There are a few secrets that I’d like to share with you. You may have been privy to a few of them before. Actually you may have heard of all 4, but I can promise that you will finish each article with a fresh perspective. I will show you how 4 simple secrets can create a powerhouse web business. This is the first part of the 4 article series.

Before I divulge the vault of successful web business secrets I must warn you of one thing. All the information in the world will not take the place of determination and persistence.

A web business is just like an offline business. It takes hard work and resolve to succeed. However working smart is heads and tails better than plain old working.

These 4 secrets will turn any smart working, dedicated average Joe or Jane into a successful web business owner.

Web Success Secret #1) Content is king.

Heard that before? I know I have. The thing I never knew was how to use content to my advantage. Content is useless unless it is optimized for the search engines. It must also be optimized for your reader.

You have two customers- readers and search engines. You must satisfy both with the same exact content.

Content is king only if you have exact and highly specific keywords placed in correct locations. Unfortunately the hard part is determining what keywords to use.

A keyword can be a single word or a phrase. It is the term that web surfers use to search for information. Place yourself in their shoes and try to discover what search terms they use. You must then evaluate the search term.

How many people search using that term? How many sites already deliver information on that search term? Simple demand and supply rules. The more demand with the less supply equals more profitability.

You have several options for determining keywords and their profit potential. Search yourself, pay a company to search for you or have your hosting company do a complete keyword search for your niche or web business topic.

If your hosting company does not offer this service I recommend you switch to a plan that does. This feature alone can make or break your business’ future. If you would like my recommended hosting plan, please contact me.

Without a proper keyword search and analysis you may as well forget about becoming successful with an Internet business. Investing in this one secret is literally the start of planning your website.

Your next action step is to plan your site layout based on the 50-175 high-demand and low-supply keywords. Your site should be structured in three tiers. Tier one is your home page.

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You may recall that back in the beginning of January I challenged you to make 2010 the year you finally got a business started online. Well, the first quarter of the year is now over, and I really would like to know:

… Are you making money on the Internet yet?

How much have you accomplished since January? Are you proud of what you’ve achieved — or frustrated by how little you’ve done?

If not, do you feel like you’re constantly burning rubber and going nowhere?

You need to ask yourself: Why?

There are 5 main reasons you may be suffering from “failure to launch”…

#1: You’re Overwhelmed and Don’t Know Where to Start

So many different experts say you have to do THIS first, or THAT. And you absolutely MUST buy THIS product, and THAT service — and here’s one that you can’t live without! If you’ve been on a list of the mega-launches lately you’ll know exactly what I mean.

It’s enough to drive you BATTY.

My advice is do some research and find a proven, step-by-step method that walks you through every stage of building a business, so you know exactly WHAT you need to do and WHEN.

… Then stick with that system and follow it straight through from beginning to end — without getting distracted by all the other possibilities out there.

Keep it simple and follow the basics… otherwise, you’ll find yourself trying to run in a dozen different directions at once… and going nowhere fast!

#2: Fear of Technology

I see it when I talk to people at my seminars…

… I suggest they learn to do it themselves first — so they can do as much of their own site management as possible — and their eyes get that “deer caught in the headlights” look.

All I can tell you is, don’t be afraid to learn something new! That old saying, “old dogs can’t learn new tricks” doesn’t apply here.

If you know how to use the computer to write letters… send emails… and surf the Internet, then you have ALL the skills you need to start an online business.

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Everybody has an opinion on what’s “THE” key to getting people to buy from you. You’ll hear talk of “persuasion”. You’ll hear talk of “warming up” your list or “training them to buy”. You’ll even hear talk of “tricks” such as illegitimate limits and deadlines, “leaked” copies, hyped up promotions, etc.

Why make it that complicated?

There’s a much easier way to get orders: just ask your list what they want and offer it to them.

Why try to “warm them up” to an offer when you can much more easily just offer them something they are already “warm” (even “hot!”) towards?

Why try to “persuade” them to buy something when they are already actively looking to buy something?

Why try to “trick” them with schemes and scams when you can just say “here’s what you told me you wanted?”

If I see a tourist who just finished the North Rim tour of the Grand Canyon panting and sweating with parched lips, do I really need to try to convince them they need to buy a cup of hot chocolate from me? Wouldn’t it be much easier to offer them some cold water, since that’s what they really want?

Your subscribers are hungry for certain products and services. And when you advertise those products and services in a certain way, it’s like flipping a money switch that gives you almost unbelievable conversion rates – and commissions.

In short:

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There are a lot of reasons why I love affiliate marketing. Let me quickly share five of them with you… Do you find yourself “starting” to create your own product to sell online, but never “finishing” it? One of the things I love about affiliate marketing is -** You don’t need to create your own products **

Many people find the idea of creating their own products to be an overwhelming and even paralyzing task.

* I don’t have any good ideas!
* I’m not a writer!
* There’s too much competition!
* I don’t know how to set everything up!
* I can’t figure out where to start!
* It’s too hard!

These are just a few of the valid reasons many people give when it comes to not creating their own products to sell. I’m sure with a few minutes of brainstorming, we could come up with a list of many more.

With affiliate marketing, you don’t need your own products. You simply promote someone else’s already proven successful offer for a commission.

And, truth be told, even if you ARE a writer and you DO have lots of ideas and you CAN figure it all out…

** Nobody wants to create new products all the time **

As good as you may be, you don’t know everything! Why try to create a product on every topic imaginable in your market when you can earn just as much money by simply promoting someone else’s really good offer as one of your profit streams? That’s why I love affiliate marketing. You don’t need to create your own products.

But, there’s more…

Pop quiz time. What does “HTML” stand for? Don’t know that one? How about this – what does “FTP” stand for? OK, one more chance. Do you know how to work with either?

That brings me to the second reason why I love affiliate marketing…

** You don’t need to build a website **

What scares people more than creating a product is building a website!

* What in the world is HTML? Or FTP?
* How much does the software cost? And hosting?
* How do I upload files?
* Why isn’t it formatted correctly?
* Why don’t my graphics look like the ones the pros have?

If you are a complete beginner, it can be very difficult (even using templates) to get an attractive website in place. And hiring a professional to do it for you is out of the budget for most people.

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