Website Marketing Pioneer Jim Daniels shares his ongoing Internet marketing experiences.

In today's Website Marketing Newsletter...

Did You Fall Down Google's Newest Black Hole?

If you rely on Google for any significant website traffic, you've likely heard about their latest algorithm change, dubbed "penguin". This one blasted a huge number of well-ranked sites into virtual oblivion.

Today I'll help you sort things out and share some easier, less stressful ways to get traffic and income online, so you don't have to rely on the big G anymore.

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If you read some of the comments at Neil Shearing's blog, you'll understand why relying on Google for the bulk of your traffic can be such a huge mistake. Years of work wiped out overnight. Thousands of daily visitors gone in a matter of minutes.

So why oh why do so many people put all their eggs in the Google basket? My guess is that is "seems" easier and cheaper than all the other traffic strategies. And sure, it's nice to have a steady stream of traffic coming in for free. I've been there and loved it too. But I knew it would not last forever, so I made a commitment 10 years ago to never spend more than a few hours a month on SEO.

Instead, I focused on other traffic strategies, such as Strategic Alliances, and you should too. Getting traffic and income this way is far more reliable and far less stressful.

The Strategic Alliance Plan...

With every shake-up at Google comes an opportunity hardly anyone ever talks about. Think about this for a second. If many of the top raked sites in your niche are pushed down the SERP's overnight, they are obviously replaced with other sites and blogs. These newly top-ranked web property owners will see a sharp increase in traffic literally overnight. So much they may not know what to do with it. This is where you step in!

Take the list of keyword phrases you used when setting up your own site and search Google for one of these terms every day. Then contact the top 5 ranked sites for each keyword phrase and offer them something irresistible. (More on that in a minute.)

That's 25 personal invitations going out every week. If you get even one or two favorable replies you'll have a lot more traffic in a few weeks. Here's how...

It's all about the "irresistible" proposition you offer. Here's an example of what works so well it can change your life...

About 5 years ago when my own site was ranked number one at Google for the popular term "Internet Marketing", I received an email from someone who was trying to squeeze their way into my crowded niche. This person had created a nice video training series on clever list building techniques. He introduced himself and sent me a link to the training series, so I could verify the quality of the program.

Then he made me an irresistible offer.

He offered me a 100% commission on all sales if I would tell my readers about it. That was hard to pass up. In fact, I couldn't do it. My readers needed training like that and I was given the opportunity to share it with them at a fair price, and in the process I could earn as much profit as if I had created the training myself.

I promoted the product and hundreds of people bought it on my recommendation. I cashed a nice commission check and the smart marketer who approached me added hundreds of buyers to his database. He did this with a few dozen other marketers over the next year or so, offering anywhere from 70% to 100% commissions in the process.

He didn't make a ton of profit that year, but the next year he hit pay dirt.

He released a new product to his newly formed and sizable list of proven buyers and his income shot well beyond six figures a year. In fact, for the next five or so years he sent recommendations for various products and services to these same buyers and won affiliate contest after affiliate contest. He raked in huge profits without relying on Google or any other search engine. In fact, I've never seen him talk about SEO even once in all the years I've known him.

This is a strategy that works in virtually any niche, in fact it is untapped in most niches and ripe for a smart marketer to step in.

But the real secret is to form alliances with MORE than just top ranked sites. While approaching top ranked web property owners, especially after a Google shake-up is a great start, you need to expand your thinking.

Start searching for the leaders in your niche and contacting a half dozen of them every day as well. Heck, you took the time to put together an irresistible offer, why not approach other well known publishers in your niche.

Specifically, find all the largest email list owners, you know, the publishers of email newsletters that lots of people in your market like to read. Get to know them by dropping them an email or two and thanking them for all their great info. Offer them an article or two of your own they can publish anytime they're in a pinch for content. Guest blog for them. After getting to know them a little, tell them about your new product and the 100% commissions they can earn. Believe me when I tell you that these alliances can last a lifetime.

