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Copyright c 2000 by David Seitz
Virtual Imagination Inc.
http://www.virtual-imagination.com/


Wow, that's a powerful title! Don't let the headline fool
you, though, this could be the most important article you
ever read. If done correctly, this is one the easiest ways
to create a permanent revenue stream with ANY affiliate
program you are promoting.


Have you noticed that some of the most popular types of Web
sites on the Internet are portal (or vortal) Web sites?
These portals, or should we say Web site vortals (vertical
portals) are really nothing more than an organized
collection of links to other Web sites.


Why are they so popular, and more importantly why are they
so successful?


One of the biggest reasons they are popular is because they
save visitors time. We all know time is very easy to waste
on the Internet. A visitor to a vortal does not have to go
through tedious search engine listings to find what they are
looking for, it's all right there sorted and stored for them
at their favorite vortal site.


Let me tell you a little story before we get deeper into
this since it fits right in with this article. It's also a
prime example of why these sites are so successful.


Last week I was searching for information on a motorcycle...
specifically pricing info. I wanted to see what kind of
price fluctuations there were from state to state. Well, to
make a long story short, while I was searching I wandered
upon a few vortal sites geared to the motorcycle community.
These sites actually had everything I was looking for and
more... I even ended up buying from a couple of the listed
resources and these resources both ended up in my bookmarks
for future visits.


No fancy graphics, no amazing flash animations, just good
solid "targeted" content.


Here are the two Web sites at which I ended up spending some
time:


http://www.moto-directory.com/
http://www.motorcyclerow.com/


(Don't worry we are going to explain how all of this is
going to help you increase your Internet revenue!)


Visit the first Web site, moto-directory.com, and what do
you see?


1. A large "searchable" categorized listing of motorcycle
resources and vendors.


2. Advertisers with products and services geared to the
motorcycle industry.


3. An affiliate bookstore geared to motorcycle users.


4. Affiliated classified ad system and auction.


5. Automated directory system.


Actually this vortal is owned and operated by
motorcycleshopper.com so I am sure you can see the big
picture here... they realize that the community a vertical
portal creates sells products and produces advertising
revenue!


So, what do we have to work with here?


If you created and operated a vortal site, what would you
have to look forward to?


1. The searchable categorized listings make it as easy as
possible for a visitor to find what they are looking for and
almost guarantees your site gets bookmarked.


2. Once a vortal becomes popular, advertisers flock to it
because they know they will find "targeted" traffic. Not
only can you produce a solid advertising revenue stream but
you can also advertise your own affiliate programs
especially if they are geared to the Web site's category.


3. The fact that the system is totally automated is a big
fat bonus! What if related Web sites visited and built your
directory for you, isn't that enough reason to stop what you
are doing right now and start on the framework for your own
vertical portal Web site?


Vortals are geared to one subject and visitors love it!


All content is geared to the vortal's theme. All advertising
is geared to the vortal's content. All resources are related
to the vortal's content. All in all, a vortal is a perfect
targeted community.


$$$$ Cha-Ching!


Okay, we all see the big picture, but how do we put a
vertical portal to work for an affiliate program?


Easy...


Create a portal on a topic related to the affiliate programs
you are promoting and funnel the buyers in!


* FIRST, YOU NEED A THEME AND A DOMAIN NAME.


Let's find out what type of portal we can create.


Many of you may already know me as the Affiliate Marketing
Director for Net Detective:
http://www.jeanharris.com/associate/. Many affiliates have
been following along with this article and creating some
killer revenue machines. As an example of an affiliate front
here are a few ideas for a front end portal for Net
Detective: (Remember, in this example, the goal is to sell
Net Detective so we need to find a theme and content geared
to this product.)


1. A spy resources directory


2. An Investigation resource center


3. An adoption/genealogy resource center


4. A directory of location services


5. A search resource directory


6. Employee Investigation resource directory


7. Spy or investigation software resource center


... etc., etc., etc.


Also, along with this niche, you can build on, and spin off,
other products utilizing your current resources.


==> Example:
http://www.snapshotspy.com/t.cgi?wow


With this product, we have capitalized on our current
knowledge of our existing market and pushed a multitude of
revenue streams out of it. The newsletter tracking follow-up
system is the greatest tool for our affiliates. Growth has
been linear. Our research has proven that people are
extremely curious (some are even downright nosy!) and they
use the Net to do their "dirty work."


As you can see, this can easily turn into a really powerful
marketing machine that will work for you 24 hours a day. You
can build a vortal for any type of affiliate program you are
promoting.


You will definitely need a new domain name for this project
and here are four resources to help:


For $13.50 per year, this is the lowest domain registration
service I have seen:
http://www.000domains.com


If you need help coming up with a good domain name use these
three resources to search for available names.


1. http://www.nameboy.com/


2. http://whois.net


3. http://hammer.prohosting.com/~domains/cgi-bin/main.shtml


* SECOND, YOU NEED A SYSTEM.


Fortunately for us there are several ready made directory
systems available online to help us quickly get our new
vertical portal up and running.


Links Manager v2.0 lets you create your own directory or
index like Yahoo, Snap or Dmoz. Includes a sophisticated
administrative tool and is automated:
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/scripts/links/index.htm


Index Finger Pro Edition produces a clean and professional
directory using HTML pages. Unlimited categories and sub-
categories, supports ad banners, search, site requests,
mailing list, site rating, what's new and cool pages, and
more:
http://www.indexfinger.com/


Web Index v1 allows you to create a search engine that works
very much like Yahoo or CGI-Resources. With the Web-based
admin area you can build directories, edit/remove
directories, verify/edit/remove links and much more.
Automatically updated What's New! page, advanced search and
the best part is -- the layout of the pages are totally
customizable:
http://cgi-center.cx/scripts/Webindex.html

You can find many more directory systems at Cgi-Resources.
Here is the direct link to the links indexing category:
http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts/Perl/Link_
Indexing_Scripts/

* THIRD, YOU WILL NEED A MARKETING PLAN.

Again, we can help! We have a large amount of material to
help you get your new portal in front of as many eyeballs as
you can at the Helping Hand resource center.

The goal of your portal should be to provide a one stop
resource for your selected category and focus on selling
your product or promoting your affiliate programs.

If you work your affiliate program banners, links,
classifieds, etc. into your site's framework, you will be
surprised at how successful your new venture could become.
When you produce targeted traffic, your sales will only
rise. Just think, every single visitor to your new portal is
a potential customer! Talk about targeting, huh?

There is a ton of marketing material online for you to take
advantage of in The Helping Hand newsletter and marketing
center:
http://www.helpinghand-newsletter.com

This article can be freely distributed as long as the below
resource panel and copyright information remains intact.

Copyright c 2000 David Seitz - CEO Virtual Imagination Inc.
Published by Virtual Imagination Inc. Brought to you by The
Helping Hand Internet Marketing Newsletter.
http://www.helpinghand-newsletter.com Grab your free
subscription now: mailto:subscribe@associatesearch.com