Free landing pages, are they just a squeeze page or an ordinary opt-in page ? YES, There is a major difference between lack luster free landing pages and proven to succeed free landing pages.
Yes it's a given that any sort of landing or opt-in/squeeze page is better than no landing page at all. But why would You use just any old landing page template when You can start using proven landing pages that are used by experts in the field and have more than proven their ability time and time again.
The massive boost that is generated in increased conversions is undeniable when using a proven free landing page template compared to an ordinary one. There is a reason why these free landing pages work and that's because they have been researched by the experts for total niche marketing use.
Creating a killer landing page is essential in the world of online marketing. Whether You are new to online marketing or a seasoned professional,the need for a great landing page is the number one thing that must be done and for some people can seem like an unenviable task. The very last thing You need is to be held up and wasting valuable time at the first jump on the marketing track because You can't get a professional free landing page up and running.
No matter how good Your giveaway may be, I guarantee that Your leaving huge conversion numbers which lead to sales increases on the table if Your not utilizing proven to work free landing page templates. Why waste Your same amount of valuable time producing a low conversion unproven free landing page when You can use expert proven free landing pages that will boost Your conversion through the stratosphere.
The sheer importance of a smart landing page to capture Your clients information can in no way be understated. Your ability to communicate with Your subscribers has it's very first bearing on Your potential visitors when they come to Your landing page, their decision process kicks in immediately and they either go straight away because Your landing page looks unprofessional, tardy and untidy or they do exactly what they are supposed to do when the come upon a professional landing page that looks smart, slick and inviting, and that is to give their details for further information.
Free landing pages can be extremely successful if they are proven by experts to work already, right now and currently in Your marketing niche. It's very simple really, You are in the position right now just like a landing page, You either decide to check out these killer awesome free landing page templates that ate proven to work by experts or You can click away and forever wonder " What If I Had Just Checked Them Out ". The decision is Yours, if You wan them now then check out just below and click there now, You won't be disappointed.
Of course I'm sure you know Jeremy Burns for the huge PLR packages that he does several times year but today I simply must tell you about something much bigger.
I’m talking about a PLR offer like you’ve never seen before to a product that you’re not going to believe.
This isn’t a package of eBooks or a software package or anything like that which you may be thinking.
I’m talking about getting full Private Label Rights to a fat, heavy physical course that you can sell for massive returns.
You know the kind of course I’m referring to…
The huge physical monster that costs $700 and makes the creator tons and tons of profit over the course of a couple of months.
Before you start working up thoughts of this being excruciatingly expensive, I want to let you in on a little secret…
The private label rights to this course are extremely affordable. I’m not talking about $1,000 affordable but a price point much lower.
I personally think Jeremy is nuts and did tell him that I thought he was crazy for practically giving away the private label rights to such a premium course but as usual, he wants to give you major value!
As you’ve seen from EVERY offering Jeremy has ever put together, he offers nothing short of extreme value every time, like clockwork.
This offer takes that to a whole new level.
You truly have to see this to believe it so get over to this site and check out the spy photos of this mega course and see what a work of art this masterpiece is…
So I thought I'd share this free keyword research with you.
Hold the horses though! Because I want you to understand something...
What's more important than the keywords is the fact there is a STARVING CROWD with an ever present BURNING DESIRE...behind these keywords.
See if you can figure out why?
Here's the keywords...
************************************************************ -Beyonce Wigs- 8100 searches per month! Competition is p-r-e-t-t-y easy with only 16,000 exact match competition. ************************************************************* ********************************************************** -Beyonce Front Lace Wigs - 2000 searches per month!! Only 318 competition. (Just write an article and you'll be on the first page...easy!) ******************************************************** Another type of wig in HUGE demand! ******************************************************** -Remy Front Lace Wigs- 5400 searches last month and only 1,180 competition! *******************************************************
Now get this!
These wigs go for an average of $400
$400!!
And they sell...Sell...SELL...
Here's a popular shop (boasting 10,000 happy customers):
Some of the highest grossing Paypal shops in the beauty category are shops on all kinds of celebrity wigs.
It gets EVEN BETTER!
Beyonce is NOT the only celebrity women want to emulate.
Jessica Alba Jennifer Hudson Ashley Simpson Reese Witherspoon Brandy Eva Longoria Whitney Houston Halle Berry Tyra Banks
And it goes on and on and on!
You could nail top spots on most of those celebrity names in conjunction with 'wig' or 'lace wig'.
This is also an EVERGREEN niche...meaning it will always be there. They were selling wigs back in the 1700's and they'll sell today and they'll sell 100 years from now.
Can you smell the money?
Do you fully understand why this is such a lucrative niche?
Right.
Women have a burning passion to be attractive, beautiful and be like the people they admire.
This is SUCH a great market!
(Cosmetics do NOT suffer during economic bad times either)
You could probably...with a little time make a living just in the "Celebrity Wig Market".
You can have lucrative niches just like the "Celebrity Wig Market" delivered to your inbox...EVERYDAY!
Website Flipping is HUGE, If Your NOT into this gig right now..... You are definitely missing out on great cash making times. If You want to learn about how to flip websites for Profit You would do very well to watch this short but extremely awesome video below giving You all the nitty-gritty details about this cash phenomenon called Website Flipping.
We help companies connect with their customers, one tweet at a time.
Twitter Intellect is a Niche Global Marketing Business with expertise in extending and compelling Your Twitter Personal or Business Communities for You while You may be on vacation, busy or away for whatever reason.
