The majority of regular Twitter users seem to be bloggers who have started using it because other bloggers have as well, but there is a growing usage of Twitter from businesses trying to reach their target market to create more sales and a better customer relationship.

This is very important, especially with our economy the way it is.  So as a business, whether your blog is your business, or you have a more traditional business, here are very important ways in which Twitter can help further your efforts, and fatten your wallet.

Customer Relations

Recently I made a comment on Twitter about how Crocs were the ugliest shoe ever made, but within a matter of minutes, @georgeGSmithJr, the social media representative for Crocs, reached out to me and offered a view of different styles of Croc shoes that I had never seen before.

My view of the shoe as well as the company changed dramatically.  They actually do have some decent looking shoes. (I even own a pair of the flip flops for men, now.)

The fact that the company had a representative reach out to me gave me a view of them as real people and not some giant machine that sucks everyone in.

I’ve even met George at a couple of blog and social media conferences since that time and have realized he is a really cool guy.

Had Crocs not been on Twitter and not reached out to me, they would have one less customer, or even less depending on how many other individuals they’ve reached out to in the same way.

Your company will be talked about, whether you’re using social media or not.  Your best bet is to jump in and help direct the conversation in a way you want it to go.

Increased Sales

I have Tweetdeck to help manage my Twitter efforts, and recently I added some search columns looking for any conversations involving web design and other variations of the topic.

My intentions were to monitor who on Twitter was looking for a website designer and to offer my services.  I was hoping to get one or two new web design projects using this method, but what I wasn’t expecting was to get so much business from it that anything else I’ve been working on would get neglected (such as this blog).

But I’m finding that it doesn’t bother me, because all of this new work is putting money in my pocket to better take care of my family and build my business.

By doing the same thing, you can use Twitter to build your business, while spending virtually no money in marketing.  Which brings me to our next benefit of using Twitter for your business.

Free Marketing

While you don’t want to simply blast your marketing campaigns on Twitter (I explain why in a recent post that shows how Twitter is A Sports Bar), it is still a great platform for marketing your business.

Traditional methods of marketing often cost thousands of dollars and offer very little chance that you’ll actually get any return on investment from it.  You may be marketing your business to a huge audience, but what percentage of that audience is even in your target market?

With Twitter, you can market your business for free, and can even target your product or services to an audience that is interested in what you offer.

Social media websites like Twitter are putting many traditional companies with non-internet limitations out of business because they offer your company increased profit by decreasing your overhead.

How do you use Twitter to build your business?

If you couldn’t make it, don’t worry, you can join in on the conference too.  Here’s the live stream from IzeaFest:

Free Webcam Chat at Ustream

This live stream is only available between October 2, 2009 and October 3, 2009.

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Google AdWords Tip #1

Make sure your ad is relevant to your keywords.  It seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at the amount of people who run the same ad over multiple keywords.  It is imperative that you write a new ad for every keyword that you use, even if it’s just a slight modification you make to the ad.  When people search on something, they want to see those exact words in their search, and they won’t click on an ad that doesn’t match their search terms.

Google AdWords Tip #2

Write good ads.  While it is important that you use the keywords in your ad text, the ad must also be good.  It has to be compelling, and it has to give the reader a reason to click on it over the other ads as well as the natural search results.  So why should they choose you?  You need to make your case, using your keywords, in very few words.  If you can develop this skill, it will be a very valuable thing to have.

Google AdWords Tip #3

Mix up your bidding strategy.  Don’t think that the same style of bidding applies to all situations.  When you first start out, you may need to bid a little higher on the more competitive keywords because your click-through-rate and standing with Google isn’t so high; but don’t forget, as your standing with Google increases, to go back and lower your bids – there’s no point in spending money when you don’t have to.

Conversely, you also need to bid differently on less popular keywords – in that case, you start low, and slowly increase your bid in small increments until you have the position you want on the first page of results.  By increasing your bid slowly, you’ll get the best possible placement for the least possible amount of money.

What tips do you have for using Google Adwords?

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Everyone would like to have their trips paid for, so what makes you special?  Why would a company pick you over everyone else asking for sponsorship?

The Wrong Way To Get A Sponsor

There is a reason only a handful of people actually ever get sponsors to pay their way to conferences.  Because most bloggers are doing it wrong.

You can’t send out a Twitter message asking (in general) if anyone would like to sponsor you.  Companies get proposed to all the time, so they will quickly look over your cries for help.

If you want to be noticed and truly considered for sponsorship to a conference, you have to prove to the companies you’re targeting why you are the best candidate.

