All advertising is expensive, and while Internet advertising is often less expensive than print advertising, and much cheaper than TV advertising, you can waste money on ads which just don’t work.

Let’s start with the basics. What’s ad tracking?

Ad tracking is a continuous market research that monitors performance of advertising awareness, product trial and usage, spending habits, and page views behaviors. This tracking information also gives a heads up for the researchers to evaluate their competition. In addition, tracking can compare advertising to those commercials being aired through a network media channel as well as Internet users’ habits.

Ad tracking is becoming more and more prevalent and for any company; it is necessary so that they can get their name and product out to the consumer and evaluate what they need to improve or change. Ad tracking is also a less expensive way to not only advertise but also to research your target market.

As with everything, there are pros and cons to both paid and free ad tracking services. Free trackers are – well, free, and may provide a quicker way to market an item. Then again, once a market is saturated your sales will obviously reduce and possibly cause a company to fold if there is no previous reputation in which to stand.

Without quick action, owners of a company (especially a newer one) can suddenly pay more than they expected should their company fold or should they scramble in at the last minute to reinstate a product into the market. Free trackers don’t provide the necessary upkeep for market trend changes.

On the other hand, paid tracking services can provide support in many ways, from answering telephone calls to monitoring market changes and adjusting the ad tracking service you have paid for. They are usually easier to contact because of their established name. They tend to offer a variety of services such as auto responders, subscription forms, personalized email messaging and lists of potential customers.

Even though everyone wants something for free, free tracking service is only good for a short time unless you do all the research and marketing yourself and change the ad tracking information as needed. Paid tracking costs more but provides the services that a free service doesn’t, so in this you need to decide how much effort you are willing or able to put forth.

Ad tracking is now FTC regulated for issues of privacy. Many consumers don’t know that their online usage is being tracked. It is because of this regulation that a consumer will occasionally see the popup asking if it is OK if data material can be sent and what kind of material that is being sent.

Some forms of online advertising have ad tracking built in.

For example, if you’re using Google AdWords, you can track complete campaigns, right through to conversions.

You can also create your own ad tracking system. For example, I have a stats program which lets me track page views, as well as user actions on any page. This makes it simple to work out how many page views it takes for a conversion.

If you’re just starting out in Internet marketing, use free and cheap tracking, so you understand how the process works.

Do It Yourself Copywriting – Never Be at the Mercy of a Copywriter Again

Got your own business? Write YOUR OWN copy!

If you have your own business, you need a top copywriter. Great copy can double and triple the income from your advertising. But copywriters are expensive, if that is, you can hire them at all. In my own copywriting practice, I take on very few new clients, because I’m too busy serving the clients I already have.

So why not write your own copy? Developing copywriting skills means that you’re never at the mercy of a copywriter: write your own copy, and build your business (and save money).

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Do you need more than one domain name for your primary business? It’s often a good idea to buy the ORG and Net versions of your domain – you can always redirect them to the COM domain.

In addition, when choosing a domain name it’s useful to purchase others that are similar to it.

Let’s weigh the pros and cons of this question. Whether you should buy other domain names that are close depends on how well your name was chosen. Just like you conduct research before choosing a niche for your business, do the same before choosing a domain name.

Domain names can be triggered by keyword searches. If part of your domain name contains a keyword that is popular in search engine searches it could be a future winner. Ideally, you want your domain name to appear on the first page of a search.

A winning domain name will have others trying to get as close to it as possible without infringing. Buying those domain names yourself prevents other from cashing in on your success. You may want to use those names in the future for other websites that you will create. Having names that are similar will ensure that others can find your sites with their keyword searches.

If your domain becomes a household name, the other domains will become even more valuable to you in the future.

One reason to buy similar domain names is for misspellings. Do you know what homophones are? They are words that sound alike but are spelled differently. If you are doing a podcast or talking about your business website to someone and tell them your domain name, it is possible that they could misspell it when they type it into the URL address space.

If someone misspells it, that person could be directed to another website. Thinking it is your site they could recommend it to someone else or buy from that site. It could end up costing you thousands of dollars every month.

When you enter your own address, purposely misspell it and see what comes up. If there are no matches, then you might be safe for now. You may want to think of all the spellings that could come up and buy those domains as well to avoid this problem in the future.

Your domain name is your business – domains are prime real estate, so consider buying other versions of your domain.

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Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online, but how do you promote your affiliate links?

Here are some ideas.

Advertising your links on your website and blog are some of the best ways to earn money with affiliate marketing. You can place graphic ads on the sides of your web pages. Most people will not realize that these are affiliate ads; they may think that the company is actually buying ad space from you.

In addition to graphic ads you can also post text links on your web pages. These, too, can take the form of ads placed on the side of web pages. However, you can also include links in articles and blog posts. For instance, if your article is about using wireless technology, you can include a link to a retailer that sells wireless products. If your blog post is a review of a movie you enjoyed, you can include a link to a retailer that sells that movie.

You can also use your mailing list as a tool for affiliate marketing. Check with your affiliate program first to make sure they allow you to send links through email. Let’s say that you are offering a 10 day e-course with travel tips for families. Each day you can include a tip and a link to a complimentary product. For instance, if you are offering a tip on how to save money on a hotel by booking through an online site, such as Priceline.com, include your affiliate link.

If you use a signature line with your email program, include one of your affiliate links. Many websites have message boards, and you may have option of adding a signature line to your member profile. Whenever you post a message, your signature line will be displayed in your post. Check the forum’s rules, as you may be able to include affiliate links in those signature lines, too.

When it comes to paid advertising, pay per click can be a great option. You can use a service, such as Google Adwords, to bid on keywords that your target market may use when searching for the type of product you are promoting. If they search for a term you are bidding on, your listing may come up in their search results. You will only have to pay for the ad if the person actually clicks on your ad.

You can also buy ad space on other people’s websites, blogs and ezines. This can take the form of a sign-up form to your newsletter, an ad for a specific program, or a general ad for your website.

There are endless ways you can promote your affiliate links – get creative.

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