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The Internet’s Ugly Secret
By
Bill Reid-Internet Marketing Specialist
I am going to prepare you for a reality check. Get ready.
You know how the authority figures in your life have always prepared you for bad news by getting directly to the point with a statement something along the line of “I am going to make this ‘short and sweet’… and then drop the ‘bad news’ hammer on you? Well, get ready for something close to that, but not quite so ‘sweet’.
Taking advantage of widespread lack of knowledge
There is a great big ugly secret that hangs over the Internet these days and it’s getting bigger by the minute, literally. Because of the great “rush” to the Internet by consumers, which has been likened to the “Gold Rush of 1849”, but multiplied by hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, (And it’s not just happening in California either), many legitimate companies, along with some that are not legitimate, are racing to make sure that they get an edge in this great new “advertising” and “information” medium. In their effort to increase their Internet presence in a meaningful way, they have resorted to providing most if not all of those who join them in the marketing of their products and services with “their own” website as part of their “enticement” package. They hope that by spending some money on the development of a beautiful website, with lots of neat “bells and whistles”, they will cause the uninitiated prospective associate to “join” their organization. And really, there’s nothing particularly wrong with that, except that the “uninitiated prospective associate” believes that the site that they are being provided will be the answer to all their hopes and dreams and now they will be able to “cash in” on this bonanza just like the pioneers of the Internet have. It will all be so easy. New customers will flock to their website, because it’s pretty, and buy lots of goods and services and the money will start rolling in. Work will be a thing of the past and everyone will be happy. Right? Well, not quite right. Everyone will have a site alright, but think about that for a minute. Everyone will have a site!
Ignorance takes on a new meaning
I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but just think about the ramifications of what it means for “umpteen thousand” people, all of whom are bright enough to see the benefit of marketing products and/or services on the Internet, where there is literally a worldwide market for the right product or service, to have identical websites. If everyone who joins an opportunity has the same “website” but just with a different “ID” number to designate it as theirs, then how can you separate yourself from the crowd so that masses of consumers will find your site and buy from you? The answer is…You can’t. And that is the great big ugly secret of the Internet!
Why millions of replicated “affiliate sites” around the world are ineffective
Search engines are wonderful creations that help people find information. That is the main purpose of their existence other than making their creators and operators lots of money. They just want to make sure that anytime someone puts a search term in their little search window, a list of sites that provide information on that particular subject will be displayed for the searcher to review, and hopefully, to pick from for the information they are seeking. That’s the way it’s supposed to work. But, then when thousands of people are using identical sites to market the same products, the search engines have to make an adjustment. Since it makes no sense to list these thousands of sites every time someone looks for one of the products that is offered there, they don’t list any of them at all! So in the end, it doesn’t matter how pretty or functional the website you are given, and in many cases charged a fee for the use of, as a benefit of becoming a part of a particular marketing organization.
There’s even more bad news
As a “user” of the “replicated” or “affiliate” site, you are just that, a user. You have no control over anything to do with “your site”. You don’t own it, and in most cases, you don’t have the ability to change the content or any of the information about the content of the products or services offered on it. As a user of these types of sites, the only control you have is to continue paying the bill, either through your membership or other fees, and keep it out there in cyberspace so that you can hand someone a business card or run a newspaper ad, pass out a flyer or otherwise distribute something with the URL (name of the site) on it and tell them that they should go there and buy some of your products. Probably not exactly what most folks have in mind when they make the leap into cyberspace.
For every ugly secret there’s an ugly answer
Ok, so now you have just signed up for that latest and greatest network, MLM, or direct marketing business and you are all fired up about getting rich with “this one”. Maybe that’s part of the reason you are reading this article to begin with. But the main reason you are excited will have something to do with the quality of, and demand for, the product that you have chosen to become associated with, but there is also some spark of hope that this thing called the Internet will be the missing link to success that has evaded you in the past. You have one of these company sponsored website and you are already online. Then, wouldn’t you know it, you stumbled up on this article and here’s some guy blasting away at the very idea that there might be some hope for you and that the “easy” riches that so many hope for through the use of the Internet may not be so easy after all, maybe not even possible.
Worthwhile advice from the Old Timers
There’s an old saying that goes something like this…”If you can’t propose a remedy for a problem, then you shouldn’t keep talking about it”. This sounds like good advice to me, and I think you’ll be glad that it does and here’s why. When I found myself in the same situation as I’ve just described in the previous paragraph, for about the second time, getting a dismal return for all the effort and high expectation for those endeavors, I started to look for a way to make these “affiliate” or “replicated” sites actual do something for me. After all, I was paying for them and they had my name on them, so there must be a way to promote them to more than just the handful of people I might bump into on the street or in the course of my normal daily activities. Fortunately, after many months of “self education” and “trial and error” starts and stops with many different attempts, I was able to find a way to get it done, and without spending an arm and a leg to do it.