By doing so We are also helping You in the continuation of the growth and sustainability of Your Twitter Image or Business Brand which then allows You to keep on cultivating Your strategic e-markets and maximize Your ROI, whilst being able to help streamline & deliver synergistic e-business solutions for Your Enterprise or Personal Profile.
We know that by helping You to continue to deploy Your cutting-edge interfaces gives You more time to concentrate on what's really important, and that's how better to incubate Your e-business supply-chains and really unleash those proactive initiatives You have been thinking about installing but haven't had the actual real time to do so.
At Twitter Intellect We know that You have developed dynamic partnerships with Your Twitter Communities and understand that You must architect & drive magnetic front-end convergence whilst also enhancing their one-to-one experiences. We will give You the extra time & relief You need to be able to orchestrate Your Businesses leading ideas and engineer innovative products & services for Your dot-com users.
Think of us as public relations, marketing, and customer service, all rolled into one. Simply put, we do your tweeting for you. We send out pre-approved messages about everything from information about your company or product to special events. We also respond to Twitter users who send messages directly to your Twitter address-consulting with you as needed to ensure the user receives the most appropriate response.
Your Brand A Business Dedicated to Maintaining your Professional Brand or Your Personal Message on Twitter in your absence and to deliver upon the methodologies which reflect Your Personal or Professional Business Brand.
At Twitter Intellect We understand how much effort You have put into Your Twitter Brand & Image already. And with that in mind We know how vitally important the upkeep of that Professional Brand is & that it continues while Your away or just need time off from Twitter.
We Pride ourselves on the Fact that We ONLY Totally Focus on the delivery and continuation of the Blue Ribbon Business or Personal Brand You have already built. We know that helping You orchestrate Your Businesses mission-critical Tweets gives You the pure & clear ability to e-enable efficient mindshare that You or Your Business needs to monetize it's dynamic solutions.
We also know that harnessing enough time to be able to concentrate on how to further engage Your proactive e-markets is extremely hard to find in this fast paced & ever increasingly quick lifestyle that we lead on Twitter.
How can You continue to Tweet and not lose contact with Your Valuable followers but also find enough time to concentrate on the continued growth of Your Business at the same time ?
Twitter Intellect has the Answer.
We know that You need more time to be able to build Your viral initiatives & scale up new killer solutions to provide to Your Twitter communities needs.
Twitter Intellect provides the time solution You need.
With a hand-picked team from Marketing Backgrounds based strategically around the World, Twitter Intellect has employed a team with cross-media experience is world-class and project management skills that are mission-critical. All staff have been trained and familiarized with all aspects of the International Data Protection, Privacy Legislation and Electronic Documents Act.
Specialized Twitter Applications and Analysis Tools
Translation of your Tweets
Search Engine Marketing
Blogging/Podcasting/Social Media
Email Marketing, and Affiliate Marketing
Provide Value: the more you add to Twitter, the more you get out of it. People follow you for a reason. Give them valuable information, and they keep coming back for more.
Network with others: don't be scared to communicate with others and respond to their updates. Twitter is a networking site. It's a many-to-many communication service. It's not just about you!
Know the limits: if you are a business owner, you should know that what you say on Twitter can help or harm your business name significantly. Don't say anything you don't want others to hear about in a professional situation.
Listen: Twitter is live and kicking 24/7. That means that you have constant access to what folks are talking about, their needs, and their wants. By listening to what others have to say on Twitter, you can build new products, improve your existing ones, and find new partners.
Our Solution
We offer a very competitive and unique Marketing System that enables you to go on Vacation or have time away from Twitter with the knowledge of knowing that You can be Assured that your Online Brand and Reputation will be ' As if you were really there'.
Considering the fact that Twitter moves so fast Today & that this momentum will ONLY increase dramatically in the Future, even just a very short period of absence on You or Your Businesses behalf can & will have Your Valued Followers becoming Dis-Connected' from your message.
We know that Having Your followers Dis-connected from Your Brand Message can mean the VERY REAL chance that all Your previous hard work could invariably crumble or even worse, dissolve altogether & this can happen Phenomenally FAST.
At Twitter Intellect We know, Understand & Fully appreciate that You can NOT afford in any way to have these or any interruptions to Your Twitter Strategy & We Specialize in Ensuring that Your Business or Personal Brand Message will always continue to be Squarely right in front of Your Valuable Established Twitter Communities at all times.
We know that the formation of efficient personal partnerships with Our clients to deliver impactful collaborative results that are a Mirror Image of Your Professional or Personal Brand works and is a Foundation Cornerstone of Our very Own Business Mission-Statement to YOU.
We also know that being able to visualize together We can deliver Your integrated intuitive content on Twitter & continue to implement Your robust content at Your request which will give You complete readiness at all times to deploy Your world-class web services.
At Twitter Intellect We know the absolute importance placed upon being able to synthesize with Your B2C e-markets properly & coherently through the application of Your benchmark back-end content that will continue to massively optimize Your relationships with Your followers & maximize their experiences of Your Brand 24/7.
Twitter Intellect operates 24/7 365 days a year With employees working across the World...with one in YOUR time zone RIGHT NOW with total capability to integrate Your global convergence & continue to drive Your Valuable e-business & e-commerce.
Which allows You to do what You do BEST, which is concentrate on what next Your Business will create to revolutionize new web services for Your Valuable Twitter following.
If your business limits its online presence to advertising banners and blogging, it's missing out.
The Internet provides powerful networking opportunities that allow users to effectively target their audience by logging on to social sites like LinkedIn, Digg and more.
