Most of us who drive understand the importance of maintaining our vehicles to keep them in good working order. If we don’t maintain them properly, our vehicles will show signs of wear and tear and will not function with as much power as they should.
What has this got to do with your online business?
Let's start with the engine. Your engine is the drive of your business. It's what keeps you moving in the direction you have chosen, and without it your business will sit in the back yard and grow rust.
Naturally, the size of your engine is based on how big your business is and how well you take care of it. Unfortunately, most online businesses run on small engines and go for months before the owner ever even changes his oil.
The oil represents your advertising. If you don't have any oil, your engine will have too much friction and you won't go anywhere. Or if you've used the same oil for months without changing it, chances are you can see your engine starting to become sluggish.
And of course... if you add too much expensive oil (spending more than you make) you will find yourself in debt and your engine will suffer greatly when you can't afford to run it any more.
Advertising in the same area for too long will cause your business to run slower and slower and even come to a dead stop. It's important to know when to change that oil (where and how you're advertising) and get your engine back up to full speed and running smoothly.
So how do you change the oil, and how often should you change it?
It's quite simple actually... As soon as you see your engine slowing down, you should make a pit stop and examine what needs to happen. Check the quality and cleanliness of the oil. Perhaps it’s good and clean, but you just need more added to it. But, if it’s too sludgy, you may need to do a complete change by draining the bad and replacing it with something fresh.
You do this by increasing your advertising or changing the way you advertise in that place online. Changing the WAY you advertise can be just as effective as changing WHERE you advertise. Especially, if you've found a place to advertise in the past that worked great for your business at one time.
Remember, your goal is to keep that engine running at the highest RPMs you can, in a safe way so as not to hurt your engine. In other words, you need to find effective advertising (that fits your business) and keep on adding to it or taking away until your engine is running so smoothly you can turn on the cruise control and enjoy the ride.
Not all oil is the same!
Take a trip to any store and you’ll find many choices of oil to use for your engine. It's your job to test the oil and find out which brand works best for your engine.
You can test your online advertising fairly easily by using tracking links and web page analysis tools for all your advertising. This is where most people miss their mark. They just keep trying new oil (advertising) without first testing it to see if it is good or bad for their engine.
If you know what works and what doesn't, you will have a better understanding of how often you should take that engine to the pit stop. Best of all, when you do a stop you will be in and out more quickly because you will already know what kind of oil is working best for your engine.
Remember, just because the oil is more expensive doesn't necessarily make it the best choice for your engine. For example... a free traffic exchange can produce better results for your business than a 'Pay-Per-Click Search Engine' in many cases. And, the expensive brands can cost you so much that you can't afford the oil.
I have found some oil that's free and has produced a cleaner and more efficient running engine than the expensive brands on the market. I've actually tested some PPC Search Engines and have seen little or no results for my business.
If you don’t know what a traffic exchange is and how it can benefit your business, let me be the first to tell you that your engine will love this kind of oil.
Traffic exchanges have revolutionized the online marketing arena by allowing us to get our hands on as much free quality oil as we have time for.
Yes, you read that correctly, free traffic exchanges are just that ... FREE! If you surf them every day, you will quickly find that not only will your engine run great, but you won't have to buy much (if any) oil for it. That means you can spend more on the different kinds of oil available for your engine or... on a BIGGER engine.
So, when you discover that the oil you're using isn't helping your engine anymore, you should head straight for the pits. When you get there, make sure you change your oil quickly and effectively.
By testing your online advertising, you can learn what works best for your business without wasting your valuable time and money by using the trial and error method.
Keep your engine running smooth and enjoy the ride!
* * * * * * * * * *
You can use this article in your ezine or on your website as long as the author resource box below is included.
About the Author:
Dan Moses is a 28-year old family man living in Oregon, who came online over six years ago seeking riches on the Internet. He's become quite the successful entrepreneur, owning and operating close to 10 sites.
Changing Your Internet Oil
