I've never been much of an automobile mechanic, but about 25 years ago an old friend instructed me in mysteries of how to find out why my old car wouldn't run.

"You see," he said, "when an engine won't run, it's got to be one of three things. It's not getting enough gas, air, or spark, because that's all an engine really needs."

He taught me to check simple things, like pull a spark plug and see if it sparks when starter turns over. Or pull off air filter and see if I could smell gas in carburetor. (That was before most cars were fuel injected!)

I can't count number of times over last 25 years that those simple words helped me during times of car trouble, especially in younger days with cars that were old "beaters."

If you think about it, Internet marketing is just as simple. All you really need is gas, air, and spark:

1. Targeted traffic - fuel that powers an Internet business.

2. A product that people really need or want - something you can present as being as necessary as air they breathe.

3. Sales copy that will sell - spark that makes targeted traffic want that product as badly as air they breathe.

Okay, so maybe that still sounds a little tough, but hey - it's only three things! Even though I'll probably never be a skilled auto mechanic, I can comprehend and check three things. And you can catch on to just three things too.

Number 2 and 3 are probably easiest to master.

There's no shortage of great products and great ideas for things that people really want. It's easy to find out what people really want with tools like:

When it comes to new internet marketing opportunities for your business, RSS just might be answer you were looking for. Here are just some of new opportunities it can provide you with …

1. PODCASTING AND VIDEOCASTING

Podcasting (delivering internet audio content) and Videocasting (delivering internet video content) allow you to communicate via rich media messages, not only making your content more attractive and powerful, but also enabling a more personal »conversation« with your audiences.

Up until know, internet was predominantly a textual channel. Adding audio and video to mix, delivering both via RSS, goes beyond basic capabilities provided by »traditional« internet content delivery channels. Rich media personalizes internet experience and gives your company a distinguishable face, while at same time providing you with a media platform to convey your message so that it is easier to understand, see and feel.

Think about ...

--> Delivering press releases in audio or video

--> Sending your customers a personal video message from CEO

--> Doing audio interviews to expand your reach and provide more content to your visitors

--> Delivering video demonstrations of your products

--> Using video and audio to demonstrate how your customers and readers can easily resolve various issues that you are helping them with

--> Delivering important messages to your readers, customers and business partners via a more personal audio experience, instead of using impersonal e-mail communications

--> And so on ...

In addition, Podcasting and Videocasting form basis of new business models, giving you opportunity to expand your product base to include these formats with higher perceived value.

Customer education & support are improved as well, since you can now demonstrate key product usage points via online video  providing customer support content in a format, which can easily demonstrate everything you need to convey to your customers.

2. HIGH FREQUENCY CONTENT UPDATES

High frequency content updates, even on a daily or hourly basis, are now finally possible with RSS. No more need to hold on your important messages, news and other content for a week or even a month to include it in your e-zine --- with RSS you can update your content as often as you want/need, and your subscribers won't mind.

3. APPCASTING

Appcasting goes one step further, giving you ability to deliver critical software updates and patches to your existing clients, without them having to visit your web site every week to see if much needed update is already available or not.

4. PRODUCT NEWS, RELEASES AND UPDATES

Product news, releases and updates are now finally possible in an easy-to-consume way. Using RSS, you can provide your customers or prospects with simple tools to create their own »product feeds«, through which they'll be immediately notified when new products that precisely match their interests are available.