Take advantage of these tools by asserting your company's presence online and reaching more potential customers, business partners and employees
Building Community-creating a strong community of followers that ultimately help drive business objectives and bring in new customers
Customer Service-using Twitter to successfully engage with customers needing help
Selling-driving online and offline sales by using Twitter to post promotions, discounts and offers
Prospecting-creating demand and pinpointing potential customers needing the type of solution your product offers
Branding & Awareness-employing Twitter in creative ways to increase awareness around a product, person (celebrity) or business
Our Specialisms
Brand
Brand Identity
Brand Image
Brand Manager
B2B Advertising
Persuasion Process
Potential Market
Product Differentiation
Product Positioning
Product Life Cycle
Promotion
Promotional Mix
Psychological Segmentation
Psychographics
Tag line
Target Audience
Target Market
Target Market Identification
Some Sites We Utilise Reddit: Upload stories and articles on reddit to drive traffic to your site or blog. Submit items often so that you'll gain a more loyal following and increase your presence on the site.
Digg: Digg has a huge following online because of its optimum usability. Visitors can submit and browse articles in categories like technology, business, entertainment, sports and more.
Del.icio.us: Social bookmark your way to better business with sites like del.icio.us, which invite users to organize and publicize interesting items through tagging and networking.
StumbleUpon: You'll open your online presence up to a whole new audience just by adding the StumbleUpon toolbar to your browser and "channel surf[ing] the Web. You'll "connect with friends and share your discoveries," as well as "meet people that have similar interests."
Technorati: If you want to increase your blog's readership, consider registering it with Technorati, a network of blogs and writers that lists top stories in categories like Business, Entertainment and Technology.
Ning: After hanging around the same social networks for a while, you may feel inspired to create your own, where you can bring together clients, vendors, customers and co-workers in a confidential, secure corner of the Web. Ning lets users design free social networks that they can share with anyone.
Squidoo: According to Squidoo, "everyone's an expert on something. Share your knowledge!" Share your industry's secrets by answering questions and designing a profile page to help other members.
YouTube: From the fashion industry to Capitol Hill, everyone has a video floating around on YouTube. Shoot a behind-the-scenes video from your company's latest commercial or event to give customers and clients an idea of what you do each day.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a popular networking site where alumni, business associates, recent graduates and other professionals connect online.
Ecademy: Ecademy prides itself on "connecting business people" through its online network, blog and message-board chats, as well as its premier BlackStar membership program, which awards exclusive benefits.
Xing: An account with networking site Xing can "open doors to thousands of companies." Use the professional contact manager to organize your new friends and colleagues, and take advantage of the Business Accelerator application to "find experts at the click of a button, market yourself in a professional context [and] open up new sales channels."
Facebook: Facebook is no longer just for college kids who want to post their party pics. Businesses vie for advertising opportunities, event promotion and more on this social-networking site.
MEETin.org: Once you've acquired a group of contacts in your city by networking on MEETin.org, organize an event so that you can meet face-to-face.
Tribe: Cities like Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Chicago have unique online communities on tribe. Users can search for favorite restaurants, events, clubs and more.
Ziggs: Ziggs is "organizing and connecting people in a professional way." Join groups and make contacts through your Ziggs account to increase your company's presence online and further your own personal career.
Plaxo: Join Plaxo to organize your contacts and stay updated with feeds from Digg, Amazon.com, del.icio.us and more.
Networking For Professionals: Networking For Professionals is another online community that combines the Internet with special events in the real world. Post photos, videos, résumés and clips on your online profile while you meet new business contacts.
Learning how to be Safe Online & NOT Becoming Marketers Bait - Basics
That's what Dorothy said in the "Wizard of Oz".....‟There are lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!"
Out there on the World Wide Web, there really are lions and tigers and bears, as well as, other critters that can eat you alive, make your life miserable, or rob you of your dreams and ambitions.
The dangerous jungle creatures are also very smart jungle creatures. They all have opposable thumbs and are capable of setting traps for you to fall into. The "bait" they use to get you, the unsuspecting newbie to fall into these insidious traps is "help". They trick you into believing that what they are offering you is help when, in fact, what they are doing is tricking you into falling into their traps.
Some bait that is used is: You have been CHOSEN: This little piece of bait usually arrives in your inbox. It is nothing that you solicited so it IS SPAM but it is very clever SPAM.
The email will say something like, “You have been chosen to participate in a______________!!
The blank can be filled in many ways. One of the ways that went around for awhile, and may still be making the rounds, is “You have been chosen to participate in a program that is marketing walk-up Internet access.” All you have to do, since you have been CHOSEN, is to buy this machine that will be installed in a "high-traffic" area close to where you live.
Then you can just go pick up your money whenever you find the time. They imply that you can easily find the time to go pick up your money between flying by personal jet to play golf with Donald Trump and having dinner with the President. Snap! You send in your several thousand dollars to purchase (or lease) this machine then you have absolutely no control over where the machine is places...IF it is placed. It can be put in a low traffic dimly it corner of a dive in the sleaziest part of town...it isn't up to you. Oh, My!
You are SO SMART! Well, everybody likes to be thought of as intelligent, don't they? This is very good bait! It is designed to make you believe that FINALLY somebody realizes just how smart you really are. Again, this bait usually arrives in your inbox and it is SPAM. The offer tells you that because you are such an intelligent person, you can become an Internet Consultant and earn millions just by advising others.
