What I've come to learn as an internet marketer, and what a lot of people don't know, is that you don't need an actual website to make money online. When I was first told this it came as a shock because I'd never thought of it although it was so obvious. As an internet marketer most of my time used to go into designing websites, researching tools, and writing content. I was always looking for the next best thing that would make my work go by faster, make it easier, gain me more traffic, and create more revenue. The problem was that I was always looking at it from a web designer's point of view, and not a marketer's point of view. I wasn't thinking outside the website, so to speak. However, one day while researching I came across the idea of using Facebook fan pages in order to generate income from affiliate sales. A lot of you may laugh when you read this, and looking back I laugh too, but as I said, I was so wrapped up in making my websites look sleek and professional as well as writing the content that I wasn't aware of the alternatives. In my mind, I needed a website no matter what. If you've also been trapped inside that box, I have two words for you: social media.
As I stated, the information I stumbled upon involved Facebook fan pages and affiliate marketing. It's common knowledge this day in age that if you have a business that sells its own products or services, that you need a Facebook page for it, but I'd never thought to use it for products and services that weren't my own. The idea is this: It takes hours, even days at times, to create a website, but it takes minutes to make a Facebook page for any subject matter. Also, when you create a website, you have to do a lot of research and SEO in order to gain search engine ranking and get website visitors, but when it comes to a website like Facebook, the visitors are already there. In a recent webinar that I attended, the guest host stated that more and more people every day are using Facebook to search the web, almost as if it were a search engine. So this means that if you start a page for something that you're interested in or that you're looking to market, your page is more likely to come up in the search results and be seen sooner and more often than if it were to be searched in Google or another search engine with hundreds/thousands of pages worth of search results. Don't get me wrong, there is still work to be done when it comes to this approach, but not nearly as much when you compare it to how much work goes into creating your very own website.
So what you do is create a fan page for your subject matter and immediately you can begin posting content and product links in a stylish, professional, and aesthetically pleasing manner. Facebook has basically already created the visual elements. All you have to do is fill in the blanks, and when it comes to your content, it can be posted in shorter, quicker "blurbs" since that's what Facebook is centered around. So within a matter of minutes you've got a page, you can fill in the "About" information, upload a picture, and post your first product or bit of information. Shoot it out to your family and friends so that you can get a few likes. You don't have to sell anything to them, just let them know that you've got a page and you want some support. The more likes you have the higher you'll appear in Facebook search results and the more people will see your page. Heck, if you have the right niche from the beginning, your page is likely to appear in the top three results if there aren't a hundred pages on the subject matter.
It's a lot like wanting to open your own online store. Should you create a brand new website that has no visitors and isn't visible on search results yet? Or should you put your products up in a customized store on eBay where there are already millions of buyers searching for products every day? Well, first you have to weigh the pros and cons of eBay fees versus your overhead, but if you're guaranteed to make profit either way, why not go with eBay? Your going to make more sales that way even though you may make a bit less per sale. In the end, you'll get more traffic and make more sales. If you're not looking to minimize your workload, do both. This post isn't meant to discourage you from making your own website, it's just meant to offer an alternative in order to streamline your work and make more efficient use of your time if you feel like creating websites is becoming overwhelming, as I felt not so long ago.
As an internet marketer, I'm always looking for a useful, more time-efficient tool to get the word out and make money, as everyone in my line of work is. Facebook is that tool, along with all other forms of social media. Log in, fill in the blanks, and post. It is simple, but don't let your content suffer. Make sure you still focus on posting quality content that your visitors can benefit from. Nobody likes a page spammed with links left and right, you have to make your guests want to visit and see what's new. Try and bring a little something extra to the table.
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