Peter Sanchez dot Com

So you heard all the hype about striking it rich on the internet huh? Probably ran across a website or two telling you how you can make $50,000 next week and how you can "get rich quick" by becoming an affiliate marketer. Unfortunately, that's not realistic. It's crazy how many people still haven't learned that if it's too good to be true, it probably is.

Now for the good news. You really can earn a great living online and even get rich — just not as quick as we'd all like. If you want to make a living online you will need to learn a lot about internet marketing. There are many tools and services that you will need to get familiar with. So with that in mind I present you with...

The Only Internet Marketing Resource List You'll Ever Need!

Sorry for the cheesy sub-headline above, but as you learn more about marketing, you'll learn that cheese often sells. I will not go into great detail about each of these services below as that is not the scope of this post, I will however give a brief description of what the service is and why it's useful. And here we go.

Web Hosting

JumpLaunch - You gotta have a place for your website to "live" and JumpLaunch has excellent service. I highly recommend them. Use coupon code "petersanchez" at checkout for 20% off :)

Advertising

Now that your website is up and running, you gotta let the world know. There are many methods but in the internet marketing world, none are more rapid than PPC advertising.

Google Adwords - The big daddy of all PPC advertising. Highest volume, which usually means the best result but it also means it's the most expensive to master. Might be smart to start with Yahoo and MSN (see below) and work up to Google.

Yahoo SM - Yahoo is the second in over all search volume. Their user interface is pretty limited but it's not difficult to get setup and running. Usually less expensive than Google as well.

MSN AdCenter - MSN AdCenter is the little brother to Google & Yahoo. While it's volume is much lower there still is a lot of potential here. Think more bang for your buck.

Facebook Ads - Facebook is a huge social network. It's recently launched PPC platform has excellent demographic targeting and is relatively inexpensive to run ads here.

Customer Retention / Up Selling

In marketing, creating a "funnel" of sales is so important. Offering an upsell, affiliate offer or freebie is a huge way to keep someone as a customer. A huge number of your customers are likely to be repeat buyers as long as they were happy with the original product they purchased. So here are some tools used to keep and up sell your customers.

SmartJabber - Interactive and intelligent artificial chat agent. Gives the appearance of a live person helping the visitors to your website. Low monthly fee to use this tool. This really helps build a level of trust for your visitors. It literally pays for itself.

AWeber - Email marketing is so important in the world of internet business. AWeber is an email list manager that lets you capture your customer's information for future use. It's totally opt-in so your users can remove themselves from your list at any time. With this, you can put any offer in front of your users via email, 24/7! This may be the most important "tool" in making a living online.

Affiliate Networks

Affiliate networks are an excellent resource. Basically affiliate marketing works like so. You refer a person to company XYZ. If the person you referred makes a purchase with XYZ, you get a commission. Commissions can range form small to very large, depending on the product/offer. So say you sell a gardening book on your website and you want to recommend other books to them. Email them a list of books, using your affiliate offer link, and you create a triple win situation. Your customers are happy with the recommendation, company XYZ is happy for the sale and you are happy for the commission. Here are some of the affiliate networks I recommend.

Azoogle Ads - Great team, excellent affiliate managers.

NeverBlu Ads - Very helpful staff. Excellent starting point for newbies.

Commission Junction - Very big market place. Offers for anything you can imagine! Good customer service.

LinkShare - The first affiliate network. Very big market place as well.

Payment Processors

At some point, you are probably going to be charging your customers for either your product or service. Here are a few options you have in doing just that.

Paypal - You've probably already heard of this company. They are easy to use and very popular. I personally don't like some of their resolution policies.

Google Checkout - Google's attempt at payment processing. I have used this service and highly recommend it. Their resolution policy is one of the best around! Fair to both merchant and buyer.

2Checkout - Popular payment processor. Low fees and website integration.

Power Pay - Power Pay is an authorize.net reseller. They will set you up with a merchant account so you can process credit cards from your own site. This is for the more hardcore but is definitely the correct way to go once you start bringing in a higher sales volume.

Secure Download Providers

If you are selling digital products via your website (ie, ebooks, spreadsheets, etc.) than you will be smart to protect your digital goods. What these services do is guard your digital products and only allow paid customers to download the media.

Clickbank - This is more of a market place where you can list your product and they will handle the payment processing, downloads, returns, etc. for you. It does cost $49 (one time fee) to have your product listed in their market place. Largest of it's kind and worth the small one time fee.

E-Junkie - Awesome tool. Cost starts at $5/mo which is the base plan, and probably more than enough to meet your needs. E-Junkie also has a shopping cart, affiliate management and multiple payment options. All are included with your plan and the best part, there are NO per sale fees!

