What Users are Searching for?

Like Internet users worldwide, majority of Russian and Ukrainian surfers search Web for information. A Yandex poll shows that about 24 percent searchers use Web for easy reference and over 15 percent use it as a research tool. A further 12 percent of those polled said Internet was a news source for them while only 14 percent preferred online entertainment services. An increase in personal consumption in Russia and Ukraine has made a positive impact on regional Internet. Russians and Ukrainian are increasingly relying on Internet in order to evaluate products or services before they make their final decision to buy, whether online or offline. Currently, about 1200 online shops are listed in Magazin.ru, largest Russian e-commerce catalogue, while CNews.ru reported last year that total number of operational online shops in Runet was 500 at beginning of 2002. The most e-shops are online outlets of bricks-and-mortar businesses, but some "pure" online stores have opened their virtual doors as well. Most notable are bookstores such as Ozon, Biblio Globus and Books in Russia, and Bookshop, AzBooKa and Bambook in Ukraine. Despite a certain lack of high-quality online offerings in Runet and Uanet, surprisingly few Western sites offer products and services that need no customs clearance. For example, web hosting fees in Ukraine are about two to eight times higher than those somewhere in United States, but service providers abroad seem to be in no hurry to enter local market. This is also true for e-books, especially on programming and computing.

Spam and Spamdexing

Despite spam is still flourishing on Russian Web, unsolicited email messages in Runet are far less aggressive than email marketing campaigns in US, when a news subscriber may receive bundles of advert mailings that are vaguely associated with his/her initial subscription.

The more pressing issue for both users and search engines is spamdexing, i.e. unfair tricks aimed at attaining high rankings in search engines. Searching Runet for a particular key phrase can give you dozens of mirrors and doorways. Some successful SE optimizers in Russia and Ukraine openly advertise that their promotion techniques are solely based on building doorways or cloaking, which currently seems unwise on global Internet.

The top Russian search engines fight against spam in much as most popular search engines do worldwide. For example, Yandex and Rambler penalize websites for using unfair tricks and encourage Runet users to report search engine spam. Many professional programmers and webmasters also voice their concerns about spamdexing. Articles by A. Shkondin at ClubPro.spb.ru provide some classic examples of how spammers play games with Russian search engines and Internet surfers.

Your main focus should be not Money, but sharing Valuable Information and providing Specific Solution, related to sphere of your expertise. The more value you give away, more people will read it, more subscribers, clients and partners you will have.

Auto or semiauto software applications and programs

Software! Efficient small info business is impossible to run without software programs. They are our "angels" that help in our difficult everyday routine business life, but not only that. They are also capable of automatically promoting our business with no or very little effort for our part, so it is a crime not to include them into our "promotion team" review. Once set up they could:

* Submit/resubmit your web-site, pages to Search engines and directories; * Submit/resubmit your adverts to FFA and classified ads pages and boards; * Check SE rankings and adjust your pages accordingly; * Submit/resubmit your info products, including ezines and articles, to respective directories, announcement lists, groups, forums, boards etc; * Automatically send promotional emails to Safe Lists or subscribers; * Follow up with your prospects and customers, etc.

Take note that we are speaking about Recurring Passive Promotion methods only. Software programs can do 1 million things more, but we point to what tasks they can passively accomplish to start rolling your viral marketing ball. Software is also only part of "salesteam" you should and have to spend your money on. Other promotion "staff" will be totally free in terms of money.

Now let me explain why RP Promotion is slightly broader in its meaning than viral promotion. As you know, products announcement or Safelist emailing cannot be called to be viral methods as their produced effect are short term and lack exponential results growth. The classic examples of viral marketing strategy were ebooks giveaways or free web-based email services.

RP Promotion goes further. Software announcements and submissions, taking into account, their completely non-stop automatic working "nature", still generate recurring and passive results. Once set up, we start getting short-term, but permanent and never-ending effect, until our software programs are working at background, although, let me repeat, that promotion is not considered as viral marketing.

Partners, clients or subscribers

Being prime source of some product or service allows you to establish mutually for you and your partners beneficial business relations. That is best of best tactics you should pursue in long haul.

Here is a tip-of-the-iceberg example. It is clear that two (approximately equal) promoters are better than one. That is why huge potential of a sole promoter, who gives away several ebooks, email courses with a number of working submission software, becomes a drop in bucket in comparison with what kind of perspective that promoter could get if there are hundreds, if not thousands, of sub-promoters working for him by giving away his free ebooks, courses etc. Even 30% or 50% commission paying will mean for program owner one thing only - his/her profits have grown on remaining 50%-70% of retail price.

I've presented an example of RP Promotion, when you should order a solo ad to promote your free ebook, which, in its turn, will spread word about your main product. Actually that was a bad tactic as well.

Astute RP Promotional strategy should comprise, ordering a solo or top sponsor ad that will promote your 1st valuable "salesman" like ebook or video file that in turn will popularize your beneficial partner/affiliate program, through which you will gain tremendous market exposure!

No, I was wrong. No need to spend money for manually ordering one-time ads. Write a salesman assistant! I mean article that will offer general public to download your free audio file! When your article is submitted to a lot of directories it will be published many times in different ezines, generating you temporal, but recurring, with each new publication, response. The more "assistants" you will have easier it will be for your salesman - audio file - to work. "He" will be in demand, reassuring listeners in undisputable benefits of your partner program. What is next stage? Those who don't want to become partners, but like your product, would buy it - that is one-time benefit if you stop corresponding with your clients. Those who become your partners will generate true streams of recurring passive income. That's what I call Recurring Passive Promotion strategy.

------------------------------------------------------------ Pavel Lenshin is a publisher of NET Business Magazine, professional web-developer and CEO of: - http://ASBONE.com/ - informational portal and provider of discounted internet services for entrepreneurs, including internet access, web-design and hosting; - http://InfoAlchemist.com/ - a must-have business library. ------------------------------------------------------------