Prepare yourself for another reality check here
The first thing that has to happen if you are to do what I have done, and am still doing, is that you have to learn how to lose. Yes, that’s right, you have to learn how to lose the idea that there is anything “easy” about competing with literally millions of other people around the world for a spot in a search engine that will render the results that you need in order to make a go of any “online business” let alone one that you are trying to run with an “affiliate” or “replicated” website. Another thing you will have to lose is the idea that it won’t cost you something other than your time, which by the way, is the most valuable asset you own, and it is irreplaceable. So we can begin to learn how we can turn these “lemons” that we are calling “affiliate or replicated sites”, into “lemonade” with the following assumptions:
• That the solution won’t be easy • That the solution won’t be free • That the solution does work
Of course you wouldn’t know at this point whether the solution that I am about to share with you works or not since you haven’t had the opportunity to see it, so let me get right into an outline of the solution that can help you overcome “The Internet’s Ugly Secret”.
Creating something that no one else has
Remember that we said that the search engines wouldn’t “index” your affiliate or replicated site because it was not any different that all the others that were assigned to all the other associates who signed up to work with the company that actually owns the site? Well, then the first order of business is to make sure that you are different. If you can’t change the company’s site, then how is it possible to be different? Very simply, create your own business identity with a unique domain name that you register as your own, and then promote that URL with an inexpensive single page website that can be used to “refer” to other sites on the Internet. There are a number of ways to accomplish the project that I’ve just outlined.
One, you can hire it done if you have the money, and believe me, there are lots of folks out there who are more than willing to take your money on this one. Once you know how you will wonder why they charge so much for the services that we are about to describe.
The second way you can get it done is by taking a little time to learn about the tools and the process that is required to make it happen, and do it yourself. This is not a particularly complicated process, but most people have no idea how to accomplish these simple tasks. There are ways you can acquire the information and knowledge of the tools and process for little more than the time you spend to learn. How much time you spend learning is dependent largely on your abilities, so it’s difficult to quantify that part of your investment. We do know, however, that the things that you will have to pay for are very affordable even for the most modest of circumstances. So when we say this is a “doable” process for the vast majority of people out there who are, at the least, computer literate, I mean just about everyone who owns a computer and has a reasonably good connection to the Internet. Let’s take the process of getting you set up on the Internet a step at a time now. It will go like this.
• First, register a domain name that identifies you or your business • Second, set up an inexpensive “hosting” plan • Third, create a simple website that identifies you and your business, that can refer visitors to your “affiliate site” • Forth, post that website on your “host server” where you will have a unique “Internet address” • Fifth, manually index your new website with the major search engines • Sixth, set up an automated submissions and promotion campaign that will keep your site active on many other sites. • Finally, as you evolve through this process, you will have learned much, and the newly acquired information will need to be “reinforced” with additional study of some sort.
Since you are now on the Internet and, hopefully, moving your products well enough to make some money, you will want to find and associate with others who are involved as well. Look for and find a mentor to help steer you to the right places to get the goods you need to get started. I personally use the folks at www.trafficwizardpromotions.com An eStore for all my Internet tools and supplies. Not because they are necessarily the biggest retailer on the Internet, but because I know the guys who run the business and they treat me right and offer good prices and support. And beside all that, when you get ready to promote your webpage they offer a very good, cost effective submission and promotion system at www.sitesubmissionspromotions.com that will make your promotion almost effortless.
Of course there are literally thousands of Internet businesses that can sell you the goods you need to become an entity on the Internet. Some will charge you more than others, some will offer good support when you have technical issues that you don’t understand, and some will not. It pays to look around a little bit and not jump into the first offer you see. Talk with others who have gone before you and let them tell you how to avoid some of the pitfalls, and avoid some of the less reputable businesses available. It is much better to know well ahead of time who is good and who is not, than it is to get knee deep into a business relationship only to find that you have to stop and start over because some couldn’t live up to their commitments.
Life offers no guarantees
In conclusion, I want to give you fair warning. There are millions of products that are being sold on the Internet, and there are lots of people out there selling them. Some are making money and some are not. Just because you have a product that you think is the next “best” and “greatest” thing to come along for the use of mankind doesn’t mean that there is a wide spread demand for that product. Your actual belief means nothing really. Take the time to do some thinking about what you are selling and the times in which you are selling it. Think about who your market is and how they might react to purchasing your product on the Internet. Is the demographic you are targeting young, old, gender specific or some other criteria that will limit or enhance your ability to get your business’ products in front of them? Are your products proprietary in nature? Do they fill a recognized need? And if people do need them, how do they go about finding the product? Do they search the Internet or is it something that can easily be acquired at the local grocery next time in? Which search engines might they use if they do look for products or services, Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista, or any of the hundreds of search engines that are available? And if they are searching the Internet, what are the terms that they use when they search? These are good questions and they need to be answered.
Who do you trust?
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that someone else has already done all the necessary research for you. There is at least a chance that they have, but most likely the research that they have done is about knowing how many people there are out there who might be looking for an opportunity and would be willing to pay for the right to be associated with them, especially if there is a nice looking website involved. My advice to you is to form your own opinions. Get input from others for sure, but in the end you are the one who will have to do the work, and either reap the reward or suffer the loss, so make sure that you are doing what you are doing because it is something that you believe in and are willing to commit time and energy to its development and eventual success. To help you toward that end, I offer a free consultation that will help identify your strengths and weaknesses.
You can reach me through my “Who Is” website at www.billreid.info or email me bill@billreid.info
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