PayDotCom - PayDotCom is similar to E-Junkie above but more expensive. Also includes other tools like a mailing list manager, etc.

Affiliate Management

Usually you can use outside services to handle your affiliates for you. In some cases you will need to run your own affiliate management software. In this situation you will need to deploy your own software that helps you manage your affiliates (payments, etc.) Here you go..

iDevAffiliate - The best software I have used for personally managing affiliates. I currently use this software on 2 sites and it does a great job of keeping the tedious task of affiliate management as simple as possible.

Conclusion

As you can see you have many options to look into and decide upon. Research and test to find out your best collection and then put it to use. It's like Bobby D said in Ronin, "I don't know.. It's a tool box. I use the best tool for the job!"

Bookmark this page as this resource list will be updated when I have more stuff to add.

Disclosure: Most, if not all, of the links I show here are affiliate links. I am affiliated with, or own, some of the companies listed above.

Technorati Tags: affiliate marketing, business, internet marketing, list, make money online, marketing, resource

Sorry, the headline is misleading. I actually think he's a great player, but I needed to make sure and grab your attention ;)

Last night we went to the LA Galaxy game where they hosted the Columbus Crew. LA was up 2-0 at half time. Some how they allow Columbus to score 2 points early in the 2nd half.

You can see the end result in the video below (taken with my new Casio Exilim that was a gift for fathers day)

As you can see, David Beckham did choke on that last play. Wide open shot... could have been the hero of the game. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

That was my first MLS game and I have to admit, it was a blast! I never really got into soccer until my oldest began playing 2 years ago. She's now finished 4 seasons and my youngest daughter has played 2 (I coached her team in the last spring session). Watching a pro game live was so much fun and I definitely plan on attending many more games.

Technorati Tags: beckham, choke, futbol, la galaxy, mls, soccer

I am busy putting together plans to set a world record in a very special category... How many clothes pins I can have clamped to my nipples! Yea, crazy huh. Now, here's how you can help ....

OK, seriously though, Firefox 3 was released today and is trying to set a world record of 5 million downloads in a single 24 hour period. Want to help out? Download Firefox 3 now!

Firefox 3 contains a series of improvements from the previous version. I downloaded it a few hours ago and have been toying with it since. It is noticeably faster but the biggest improvement for me is it's new look in OS X. It actually looks and feels like an Aqua application.

Regardless of your OS, there should be a version of Firefox 3 for you. Even if you are an Internet Explorer weenie (*cough*) go give Firefox a shot! It really is an awesome web browser...

Technorati Tags: firefox, nipples, web browser, world record

This blog is more of a personal blog and I only write about things that interest me. You can tell from the limited, and specific, categories I have for this blog that this is more of a "small town" blog and I hope it has a "small town" feel. The reason is I want to be able to connect with any of my readers. I would like them to feel like they know me a little bit and get a handle on my personality. I am basically the same person on and off line. The good, bad and ugly.

Blogging is a big deal now a days. More and more companies have blogs as they really help build the brand for that company. But you don't need to be a company, or even a business, to blog. You may still work for "the man" but you may be missing out on a lot of opportunities that can come from blogging.

Everyone has a passion, hobby, set of interests, etc. Why not blog about it. You can blog on a dedicated subject or bounce around through all your interests, like I do here. It's not too hard to build a following (even if it's a small one, like I have) for a blog. Tell some friends, use widgets like BlogRush and post a little in forums and people will read your stuff. Give quality content, and they will be back.

So what are you missing out on by not blogging? Quite a few things actually. Opportunity to network with people who have similar interests. Money. There are many ways your blog can generate income for you. The various ways are out of the scope for this post, but advertising, affiliate sales, contract work, etc. are all common ways to earn a buck by writing a blog.

If you are a business, it's an excellent way to build a rapport with your client base. You can keep them updated on your company, or service, status. You are able to interact with them via the comments and answer questions in lengthy detail with a new post. This is a priceless function for a business and even though it's becoming more common I am still surprised at the lack of company blogs for so many online businesses.

Heh, and in all fairness, this blog serves as the "company" blog for my companies SmartJabber and JumpLaunch. As they grow, we will make sure to have a dedicated blog for each of them (maybe we should already?)

Blogging can be time consuming but it's worth putting in the effort. Even though my posting frequency has been pretty, well, shitty lately it isn't too difficult to keep up with and manage your own blog. It's inexpensive to run and there are tons of free software packages and platforms out there.

If you aren't currently blogging then you should be. If you have no plans to start any time soon... why not?