Sometimes you will also see these kinds of advertisements on websites as well. But, wait just a minute! Didn't you just get here? Aren't you still considered a newbie in the world of Internet commerce? What exactly do you know and what can kind of advise can you give?
Ah.....but the critters that baited this trap will gladly tell you everything you need to know so that you can become a highly paid and sought after "consultant".....for a price. Oh, My! You are SO HONEST! Well, of course you are honest. You know that, you just didn't realize that others were aware of this fine quality.
This offer for a credit card or a guaranteed loan is made by unsolicited email sometimes but you can also see these advertisements in trade magazines and in newspapers. They tell you that, even if you are young and aren't well established financially or even if you have had credit difficulties in the past, THEY know that you are an honest person and they are willing to help you because you are such an honest person.
You will see the word, "honest" repeated often in these advertisements. You are told that you can get a home equity loan even if you don't have any equity in your home. You are told that you can get a credit card with a really high spending limit no matter what your credit history is.
These offers are most often Ponzi schemes (which we will discuss later) or they are an attempt to get your personal information for the purpose of identity theft. Oh, My! You DESERVE our help! Somewhere inside all of us mere mortals there is a little place that tells us that we really ARE deserving of the better things in life.
That is just a fact of human nature and one that can be used as bait by the Internet jungle critters to lure you into their traps. Not always, but certainly most of the time, people do get what the deserve. If you work hard and long you will most likely succeed and if you don't, you most likely won't. But we aren't born DESERVING anything. We make our own luck and we build our own success. This is another bait that the Internet critters use to trick you. Don't take the bait.
Sometimes this bait is used to lure you into making risky investments. Many times the Internet jungle animals believe that because you are in business for yourself, you must have a ton of disposable income and they want to get their greedy little hands on some of it. So they place advertisements that tell you that you DESERVE to participate in the LIMITED offer.
The offer is only limited by the number of people who actually take this bait. A lot of these offers that are made because you are so deserving of them are pushing off-shore bank accounts or land in foreign countries. Many are MLM or Ponzi schemes. Some of these offers are for free goods or services.
After all, you DESERVE to get stuff for free. The offer will be a membership in a "buying club". Of course, there really are many legitimate buying clubs that really do offer great discounts on brand name merchandize. There offers will not, however, arrive in your inbox unsolicited.
Oh, My! You can be NUMBER ONE! Okay, who doesn't want to be number one? There is a tiny little problem, however. There is only ONE number one spot and only one person or company can occupy that position. Promising to make you number one is very good bait. When you see advertisements that guarantee you the NUMBER ONE spot in Google search results, stop just a minute and think about that promise.
How many number one spots are there? There is ONE...so how can this company promise to make everybody number one and deliver on that promise? Answer: they can't deliver. They can, however, collect a lot of money for themselves. If that amazing offer appeared in your inbox, you can bet your bottom dollar that it is part of a mass mailing that went out to hundreds of thousands of other people just like you.
If you see an advertisement for such an offer, you don't think that it was placed just for you, do you? How many people do you think will see the same advertisement? Here are the hard cold facts about rankings in Google search results (or rankings in any search engine results for that matter).
The top Internet marketers, the guys and gals who really do make tons of money marketing on the Internet, struggle for YEARS to gain a PageRank of 7 or better. Top page ranks in search results is one of the hardest tasks in all Internet marketing.
There is NOBODY that can promise (and keep the promise) to make you number one in search engine results. There are ways to improve your PR in search engine results....all of which take time, effort and know-how.
Writing and marketing articles and ebooks, posting to blogs and forums, doing link exchanges, etc are all proven PR rank improvements techniques. There is no magic formula. Don't take this bait!
Oh, My! Success can be EASY for YOU! Everybody looks for an easier way to do everything. Hey....why do you think the wheel and the lever were invented? We all want to do as little work as possible to achieve our goals.
You aren't the only one. “Easy for You” is a bait that is wildly successful for that very reason. These advertisements sometimes arrive as unsolicited mail in your inbox but they can also be found splashed all over the Internet and in newspapers and magazines. Easy riches! Wow! They tell you that only fools work hard to make money. They say that making money is so easy that it is basically a "no-brainer".
They shout that hard work is overrated and a totally unnecessary complication that YOU don't have to be burdened with. ALL you have to do, they say, is take their advice, which they will happily supply to you for a price. There are those in this world who really do have a lot of money that they didn't work for.
They were born rich or they hit the lottery or a long lost rich uncle died and left them millions. You have a better chance of being struck by lightening than you have of having millions without putting in the blood sweat and tears that are required to earn them. So...SNAP! This bait is designed to take whatever money you do have out of your pocket and put it in the pockets of these jungle critters.
THEY certainly don't intend to work for their money. Oh, My! You can learn the SECRETS of Success! Do you know what a secret is? It's a piece of information that isn't common knowledge. It is something that is whispered into listening ears.
Ah....but we all want to know the "secrets". What great bait! Secrets! You will be inundated with offers from those who will reveal their secrets of success to you. Almost every time that you opt-in to a list or sign up for a marketing course of any kind, you will be promised that you are going to learn some "secrets".
Now, some courses and seminars really do provide useful inside information to budding Internet entrepreneurs but the information is hardly a secret. It might be gems of knowledge gained through experience. It could be bits of wisdom or even some very good advice.
The trick to knowing which of the thousands of courses, seminars, teleseminars or webinars that you can really benefit from, is knowing who the leaders of the authors of the courses or the leaders and speakers of events are.
