When starting a new internet marketing project, it often feels as if you are starting with nothing. However, if you take a little time to take stock of your internet marketing assets, you may be pleasantly surprised to see what you have, and what you can get access to – without paying for anything
Here are a few things to include in your exercise:
1. Content
Do you happen to have any unique content lying around on your computer? You may have written stuff in the past which, even if it isn’t about the same topic as your new venture, can be used on other web properties to generate both traffic and backlinks.
If you have content (say from an old blog you deleted), but it isn’t related in any way to what you want to do, you can consider selling it on articlesale.com (it costs nothing). Then you can use those funds to either have more content written on iwriter.com or Odesk, or you can use it to pay for tools you may need for your new project.
2. Other web properties
Do you maybe have another blog out there somewhere? Even if it doesn’t get much traffic, or it isn’t closely related, you can still add the RSS feed from your new blog to the sidebar, and get both traffic and backlinks to your new site/blog.
Have you ever written and submitted articles? If they are somewhat related to your current project, you can go back and edit the author bio. The same goes for things like hubs on Hubpages, and lenses on Squidoo. If you have a number of these lying out there, all the bits and pieces of traffic can quickly add up.
3. Social followings
Have you been active socially on any platform in the past? Do you have a following? Even if that following isn’t really targeted, your existing follower count can make it easier to get more followers. Keep in mind that you can change your username on Twitter and Pinterest, and still keep your followers.
Maybe you set up a profile somewhere in the past, and let it go because you moved on – but the follower count is still there. Keep in mind that, for someone who is considering following you, it’s all about perceptions.
Also keep in mind that, if you have a smaller but engaged following, you may still have enough leverage to get your messages to spread.
4. Existing traffic leverage
many people don’t like them, but… do you use things like traffic exchanges and safelists? If so, how many credits do you have lying around? Safelists often give you monthly credits, so if you haven’t used it for a while you may have a lot.
In addition to that, do you have any downlines? Even if you onlu have a few active members in a few downlines, their contribution can make a substantial difference to what you are able to accomplish.
Do you use things like social exchanges? (exchanging retweets, Facebook shares, Youtube likes, etc). If you do, how many credits do you have available across all of them? Keep in mind that on many of these exchanges, you can collect credits by autosurfing the websites of other members – so you can collect credits without spending time on it.
5. PLR/MRR/RR products
Besides the fact that most internet marketers collect free stuff like dust (…:), there are numerous memberships (free and paid) available for you to use as sources of PLR (private label rights – edit as you wish), RR (resell rights) and MRR (master resell rights) products. In many cases, they come along with their own sales pages, graphics, and often even a promotional email series and optin bribe.
You can use any of these, or any combination of these, as an incentive to join your mailing list, or you can sell them as a low priced package. If you are able to, you can simply change the graphics, change the title, and do some minor adjustments to the content in order to make it appear like something unique (PLR products – which you can edit and add your own links).
6. Personal connections
Have you made any connections with other bloggers and/or internet marketers? Write them down. You could approach them to do a guest post, or to arrange mutually beneficial promotion. If you intend to create your own product(s), they could come in handy for both testimonials and reviews. If you have a few connections, you can even arrange for three-way (blog) review exchanges.
7. Free tools at your disposal
If you have to buy all the necessary tools right at the start, it could max out your credit card. Take a look around, and you will find there are often free alternatives to paid resources. You can – for instance – create stunning images using canva.com – with royalty-free images sourced from pixabay.com. You can encrypt PDF documents for free, create ebook covers for free, build a membership site using free WordPress plugins, and if you blog outside the “make money online” niche, you can get an autoresponder service from Mailchimp for free – for up to 2,000 subscribers, and/or a total of 12,000 emails per month (before you have to start paying).
In conclusion:
Taking stock of your internet marketing assets isn’t something you do only when you start a new project. It’s something you should do on a regular basis. We often lost sight of just how many things we do and create, and how many things we have and have access to.
Taking a step back from time to time, and getting the whole picture again, does wonders – both for your self confidence and for your progress.