Don’t assume anyone else knows how great you are, just because you think it. If you do, you’ll never be looked at for a sponsorship.

The Right Way To Get A Sponsor

There are many things involved in increasing your chances of landing that perfect sponsor, but with determination and the right guidance, you’ll be suprised at how simple it really is.

1. Create A Sponsor Me Page

The first thing you should do, before anything else, is to create a page that contains the following:

• The reasons bloggers should be sponsored.
• The reasons you should be the blogger to be sponsored.
• What you’ll offer the sponsor.
• What you want from the sponsor.
• What conferences you would like to be sponsored for.
• How to get in touch with you.

2. Create A Letter That Sells You

Once your page is created, you need to focus on writing a letter, that is short and concise that includes all of the same points included in your sponsor me page.

Not every company wants to spend the time scouring your blog trying to find out why they should sponsor you, so sending them a letter by email (or even better, by snail mail) containing the same information, not only makes you look professional and sophisticated, but it also makes sure you’re key points of interest don’t go un-noticed.

3. Contact Companies Through Social Media

The companies more likely to sponsor your conference trip are those that are already into social media and blogging.  Those that know where the future is going and want to be in the front of the pack.

They understand already why sponsoring bloggers is so important, so half of your work in selling yourself to them is done.

When you contact the companies using social media, make sure to provide a link back to your sponsor me page.

In Summary

Companies don’t just give money to anybody that asks them.  If they did, they’d be out of business within a week.  They have to have a great reason to sponsor you and justify it with some kind of return on investment (ROI).

If a company doesn’t see a return on investing in you, they will move on to the next person.  And first impressions are still everything.

Have you been sponsored for a conference?  What process did you go through?  I would love to hear your feedback on your experiences.

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Because when it comes to paying for a product that will make you money online, the second best thing to free is “Super Cheap”.  Who doesn’t easily have $7.00 to try on a big money making product?

When you look at this program, you are simply buying an e-book for $7.00.  The e-book tells you not only how to create and budget, fast selling info products online but you’re also given the software to create your own product site using the exact same script.

I know, it’s always the same old thing.  But the information in that e-book isn’t what makes me money!  In fact, I deleted the e-book as soon as I finished skimming the pages.  I could care less about creating a website using their script to sell products online.  I’m into one thing, and that’s making money online by blogging.  That’s it!

So how am I making money with it?

Part of what you get when you purchase the e-book, is the chance to become an affiliate of it.  That’s what we all do as bloggers right?  Send people to a website using our affiliate links.

So you spend $7.00 to become an affiliate, you send people to the website using your affiliate code (through ads), they purchase a copy of the e-book so they can become affiliates, and $7.00 gets deposited directly into your Paypal account!

That’s right, you get 100% of the profits.

Will people pay for it?  Hell yeah!  Because it’s only $7.00!

Why does the author give you 100% of the profits?  Because he sticks a bunch of his own affiliate links into the e-book’s content, and that’s how he makes his money.

So click here to get $7 Dollar Secrets, and start making money on your blog!

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About Elite Retreat

Elite Retreat is different from most marketing conferences, in that you can actually learn some great info from some of the greatest internet marketers today.

Most marketing conferences are, what elite retreat calls, “Pitchfests”.  Meaning, you pay money for a sampling of experts followed by an exhausting series of sales pitches from people promising you lessons in marketing in return for some of your hard-earned money.

Most of these pitches leave you with less money and feeling even more confused.

Elite Retreat actually lets you sit down and interact with experts rather than just listening.

Registering For Elite Retreat

The Elite Retreat is a very exclusive event, and sells out within days of opening registration.  Jeremy “ShoeMoney” Schoemaker has been able to assemble the most sought after people in the industry to provide insight and help to those that attend.  Some of the leaders this year will be Chris Winfield of 10e20, Neil Patel of KISSMetrics, Aaron Wall of SEO Book, and Brian Norgard, of FOX Advertising.  Keynote speakers of the ER have been great in the past, including Guy Kawasaki and Gary Vaynerchuk.  This year the keynote will be none other than, New York Times Bestselling Author, Seth Godin.

But you should be warned that this conference is not for everyone.  Jeremy takes the time to approve all of the attendees, so that everyone gets the most out of the Elite Retreat.  Don’t be scared to register though, it is NOT invitation only.  He just likes to make sure you are prepared for what this event can do for you.

Registration for the event is open early to you because Jeremy selects a few people to do some pre-sales before he announces it on his blog (www.shoemoney.com).

The cost to attend is $4,995 per person, and although some may call it expensive anyone who has ever attended the Elite Retreat calls it an investment that easily pays for itself.  An hour of consulting with any one of these guys would cost you at least $5,000.