You need to know what their backgrounds are. You can learn a lot from those who have blazed trails...but they won't be secrets. Really successful Internet marketers have a lot they can teach you and much wisdom they can share but everybody is NOT a successful Internet marketer who offers to reveal secrets to you.
One way to check out whom really successful Internet marketers are and who are just jungle beasts that want your money, is to plug names of authors or speakers into the search box of your favorite search engine ( Google Them).
You can learn a lot about people if you just look around the Internet. Don't believe everything you read. Check out the credentials of authors or speakers before you pay for the information they are offering. Don't take the bait!
Oh, My! You can learn to SELL Anything! “Everyone lives by selling something.” - Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish novelist, poet.
How true! We all sell something. We sell our time or our knowledge or we sell a product or a service. Everybody is selling something. Some of us do it better than others. There is, however, a catch to selling. You have to have something of value to sell before you will have any paying customers.
Hype won't cut it. There is no doubt that effective selling techniques exist. There is no doubt that some of these techniques can be taught. But....you can't actually learn to sell ANYTHING. You can sell something. You can sell merchandize or services that have value.
But you can't sell just ANYTHING! Many marketers, those of the brick and mortar world and those of the Internet marketing world, have found out that selling is only the first part of a process. The second part is that the customer who buys whatever is being sold has untold power. Today, if the customer isn't happy, they usually have a recourse.
If you sell inferior products, you will get a lot of returns and you will have your credibility severely damaged. Selling isn't all that hard if you have a good product or a good service that will satisfy the customers who purchase it. You have to keep it sold. You don't want returns. Being a good salesman can be learned. Selling an honest product or service will keep it sold.
The bears that live and unfortunately thrive in the Internet jungle come in several varieties. Out in the real world you only find a few kinds but on the Internet there are many more.
Being ambitious is not a crime.
It is an admirable quality and one that you should be proud of. Wanting to do better is what has made this country great. It's the corner stone of every fortune that has ever been built.
Wanting to better yourself and being willing to roll up your sleeves and do the work necessary to achieve a better life for yourself and your family is also the cornerstone of success in the world of Internet business.
Many people want a job and there is nothing wrong with wanting a job but others want to be their own boss. They want to be the one who gives orders and not the one who takes orders. They want to make the decisions and not just carry out decisions that have been made by others.
They want to be captains of their own ships and masters of their own destinies....there is nothing wrong with that either. It is to be admired. Ambition is good but it can also be dangerous. An eagerness to succeed can cause you to forget that you are living in a jungle that is fraught with danger on every side.
There are big ugly bears out there just waiting for you to forget for one minute that they are out to get you. They are waiting for you to get careless. They are waiting for you to let ambition cloud your judgment. For every one ambitious, hard-working, honest Internet entrepreneur out there, there are at least a thousand under-handed, crooked bears waiting to take advantage of them. Successful internet businesses can be created.
They HAVE been created.
You can create one yourself if you are willing to put in the time, effort, energy and, yes, money that is required. A successful Internet business will not be created over night and anybody who promises you that it is an easy and painless process is lying to you.
Don't underestimate the bears. They are very, very good at what they do. They have fooled some of the best of them. MLM schemes: We have briefly discussed Multi-Level Marketing schemes before but there is a lot more that you need to know so that you won't get suckered into one of these schemes and become a bear yourself.
MLM schemes are illegal and if even if you get suckered into becoming a part of one, you are just as guilty as the person you involved you. Ignorance of the law is not an acceptable excuse. These "plans" for success on the Internet come packaged and presented in ways that make it difficult to identify them as MLM schemes.
They do, however, all have some things in common. The most obvious and the easiest to spot sign is that you are offered a commission for sales of products or services that are made by others....this is above and beyond any commission payments for sales that you make yourself. That's the thing that makes these plans MLM.
You will be paying part of your commission to the person who recruited you and you will be receiving commission payments from people whom you recruit, as will, the person who recruited you and the person who recruited them. The only limit to the number of levels that can be achieved in a MLM scheme is the point at which it collapses in on itself.
Did I mention that the pyramid is an upside down one? The point is at the bottom...not at the top. There is always a point at which the scheme will collapse. When it gets heavy enough at the top, it will come tumbling down. You do not want to be anywhere near the point of collapse. As a matter of fact, you don't want to be anywhere near the pyramid at all.
Do you recall "chain letters" ? Chain letters are started by a person of a group of people and they prey on the greed of others. The first person starts a letter and collects $1000 from each of the next nine people. Each of those nine people recruit (there's that word again) others to send them a $1000 each...and on and on the pyramid builds until it gets top heave and collapses.
That is precisely what happens in an MLM scheme except that there is always a product involved in an MLM scheme and there isn't ever a product involved in a pyramid scheme. So how do you know for sure what is really an MLM scheme? Here's a check list that will help you to avoid this bear:
1. Are you required to recruit others in order to make money?. If the answer to that question is "yes", it would be a pretty good bet that it is in fact an MLM scheme.
2. Do I have to buy any inventory? Remember....there is ALWAYS a product involved in an MLM scheme. If you are required to purchase inventory, you may well be looking at an MLM scheme.
3. If you see the words, "downline commissions" anywhere....especially in the fine print...this is definitely an MLM scheme. "Downline Commissions" means a percentage of a commission that someone else has been paid.
4. Others have made millions! Oh, did you believe those glowing testimonials that you read? Anybody can write a testimonial. I could write one for myself or my business and sign anybody's name to it and so could you. There is never a way in an MLM scheme to check out the "testimonials". It simply isn't possible. Even if you are given addresses and phone numbers or email addresses, you have no way to be certain that these testimonials are fact and not just a lot of marketing hype.
