A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Oops Star Wars was the featured item for Thanksgiving week end on Spike and being a fan I watched them again and again.

What I meant to say was that a long time ago I started my apprenticeship as a carpenter. The very first thing you did was get sent to get a very basic tool kit.

Now that was just the beginning of the tools I needed. It included the basics like a hammer, saw, square, level etc. Of course as I worked towards being a craftsman I ended up buying a lot of other tools.

The key was that you needed the basic tools to get started. Without tools to use it is really hard to build anything.

Your internet marketing business is the same. There are certain tools that you need to have despite all the hype in the sales letters.

There are a three tools that are must have and one that is a powerful point of leverage.

• Web hosting with a domain
• Autoresponder
• Tracking
• (Optional) an affiliate program

One of the items I recommend for new marketers is The Marketers Hosting because you can get everything but the domain for a small investment.

That being said I use multiple resources for everything but the affiliate program. Tough having and supporting more than one of those I may just be a paranoid old bald guy but all of these are important to my business and I don’t like being at the mercy of one source.

If something goes wrong I don’t want all of my business to disappear.

So here are some of the resources I use. Some are free and others have a cost. There are other options too.

Web Hosting

The main thing you should look for in web hosting is their support. You need multiple My SQL Databases too. There are no free options that I would recommend for hosting. There is always a catch with any of the free options usually ads that you don’t control and they are not supported well.

Here are the two that I use besides The Marketers Hosting…

Host Gator – Handle everything from a single domain account to a dedicated server package. Perfect for starting and upgrading as you need more space.

Zoot Host – Have had excellent support from Jon and his crew. Very important when looking for a web host.

Autoresponder

The biggest item for any autoresponder is their deliverability. It is one of the reasons that despite having a dedicated server I have never bought one of the autoresponder scripts to use.

Keeping deliverability up is a full time job and that is why I gladly pay experts to do that for me. This is one area where it does not pay to skimp.

My recommendations besides The Marketers Hosting…

Aweber – One of the older autoresponder companies and lots of features. The big thing for me is I use it for sending blog updates automatically.

Traffic Wave – Best pricing but not the number of features that you get with Aweber.

Tracking

Tracking is one area where there are worthwhile free resources. I use a variety of services. Each has pluses and minuses. You can find more out about tracking by grabbing my free book “Tracking Your Way To Profits“.

My recommendations besides The Marketers Hosting…

Google Analytics – Good free resource for tracking your traffic.

TE Toolbox – Has a free option and is perfect for split testing your pages and allows you to track items through to conversions easily.

These three are the most important tools you need to have in your tool box when you are starting out.

An affiliate program is a nice option and will add a lot of leverage once you get your own products and there are enough choices that it will be covered in another post.

Do you have the tools you need? Leave your comment below.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses PLR to enter various niches profitably.

Technorati Tags: autoresponder, basic tools, domain account, free options, hosting, marketers, sql databases, tool kit, tracking

Tracking is one of the real keys to improving your business. It was the topic of the very first free report I ever wrote quite a few years ago.

It is one of the things that allows you to improve your business. After all if you do not know what is working it is impossible to improve it.

It is also one of the hardest things for new marketers to understand. One of the topics we cover in our 4 week Beginners Marketing Course Jerry Reeder and I do each Thursday is tracking. It is that important to understand what is actually working.

I just finished the third revision of my original report. Added new resources and how to’s into it for some of the more popular solutions.

You can grab a free copy at Tracking Your Way To Profits.

It will explain how to track your sources but more important how to track through to your ultimate goal. After all traffic is not the key it is traffic that converts that you need to know to be able to really improve your results.

After you grab your free copy you will have the chance to rebrand the book and even get a complete squeeze page system to help you build your own list.

Check out Tracking Your Way To Profits today.

Technorati Tags: popular solutions, profits, squeeze, third revision, tracking, traffic

If I were to guess (notice guess not assume as that is a bad word here) most of the readers here use affiliate marketing in some way shape or form. If I am wrong (and sometimes it happens oh say 3 times a day or more ask Maude she will tell you she always tells me ) then no need to keep reading. If I am right then lets get into some things to help you.