Technorati Tags: blogging, marketing, networking, writing

Just wanted to say that tonight, as always, I will be rooting for my Los Angeles Lakers! As someone born & bred in LA, I've been a Lakers fan for as long as I can remember. This is going to be one hell of a series!

The rivalry between the Lakers and Boston Celtics goes back decades! From Magic & Bird to Kobe & Garnett it's been an awesome history between these two teams and this years finals looks to be just as great as the previous matchups.

My prediction.. Lakers will win tonight (game 1) and lose game 2. Then win 3 of the next 4 games to win the championship in 6 games! A lot of people call me crazy, some agree. Let's see how it plays out!

GO LAKERS!!

Technorati Tags: basketball, celtics, finals, lakers, nba, sports

Ever wonder how you can build a relationship with your website visitors? If not, you should be.

Fact: People buy from people they trust. Building a rapport with your visitors is a sure fire way to turn that visitor into a customer. It's not as difficult as it sounds. I don't mean getting into a personal first name basis with every one of your visitors. That's impossible. But there are ways of building rapport and trust with your visitors. As someone doing business online, this is absolutely vital.

I've written in the past about ways to improve your sales and all of them involve some form of building trust with your visitor.

It's All in the Writing

Writing sales copy that the reader can relate with is crucial. You always need to write a sales letter with the reader in mind. Answer any questions they may have in your letter and you are practically guaranteed a buyer. The trick is to get out of your own head and into the visitors. Place yourself in their shoes. Would YOU want to buy your product after reading your own sales letter? It's an ego thing. Forget your ego and consider the ego of the reader.

Just Be Yourself

Personality goes a long way. All to often I read letters that sound so phony. Some marketer is trying to sell me with a "technically" written sales page. Sure all the bullet points, advantages, benefits and bonuses are there. But the sales letter has no personality. It's as if a robot wrote it (and that's probably what happened, using some pre-packaged sales letter wizard software). In my opinion, sales letters — or writing period — are much more effective if the writing feels like a real person. Joe Vitale says you should "write how you would talk". If you use slang, then write with some slang. It gives your writing a personal touch. That is something people can relate with and helps build a rapport.

I am not a technically trained writer. I am not even a very good writer (hey, I admit it). I do try to write in my own personality. I generally have no problem meeting new people and making friends. I feel like I am a likable guy and so I just write in my own personality. So far it has served me well enough. In fact, if you haven't yet, why not take a quick second to subscribe to my RSS feed and judge for yourself ;)

Prove You're Trustworthy

There are other things to consider as well. Your writing and personality are key to building trust but the visitor also has to know his information is safe. They also have to know that their gut feeling is correct — that you are in fact trustworthy! Some key things to help out here are Testimonials from previous buyers of your product. Some people feel these are cheesy. I never understood that feeling. Your visitors can relate to testimonials because they see other "regular people" who have bought your product and were so satisfied with it, they went out of their way to let you know! Video testimonials are best.

Etc.

Some more drastic steps can be paid services that vouch for your character. This can be things like the BBB Online program or Hacker Safe. While these aren't necessarily required, they will go a long way in the readers mind.

Sure there are many other ways of building a relationship with your websites. Far too many to cover in a single post. Think creatively and you will come up with your own unique flares that your visitor can relate to, which will lead to more sales.

Now go get to work...

Technorati Tags: business, internet marketing, personality, sale conversion, trust, writing

The wife and I decided to spend the weekend in Pismo Beach this Memorial Day weekend. I've been super busy with work lately and I really needed this break! That has also been the reason I haven't been posting as much as I would like.

Even though I am out of town, I still will spend an hour or so each day working. That's the great thing about running businesses that operates online. You can work from basically anywhere. With a laptop and an internet connection, you're office is wherever you are. Right now I am writing this from my hotel room. We are preparing to go explore the shore and sand dunes on the coast that Pismo Beach is famous for.

The internet has completely changed the landscape for entrepreneurs. While I still need to show up to the office most days it's totally fine if I want to escape for a few days and take a breather. Since my businesses are all run online, they continue whether I am there or not. As long as I can make sure things are still operating fine, then things continue to run and I continue to make money. Even while riding dune buggies along the awesome California coast line ;)

That's what being you're own boss is all about!

Technorati Tags: being your own boss, business, entrepreneur, independence, internet

It's no secret that the US economy is slowing down. Oil (gas) prices, defaulting mortgage loans and employer cutbacks are causing Americans to stop and think before they go splurge on some new eBook (or whatever) online.

How can you take advantage of the weak dollar? There are several ways. For example, the export business isn't doing so bad. Because foreign money now gets them more for the the same, they are ordering more than ever. Ports along the west coast have a 6 week wait for container space!