Fact: MLM schemes are illegal. Be certain that you are not drawn into one because then you are guilty of fraud.
E-mail processing: This is a bear that is very much like the enveloping stuffing one that preys on those seeking a work-at-home job but it is hungry for the person who wants an Internet business of their own rather than just a job. Rather than say, "envelope stuffing" it says, "email processing".
This bear only wants you to take fifty bucks away from you. He says that for that very low price, you can start your very own business and work at your leisure from the comfort of your own home. You can be your own boss. You can just work when you want to. Now wait just a minute here! Back up that mail truck and let‟s take a look at what is really inside this offer.
First of all, who do you think needs email "processed" and what is processing? I've seen advertisements that claim you can make up to $25 dollars just for processing a single email. You have an email account yourself. Go look at it and see which of your emails would need to be processed. I can tell you....none of them.....and nobody else has email that needs to be processed either.
This isn't a business opportunity. It's a bear.
If you send in your $50, what you will get in return is a set of poorly written instructions telling you how to place the same ad that you fell for and get other people to send you $50 each. That doesn't sound like a legitimate Internet business, does it? It isn't one. The only thing that you will gain from falling for this will be a wallet that is $50 lighter.
You want to be the proud owner of a successful and legitimate internet business. You don't want to become a scam artist or a bear yourself.
E-Mail Marketing Business: While it is certainly true that many people do make very nice incomes sending out marketing emails that advertise products, it just is not as simple as the ads telling you that you can send emails and make money make it sound. You can become an email marketer but you must build your own list of people to market to.
What these advertisements are selling is a list of names and email addresses. Understand that anytime you see an advertisement telling you that you can make boat loads of money, there will ALWAYS be a product that is being sold.
Selling this product is the way that the people who placed these ads plan on making THEIR boat load of money...not YOURS.
Back in 2003 the United States Congress passed the CAN-SPAM Act. It became the law of the land in January 2004. CAN-SPAM is an acronym for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing.
The CAN-SPAM Act states that sending unsolicited bulk email is a crime. The Act is enforced be the Federal Trade Commission and they really are not kidding. There are fines and penalties for violations of the Act that go up to $11,000 per incident that are handed down be the Department of Justice.
Legitimate internet marketers, those who sell their own products and services, as well as, those who sell products and services of others (Affiliate Marketers), all have what are known as "opt-in" lists. These are lists of people who have agreed to allow these legitimate merchants to send them email.
The CAN-SPAM Act is not being violated if you have permission to send bulk email. When you buy a list of names and email addresses, you do not have permission to send bulk email to the names on that list. I know....I know....the sellers of these lists will tell you that they have the right to give you permission to send email.
They DO NOT have that right. The one and only person who can give you permission to send bulk email to their inboxes is the person who owns that email address...the recipient. Third parties cannot give you that permission. There are many legitimate list building techniques. None of these techniques are easy and they are certainly not fast.
You can write and market ebooks and articles, you can post to blogs and forums, you can do a lot of legal things to build your own opt-in list but you cannot BUY a legal opt-in list no matter what those ads tell you.
If this bear get you, it can end up costing you millions of dollars. There really aren't any shortcuts to having a successful online business. Fact: Sending unsolicited bulk email is a crime according to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.
The penalties are very STIFF.
1-900 Business Opportunities: This bear has claws and teeth. You will see an advertisement that says something like, “Call 1-900-555-5555 to discover your pot of gold!!!!!” It is sad but it is true that it is perfectly legal to advertise a 900 number. Unlike 800 numbers or 866 numbers, the 900 number call is NOT free.
Not only is it not "free" the cost per minute is set by the owner of the number and can be exorbitant. The advertisements are slick and very convincing. When you call one of these 900 numbers, your telephone company will be charging you be the minute. Fees per minute can be a few dollars of quite a few dollars.
You will be kept on the phone for as long as possible. You will be given information on how to set up your own 900 number (that's the secret that you are paying for) and how to place advertisements to get others to call your 900 number. When you get your next telephone bill, you may go into cardiac arrest because it is likely to be well over $1000.
You will have no recourse. You will either pay the bill or your telephone company will disconnect your service. The person who placed the advertisement gets most of the money that you will pay your telephone company.
FACT: Never call a 1-900 number! You do not know how much you will be charged per minute for the call and the ‘secret’ that you will be given access to is just how to pull the same dirty trick on others.
Instant Riches Can Be Yours! This bear is used by many different crooks and scam artists. The body of the advertisement changes with the tides or the seasons but the message remains the same. The message is that you can become unbelievably wealthy overnight if you just know how. The bears that place these advertisements are preying upon your ambition.
Your ambition is a good thing but you must remember that is also bear bait. Do you remember when the "Dot-Com Bubble" burst in 2000? For several years prior to the burst of the bubble, many bright-eyed-bushy-tailed young entrepreneurs made millions overnight.
They lost those millions overnight, as well.
Here is the bottom line of all Internet business opportunities: You can be a successful online business entrepreneur.....IF and ONLY IF....you are willing to put in the time, effort, energy, and money to become successful.
That success is not going to come overnight.
You might appear to be an overnight success to your friends and families but YOU will know better.
Fact: Overnight fortunes are never made overnight. They are the product of a lot of hard work and devotion to a dream. Don’t believe the hype.
