Let me ask you a question: do you think it is easier to sell your product or services to a

complete stranger or to a person you have had contact before; whether it’s an email

conversation, forum participation or even an existing customer relationship (i.e. He has

bought something from you). Without doubt, it would be harder to sell to a total stranger who

does not know whether or not you are an honest seller, and whether or not they should trust

your words and believe that your product or services will truly benefit them.

This is precisely why you should build up a customer base — a group of people who trust you

and will most likely buy a product that you offer to them. This will ensure that you have a

recurring and consistent source of income. When you release a product or make an endorsement,

you have a group of people always ready to hear what you have to say.

There are several sources that you can tap into to start building a customer base. For

example, you can participate in an online discussion forum and give advice and help for free.

It won’t be long before people start to recognise your name and stop and listen everytime you

have something to say. You will become a valuable friend and teacher, and gain the trust of

these people. Would you buy something your close friend recommends?

Another way to build a customer base is to build a mailing list. There are a gazillion

methods to collect subscribers, but when it’s boiled down to the very essence, it’s all about

proving your value to the crowd and offering an incentive to make people become part of your

mailing list. A typical example would be a website choke-full of freely available, helpful

and quality articles on a certain subject plus a "special report" that can be downloaded for

free provided you give your email address. The rich content provides value, and the "special

report" is the extra incentive.

Yet another source for your customer base, which is often forgotten, is your existing

customers. If you bought this product from this particular person and he answered patiently

to your every question, would you buy from him again in the future? Definitely. When a

customer has given you his money, that’s not the end of the affair because by keeping in

touch with him and developing a flourishing relationship with him, you will have a lifetime

source of

To make money with Articles that you place on web site s, you will also need a variety of good affiliate links that will help to generate revenue. It is important that you know where to find affiliates and that you choose the best affiliates for you and your niche site.

When you pick an affiliate, it is important that you determine which companies you will profit best from based on the frequency that the product is likely to sell. There are several types of affiliates and some will offer you more money from a sale than others will. Before you get hazy-eyed by dollar signs, however, remember some products are bound to sell more than others. If you sell on product four times a year from a little known company that gives you $100 per sale or sell a well known product 3 times a week at the rate of $10 per sale, then you will make much more money with the $10 per sale product. Often times large well known companies will offer a very small profit per sale because they are established and know that their product is likely to sell well. Small, unknown companies, on the other hand, need all of the promotion they can get. Also, because they are unknown, their products are likely to sell less frequently.

The most important rule when picking affiliates to promote on your site is to pick products that would be of interest to those who would likely visit your niche site. Otherwise you will be promoting a product

When you are trying to make money with Articles , the beauty of it is that you don’t really need previous career related experience and that you can learn the ropes as you go. That being said, there are some skills that you will need to teach yourself or pick up along the way to make your sites successful. You can’t go in not knowing anything, not learning anything, and still expect to make a good income (or any income at all).

First, you will need to know how to pick out the correct Articles to make your sites successful. There are many types of content, from free content to high dollar content, and each comes with its own advantages and disadvantages (although high dollar content is more likely to give you a successful site in the end).

Second, you will need to know how to choose keywords that can help you get a good amount of traffic, without being too competitive to get on the first or second page. If you choose highly competitive keywords that are used by large, mammoth web site , you are likely to never get up to those much needed first two pages.

Third, you will need to know how to optimize your web site s for various search engines. Search engine optimization skills will allow you to get high rankings for your chosen niche keywords, which will help to get visitors and make profit.

Fourth, if you opt for a large web site that