Register For Elite Retreat Here!

Location Location Location

This year the event will take place at the unbelievable Hotel Gansevoort in the Meatpacking District of New York City.  The hotel has one of a kind spaces for being in Manhattan, like a rooftop pool (which will be the location of the opening night party).  Pics of the hotel can be viewed here: http://www.hotelgansevoort.com/photo-gallery/index.cfm

For more information on the Elite Retreat NYC, check out http://www.eliteretreat.info.  But don’t take too much time deciding, the event always sells out, and like I said Jeremy will be announcing the event to the world on Wednesday.

Click here to register for Elite Retreat in New York City

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We’ve covered everything from SMART goal making to Participating in Forums, to The 5 Habits of Highly Successful Bloggers, and in the past couple of days, Branding Your Blog For Success Part 1 & Part 2.

We are 2/3 of the way through and to celebrate our special milestone, I want to reveal to you 7 ways to make money online.  Two of which are guaranteed to make you money as long as your blog is at least 90 days old.

1. Pay Per Post

Pay Per Post is a project of Izea, the guys behind IzeaFest (the greatest blog conference in the world).  It’s sort of like the craigslist for blog post opportunities.

Much like websites such as ReviewMe and Sponsored Reviews, Pay Per Post makes it possible for bloggers to get paid for writing review posts for advertisers.

Unlike ReviewMe and Sponsored Reviews, Pay Per Post lets the blogger browse through different blog post opportunities.  When the blogger finds one that fits their niche or interest, they sign up, write the post, and get paid for it.

As long as you can find an opportunity that you’re willing to write about, and follow the posting rules as outlined, you are guaranteed to make money.

You can sign up for Pay Per Post here to get started.  It’s absolutely free.

A new re-work of Pay Per Post is also being developed and is currently in alpha testing right now.  But I actually have 10 alpha keys to give away that will allow you early access to test pilot the new site.

To enter all you have to do is re-tweet the following on Twitter:

“I just entered to win a chance at being one of the first users of the new PayPerPost. You can enter to win too  http://twurl.nl/c23628”

10 winners will be randomly chosen on May 18th, 2009.

2. Social Spark

Social Spark is also a brain child of Izea, and is actually a much better version of Pay Per Post.  Not only are you given opportunities to make money writing sponsored reviews, but there are also Cost Per Click opportunities, Affiliate opportunities, Sponsorships, and Trade Opportunities available for bloggers to choose from.

With such a diverse way to make money with your blog and social media profiles, Social Spark is revolutionizing making money online.

And as long as your blog is at least 90 days old, there is no way you can’t make money with this program.

If you’re interested in trying Social Spark for yourself, I’ve got some really great news.

I’m an official Izea Insider Crew Leader.  What does that mean?  You can sign up as one of my crew-members, and along with the opporunities to make money that Social Spark offers, you will be automatically entered to win all contests listed on my Izea Insider Mafia website for life.

Click here to start the process of becoming an Izea Insider Crew member for Izea Mafia.  All crew members also get special recognition by me and other Izea members at blog and social media conferences.  As well as opportunities to win great prizes not offered to anyone else.

Hint – There might be something special for Crew members at IzeaFest 09, so don’t hesitate to be a part of it.

3. Text Link Ads

When a first began blogging, text link ads (TLA) was the very first platform that made me money.  And it still does today.  In fact, it’s the most consistant money maker for this blog.

The first part of every single month, a direct deposit of my earnings is put into my PayPal account.  And I don’t even have to do anything but blog.

TLA places your blog in front of other advertisers that are interested in getting links to their website on other’s blogs.  They will list your blog, and even handle the approval process of selling your text-link ads.

TLA also provides a widget to place into your blog’s sidebar so every link that gets sold is automatically placed onto your blog for you.

With so much being demanded of you as a blogger, it’s nice to know that there are programs like TLA that handle everything for you.

You can sign up for TLA here to start making money with your blog.

4. Market Leverage

Probably one of the highest paying affiliate networks on the internet today, Market Leverage connects advertisers with bloggers interested in earning affiliate money online.

Their offers are mostly CPA offers, but with such a high payout, your profit percentages per sale, signup, or lead are among the best right now.

As an added bonus, Market Leverage also has an affiliate program of their own.  For every person you refer that signs up as an affiliate and is approved, you make 5% of their affiliate commissions for life.

There aren’t many affiliate programs that offer commission for life, so to not sign up for Market Leverage would be a missed opportunity to be a truly successful blogger and making money online.

