computer (to upgrade), upgrading electronics device, furniture, and even upgrading homes...2009 is going to be about upgrades as there are likely to be some very disruptive (industry shaking) products and services launched in 2008. Did you know that Google is in the talks of offering a free ad-based cell phone service? This will change the way cell-phone companies work and represents opportunities from the carrier, to the advertiser. This will also represent opportunity for us as marketers!
Every new product that launches represents opportunity and every time someone looks to upgrade, they are likely going online to do their research. This is where you can come in and help these individuals out...and earn some great revenue in the process!
The Itty Bitty Entrepreneur
2009 is going to be a year for the little guy. People are starting to understand that they can make money through the Internet and that they can make significantly more than working for themselves. Because of this, there are new “micropreneurs” building their businesses each and every day online...with many more looking for their starting point.
There are more ways than ever for people to make money, and there is the largest audience of entrepreneurs and small niches of entrepreneurs out there today. People are tired of working as employees and the Internet has really opened up the doors to many different types of self-employment.
We now have people looking to work from home, seniorprenuers, studentpreneurs,
ebaypreneurs, freelancers, side business and weekend entrepreneurs. Often times it is not about making a lot of money...it can start out as just a hobby to make a few extra dollars per month.
These audiences are massive. If you can deliver information on how to become
entrepreneurs within these micro-sectors, you have yourself a business. It is funny that many of you probably fall into one of these categories, and there is nothing easier than promoting to someone that you can “relate” with.
There are services available that help these type of people as well, and you are likely familiar with one of them.
Make It, Own It, Sell It
Make-it-yourself and do-it-yourself products and services are a growing industry. People love personalization and this trend is going to continue through 2009 with all the innovative tools and technologies that are allowing people to easily build their own products/services online. Whether it is having your own personal website online, creating your own t-shirt, or personalizing your own game, people are addicted to “make it yourself” products and services.
There are many companies out there that allow you to make it yourself, and many of them offer affiliate programs or revenue sharing programs. You can make anything from your own toys to t-shirts.
Here is an example of one of these sites:
http://www.CafePress.com
Cafe Press allows you to create your own merchandise and sell it through your store. You can capitalize on this by creating timely merchandise that is relevant to current events, seasons, celebrations or something that is just cool or funny.
Helping people make their own personal space online is also a big thing. This could be in the form of a website, blog, social network profile, or a wiki. More and more people are starting to realize that they there are resources out there that will allow them to build a website without having to be computer savvy.
Putting Your Best Foot Forward
In order to succeed or further your success in 2009, you will need to reflect on what you have done in 2008 as well as build your plan for the upcoming year. Planning is very important to success online, as is setting goals. Below I provided you some tips that you can use to help “ensure” success in 2009!
Reflect on Last Year
Ask yourself a couple of questions.
What did I do well in 2008 that helped me get closer to success
What could I improve on in 2009 (or what did I fail to do in 2008)
Are there any areas of your business that were neglected? Did you spend all of your
spare time learning and never take the time to “implement” what you learned. This is often times the most common reason that Internet marketers never become successful.
How do your sales stack up compared to last year? If you haven’t earned any revenue online yet, what steps do you need to take towards making your first sale in 2009? Now is the perfect time find the answer to these questions and begin building your business based on what you did well 2008 and what you could work on in 2009.
Goal Setting
Without setting goals, you have nothing to work towards. The most effective way to set a goal is to put it into writing and give yourself a date in which you want to achieve this goal. A goal could be anything from writing your first article, to adding a page on your site, to making your first $1 online.
Whatever your goals are, it is crucial to think carefully about them and record them in some way. Set both short term and long term goals and revisit these on a regular basis.
You not only have short term goals to achieve during the week (to keep you actively moving forward), you have realistic goals for the year end. Goals do not have to be realistic, but you are just fooling yourself if you make one like “earn $10,000 by tomorrow”. Goal setting is absolutely essential to success!
Get Yourself Ready for the Next 6 Months
This should also be incorporated into your goals, but you should have a grasp on what you are going to promote, which audiences you are going to target, and which ways you are going to market it within the upcoming 6 months.
As we mentioned earlier in the guide, the upcoming months will see a ramp up in online spending and there are many opportunities that you can take advantage.
Make sure you are ready to start out of the gates quickly during 2009 and start preparing for your next 6 months on the Internet. Taking advantage of some of the upcoming major events will definitely give you business a large boost!
Communicate With Others
Speaking with others can often times reveal weaknesses in your campaigns as well as
allow you to build on ideas that need a bit of refining. If you have customers, now is a perfect time to open up the lines of communication with them as well. Post a survey or send them a quick email asking for the feedback on improvements as well as things that they are looking to accomplish in the upcoming year. It is surprising how something so simple can increase your revenue so greatly.
Look Through Their Eyes
It is time for us to stop thinking about what WE THINK others want and find out what they REALLY WANT! Too many marketers think they know what the consumer wants but in
the end their perception is entirely wrong. If you learn one thing related to marketing this year, make it to focus on the customer.
Learn the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, AND WHY of your audience. Find out what their hot
buttons are and what is triggering them to go online in search for a resolution in the first place. People that are looking to go on a diet have different motives.
Become your own customer in 2009 and prepare to have the most successful year yet!
Make 2009 a WINNER!
Now that you have read this you need to take some action. Every success starts with an action, and if you read and do not “implement”, none of these techniques and dates or trends will benefit you.
Remember, you do not need to know everything to succeed nor do you need to implement
everything you have learned within this guide to succeed. In fact, people are making
$100,000’s within one or two industries and you can be doing the same!
Make 2009 a winner! If you start today, you will definitely have made “leaps and bounds” of progress by the time December comes around next year. Odds are you will be making some very good money online.
Think about this for one second… or two...
People spend billions of dollars online every year. Affiliates make millions of dollars online every year. This number is only growing. Starting an Internet marketing business is the only business that you can start for less than $100 and have access to customers worldwide! The potential is endless and if you have already made your first buck online, you will “get” this!
If you haven’t, then you are not too far away. Success comes with a little hard work and if you are willing to invest in yourself, then you will be able to earn a full-time income online.
Your life can change starting today! Take action and don’t look back.
