Most people who venture into online marketing do so thinking they are going to make a small fortune with their website. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of online marketers, that's just not the case. Yes, it is very possible make a small fortune online, and it's really not all that difficult once you understand one basic principle: if you want to make money at this game, you have to multiply your efforts.
Just look at any major retail outlet for an example of multiplication. Why are stores such as Wall-Mart or Sears so successful? The simple reason is they carry almost anything a consumer could want under one roof. They don't limit themselves to one product. If they did they wouldn't be in business very long.
The same is true with online marketing. If you only sell one product on one website, don't expect the money to come flooding into your bank account, no matter how great your product is or how well you advertise it. Creating a nitch market is definitely the way to go, but do it with multiple sites and products.
There is one major difference between online and offline selling, however. While a store like Wall-Mart is highly successful because of all the different products they offer at one location, the opposite is true for online sales. Web "stores" tend to do poorly and often fail within the first few months of operation. Why? Because the average web surfer gets confused or frustrated if there are too many products to choose from on one site. Instead, create a separate website for each product.
I know what you're probably thinking. If you create a unique site for each of your products, you'll end up spending all your money on web hosting fees. That's true only if you choose a host that doesn't offer multiple or subdomains. With the right host, such as HostOnTheRange.com, you could easily run a dozen sites or more for one low monthly rate.
You can also set up multiple sites for the same product. This is a great way to test different sales letters or prices. Let's say you've written an ebook, but you're not sure what to charge for it. You could just arbitrarily pick a price and slap up a sales letter and hope for the best. Or, you could use the time-tested scientific method and write at least three different sales letters and put up three separate sites. Advertise them equally and see which one pulls in the most sales.
Just make sure you don't stop there. Marketing takes constant testing and revising and tweaking. When you find the perfect sales pitch and the perfect price, write three more sales letters and re-test. And then re-test those. My point is, never just think you have the system licked and get lazy. If you do, your competition will steal your customers and get the sales.
I hope this article has given you some food for thought. You see, it really isn't hard to make money online, but it does take a little bit of effort on your part. No successful person ever just sat back and waited for things to happen. Successful people are the ones who make things happen. You can either stick with what you're doing now, or you can make things happen. It's your choice.
Copyright ©, 2002 Dave Barrett ************************************************************* Dave Barrett is editor of the Internet marketing ezine eMoney Monthly. Subscribe now for free access to all the great resources that eMoney Monthly has to offer! mailto:subscribe@emoneymonthly.com Visit our website at *************************************************************