3 Tools You Need In Your Affiliate Marketing Arsenal And Why

Most of us get started in affiliate marketing when we first join a program or buy a product and get introduced either through the download process or the follow up process to affiliate programs. It is usually said as Make money recommending us to others. Just send traffic and make money.

Sounds really easy “just send traffic” or some variation like that. So you do it. All of a sudden you go into research mode and look for how you can get traffic. After all that is all you need isn’t that what they just told you?

The truth is that what they have told you is only a partial truth. They want you to think it is easy and they want you to send them traffic. If your traffic does convert they are more than happy to share the profits with you. Then you get cut out of the equation after that. Before I go any further you can actually be successful this way but the odds are against you and even if it works you are giving up a large part of your potential income.

That is why you need to have these 3 tools and do more than just send traffic.

The 3 tools are…

• An autoresponder
• A tracking solution
• A web presence

Before I get into this lets look at what a good affiliate marketing system looks like.

Your traffic should go to a squeeze page that adds people to your list first. Then you can send people to whatever your offer is. It is a bit more work but you can show one visitor not only the offer you started promoting but other related offers as long as they stay on your list. Now there is a lot more to doing this than shown on that quickly put together mind map but the power is in being able to follow up with them.

So an autoresponder is necessary to be able to run this system. It will allow you to automate the follow up and get started towards creating that big red easy button we all are looking for. (That big red easy button only works once you have built that big responsive list and that takes a bit of that 4 letter word – WORK.)

You need to be tracking what is happening or you have no idea what is working and what is not. You need to know how much traffic you sent and what traffic is converting.

Finally you need a web presence so you have a place to host your pages for your squeeze page system. This will allow you to maximize the process and track much easier.

Now there is a cost for being able to do this but it is a necessary expense. You can get all 3 of these tools and more for about $20 a month through The Marketers Hosting.

This is the overview of how you should be setting up your affiliate marketing instead of trying to send traffic direct.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses PLR to enter various niches profitably.

Technorati Tags: affiliate programs, autoresponder, hosting, marketing system, squeeze, tracking, traffic, web presence

Been a bit slow with blog posting this week but will get back to normal as some things have been happening around the house.

Got tied up with completing the Keyword Research Product and doing the traffic call for purchasers of Clickbank Pirate. I did schedule the Blog Talk Radio Show for Wednesday at 7pm edt but working on the topic so more details will be coming shortly.

Now to the blogs.

WordPress Made Easy

• Asking Your Reader

The PLR Secrets

• Grab some free PLR books today

Mike And Steve Talk

• Keyword Research Product Completed
• Almost finished so last chance

What’s Hot

Keyword Research Call – Steve and I covered a lot in this call and you can now get the full 63 minute call, the complete transcript, the slides and the resource guide.

Guru Ambush – If you have not grabbed a copy of this free ebook from Guido Nussbaum you need to get it today. 72 pages of step by step plans showing how Guido built a six figure business in a year.

Saturday Seven Special – This week it is 7 reports with squeeze pages to help your list building and resell rights to the package. List building is something you can never do enough of to grow your business.

Other Notes

If you get to this before noon today I will be doing the Affiliate Funnel seminar this week on tracking your list building process. The seminar is open to all Affiliate Funnel members and you can join for free. There will not be a replay because I will be taking this call and adding it as a bonus for those that upgrade in Tracking Your Way To Profits.

Thats all for this week.

Mike Paetzold

Technorati Tags: affiliate Funnel, Guru Ambush, keyword research, tracking, tracking your way to profits

First a great big Happy Father’s Day to all the Dad’s out there. Really miss mine on days like today.

Now to the news. Been a very busy week once again. Who says there is a summer slow down?

WordPress Made Easy

• 3 Ways To Increase Traffic To Your Blog
• Catching up on things

Three Turtle Marketing

• What your customer wants
• Are you eating well?

Whats new

Tracking Your Way To Profits – Just released a totally revised version of my report that you can grab for free. Do check out the rebranding options though as it can become a great silent sales person for you.

