The following post excerpted from Mark McCullagh.

Internet marketing strategies involve driving targeted (people who are interested in what you have to offer) traffic to your website, blog, or sales page. That traffic then has to be converted into sales. This simple formula illustrates this process:

Traffic + Conversions = Sales

Keeping this formula in your mind will help you in your internet marketing efforts because you will realize that you not only have to generate traffic, but also turn those visitors into buyers.

Furthermore, here are 7 basic rules to follow when applying this formula. These rules are relevant to all forms of marketing but are especially important for online marketing where inexperienced people can “burn” a lot of money quickly and become very discouraged.

1. All marketing involves RISK. Whether you are trying something new or “copying” a strategy that has brought good results for others, there is still an element of risk. When speaking of risk, you tend to think of gambling which makes for an appropriate analogy here. For internet marketing, we try to reduce the risk and swing the odds in our favour by doing keyword research, learning skills like ad writing, article marketing, and pay per click, and other general marketing activities such as knowing what your target market is interested in. Deborah writes: For a great tool to help with your article marketing, check out http://www.articlemarketingprofits.com

2. Test small first. Reduce your risk by testing a marketing approach on a small scale first. If it works, then increase the scale and create momentum. This is how to make money!

3. Be consistent. Successful marketers do something to propel themselves forward everyday. That is their secret. A good practice is to create a to-do list every night featuring 5 actions that you must complete the following day. By doing this at night before you go to sleep, you engage your subconscious mind and the next day you will know what you have to do and be on target to complete these tasks. This is a very powerful process. Try to do this, one day at a time, until it becomes a daily habit. Deborah writes: One of the best online to-do lists comes free with your Simpleology 101 membership.

4. Set a budget. Determine what you can afford to spend on advertising on a monthly basis. In this way you can set and manage your expectations. This should also prevent you from trying things you cannot afford.

5. Diversify. Spread your efforts as much as you can over many different sources. This will also reduce your risk and help you to discover what works. Remember that if one internet marketing method that you try does not produce results, you have not failed. This just means that you are one step closer to finding something that DOES work.

6. Learn how to write effective copy. The skill that will make or break you in internet marketing is copywriting. It is especially important to learn how to write headlines. There is a ton of good information online that is free regarding headlines and copywriting. Just do a Google search. Deborah recommends: Red Hot Copy To Woo Your Target Market.

7. Take action, test, and track. Tracking is essential because you absolutely need to know the results of your marketing efforts. Once you start getting results, you can employ simple tests to see if you can improve. Often this testing involves strategies that are free. One such strategy that comes to mind is split testing. You can do this for free, and it can provide incredible returns. Generally speaking, split testing involves making slight changes to a landing page or adwords ad, often just the wording of the headline, and testing it against a current version. I have seen very simple changes DOUBLE the productivity of an ad. It’s not only amazing, but also a lot of fun! Marketing takes work. You simply cannot get something for nothing. Massive action creates massive results. Deborah writes: Marketer’s Choice has the ability to split test your salespages through it’s ad tracker module.

So take action and do not be afraid to fail. Remember to minimize your risk.

About the Author: Mark McCullagh is the author of the internet marketing strategies that work, especially for network marketing.