You can sign up for Market Leverage here to get started.

If their high payouts and referral commissions for life aren’t enough to spark your interest, I am hosting a Market Leverage contest right now, and everyone who signs up through me has a chance at winning a Macbook Pro, 24 inch monitor, iPod Touch, or $200 Visa gift card.

You can find out more about the contest here.

5. Amazon Associates

Amazon also offers a way to make money online.  You can create an affiliate url for every single product that they offer, and with so many to choose from, there is no reason you can’t find something that fits within your niche.

For example, every book I review on this blog is accompanied by my amazon affiliate link.  So all sales  made through my link give me a 4% commission.

The more sales you refer to Amazon, the higher your affiliate payout percentage will be.

My wife uses Amazon affiliate links on her blog as well.  She reviews maternity and baby products, and every sale made through the provided affiliate link generates a hefty commission for her as well.

Even if you’re not a blogger, you can make money from Amazon Affiliate by having your family and friends by Christmas and birthday gifts using your affiliate links as well.

With Amazon Associates, the possibilites to make money online are endless.

Click here to get started with Amazon Associates.

6. PepperJam Network

PepperJam is a lot like most other affiliate networks.  The offer Cost Per Click, Cost Per Action, and Cost Per Impression opportunities for bloggers and affiliate marketers.

There really isn’t a lot that’s extremely special about PepperJam except for one thing.

They have an affiliate program as well.  But unlike Market Leverage, they don’t offer a percentage of other’s sales.  They offer a flat rate for every person that successfully signs up for PepperJam network through your referral link.

Since signing up is absolutely free, it’s easy to get others to signup underneath you.

You can signup for PepperJam here.

7. 7 Dollar Secrets

Unlike every other way to make money online that I’ve mentioned, 7 Dollar Secrets isn’t some special affiliate network, and it doesn’t offer opportunities to write reviews or generate Cost Per Click payments.

7 Dollar Secrets is simply an ebook.  An ebook that does nothing but tell you how to make money online.

It’s not free though, like most ebooks.  You have to pay $7 for it.  Why $7?  Because anyone can afford $7.

While the book has some pretty good information in it, I’m not recommending this method of making money online because of the content within the book.

I’m recommending 7 Dollar Secrets because of what you can do with the book.

I’ve written about 7 Dollar Secrets before and how it is my most successful way to make money online.

You can read the post here.

And when you’re done reading.  Go ahead and click here to get your copy and start making money with it today.

How do you make money online?  Do you have any special ways of guaranteeing a profit?  Please share them with us by commenting.

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But one thing I haven’t done is have a major contest to win awesome prizes.

So I’ve teamed up with Market Leverage to offer you a unique contest that can lead to you winning one of 4 awesome prizes.

And unlike most contests run on other blogs, the winner of this contest is left in your hands.  There is no random drawing for a winner.  The effort you put into the contest will determine if you’re the winner of the prizes.

This contest runs from April 1, 2009 to May 31, 2009.  The earlier you start, the better your chances of winning.

How To Participate

In order to participate in this contest sponsered by Market Leverage, you have to follow some really simple rules.

1. You must signup with Market Leverage under my referral link.  Click here to sign up.  If you do not sign up using my referral link, we cannot track who is participating in order to fairly award prizes.  If you are already registered for Market Leverage under someone else or have registered already and are not under me, you are not eligible to participate.  All registered Market Leverage affiliates that have previously registered under me are eligible to participate because this is my first Market Leverage contest.
2. Earn as much money as you can using Market Leverage’s affiliate offers.  Be creative.  But you have to at least earn a minimum of $1,000 in affiliate commissions in order to win a prize.  The good news… if you’re the only person that earns at least $1,000, then you will win the first place prize.  Not to mention you’ve also just made $1,000 or more.
3. The unique thing about this contest is that you aren’t only competing for the winning position on this blog, but across other blogs running the contest as well.  The grand prize will be given to the participant who generates the most affiliate commissions during the length of the contest.  This means the earlier you join and start participating, the more money you’ll make during the contest.
4. First, second and third place winners will be picked from this blog’s contestants only.  Those winners will not be drawn from the other blogs running this contest.  So even if you’re not the first place winner across multiple blogs, you could still be the first place winner and win an awesome prize.

The Prizes Up For Grabs

Grand Prize:

The grand prize winner will get a brand new Macbook Pro.

First Place Prize

The first place winner of this blog will get a Dell 24″ Flat Panel LCD Monitor.  I don’t know about you but I could sure use this with my laptop to have dual screens.