Pet Niche PLR Pack – Great package of PLR on pet birds, dog breeding and owning a cat. Complete action plan listed in previous post for how to use these for your business.

Thriverman – Great video that can teach you a lot. Yes it is part of a pre-launch but follow the series and learn from how they do things. Great marketing ideas available for those that follow the series so sign up today.

Resell Rights Fortune – Done with the launch but still a great membership that every serious marketer needs access to.

Where is Nicole?

Remember that Nicole Dean will be here for 5 days in August as a guest blogger. Keep track of her Summer Blog Tour as she is putting up some great information. Check out this Squidoo lens to see where she is going. Let me know what you would like her to write about in the comments.

Because today is the first day of summer and Fathers Day I have decided to add access to my Freebie Friday here on the blog. Usually this is only for Twittter followers and subscribers. If you find it helpful make sure you sign up for the mailing list in the upper right hand corner.

Now I am off to NJ to visit with my brother and son at my Mom’s. Enjoy the day I will be.

Mike Paetzold

Technorati Tags: Pet plr, plr, Resell Rights Fortune, tracking, tracking your way to profits

I have long heard that “Knowledge is power”. Not sure who first coined it but it is one thing that is extremely true.

When you know what is working you can do more of it. Even better you can stop doing the things that don’t work. After all you always need more time don’t you?

That is one of the reasons that I have been a huge advocate of tracking everything I possibly can. It takes a bit of effort (uh oh) but the savings in time and money are more than worth it.

That is why I released Tracking Your Way To Profits and because I want to help you I made it free.

You will discover…

• How to test your paid advertising, so you can save thousands of dollars
• Generate more profits and constantly improve your results with less effort on your part
• How to steadily increase the number of subscribers you receive from each traffic source adding more profits to your bottom line each week
• And much more

Check it out before I come to my senses and decide to charge for this information.

Go grab your copy today.

Mike Paetzold

Technorati Tags: testing, tracking, tracking your way to profits

Okay the holidays are past and we are now 10 days into 2009 and the Week In Review is back. Lots going on this week and even more upcoming.

First to the blogs.

WordPress Made Easy

• Using Adsense on your blog
• Are you going to take action this year?
• 3 Easy Tips To Improve Your WordPress Blog
• 3 Ways To Personalize Your WordPress Theme
• Keeping up with WordPress
• Tweet My Blog and WordPress 2.7
• 3 Ways To Monetize Your Blog

Three Turtle Marketing

• Stop fighting for food and move to the back of the tank
• Happy New Year from the 3 turtles and baby too

New service at Your WordPress News. Trying to keep up with the changes in WordPress can be a bit overwhelming so I created a resource blog where you can find the latest news on WordPress drawn from a variety of sources. If you prefer you can keep up to date with the latest items by following WordPress News on Twitter.

New Recommendations

PLR Package on Boating and Scuba Diving – May be gone by the time you read this as there will only be 100 sold but in earlier posts on this blog is a plan to use this and similar items as a business in a box.

Screencast Profits – You may not know who Lon Naylor is but people like Jeff Dedrick, Mike Filsaime and many others do. Lon is out to rid the web of crappy videos and is giving away 94 minutes of free training as a start.

MBA In A Box – New free report from the guts at Stomper. Just click the button and download the report. No optin necessary. You might want to check out there videos from the link below but definitely need to grab the report.

Best of Marlon Sanders – Another free report from one of the best teachers on the net. The report is killer and Marlon is someone whom you want to be on his list. His content is great each week and will help you to improve your business.

Upcoming

Tracking Your Way To Profits has been rewritten and is in the process of being set up on a new script. The changes in Hits Connect and the new free option for it has brought about the re-write. Should be re-launching shortly.

There is a Monster in the wings. Can’t say much more at this time but if you have been having trouble putting the pieces together for your list building the Monster may just be the solution.

Thats all for this week. Putting my nose back to the grindstone to get things done and look for lots more content this and every week.

