Well, you’ll be surprised to hear that many internet marketers really think that that’s where it ends. But, the truth is that there is much more to it.

Makes sense too.

Think about it: how much time do you spend on a search engine result page (SERP)? A couple of seconds till you click through? That’s right…

According to research, only 5% of the surfing time is spent on SERPs. The other 95% is browsing content pages.

Content Network

Google, as well as the other PPC platforms, provides you with a choice.

1. Advertise on their Search Network, and appear on the SERPs.
2. Or, advertise on the content network, and appear on websites (AdSense blocks, in case of Google).

So, it is true that advertising on the Search Network will get you ninja-precision targeting — using the right keyword you literally grab someone with a credit card in his hand and sell him your product.

But, keeping in mind that you get noticed only during those 5% of the time spent on the SERPs, you are missing out on a huge potential if you are not advertising on content.

Let me ask you another one…

What is the first thing you think about when you hear the term Content Network / AdSense Ads?
It’s those sponsored text-ads that appear on many sites all over the web, isn’t it?

Yea, that’s another one. Many marketers, even those that have been around for a while and done some PPC, still think that the Content Network is just about those text ads on websites.

But, did you know that you can place Image Ads and Video Ads too?

That’s really cool when you want to create brand awareness and draw attention during a launch of a product!

So, what’s the secret you ask?

The secret is to be open minded, and to try all of the available tools that are offered to you.

There is a huge potential that is not being used. Take a Content Network campaign for a spin. Test some text-ads. Throw in some image-ads. You’ll be surprised how well it can turn out to work for you…

Don’t take the most popular / the easiest route, or what you’ve read once in an ebook.

- Alex

Happily posting useful content at Net-Entrepreneur.com
Current post was originally posted on:

PPC Marketing Secrets 2

I’m going through a series of aha-moments in my efforts to master PPC marketing. Every day that passes I feel as though I’m becoming more experienced and fluent in some part of the Process.

It’s not easy on your psyche though. Hemorrhaging money as you learn from your mistakes, which often are so stupid that you ought’a kick yourself in the head.

But this is something that you cannot skip, you have to be prepared and ready for loosing money.

On the other hand, don’t call it “loosing money”. Consider it an investment in your education, an expense that is a given for everyone. The difference is whether it’s a big expense or a moderate one.

There are several ways for you to make this expense a moderate one. You can read everything you possibly find on PPC marketing (see if it’s from a reliable source, though – someone who knows what he’s doing / has proven record in PPC marketing), process it into a working plan, and and start working. This one is better than nothing, but not perfect, to say the least.

Why is it not perfect? Well, you can fairly easily enter an endless loop of reading, planning, dreaming and NOT DOING. This is dangerous as you can also loose your motivation, and finally get your mind trick you into thinking that this business is for a-list gurus only. This almost happened to me once.

…Anyway, I’m babbling. This is not a how-to and I’m not a guru.

My Success

I was able to generate income. Yes, I know this is not much (hold on, you don’t know how much exactly yet), but it is a big thing for me because the most annoying thing for me in my “reading research” stage was that I didn’t have anything to show for it.

I mean, I was always asking myself “ok people are making money, but did you ever had even one sale”? I finally broke that barrier, and now I feel that I’m in business.

- So, how much income?

- $159 US.

- What were my expenses?

- $240 US.

So, basically I lost $81.

But then again, I don’t think I lost. Those $81 enabled me to learn important lessons and come to very helpful conclusions. I know now, for example, that I could have finished the month with only $20 loss, if only I didn’t make one silly mistake (that had to do with operating the Adword Editor), that I eventually fixed after one day (could’ve been worse). Rest assured that I’m not going to make this mistake in the future.

The Better News

I participated in Tyler Cruz’ Affiliate Challenge 6 during December, and won an iPod Nano 8GB! This sweetens the $80 “loss”, as it retails at $150.

Woohoo!!

By the way, Tyler is running yet another challenge during January, this time sponsored by XY7. So, if you couldn’t participate in the past 6 challenges becuase you were already signed up with Market Leverage – this might be your chance.

- Alex

Happily posting useful content at Net-Entrepreneur.com
Current post was originally posted on:

First Success with PPC

Whoaa, my first PPC campaign is in the air. And yes, it is a big deal.

Notice how much time has passed since I’ve posted about changing track to affiliate marketing. It’s been almost a month. It’s a lot of time, and I used it to overcome a flaw everyone has: the need to make everything perfect before actually going live with anything.

You see, in PPC marketing it is virtually impossible for a beginner to set up everything perfect and think everything through in advance. You are bound to make mistakes and the sooner you get campaigns up and running the better.

This realization took me a month. People at PPC-Coach were shouting at me to launch asap, and I knew they are right. But, I think it is embedded somewhere so deep in the subconscious, it is very hard to reset.

But, thank heavens, my campaign is up and I’m off to my second launch. This time it will go a lot faster (I hope), with the added oil to the mechanism.

Importance of a social safety Network

With PPC marketing, and with anything else for that matter, you can buy ebooks, sign up to online courses and whatnot. You can jump in and try it alone, if you want. With any of the above what you have is yourself and the net. And it can get really cold out there sometimes.

While getting ready to launch my first campaign, at least 4 different questions were hanging out there with each step I took. Each of them could tilt the result of your effort from great success through a mere breakeven towards a total stinker.

Enter PPC-Coach. It is not an ebook. It is not an online course. It is a community.

People that only a month ago were in your position – sitting ducks, yellow-mouthed hatchlings – are now more experienced and ready to answer the stupidest of your questions.

Why? Because they know that feeling of staring at the screen, trying to decide whether it’s your ad that sucks or is it the bid that’s too low. Use 600 keywords with ‘phrase’ match or 2,000 keywords with ‘broad’? Is 500,000 impressions with only 10 clicks normal for the Content network?

You see, a strong community on which you can rely to answer you questions is so much help it’s better than your next bestseller PPC ebook tenfold.

So, I’m off down the PPC rabbit hole. Till next time…

- Alex

Happily posting useful content at Net-Entrepreneur.com
Current post was originally posted on:

Baby Steps in PPC