Second Place Prize

The second place winner will get an awesome 16GB IPOD Touch with accessories.

Third Place Prize

The third place winners will get a $200 Market Leverage Visa Gift Card.  I don’t have a large picture of that card, but you can see it in the giant graphic near the top of this post.

In Summary

This is going to an awesome contest and I believe each and every one of you has the potential to win.

If you’d like any  more clarification on the contest, or have any questions at all, please leave a comment and I’ll answer them as best I can.

Good luck!

Click here to get started in the Market Leverage Contest

** Any publisher caught doing illegal measures such as fraud or being in violation of the affiliate network’s Terms of Service will not be eligible for a prize.

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PPC (pay per click) campaigns have been around for a long time now, but many people were finding that they weren’t making as much money from it as they were CPA (cost per action) & Commission based campaigns.  But with the power of social media and how evolved and popular it has become, that can change.

PPC Through Traditional Blogging

Using PPC ads on your blog can earn you money but with low click-through ratios many find it’s not worth bothering their readers with in-text ads that only give them a few cents a week.

Many times the cost of turning away readers isn’t worth the amount of money to be made.  And the less readers, the less money.  So PPC was becoming a method of how much money you couldn’t make versus how much you could.

PPC Through Social Media

Using PPC ads in social media is better in many ways & is a great in bringing back that focus on PPC and turning it back into a way to make money rather than lose money.

The down-sides of the traditional ad methods through blogging don’t weigh as heavy in social media.  Allowing for more breathing room, and a less worry-some approach in running the campaigns.

In respect to click-through ratios, you’ll find better results through social media than the traditional blog or static website approach.  Especially when PPC campaigns are used on a website like Twitter.  Twitter allows for a very high click-through rate if done correctly.

Also with social media, you don’t have the problem of losing readers like you do through blogging.  Social media sites have millions of users who read hundreds, if not thousands, of different people’s messages every day.  So a PPC ad thrown in amongst those on an occassional basis doesn’t have the same negative effect that it does with blogging.  Most especially if you’re smart and creative about how you present those campaigns and don’t try to out-wit or scam your readers.

Do you use PPC campaigns in social media like Twitter?  If so, what affiliate networks do you use, and what kind of results are you experiencing?

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There is constant changing and testing of methods to see what works the best and what doesn’t.

Most of the time, the hassle of actually having to grabe the affiliate code and place it into your blog gets in the way of the other things you need to be doing to manage your affiliate sales.

So here is a list of 13 WordPress plugins that will help take some of the “hassle” out of placing your affiliate links.

1. AdRotator – Displays an advertisement (which is randomly selected from a group of advertisements specified in a text file) at your chosen location.

2. aLinks – Takes a set of phrases you commonly use and turns them into links whenever you include them in a post. Create links for your favorite affiliate products and programs. Just write your post like you normally do, and aLinks will find the keyphrases and turn them into links automagically.

3. WP-Banner – Banner administration tool to manage banners from different affiliate programs.

4. AdSense-Deluxe - Quickly inserts Google or Yahoo! ads into your blog posts, and allows for managing when and where those ads are displayed.

5. WP-Amazon – With WP-Amazon, the Amazon.com product catalog is available right from WordPress. This plugin adds an “Insert from Amazon” link below the post text area on your entry and page editor pages. This link launches a page that will allow you to search Amazon.com by product line.

6. Bidvertiser WP Widget – Helps you utilize the BidVertiser ads on your site or blog with ease.

7. CafePress WordPress Plugin – This plugin brings together the CafePress API, WordPress and the PrestoGifto API to allow you to layout your products, adjust thumbnail sizes, pick colors, fonts and more. With this plugin, you can choose any of the 60 million products that CafePress sells and put them in your sidebar, after your posts, in your footer, or on a full page.

8. Chitika eMiniMall Plugin – Integrates eMiniMall right into your blog post. Once you activate the plugin, you will see a new eMiniMall button on your quicktags toolbar. Simply click it to insert the eMiniMall tag.

9. DataFeedFile.com Plugin – Integrate affiliate marketing advertisements using DataFeedFile.com tools.

10. Spreadshop WordPress Plugin – Spreadshirt is an online gadget service. You can easily sell, online, your personal t-shirts and gadgets with a cool and fast Macromedia Flash interface.

11. WpAffiliate Pro – This is the mother of all affiliate plugins. This plugin tracks your affiliate links, and is used by most of the top affiliate marketers in their blogs. If you have $97, this plugin is worth buying. (Note: Buy this if you want to track your stats).

Do you have any suggestions or plugins that you use for affiliate marketing?

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