Mike Paetzold

Follow me on Twitter

Technorati Tags: Hits Connect, Marlon Sanders, MBA, Niche PLR, plr, stomper, tracking, WordPress News

One of the soap boxes I get up on all the time is the importance of testing and tracking your results. Guess today will be another time but this time there is a difference.

Robert Puddy has introduced a free level to his Hits Connect tracking system. Now there is no excuse not to get started tracking your results.

Yes it is limited for free members but once you start improving your results through tracking you will understand that tracking is one of those expenses that actually increases your income and becomes an asset not a liability.

After all if you double, triple or more your results you will realize the value and the savings more than offset the small cost.

Check out Hits Connect today and start improving your results today.

Need help using it properly check out the report I created and how tracking can improve your profits at Tracking Your Way To Profits. No sign up just download it from that link.

Mike Paetzold

Technorati Tags: Hits Connect, split testing, tracking

Getting back to the business building series.Today is probably the most important piece of the puzzle and the one that separates the winners from the losers.

Testing and tracking

Hey I’ll be the very first person to tell you that this isn’t fun. It is where the money is though. See I am not smart enough to guess exactly what will work and what won’t. Too many personal prejudices. To easy to think like a customer and not a business person.

You need to be constantly improving your process and updating it. First you need some tools to do that. Here is what I use and what will be mentioned in this post.

• Google Analytics – A free resource
• Google Website Optimizer – A free resource
• Hits Connect – A paid service
• AWeber – A paid service

You can also grab a copy of my report Tracking Your Way To Profits.

For this discussion we will talk about your squeeze page first. After all that is the key to your business.

AWeber will allow you to add a tracking code in your form. Create a different form for each page you are testing and you can see which page got you the results.

Now you need to be sending traffic to your site. Hits Connect will allow you to see which source sent how much traffic and if you add the pixel on your thank you page you can see which source actually converted into a subscriber.

Hits Connect will also allow you to set up a rotator so you can test two pages and use the same link to send half the traffic to each. This also allows you to make changes on the fly at one place and not have to go change each traffic resource. A great time saver.

Now what do we want to test. Start with your headline. That will usually make the most difference. If your headline doesn’t catch people the rest of your copy doesn’t get read.

Keep going until you have a clear winner. Get rid of the loser and create a new test. Each time you keep the winner get rid of the loser.

Once you have a good headline you can test other parts of your page. It is important in this type of testing to only test one thing at a time so you know what made the difference.

In the meantime you are also testing your traffic sources. If you were using 5 traffic exchanges in this example my experience has shown that 2 will probably be head and shoulders above the rest. You can keep to 5 but keep changing your bottom source of traffic to test a new one. Just like the headlines keep the winners and replace the losers.

This can very easily increase your response as you test but this is a never ending process. Traffic sources change and your best source today may stink 6 months from now.

With traffic exchanges you should be able to get your squeeze pages to one signup per hundred page views or better. That should be your goal.

Now you want to be testing the same way in your email series. Take advantage of the stats you get at AWeber and use their tracking to see which offers are getting clicked on.

Also keep track of where people unsubscribe. If you are marketing correctly you will be getting unsubscribes so don’t let that part bother you. Not everyone will like your style not even affable Old Bald Guy’s like me.

What you do want to be tracking is places where the unsubscribe rate jumps. If you are seeing a significant increase in unsubscribes on email #5 and (this is important) it is not converting significantly higher then you need to look at that email.

Sometimes a really strong call to action will generate more unsubscribes but will also convert into more cash too. Look at both sides and remember what my mentor Robert Puddy says “Give them quality but ultimately the purpose of the list is to make you money.”

Likewise if certain calls to action aren’t being clicked then that needs to be addressed too.

If you are using sites like blogs to get organic search traffic or if you are using PPC you need to use Google Analytics to understand which posts are being indexed and which terms people are searching for that send them to you.

For our process we won’t get into Google Website Optimizer but it will allow you to do Taguchi testing on your squeeze pages and sales pages. Once you have gotten comfortable with the A/B testing described here it can be worth your while but there is a learning curve in using it.

Technorati Tags: aweber, Google Analytics, Google Website Optimizer, Hits Connect, testing, tracking