advertising with google

[steven charik]

I don't know if it's just me but as many times as i've tried advertising anything with google adwords it's been nothing but a money vacuum with little or no significant results. I have tried many different ideas and strategies but short of whoring the google system which i have seen many people do, i can't seem to make any money with it. I noticed that affiliate programs are the worst for this, they will disguise themselves with numerous different site templates and even go as far as to use different payment processors (but you can tell it's them - it's almost the same presentation). Then along comes Mr. John Affiliate and tries to promote the same program on google but ends up being completely overshadowed by the owner of the program. Let's face it, your one or 2 ads pale in comparison to his 300. Even if anyone clicks on your site they will most likely come back to one of the affiliate program owner's sites later on and buy directly from him. So in essence you are helping him promote his site without any profit coming to you. This is starting to remind me of ebay - the biggest scam of them all where virtually nobody but ebay makes money.... but that's a different story altogether.

So my point here is, can you make money on google without whoring their system? ( a practice which i am sure will also end up costing you ALOT of money in site development fees and ofcourse google fees and i think is unfair and unethical).

[steven charik]

i don't know if it's just me but didn't entire empires fall at the turn of the millenium when the dot coms went dot bomb? And wasn't this attributed mainly to the fact that the internet was a horrible place to advertise? Besides, we have to follow the example of our bigger brothers (the large corporations) and they are mainly advertising in traditional mediums like tv, radio, newspapers, magazines etc.. Is internet advertising even worth the money? I'm thinking it would be better to just gamble the money at a local casino

I mean, granted, if you want to SLOWLY promote your site over YEARS then posting freebie articles and other ads in message forums might work but is there any way to truly jump start an online business in just a matter of days or even weeks?

[Nacho45]

Sure you can. Google can be a great way of generating revenues. You need to make sure that the product is worth buying though.

I do agree, though, that affiliates are not the way to go, as conversion rates will have a hard time covering the cost of advertising. That's why you need to get up the ranks naturally.

[forum_help]

Hello

Check this out on Google AdSense...

http://www.best-start-a-business-guide.com/adsense

Have a good day

[steven charik]

sounds like sitesell is kind of like webposition gold on steroids. Anything more i should know about them before dropping $300? Has anyone used them for promoting new sites? How quickly did profits start coming in for you?

[Speculate]

Spot on, Nacho45. Google AdWords can be effective... if you're targetted enough in your niche marketing AND have a quality product AND have pages on your website that are conducive to a good conversion rate. All of that equals hard work, but it's necessary work if you want an effective website anyway.

At the end of the day to make money online have to have a good product or service and good website content to support it. If you can manage that you'll rank well in the general search results, which is where the real response from google is.

Where AdWords comes in REALLY handy with is working out which keywords are your best bet for conversion which can help in optimising your copy to rank well in the general results with search terms that give you the conversion return you want.

All of this takes time and effort so my advice would be to spend some time working out what your purpose is, and how much of your time and dollars you're willing to invest in something that doesn't have a guaranteed return (and anyone who promises you a certain result with SEO is a crook and you should run for the hills).

Personally, I don't really want blind referrals from google. I have more than enough work from repeat business and referals and blind leads tend to be time wasters. Either they milk the lead up time and don't go anywhere or need to be "sold" on every aspect of the project. At the end of the day I'm selling my time and expertise as a service so all of that time I spend hand holding is time I can't bill to another customer who trusts me to come up with the best possible solution for them.

[steven charik]

thanks, i can see that there is no silver bullet solution for online advertising but then again i was not expecting there to be one. I never thought of using adwords to optimize my site for the main body - that is definitely a good idea and shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred bucks every time I optimize. It's also quicker than waiting for months to find out that the keywords I chose upon submission were non-productive. But i still want to know if anyone has had any experiences, positive or negative, with sitesell.com. Is it better than webposition?

[rb4580]

Had to Delete

[forum_help]

Originally Posted by steven charik

But i still want to know if anyone has had any experiences, positive or negative, with sitesell.com. Is it better than webposition?

Hello Steven

Better than... whomever, don't know, but , for sure. That's been our personal experience anyway. More people can tell you about this at...

http://www.best-start-a-business-guide.com/webcases

But so what? A bunch of people you don't even know telling you how great Sitesell is and how it has worked for them... who cares. Even though the results are admittedly hard to ignore it doesn't mean to say it will work for you.

You're a businessperson and just want to know the bottom line. That's why you're skeptical in your appraoch and do not take things at face value - you ask the questions. Well then ask them. Just like we did...

http://www.best-start-a-business-gui...bsitequestions

There were 4 things that influenced OUR decision to give Sitesell a try...

1) they spoke a philosophy of creating great content. Something of substance that people could use. Just like speculate spoke of...

... and good website content to support it.

2) they professed to give great service, which we tested BEFORE we bought in, and they passed (what they said they would do, they did).

3) reviewing a comparison with some competitors made an impact. Check it out if you like...

http://www.best-start-a-business-gui.../webcomparison

4) there was a money back guarantee so if all of this was a whole bunch of rubbish anyway, we'd either get our money back or we'd do what we could and report them to all the appropriate bodies for not giving us our money back.

These were OUR considerations. And it was always understood that it COULD take months and months, maybe even a year, before there'd be any type of search engine activity. That's just business.


Wishing you all the best and have a day

[Netrepreneur]

Well, there a lot here to be commented on, but my time is short today...so the main points:

Adwords can be very profitable. Without it, I would have never survived my first year of business.

Adwords is different than Overture. What works in one, does not always work in the other.

Testing is key. Monitor, and get what you can out of it. Don't go for over saturated markets, UNLESS YOU ARE THE BEST IN YOUR FIELD.

Your site must sell. If you don't convert well, then they will go somewhere else. Do you have a toll free line if the customer has a problem? Do you have market validation? Do you have reviews by third parties that build credibility? Do you have a clearly stated return policy? Is it fair? Are your products usualy in stock, and shipped quickly, does your site clearly state this? Do you offer links to the manufacturer for more information?

Finally, what is your USP, that is, why would someone buy this product from your site instead of a competitors?

If your product is found on Drugstore.com or amazon, you had better offer a better price, and a better shipping & return policy...becuase you won't have more credibility...and trust is big online.

Best of luck!

Netrepreneur