When I first started my internet business, one of the first methods of advertising that I used that actually brought some results was FFA Hosting. When I first started using this method, I noticed that I was getting 50 to 100 clicks per day from these sources. It was a real gold mine.
But then something happened.
I started to notice that my clicks were starting to go down. Not a lot at first, but they were nevertheless decreasing. I was getting between 45 and 85 clicks a day. Then some more time went by and I was getting between 35 and 65 clicks per day.
I was noticing a trend. FFA Hosting sites, which are still profitable today, were not as great as they were when I first started. Because of this downward trend, and the resulting fewer sales, I realized that I had to find other sources of advertising to pick up the slack.
Trends are like the weather. They’re always changing. This is why it’s so important to keep track of trends.
More recently, Squidoo has become a very popular form of promotion online. Google loved them and there was a ton you could do with a Squidoo lens. Marketers were getting great results with their lenses.
Then something happened.
A bunch of spammers got into the Squidoo system and created a ton of spam lenses. As a result, what Google did was lower the importance of Squidoo in their rankings. Suddenly, marketers who were getting tons of traffic from their Squidoo lenses were getting almost no traffic at all. The environment around Squidoo had changed and because of the shift in the trends, marketers had to scramble to find a way around this.
Bum Marketing was another hot trend for a long time. When it came out, all of a sudden, lots of marketers were writing articles in order to promote their internet business. While this trend has tapered off a little, Bum Marketing is still a pretty hot trend online.
Another big trend was Butterfly Marketing. When the script first came out, everybody and their grandmother was putting up Butterfly Marketing sites. Those who jumped on them first and came up with some twists were the most successful.
Keeping track of trends is nothing more than just keeping your eyes open. Go to forums. Find out what’s new. Go to the search engines and look up the latest Internet marketing news. The Internet changes so fast that there are things happening almost everyday.
By staying on top of trends, you are staying ahead of your competition. This could mean the difference between running a successful internet business and one that brings in seven figures annually. Even more importantly, if you’re not aware of the things that were once working that are no longer working, you may end up putting your efforts into things that bring you no results at all.
Keep an eye out for trends.
They’re ALL around.
