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Learning about Search MarketingThere are lots of ways to make money online with affiliate advertising, but one method requires less time, less money, and less computer know-how than all the others, and that method is search marketing. Search marketing with Google and other search and content networks is the model that’s been most successful for me. As you’ll see in later articles, it’s also an advertising medium over which I can exercise a great deal of fine-grained control. I turned to search marketing on search and content networks like Google specifically because I didn’t want the upkeep and overhead required to maintain a web site of my own. I had no idea that in addition to being the easiest and most efficient way to earn money as an affiliate advertiser, it could also be the most profitable. In this article you will learn about search marketers and search marketing. You will find out just what a search and content network is and identify some of the major networks available today. You will also learn the difference between the search and content sides of these networks and how to run your ads on one or the other or both. Finally, I point out some of the reasons why search marketing is the promotional method of choice when it comes to affiliate advertising. WHO ARE SEARCH MARKETERS?Who are search marketers? Very soon now, you will be. For the most part, search marketers are enterprising individuals who know something about how the Web works and who have faith in the power of search engines to attract lots of visitors who want to find particular facts and figures online. Sometimes, search marketers are people who have been employed in a field like Web design, web site management, or search engine optimization. They find themselves “between jobs” or with extra time on their hands, and they turn to search marketing almost as an experiment, to see how far they can go with it. Other people with little or no prior experience, like myself, stumble across it somehow and discover an unknown and innate talent for marketing and, with the limitless potential of the Internet, they quickly parlay that talent into a fortune. Of course, search marketing is not for everybody. Some people have asked me for advice about search marketing, have taken out a few ads, and have quickly folded their cards when they lost some money. They didn’t have the patience and the drive to stay with search marketing, and the lack of instant success was enough to make them give up. If you don’t possess some degree of patience and a little bit of intelligence then your search marketing career is likely to be short and expensive. TIP: Some search marketers like Todd Mintz and knowledgeable writers like Jennifer Laycock contribute to the Search Engine Marketing section of the Search Engine Guide web site. Their contributions to the site can tell you more about who search marketers are and what they want from advertisers. |
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