Website such as Twitter and Facebook have caught fire in the past few years. I still remember when I joined Twitter only 2 years ago. In those days, a lot of top marketers were talking about how Twitter was a fad and was not going to go anywhere. Some even called the idea stupid and pointless. I was somewhat in the middle at that point. We were not realizing too much value from Twitter in those days, but at the same time, the community’s growth was giving us hope that at some point we may be able to monetize our efforts.

These days, there are no more doubts that social media is here to stay. Whether it’s Facebook or Twitter doesn’t really matter in the end. But the channel is going to be there for anyone who is brave enough to take a chance and invest in it. Keeping up with the social media may be more daunting that traditional media, but that’s a huge leveler, especially for small businesses. 2010 is going to be the year that social media networks finally start monetizing their work, and that could lead to more sophisticated advertising platforms and more solid communities. (more…)

Recently, I had a chance to write a piece on our sister website about Sponsored Tweets and how twitters are paid to post sponsored messages to their Twitter accounts. Twitter is one of the fastest growing communities on the Internet, but the community is firmly against spammers and those who are there to only market and provide little value. Sponsored Tweets is not about spamming. If you are an advertiser interested in this service, you can think of the whole deal is a sponsorship opportunity. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could sponsor some of the top tweeters around?

The service is still in early stages, but it certainly opens up another door for advertisers to reach out to those engaged on social networking websites such as Twitter. You can define how much you want to pay for your sponsored tweets, define the minimum number of followers you are looking for your partners to have. You can even filter out spammers who follow a lot of people without getting followed in return. (more…)

There are a lot of marketers out there who prefer cutting corner and taking short-cuts to achieve their business goals. You may be a gifted marketer and manage to make a decent living online without getting down to the nitty gritty with your online marketing campaigns. But if you are working for a large corporation or are accountable for someone else’s results, you are going to have to deal with the issue of landing page optimization sooner rather than later.

Businesses are not in it to make $10 profit per transaction when they can make $20 profit doing that. So landing page optimization will have to be at the top of your agenda if you want to keep your CPA manageable and keep growing business for your employer or clients. By improving your conversion rates, you can not only lower your costs but increase your profits as well. So it’s a double whammy.

(more…)

Believe it or not, there are still people out there who make a living out of Adsense and Adsense alone. It’s true that the market has become more competitive and the game has become more difficult to master, but as long as you approach the process methodically, there is no reason you can’t make a living from Adsense with your portals. Before you do anything, you are going to need the right keyword tools to get you started. We are not talking about free tools here but rather tools that let you dig deep and find the keywords that help you drive more traffic to your website for cheap.

If you are looking for keyword tools that will help you take your Adsense game to the next level, here are 5 keyword tools you should try:

Keyword Spy: the best keyword research tool around for affiliate marketers and Adsense professionals. It has something for everyone. It’s not cheap by any means, but whether you are an affiliate, a PPC professional, or an Adsense expert, this tool comes in handy.

Keyword Country: another kill tool for niche marketers. Lets you analyze your niche, competition, and keywords more effectively. It’s used by both Adwords and Adsense experts. Great way to put the right foot forward in a new niche.

SpyFu: the best tool to get some spying done on your competitors and find new good keywords to target. Comes with a set of tools that enable you to find out more about what other people are doing.  (more…)

Online advertising is one of the best ways to drive traffic to any business and generate more leads. But there is a science to it all. It’s true that mastering Google Adwords and Yahoo! Search Marketing services gives you a leg up over your competitors. There are a lot of online marketers that focus on learning all these nifty advertising tricks on search engines, but it always pays to go beyond that and learn the science behind advertising. If you are an online marketer hoping to learn new tricks and take your business to the next level, here are 5 killer advertising books you should read:

Creative Advertising: one of the best advertising books I have ever read. The book won’t make you creative but it shows you how the creative minds work. If you do have an open mind, this book can be a game changer for you.

The Online Marketing Inside Out: you learn how to use your web site to generate income. It shows you the ins and outs of what it takes to take your online business to the next level by marketing your website properly.

Search Engine Advertising: addresses many areas that you need to master to grow your business online. Covers search engine advertising, your ad copy, and every other aspect of your online advertising campaigns. (more…)