Become a Blogging Millionaire: When this bear came out of the woods, I was just sure that nobody would buy into the scheme. I was wrong. A lot of people have fallen for this. The "pitch" is that all you have to do is just set up a blog (you can do this for free) and then sell high priced advertising space to big multimillion dollar companies.
You are told that these huge companies have stacks of cash lying around just waiting for you to claim it. Yes, blogging is big on the Internet at the moment but you won't be making millions by starting your own blog.
Blogging is a tool that is used by many very successful Internet marketers but it is not a business unto itself. There may well be a few blogs that are owned and operated by people who are famous or infamous that make money selling advertising space. Yours is not going to be one of them. You always must ask the question: “What is the promoter getting out of this offer?”
You can bet your boots that they aren't doing all this advertising for YOUR benefit and to help YOU get rich. They are selling something that will make money for THEM. In this case, the blogging website is free but the information that, according to them, you MUST have comes at a price.
For just a few hundred bucks they can tell you how to turn your blog into a “money-making machine”. Do you have any idea how many blog sites there are on the Internet? Me either but I can tell you that there are a lot more than a few. Huge multimillion dollar International corporations are not going to pay you for advertising space on your little blog website.
Fact: You aren’t going to make millions selling advertising space on your blog site. There are many legitimate ways to start and succeed at running an online business. You are to be greatly admired for wanting to do better for yourself and for your family. You do, however, need to understand that succeeding in the world of Internet commerce isn't going to happen overnight.
It isn't even going to happen over many nights. Succeeding at anything takes a lot of your time, effort and energy and succeeding at Internet commerce isn't an exception to that rule.
There are a lot of bears out there in the Internet jungle that will try to convince you that there are shortcuts that can make you successful and wealthy overnight. The bears are lying!
There are Tigers, There are so many ways that newbies can "be had" on the Internet. It is just sad that so many of those that are eaten up by the tigers that roam through the Internet jungle are only trying to find a way to be able to make some money using their personal computers and their Internet connections.
They aren't even hoping to become rich or famous. They don't expect making money to be easy or fast. They simply want a job that will allow them to stay at home with their young children, help to put a loved child through collage or add to their retirement income. They are honest, hard-working decent people....that make the tigers out there start thinking about lunch.
Work-from-home If you are considering trying to find a work at home job, you need to know that you will be working more hours for less money than you made at your job that was located in the brick and mortar world. On the other hand, you will not have all of the related expenses of a brick and mortar job either. # You will not have the expense of traveling to and from work. # You will not have the expense of suitable clothing for work. # You will not have the expense of day-care. # You will not have the expense of lunch out everyday.
Good things...all of them! But there is a downside to working from home, as well.
# You will be considered to be self-employed # You will have to pay all of your FICA tax. (Your employer now pays half.) # You will have to convince your family and friends that you really do have a job. # You had better be aware of the tigers and other critters that want to have you for lunch...at the entree.
There are schemes and scams out there that are directed at those who want to be work-at-home moms, those who are looking for an additional income source and those who are retirees looking for part-time work to supplement their incomes.
Some of these scams are:
Stuffing envelopes: “Make extra money by stuffing envelopes from home!” This tiger is a bit long in the tooth. It's been around for years. Advertisements for "at-home-envelope stuffers' can be found in newspapers at your local library that date back several decades....and yet people will still fall for it.
The reason that people will fall for this ploy is that they get all of that unsolicited mail at their own homes and they think that somebody had to have put that paper into those envelopes that are addressed to them. Nope! Sorry.... but no living person actually put that paper into those envelopes. It was put there by a machine and it was addressed by a computer. It was mailed in bulk. There is always, of course, a "small fee" to get started in the envelope stuffing business.
In return for this, "small fee" you will most likely get instructions for placing ads just like the one you fell for to get others to bite. It is tiger...it is a con...and the only way that you will ever get your money back is to fool others into thinking they can make money by stuffing envelopes.
Fact: There are no envelope stuffing jobs to be had!
Craft or assembly jobs:
This tiger is very attractive. It appeals to those who are talented at crafts or handy with hand tools. These folks see an advertisement that promises them that they can make a ton of money by just doing what they already know how to do and are very good at and it is just almost irresistible.
This looks like the opportunity that they have been looking for! Whoa! Put that sewing machine or those hand tools away and let‟s think this over. There are some things that you don‟t know.
There isn't any reason for you to know these things but you better learn them.....fast. The headline of this advertisement is in big bold print and there are usually multiple exclamation points, as well. The headline promises that you will be sent the material and then be paid for the finished products when you send them in to the employer.
Don't skip the print that isn't quite as big as that headline. That's where the "catch" is.....or, maybe I should say, catches. There's more than one way for this tiger to get you.
Usually the first thing is that you will be required to „invest‟ in some special equipment or supplies that aren't going to be included in the "free materials" that were promised in the larger print. This equipment or supplies can run anywhere from a few dollars to several hundred dollars. This is what the advertisers are selling! You will see that there is a no return policy for the equipment or supplies that you must purchase....there never is.
If you get out your magnifying glass and read the itty-bitty print at the very bottom that is well below the scroll line, you will see a statement that says something like, “All work must meet quality standards.” It will look something like this: “All work must meet quality standards.” That's where this tiger is really going to get you and get you good.
No work will ever meet quality standards. It isn't possible. You will buy the equipment or supplies. You will work to create the products as directed. You will never see one thin dime in payment for the finished products that you send.
It gets worse. You have no legal recourse. You agreed to buy the equipment or supplies and were told that there was a "no return" policy. You agreed to produce products that met "quality control standards" that were not specified. You've been had!
