Get Started - Part 2

How You Can Make Money From Your Site

Only once you are sure you have a good idea for a site, and that you can get the content you need, should you start to think seriously about how you can make money from your site.  No amount of wonderful advertising or promises of hefty commissions from other business will do any good unless you have a site that people want to visit - and want to return to.

On the Affiliate Programs and Virtual Stores page of this site I will explain how you can make money from steering your visitors to other sites.  In essence you will earn a commission from other websites for the people who go from your site to theirs to do business in some form or another.  The are a number of very different types of programs, which you should understand, and then you are set to look for companies to affiliate with.  Make sure these companies you chose to become affiliates for are really appropriate for the type of people who will likely come to visit your site.  Will people who have an interest in the subject matter of your site have a strong interest in the goods or services these other companies have to offer? Check it out and think it through.  But don't worry, there are thousands of companies and websites looking for affiliates, and you should  not have trouble finding good programs to join.

Then, once you've chosen your likely affiliation programs, make sure that the content of your site prepares your visitors in some way for clicking on your links.  In the best of all possible worlds, people should go "Oh good! I can go and visit this other site and find out more!"  You will only make money if you boost your affiliated links with the right context.

If You Want to Sell Your Own Products Or Services:

If you want to sell your own products or services then you will need some way to process payments online.  On the payment processing page of this site, you will out which companies will help you accept credit cards online with your own merchant account or with a third party merchant account. A few services do not require any up front costs, but charge per transaction fees - these services are fine if you are just testing the e-biz waters and are likely to have a low sales volume.  Most payment processing services, however, charge a relatively low monthly fee plus per transaction casts - in the long run, these services cost less per transaction than others and are the preferred option for established businesses.

If you don't already have your own product or services to sell, one way to make money with your web site is to put your ideas and expertise into e-books and sell them. You have very low costs involved in producing and distributing e-books, but the profit potential is enormous! To find out more, Click Here.

You can also set up your own affiliate program and advertise on other web sites, paying only for targeted traffic to come to your site.  You can also set up your affiliate program so that you only pay if a new visit actually results in a lead or sale!  It's a great way to advertise and you only pay for results. Clickbank combines a credit card payment service and affiliate network. If you sign up to have credit card transactions processed by Clickbank, you can also list your web site and products in the Clickbank affiliate Marketplace for free!

 

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Featured Money-Making Program of The Week

Earn money with every click on Google Ads! Incorporate Google's AdSense into your web site and you provide your visitors with ads targeted to the content of each specific web page. The ad bar on the left of this paragraph is an example. With advertisements that suit the content of your pages, your visitors are much more likely to click on them to find out more.  This is good news for you, as Google will pay you for every valid click on one of their ads displayed on your pages. You can blend the Google ads into your site by customizing the size, shape, and colors of the advertisement section to match your own pages.

 
 

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Clear Your Site's Name

It's really important that the name you choose for your web site doesn't get into legal trouble by infringing on the rights of others already doing business. You must make sure that someone isn't already doing business under the name you want for your web site - before you set up your site! 

• Make sure you're not poaching somebody else's domain name

• Run a check at a site like Nameboy.com or Register.com 

• Make sure someone isn't already using your web site's name as a business name

• A quick check can be done through online phone books in the United States and Canada

• Make sure you're not infringing on somebody's trademark - Really Important! 

• You can check trademarks in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom online

Protect your own web site and commercial names by registering trade marks.

Continue to 
Getting Started - Part 3
Setting Up Your Site

 

 

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