(By the way, if you think you can't use this strategy because you have no product, stop making excuses. There are ways to get your own product complete in a day or two, including repackaging private label products or compiling articles written by yourself or a ghost writer, into a new ebook for sale.)

I've Been Doing This For More Than A Decade, And Here's Why It Works...

Just like that person I described above, I've built my business on strategic alliances as well. My search engine ranking at nearly all my websites has been marginal at best for more than a decade now.

This strategy works simply because at the core of this strategy is something every successful business has - a customer list. (Something missing from many web businesses built on search engine traffic alone.)

My customer and subscriber lists and the lists of my strategic partners have carried my business for some 15 years now. It's no accident.

I send my subscribers newsletters with helpful information, like this one you are reading now. I send gifts to my subscribers to increase loyalty. I recommend products and services via affiliate links, and I offer my own products and services to my subscribers.

Once you own a list you can leverage it further by trading mailings with other list owners in your niche or a similar niche. This is where it gets really exciting. Because this grows your list even larger, and generates windfall commission days you can't get with other free forms of traffic including search engines. Plus, it helps your readers even more by sharing the best and most current solutions available to them.

Now I can already hear many people thinking, "List building takes time, I need to make money now!"

The thing is, if you start building your own list now, your eventual payoff will be much more substantial than any quick fix strategy you could try today. All you need to get started with list building is a web-based list management tool that helps you grow, manage, broadcast and get emails through to your list. In my opinion, Aweber is the best at all of those tasks.

I have used many in the past, and none compare. Lost of marketers say it is too expensive, but it only gets costly as your list grows large, and by then you'll likely be making plenty of money to afford it anyway.

I won't go into details of using Aweber itself, there are plenty of Aweber training videos at their site to teach you autoresponder setup and how to use their service. What I want to talk about instead are some important implementation strategies.

First of all, most people miss the boat with Aweber and other related services. They create an opt-in form, put it in one place on their site and then plan to broadcast to subscribers after their list grows. This is NOT how a smart web property owner uses email marketing.

Here are the steps that smart marketers take...

Step 1: Get an Aweber account, watch the Aweber training videos and set up your first list.

Step 2: Write a series of email messages for your follow up campaign.

This is the step way too many people skip altogether, but I consider it the most important step of all! Remember, email marketing means growing relationships one at a time. You do that with email follow ups that build rapport with subscribers by offering them helpful tips, asking them to email you back if they have questions, and only very occasionally sending them to an affiliate link or other monetized link that earns you money. Skip this step at your own peril.

Step 3: Strategically place your Aweber signup form at your web property in multiple locations.

Once your list is set up and your follow up campaign is in place, it's time to start getting subscribers. If you are a WordPress user there are lots of free plugins that can help you place your opt-in forms in all the right places at your web property. Or, if you want to save time, consider buying a the premium plugin called “WPSubscribers.” It is regularly maintained and will undoubtedly increase the speed of your list growth.

Note: You don't have to give away an ebook to get subscribers. You can simply offer a “Get Updates” button along with why they should get on your list. If in your short “pitch” you hit on all their emotional triggers and the reasons why they likely came to your web property in the first place, you'll get signups.

Step 4: Start forming alliances with others in your niche as I described above. Put together a product for sale and offer partners a 100% commission like I outlined earlier. You'll sacrifice some small profits now for huge profits later.

Remember, a responsive email list with lots of buyers will be a solid foundation that your business can stand on for years to come. You could literally take away all your search engine traffic, but if you have a responsive list, your business could still survive.

Think about that for a minute and hopefully you'll see the importance of not relying on search engines for all your traffic. Why not get started forming strategic alliances and building your own email list(s) right away. Who knows, when the next major shake up at Google comes you may be able to shrug it off completely.

To your success,
Jim Daniels

P.S. Want to phase out your day job like I did, or maybe just supplement your household income?