Read this: Then you might "Get it"

If you're having success in your online ventures, you can probably completely ignore this post.

I don't claim to be, nor will I ever be a top-flight marketer, in fact, all I am is a guy who has some common sense and an eye for opportunities - and I know how to plan.

I'm seeing a LOT of posts asking about whether certain methods work, how to drive traffic, etc - from people who seem to be lost when it comes the the fundamentals (they don't even have a product/site/offer etc)

You can have all the traffic in the world, but if you don't have something they want - then you're barking up the wrong tree, and p*ssing into the wind at the same time (not pretty)

An (arguably) great man once said...
"If you build it, they will come"

I take that to mean...

'If you build something that people want, people will beat down your door to get hold of it."

If you're in the "provide people with something they want... in exchange for money" business - then the first thing you should be focusing on is...

WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT?

Once you've worked that out for yourself, in the context of your own business...

HOW DO I CREATE WHAT THEY WANT?

Then, and only then...

HOW DO I LET PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT IT?

Do a bit of testing, drive SOME traffic to it - whether it's by PPC, article marketing or whatever.

At this point, if your offer is GREAT, you'll convert traffic into buyers. This is what you want. Because when you have real buyers, you get real feedback that you can show to potential affiliates/partners/JVs.

Now would be a good time to tell some influential people in your niche about the product, how well it converts, the feedback you've got - and ask them to review your product.

I guarantee, that if you do it THIS way, instead of asking them to review it BEFORE you have social proof (and feedback to make it better) - they will be more likely to endorse it, and/or look at your products/services more closely in future.

The potential is huge. You won't NEED to worry about social bookmarking your own sites, people will do that for you - people will blog about it, bookmark it, affiliates will want to promote it.

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I'm not trying to teach Grandma to suck eggs, but, if you're lost and want an easy to follow guideline - there it is.

Hope this helps someone realise that it's not really that difficult to succeed, as long as you follow a plan.