Atomic Physics Explained!

By Steve Humphrey

What does this have to do with Internet Marketing? Everything.

You want to make money selling "something" on the 'Net...right?
What you sell is made up of 1) Electrons or 2) Atoms. Are you
still awake? Here's what I mean.


Case #1: Electrons

Electrons make your monitor light up. They change the magnetic
coatings on your floppies and hard drives to store data. They
carry data across the Web from servers to users and back. They
basically make just about everything happen.

In your brain. electrons move around and change stuff you see,
hear, etc., into thoughts and memories.

Why is this important? It matters because you should be selling
electrons and not atoms! Write an E-book - electrons save it to
disk and transfer it to your Web site.

Electrons show it to the people who come to your site. They send
some electrons to your merchant account. The merchant bank sends
some electrons to your bank - you've made a sale and gotten paid!

You can be asleep, on vacation or even dead drunk in a local bar
while these electrons are flying around taking care of business.
They move at the speed of light; they don't have to be packed or
shipped. Their functions are controlled by software, not the
Teamsters. Get it?


Case #2: Atoms

Suppose you sell the "Worlds Finest Barbecue Sauce" on the 'Net.
What's it made of? Not just ingredients and your secret recipe!
It's made of atoms. Atoms won't fit in a phone line. They take
up space; they have weight. How does someone get the quantity of
these delicious atoms they've ordered (using electrons)?

You or somebody else packs, addresses and ships them. Prior to
that, you or someone had to produce these atoms. In between, you
or someone else bottled and stored the atoms. This costs money
and requires labor - over and over again.

For a share of the profits, you can get other people to handle
the production, packing, shipping, etc. Still, the goods have to
be delivered.


Conclusion: Which is less hassle: Atoms or Electrons?

This should be a no-brainer! Electrons are the obvious choice
here. Create an E-book or an info-product once, sell it any
number of times. Everything can be automated and requires no
human intervention (no labor costs, management headaches, etc.)!

Write a terrific ad for the new product and email it to ezines,
opt-in lists, etc. and sell your product over and over. While
sales are going great, produce another product to sell.

When sales for the first product start to slow down, email your
customers and tell them about the new product. Write some sales
letters and ads to aim for new customers. Now you have 2 items
to sell. Previous customers are likely to buy the new electrons
and new prospects may find the new electrons desirable enough to
become customers.

Add this to the Web site you created for the first product or
create a new site just for this one. Spend a little cash for a
domain name and hosting if it's a new site (more electrons...).

Get the ads ready; use an autoresponder to deliver a sales pitch
to people who responded to the ad (more electrons...). Place the
ads in ezines read by people in the target market for the new
product...electrons again.

You'll find that all these little tasks (product creation, Web
site design, advertising, marketing, etc.) get easier each time
you do them. Don't just dream it; DO IT!

If you are already in the atom business, pay someone else a fee
to handle the order-fulfillment part of the business. Use a Web
site or email to convince people to buy your atoms. Put an order
form on the site. Use a script to email the orders to the folks
who deliver the atoms for you. Electrons at work!

Use inventory-control software (electrons again!) to make sure
you always have the atoms available and ready to ship.

See, even the atoms can be managed if you master the electrons.


=====================
Steve Humphrey offers advice and resources to Internet marketers
at his Web site http://merrymonk.com and in his ezine "Straight
Talk" Subscribe at http://www.merrymonk.com/st.html
=====================

Build Web Site Traffic Through Partnering

By Carole Pivarnik

You've created a great Web site. It's got content,
functionality, purpose, and an audience. Problem is,
your hit counter isn't spinning as fast as you wish it
was. How do you shift your site traffic into high gear?
One way is to partner with other sites that complement
yours. By partnering, both you and your partners can
diversify your sites' offerings and send traffic to each
other. But what partnering options should you consider?
How do you find the right sites to partner with? How do
you approach potential partners? What pitfalls should
you avoid?

Explore Partnering Options. Before seeking out a
partner, take inventory of what you can offer. Do you
have expertise, original content, a service, a product,
or something else to offer? What do you want in exchange?
Do you simply want to exchange links? Want new content?
Want to feature a guest expert or columnist? Want to add
functionality? Or maybe just want increased market
exposure on other sites? It's important to be clear with
yourself about what you can offer and what you want in
return, because these facts will help you identify the
most effective partnering candidates.

Find the Right Partners. When scouting for partners, be
both realistic and practical. The best candidates are not
necessarily the most high profile, glitzy sites. The best
candidates are the ones that will help you build a larger
audience. For this reason, focus on candidates whose
sites serve the same audience as yours, who aren't direct
competitors, and to whose audience you can provide
something of value. In general, small to medium sized
sites are probably your best bet. Why? Because they
probably have needs similar to yours and thus are more
likely to respond to the benefits of partnering.

Approach Potential Partners. Once you've identified a
few strong candidates, figure out who to contact about
partnering. In some cases, it might be the Webmaster; in
others, a business development manager or marketing
director. Prepare a personalized email message that
clearly conveys your familiarity with their site and its
audience, the value you'd be willing to offer, the key
benefits to them, and what you would like for your site
in return. Be sure to stress the benefits that partnering
with you will bring to them and their audience. This will
help you get their attention and be taken seriously.

Your first communication is also the time to ask your
potential partner some gentle questions that will help
you more clearly determine their suitability. Traffic
trends, audience, anticipated growth, site longevity,
technical and other qualifications of owners, and many
other topics might be of interest to you. Be careful,
though, to avoid "interrogation" mode. Consider your
first outreach the start of an ongoing conversation.
Putting together a successful partnership between Web
sites is likely to require many such exchanges. Take
all the time you need to fact-find, understand each
others' needs, and negotiate your relationship.

Avoid Partnering Pitfalls. Unless they're clearly
defined, partnerships can go south faster than a
hummingbird in September. Put your expectations and
obligations in a written agreement that both of you
sign. If a partnering candidate is unwilling to sign
such an agreement, reconsider their suitability. Among
other things, a partnering agreement should define what
services or products each partner will provide, who
owns content or products created to benefit the
partnership, what rights each partner has to material
created by the other, what site demographics or other
information must be shared, what representation each
must give the other on their Web sites or other media,
any financial obligations, how the partnership may be
terminated, and what obligations or rights remain in
force upon termination. Seek the advice of a legal
professional for specific wording and content for your
partnership agreements.

Conclusion. Partnerships with other Web sites are a
great way to build traffic for your own site, get market
exposure, and enhance your professional credibility.
Research potential candidates thoroughly, and be sure to
put the details in writing. Following these steps will
help ensure a healthy partnership that will benefit both
of you.

==================== ABOUT THE AUTHOR =====================
Carole Pivarnik manages audience development and affiliate
programs for SureCode Technologies, Inc., which offers full-
featured, customizable Web databases that plug right into
any site with no programming. Email her: carole@surecode.com.
Sign up for her free newsletter, Working Web Sites, or learn
more about SureCode at http://www.surecode.com.

Articles Courtesy Of The InfoZone