Meet people from your area in the country and keep in touch. Site includes blog, forums, email, groups, games and events. Network with over 74 million friends.
Did you notice that number? 74 Million!!! 74,000,000 consumers It's been reported that MySpace is the second most visited site on the entire internet, even more than Google. When I signed up a few weeks ago it was at 68 million, by the time you get around to reading this I'm sure approaching a billion. That is why you cannot ignore MySpace as a marketing avenue!
Recently I began experimenting on using MySpace to promote businesses. Response has been very good so far. There is a huge opportunity within this social network behemoth if you know where to look.
Making Money with MySpace
A couple of weeks ago I signed up on MySpace. I had no real interest, figured it was just for kids, but with it being on the news nonstop lately I guessed correctly that I'd better check it out.
MySpace marketing entails a wide range of methods, including:
Advertise to Friends
Advertise to Groups
Advertise in Forums
Advertise through Blogs
Advertise with Bulletins
Newsletter Advertisements
Classified Ads
Alright, an advertisers heaven. So I created a profile and looked around a bit. I was pleasantly surprised to learn they had excellent forums. Business & Entrepreneur were the ones that got my attention. After filling out a couple of the basics in the profile, I created a quick and dirty blog about the 5 Step Guide. Finally I posted a couple of messages in the forums, "Hi I'm new, Check out my profile" type stuff, then logged off and didn't give it much thought.
I'd just started a Google Adwords campaign so I thought I'd experiment. I added MySpace keywords to my existing list. After saving the list I clicked refresh after about 15 minutes... Entrepreneur - 4 hits, Affiliate -2, Home Business - 5, MySpace - 285!! In a fifteen minute time frame! Oh people are definitely searching for MySpace information. I removed the keywords as my site had nothing to do with MySpace. Next day I log back into MySpace, and see that I have had a half dozen profile views, and 1 person wants to be my "friend". I post a couple of more messages in the forums, then don't check back for a few days.
Now in that short period of time a couple of things happened. My profile got a modest 18 hits, but my blog had been viewed over 40 times! I quickly checked the stats on my web server, traffic in the last 72 hours had increased over 200%. I was floored. Not only were visitors seeing me on MySpace, but the blog was being distributed outside of the site. So of course I jumped back on MySpace, went looking for new friends, and made a bunch more forum posts & replies. Traffic and hits kept piling up and I knew I was onto something good.
Then I got kicked off of MySpace.
No warnings, no explanation, not even a notice.... my account simply no longer existed. I was able to piece together what happened by going back and reading some of the threads I'd participated in. There were the usual bunch of scum bags there pushing $40,000 in your PayPal, As seen on Oprah, etc. type spew, and it seems the forum moderator lumped me in with the group and banned the lot of us. E-mails explaining my situation and requesting an explanation were ignored, so finally I just created a new profile. So be warned, even when you're following all the rules you need to be very careful where and what you post, but the exposure is tremendous when done right.
These results were fantastic, but could I find more people faster? And could I reach a more targeted audience without spamming millions? Yes I could. To do that I turned to MyFriendBuilder. Skeptical at first because this was the third product I'd tested and the first two were absolute garbage, I contacted the author who assured me MyFriendBuilder worked as promised and had some additional special features including birthday wishes & profile lists.
I created a new account for testing, this account had no profile details, no picture, no geographical significance... absolutely nothing that would appeal or draw in other users. The account had no friends, and no profile views when I fired up MyFriendBuilder. From MyFriendBuilder I logged onto MySpace, browsed for users between 30 - 45 years old, who were married, within 10 miles of a small town zip code, which gave me 810 profile results to target.
Then I used the program to extract all of the user ID's, and to send "friend" requests to. This ran pretty much without intervention aside from a security code you must enter that MySpace intermittently pops up. IN THE FIRST 24 hours my new "zero" account had 463 visits (all of which saw my test logo, which could have been a website link, advertisement, etc.), and actually had over 200 new friends who I can now reach all at once by sending one MySpace bulletin. Pretty amazing marketing tool.
Obviously this is the tip of an iceberg here. If you decide to market on MySpace I highly recommend MyFriendBuilder. Check them out and receive a special price for our readers.
You now know how to get a LOT of traffic to your site this way, but what if you don't even have a site yet? One way to cash in on the MySpace phenomenon is to set up a resource, or "codes & layouts" site. For example http://www.MySpace101.info This complete site comes as a script you can purchase and easily modify to plug in your own ads and links. Every time a MySpacer uses your resources, a link back to you is automatically added to their profile page for all to see. Also visitors see all your ads and links when they come for new codes & graphics.
If you'd like to learn more about starting a MySpace or any type home business online, please visit my site at http://www.BestNameEver.com You will find many unique & low cost offers in my 5 Step Guide to Creating Your Own Online Business, but all of the advice, resources, links, tips, etc. are 100% free. You'll even receive 3 free exclusive profit making gifts for your new business simply by browsing the site.
Coming Soon.....More advice & resources for making money on MySpace.
This is Bryce's second article. He's not big on BIO's and self promotion and filling out silly forms. You can find me here http://www.BestNameEver.com.