But since we all want to make our money online, lets look at another angle.

An easy way to earn extra income is by promoting affiliate products in countries where the currency is more valuable. For instance, England.

AzoogleAds is my favorite affiliate network (right now) and they offer many programs from various European countries where the currency is more valuable than ours here in the USA. You can use Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing to target traffic directly in whatever country you are promoting to.

If you make a few bucks with this, make sure to send me my cut ;)

Technorati Tags: affiliate marketing, business, internet marketing, opportunity, weak dollar

In my last post about networking entirely online I spoke about the value of various forums that were out there and how valuable they were. While that is an excellent resource it is not the sort of method I like to use when trying to network online. I am a little more bold and I try to get in direct contact with someone. Either via email or telephone. So, how do I go about that?

Say there is this huge mega super star internet marketer that you are just dying to get on the phone with. First off, you have to understand that these people are very busy and probably not going to want to talk to you when you give them a ring — assuming you are able to locate their phone number. That is the tricky part.

How do you get their number? Well, it doesn't hurt if you have a reputation in the community. Even a tiny footprint in the community can be enough. At least it's a starting point. The reason being is you want the person you are trying to reach to be able to do a little research on you. A blog, like this one, comes in real handy in those situations.

So you want to get on the phone with Joe Blow from JoeBlowMarketing.com. There is more than likely going to be a series of gate keepers (people who will screen their communication). If his business number is on his website, just pick up the phone and dial it. Ask for Joe Blow! You'd be surprised how well just calling and asking for someone works, regardless of how big the name is. Most big guys aren't going to have their phone numbers available to the public how ever...

If their website doesn't have a direct email address, take a few guesses as to what it is. For example, joe@joeblowmarketing.com, jblow@joeblowmarketing.com, jb@joeblowmarketing.com, etc. I know it sounds silly, and it is, but if it pays off in the end is it still silly? Of course not. It was a means to an end.

You now have their email (either given to you on their website or you figured it out). Prepare a nice, personal and honest email explaining why you would like to be in contact with Joe Blow. If you are writing for help, you will probably either be ignored or will get a response from one of Joe's sales guys. Be honest, say you admire his work and would like to try to network with him. Give some of your ideas on how the two of you can earn money together. How are you unique, etc.

Hopefully you will get a response and hopefully it's from Joe himself. Slow build a relationship with the guy. Keep in mind that internet marketers are generally very personable people. I've met and hung out with a few different big name marketers and they never treated me any different than anyone else. Nurture the relationship and eventually it will progress.

Brainstorm ideas to present to him. People, especially marketers, love to hear how you can make them money! Over time it will turn into a friendship and maybe a partnership! Before you know it, you'll be chatting on the telephone with Joe and probably making money together.

(sorry, this post was sort of thrown together and I didn't really edit it... But you get the idea)

Technorati Tags: marketing, internet, networking, business

Everyone knows that networking is a huge part of success in business. With the right contacts, practically anyone can seem like a superstar businessman. In reality, they just have a deep rolodex. The ability to network is a skill that everyone has to be able to get the hang of (if you want to be in business online).

Not everyone has the money to attend those expensive seminars that are held all around the country, many times per year. It might not be a financial setback either. A lot of people, especially "noob's", lack the confidence to get any real networking done at those events. Confidence in ones self, and their knowledge of their particular industry, speaks volumes.

So if you can't make it to the next big conference what are your options? Believe it or not, you can do a lot of networking online. Sure, we all know of the big social networks like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn but there are much more specific methods of networking online.

Specifically in the internet marketing industry, here are a few spots that you may not know about but are absolute gold mines.

Warrior Forum - Most big internet marketers hang out on Warrior Forum. Aside from that, there is tons and tons of information in the posts. The community is geared towards newbies and you are free to ask any question you like.

Digital Point Forums - Like the Warrior Forum above this is an excellent resource. The community here is more geared towards marketers and internet entrepreneurs with a little more experience under their belt. That's not to say that newbies aren't welcome there, but the "hand holding" will be kept to a minimum here.

Both of the forums above are the perfect place to meet people who are successful in the internet marketing business. Best part, they are completely free to join! It's not hard to spot the veterans from the rookies at these places, so why not send some of these people a message and try to get to know them.

If you decide to send them a message you have to keep in mind that they probably receive several messages per day from people like you. Make sure you send a message that will catch, and hold, their attention. Be bold, unique and a little witty (if possible heh). There have been many successful partnerships formed over forums like these so don't knock it until you try it!

Technorati Tags: business, entrepreneur, forums, internet marketing, networking, social network