JT Spunk | Photography

Article Marketing And The Ipod–Ya Gotta Know How It Works

Like most newcomers (newbies) to Internet marketing, I realized early on that this could be the basis for a home business. This idea appealed to me since I am a “seasoned” citizen over 70 wanting to supplement my income.

My learning curve began with clicking on those little ads I found on many of the websites I visited. Less than a week later I decided to give one a try. I found what sounded like a complete—practically turn-key business plan that promised to provide everything needed to get started. At the time I had no idea what a cesspool I had fallen into.

This outfit sent me predesigned websites with products on them I had never heard of. I also got a folder full of pre-written articles. The package even included a bunch of “bonus” publications covering keywords, niche marketing, e-mail list building, pay per click guides and other stuff—none of which I understood—much less did I have any idea what to do with it. All this for just $29.95 (so I thought).

Did these jokers expect me to buy domain names and web hosting for all of the web pages they sent me? And what I didn’t realize at the time…all of the pre-written articles were useless since I would have to rewrite them in my own words in order to get them published on article sites. (If what I am describing is a bit over your head—please hear me out. It will begin to make sense shortly.)

But the clincher was that a month after I got all of this crap, they zapped my credit card for another $29.95. It seems I signed up for an account with monthly recurring charges. No I did not read the fine print under Terms and Conditions—nobody reads that stuff. My saving grace was that the plan was offered with a 100%, 60-day guarantee. I took advantage of that,

This whole mess reminded me of the iPod my wife bought a year ago. She wanted to be able to download music from iTunes and listen to it while peddling a stationary bike at the gym. We both read through the accompanying owner’s manual and came to the same conclusion—it tells you what the iPod can do, but it doesn’t tell you HOW to do it.

The iPod got tucked away in the computer cabinet and gathered dust for the rest of the year. And I continued to search for an honest, practical, very low cost home business idea. As time slipped by I read “Pitch Pages” from dozens of Internet sharks—all willing to tell me how much money they make and what I can do—but not specifically HOW TO DO IT.

Putting together what information I gleaned in tiny pieces I put together a plan for me—something I could feel comfortable with. Yes, I did get burned a couple more times because I’m a sucker for what sounds like the real thing. But when you get right to the core of what is being offered you must remember: If it sounds too good to be true…it probably is. Here’s what I discovered a newbie can do to start up a business and do it at NO COST.

I wanted to be an affiliate marketer (more on that in a bit). I discovered a company called ClickBank (CB) that is a nationally known retailer of electronic products. They sell E-Books and computer software.  Everything they sell is delivered to the customer electronically (downloaded directly to their computer) as soon as the credit card is approved. Here’s how it works:

1. You sign up with CB as an affiliate. It’s a painless process that takes just a few minutes. They will ask for you to create a unique nickname. I tried a couple different ones until they approved “Treefern.” This is my unique CB identity. You see they have something like 200,000 affiliates, and each one has a different ID. There is NO COST for this step.

2. Next stop is CB’s “Marketplace where you search for How-To-e-books, something you think you can sell. My first choices were photography (because I am a photographer), and high blood pressure (because I have it). More scientific ways of picking your products exists, but I wasn’t aware of them when I signed up. Click on Pitch Page and read what the author has to say. If you like what you’ve read click on Promote. Here you enter your nickname and you are given a Hop Link by CB. This link is for your customer to click on, which will then transport him to the same pitch page you just read. Many affiliates place the hop link on their website. The link is coded with your ID so CB knows where to send the commission check.

The only catch—you knew there was one didn’t you—is that I didn’t have a website—nor the cash  to set one up. Not to fear, you can get by without one while starting out. The alternative to attract people searching for information is found in Step 3. By the way, there is NO COST for this step either.

3.  Write Articles: (So that’s what those articles were for.) The Internet is jam-packed full of article directories. They insist on high quality, content-rich, how to do whatever it is that people are searching for. Article marketing isn’t difficult—when you know what you are doing. My first few attempts were rejected because they sounded too much like a sales pitch or they had glitches like “hard breaks” (whatever they are). There is NO COST to post articles. In fact some directories pay you for the right to publish the article.

So far I’m doing pretty well as an article marketer. No, I don’t have a yacht tied up behind a mansion that has a Maserati parked in the drive. My articles are being run on six different article directories. I have achieved Expert Author status with two sites, and in just about two months time my articles have been viewed over 1500 times.

My wife, God love her, has, on numerous occasions referred to my efforts as, “That Internet crap.” After seeing my first two commissions, I don’t hear that anymore. And as for her iPod—she found a free seminar at a local store and now she knows how to work it. In fact it has a scrabble game on it that she is 50/50 with her computer opponent.

It’s that way with article marketing. I beat my head against the wall for months trying to figure out HOW TO DO IT. To learn how to do it right, it makes sense to get help from an expert—like I did. After wasting months and many dollars on junk, I found a Super Affiliate who has written an honest-to-goodness handbook for newbies. Check it out. The author is one of the top rated Internet Marketers of all time. Get More Information HERE

About the Author

Don Penven/Brandywine is a commercial photographer and freelance writer based in Raleigh and Morehead City NC. he works part time as a technical writer for a manufacturer of criminal investigation equipment. He became an affiliate marketer in November 2009.

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