Learning how to do business online can be very confusing.
So can maintaining that hard-earned business know-how.
That's because, wherever you go online, internet marketing sites all claim to have the solution to your money-making woes. They all claim that their product, and only their product, has the answer. Or, worse still, freely available articles are everywhere, often contradicting other freely available articles.
Yes, it *is easy* to feel confused and overwhelmed by this glut of often-conflicting internet marketing 'advice'.
So what advice do I have for you?
Who should you trust? And how do you learn?
Well, I believe that one strategy is to find a few recommended 'voices' and to listen to those voices and those alone, until you are confident that you are ready to learn from others.
To help you get started, this article details several ezines that have proved helpful to my online success since 2001. They continue to prove helpful in 2006. I trust the publishers or editors of these ezines, and that's why I have no hesitation in recommending these publishing 'voices' to you.
It you enjoy reading these mostly-free ezines listed below great, otherwise simply find authors or editors that you feel comfortable with and trust. And then learn from them.
So, in no particular order:
Associate Programs Newsletter http://associateprograms.com/search/newsletter.shtml
Written by the inimitable Allan Gardyne, this newsletter (all about affiliate marketing) comes whenever Allan has something helpful to say (usually at least monthly).
When it comes to affiliate marketing, Allan is a good example of the subscriber needing to read both *what* he says and *how* he says it. I'd say that I learned a lot about the so-called art of pre-selling, from reading his newsletters. He also helped me discover Google Adsense years ago, as well as many helpful online affiliate marketing resources.
TalkBiz News http://www.talkbiznews.com/
Paul Myers also has a unique voice, and is an example to ezine publishers everywhere. Often outspoken and controversial when it comes to the business of internet marketing, he always shares his business wisdom in an engaging way. I also consider him to be a very talented writer, and to some degree have modelled my own editorial style on his.
Talkbiz News is published when Paul has something to say (usually a couple of times a month). Sometimes it's a (well-crafted and short) pitch for a product, but mostly it's a considered essay on an aspect of internet marketing. Paul keeps me on my toes, as it were, and always gets me thinking which is never a bad thing.
Ezine Tips http://emailuniverse.com/ezine-tips/
This is a weekly publication, now edited by Christopher Knight, that covers email marketing. Delivered in HTML format, because his tests show that this is the most effective format for email delivery, his newsletter contains a short executive summary with the full piece available for free on the Email Universe website.
Christopher is a constant reminder (to me at least) of the need to treat email marketing as a business activity, and not a hobby. He constantly discusses the results of his own tests that directly help you become more effective as an email marketer.
Search Engine News http://www.searchenginehelp.com/
This is the only search engine marketing (or website promotion) newsletter I subscribe to these days. And it's the only publication I've listed that isn't free - a 6-month subscription costs $97, giving you access to back-issues and special reports. All aspects of search engine marketing are covered.
Published by the authors of the highly-regarded The Unfair Advantage of the Search Engine Wars, it's an up-to-date and tested account of search engine marketing based on the author's experiences with their sites and their clients' sites. If you want to keep your sites ranking well on Yahoo!, MSN and Google, then Search Engine News is a recommended read.
WillMaster Possibilities http://www.willmaster.com/
This is a weekly publication edited by William and Mari Bontrager covering the technical aspects of running a website. Specifically, Will Bontrager is a bit of a geek when it comes to Perl/CGI and Javascript, and the Possibilities newsletter features very helpful tutorials on using both.
The newsletter is a great example of 'educating your customer to become aware of the need of your products', but there are many free resources available too for subscribers. For example, his free anti-spam email forms have proved invaluable to me over the years.
The Sitepoint Tribune http://www.sitepoint.com/newsletter/archives.php
Brendon Sinclair edits this weekly publication aimed at web design professionals. It used to be 'techie' for the sake of it, in my opinion, but now it simply covers the latest technical developments in site-building from a business-perspective.
Aimed at the more experienced web designer, I've found it a helpful publication to simply keep abreast of industry changes. I particular like the links to relevant forum topics, and regularly tell my own newsletter subscribers about the useful articles that get posted at Sitepoint.com
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I'll stop there.
Just to say that my recommended reading list is far from exhaustive, but it is a start. And, obviously, it is *very easy* to unsubscribe from all the above ezine publications.
In summary, it *is* possible to find information that can help you succeed online. And this article lists a few ezines that have helped me to do so, and I believe they can help you too. The important thing is for you to find a few 'voices' that you trust, and learn from them - ignore the rest, for now.
About the author:
STEVE M NASH is the site owner of *the* directory of free SMS and SMS marketing sites. He's also the author of free articles, reports and mailing lists that can help all to build, promote and profit!
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