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[Mark Bushey Contribution Level: 2]

All,
I'm torn. I have a limited budget. Is Google Ad Words a good investment for on a tight budget. I'm asking for comparative answers if you could.
Mark

[Shane Hunter Contribution Level: 3]

Well Mark,

That's a great question... But there are a lot of factors that you haven't mentioned.

What is your market?

If you're looking to do PPC in Network Marketing, your money is going to go away very fast. The reason being is, the competition is stiff. People with money drive up the bids on profitable keywords. Making it difficult to turn a profit unless you REALLY know what you're doing.

The fact that you're asking this question tells me that you're new to PPC. Therefore, if your intent is for MLM related PPC - I would say, don't do it. At least not with Google. You may want to look into 7search, or Yahoo's answers to PPC.

They don't bring in as much traffic, but they are much cheaper. The other benefit is that most internet savvy people use Google, thus you're getting newer people with your ads on those sites.

My suggestion would be to take your small amount that you have, and spend it on PPC education. Here's a great one by the dillard clan... You can check it out by clicking HERE.


That said, my favorite method is SEO. But there is a LOT to learn about SEO before you start seeing any decent ROI for semi-competitive keyterms. Feel free to send me an email at shane@alpha-networker.org and we can discuss your options more in depth. I'd be more than happy to help you. =)

I've been there, it sucks. I'm trying to help people get to where I am. =)

[Volker Schaefer Company: Life Plus International Contribution Level: 5]

In many books and blogs the gurus write: if you can´t spent $ 3000 in a month Google Adwords is not the right tool for you.

Do you know Building On A Budget?

There are many tips to make free leads online without spending a big amount of money.

Best regards

Volker

[Michael Stead Company: Fortune Hi Tech Marketing Contribution Level: 3]

Hey Mark,

It really depends on how tight your budget really is. Although competition is pretty stiff with google adwords, I have found that if you really just take the time to do some keyword research you can find keywords that get decent traffic, don't have a lot of competition, and if you follow the rules of google then you can get some pretty cheap clicks and a high quality score.

Personally I would say that google is an extremely good investment and it really doesn't matter how tight your budget is because you can always scale it up once you start to build a bigger business. When I first started I was only spending around $100-300 a month so really it's not the amount that counts, it's what you do with what you have that counts.

Let me know what your resources are like and I'll let you know what we can work out.

See you at the top,
Michael Stead

[Steven Downward Contribution Level: 2]

I would have to agree. It really depends upon your budget.

If you have just a $100 or $200 a month to spend, I would suggest that you go look at one of the other networks like yahoo, 7search, or bing. You will get a lot more traffic for your buck.

If you do not really know much about PPC then it is worth your money to take a course. Jonathan Budd has a very powerful course that he is opening up this weekend for 24 hours. I took it last year and it changed so many aspects of my business. (Check out my sig below).

If you have a decent size budget, over $300, I would do some google PPC.

[Jeff Mitchell Contribution Level: 4]

I think that we need some good ol' Adam Chandler in this post. He would tell you exactly what you need to know.

Jeff Mitchell

[Derek ODwyer Contribution Level: 2]

I believe you need to do lots of learning first about adwords and understand the changing approach that google is taking on IM businesses.

Also it is important to reinvest funds all the time in order to build up momentum in your business with adwords. dont rely solely on adwords because google works in mysterious ways

Regards

[Eileen Burns Contribution Level: 3]

Mark, would suggest reading some books on the subject. Perry Marshall is a top dog.

Also suggest you take a stab at Facebook ads to get your feet wet.

[Richard Bravo Company: Life Force International Contribution Level: 9]

.

Here's the thing abut AdWords Mark ...

If by "limited budget" you mean "Money I really can't afford to lose" ...
Then I would say do not venture into Adwords yet.

If by "limited budget" you mean "I have $X.00 in savings and not a penny more - once it's gone, it's gone" ...
Then I would say do not venture into Adwords yet.

PPC is process; a long term marketing outlet.
I've seen far too many people jump in with a few hundred dollars or even a few thousand dollars, and with a couple months or so, it was gone.

Sure, they made some money, but they didn't break even ... technically they lost money.
But what really happened was that they didn't have sufficient capital to sustain the learning curve.

If you've got money burning a hole in your pocket pick up Perry Marshall's book.
Jim Yagi is a great guy and has some avid fans here, so you may want to look at his course as well.

The best education you'll get however, aside from some solid schooling in the basic principles, is doing it yourself.

But like I said, you have to be in a position where you "can afford to invest some money." Because you will "lose" some money. Which in reality is an investment in your PPC education. It's just a simple fact of the game. You'll have some winning campaigns and some losing campaigns ... and you need to be up to the task of rolling with both.

If that's you - Go For It!
It's an exhilarating experience and can be immensely profitable with a well tuned campaign.

A few points you should focus on learning before you spend a dime in a campaign would be:

Ad copy.
This is all about your headline and body copy. Study how to craft a killer ad.
If you don't get clicks, you won't have eyeballs on your landing page. No eyeballs - no paycheck.
The art of high click through rates is critical.

Landing page.
Just like it sounds. There are many aspects to landing page design that will affect the success of your Adwords campaign. Everything from conversion strength to Quality Score. Study hard on this one.
If you make it past the Google gate keepers you must make this thing convert like mad.
Traffic + Conversions = Benjamins!

Last but not least is keyword research and selection.
This is the DNA of your campaign. The currency of the PPC world is keywords.
Think of these like little (or huge) veins of gold you stake a claim to.
The right keywords, coupled with an ad that attracts clicks like a bee to pollen and a landing page that gets even the shrewdest of consumer to throw down their plastic and buy buy buy, can make you sho am rich.

Personally my favorite course on the topic is Commission Blueprint.
Steve's teaching is bad ass. The guy is just a classy businessman and ultra savvy when it comes to the world of affiliate/niche marketing and using PPC to throwdown like a pro.

Some of my most profitable knowledge base comes from Steve Clayton and the Commission Blueprint material. Plus the tools in the new version are priceless. I highly recommend you check it out.

[Jeff Mitchell Contribution Level: 4]

PPC is a funny thing. If your going to use it for the Network Marketing industry as I am sure that you are...unless you have a super converting marketing funnel that is proven to produce results...don't touch it.

If you are afraid to pick up the phone and connect...don't try it.


Google adwords is the ROCKSTAR of marketing, but you would be more productive if you spend the money somewhere else. someone else suggested 7search and I have had really good results with them. They are dirt cheap, and the conversions are not too bad. Plus they do have a conversion code so that you can track your results.

Don't go with google though. there are a ton of others that won't break the bank....as quick.

If you do. Follow Richards advice and get the new Perry Marshal program and at the least PPC domination with Jim Yaghi. There are some pretty good nuggets of gold there.


Jeff Mitchell