What is bum marketing? The term was coined to describe a form of marketing that, it is claimed, requires so little outlay of cash to get started that even a bum off the street can do it!
Bum marketing could be called exactly the opposite of using pay-per-click methods like Google AdWords. (One marketer maxed out seven credit cards in trying to get such a PPC program to pay off!)
If there is one thing that bum marketing requires, it is a willingness to write, and to do lots of it. It also involves finding a profitable niche, or one that can be made profitable.
The niche should be something, such as technology, a popular video game or even fly fishing or quilting, that is followed by a large number of people, and preferably those with a decent disposable income. These are the people who won’t flinch at the thought of paying $99.95 for something related to their hobby or interest.
Bum marketing is generally about selling affiliate products, so naturally, you want to find a few products to sell related to your chosen keyword.
Another important part of the bum marketing strategy is in finding good keywords or key phrases — what is called “long tail keywords” in the industry. So, rather than targeting a single, highly competitive word like “iPhone” you would choose a longer phrase such as “iPhone productivity apps” or “iPhone wallpapers and themes.”
The next step is to set up a website. Although you could skip this step by using a free blogging platform like Squidoo, even bum marketing promoters admit that you will do better with your own site, since you will not have to share the proceeds with anyone.
You can get a very cheap, functional site for as little as five dollars a month. It would need only to consist of a sales page for a product and a few pages of content. A domain name that contains the keywords you have chosen would be best.
The main focus of bum marketing is the writing of articles. You would upload a few of your articles as website content. You might have a separate webpage for each related keyword you’re targeting (if the keywords are too unrelated, they might call for a separate website and domain name).
Some people claim to pump out as many as 25 to 50 articles a day. I don’t see how this can be done and still have the articles be of high quality, but that’s just me. Certainly a voice dictation program like Dragon Dictate for Mac will be a huge help.
The next step of bum marketing is submitting articles to article directories. These allow what is known as a resource box, or a paragraph for you to tell a little bit about yourself and what you are offering along with a URL to your site for people to click for more information. The general policy of article directories is that other webmasters may use your article as long as they retain the resource box with its link to your website. This should result in more backlinks to your site.
There is article submission software out there that claims to submit your articles to hundreds of directories, but in theory you should need to submit only to the top 10 – 25 directories, because they provide content to the other directories.
That’s really all there is to bum marketing, but, as in all things in life, the devil is in the details. Choosing hot niches, selecting keywords that are searched for but do not have too much competition, and pumping out a large quantity of optimized articles are all important elements of bum marketing. Choose the wrong niches, keywords, or products and your efforts could be for naught, but choose the right ones and you could make a tidy profit. Good luck!
Buy Dragon Dictate for Mac here
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