The fact is that there really is a huge market for hand-crafted products out there. The market is huge...maybe almost unlimited. If you have a talent for making hand-crafted products and if you have the ability to market them, you can make some money doing it.
You will not, however, ever make any money just using your talents to assemble hand-crafted products at home for these tigers that are not even selling them. They are selling the equipment and supplies....that is ALL they are selling...and they want to sell them to you.
Fact: You can make money selling hand crafted items but not by assembling these items for others.
Medical Billing: This very large headline will read something like, “Job explosion in the Health Care Industry!!!!!!!” There are always a lot of exclamation points. You will see these advertisements in newspapers, magazines and, of course, on the Internet. You will be told that the entire reason that medical costs are so high is because the medical profession needs your personal assistance and that just by taking a job, for which you will be very well paid, you can single-handedly lower the cost of health care for the whole world. Wow!
You need a job...and they need you! Sounds like a partnership that would work out well for everybody. These advertisements try to sell you on the idea that it's the overwhelming amount of required paperwork that is the root cause of the inflation of health care costs....for all of us.
These advertisements claim that all that is needed to fix this problem in the implementation of electronic claim processing....which is a new and innovative technology that has recently become available. Horse feathers! Electronic billing is done by a few well established companies. Doctors subscribe to these services and have been doing so for more than a few years. Medical billing isn't done by hand and hasn't been since the late 1980's.
If you answer one of the advertisements, what you will get in return for the hard-earned dollars that you send in is a brochure, an application, some discs, a contract, some disclosure statements (in tiny print), and possibly some testimonial letters from people who will swear that this has changed their lives and made the wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. HA!
What you will have are some basic instructions for setting up your own medical billing business. What you will not have is a medical building job. You will be required to get your own clients. They will not be supplied. As I said before, there are a few (and only a few) well established companies that have been doing this billing for doctors for many years.
They are your competition...and very stiff competition. You will be promised that you can earn a ton of bucks by only working part time and at your own pace. Now stop just a minute and think about that. Part time AND a ton of money? Does that really sound reasonable to you?
It isn't a reasonable expectation. You aren't likely to make a ton of money working at a full time job of any kind and you certainly won't be making very much, if anything, by working part time. Real world business doesn't work like that and neither does Internet based businesses.
Oh, and you will also be required to make a personal investment of between one and TEN thousand dollars in order to get in on the golden opportunity.
Fact: Medical billing is well covered by the few companies who have been doing it for decades. You aren’t the answer to the soaring cost of health care.
Date Entry: No doubt you can picture yourself just putting numbers in columns for a few hours a day from the comfort of your own home and making enough money by doing it to make up your financial short fall, right? No...sorry....that isn't really very likely to happen.
I'm not telling you that there are NO data entry jobs available. I am only telling you that you aren't likely to get one of them by answering one of those slick ads that promise you a data entry job if you will but sign up for their course.
The problem with these so-called data entry courses, is that they rarely have anything to do with data entry jobs. Most of them are more on the order of teaching you (more or less) how to set up and run your own affiliate program. There isn't anything wrong with affiliate programs but they aren't data entry jobs.
They are businesses in which you will do some data entry work....like on tax forms when you file your self-employment tax returns. There can also be data entry work in the operation of an affiliate marketing business.
You will need to enter data in order to maintain orderliness in your business. If you let this tiger get you, after you pay you money you will get a course that will either be delivered electronically via the computer, on CD‟s or DVD‟s. This course will teach how to find affiliate programs that you can sign up for (information that is readily available for free on the Internet).
Then you will be instructed how to set up advertisements in Google Ad Words (this information is also readily available on the Internet). What you will not be told is that affiliate marketing is an extremely competitive business.
It isn't a data entry job. You will be told that these ads that you have to set up in Google Ad words will only cost you one penny each. Now there is a big fat, out-and-out, rotten lie. You might set up ads that will only cost you one penny each time someone clicks on them....that much is true. Your ads will be listed on about page 15 in search results and you aren't very likely to have them clicked on.
But if, by some stroke of luck, they are clicked on, they cost well more than one penny per click. Fact: Data entry courses are a scam. They will not secure a data entry job for you.
Writers Wanted: Here's is yet another tiger that is out to make you the main course for his dinner. It is absolutely true that the Internet gobbles up words at an alarming rate and that there is always a demand for those who can write articles, ebooks and reports about a variety of subjects.
Writing for the Internet is an art. Just because you can string sentences together that are grammatically correct and make sense doesn't mean that you can write for Internet marketers. The advertisements that you see that say, "Writers Wanted" don't really want writers. What they want are the people who want to be writers. There will always be a course you are required to pay for or a list that you are required to buy.
That's what these advertisements are selling....courses or lists....they are NOT selling writing jobs.
Fact: You will not get a job writing by taking a course or buying a list.
Check List.
There really are work-at-home jobs out there. The problem is finding the ones that are legitimate job offers. So many are nothing more than Internet jungle tigers waiting to take advantage of you. Here is a check list that will help you to separate the fact from the fiction:
1. What is the "cost" of getting the job that is advertised? Find out what, if any, equipment or supplies are required. Legitimate work-at-home jobs do not require that you spend money. They pay YOU money.
2. Tell me what the tasks are that I must perform in order to get paid. This is a legitimate question to ask. Every job on earth comes with a job description of some kind. If the company or individual that you are talking to can describe the job is a few sentences, keep looking.
3. Is this a salaried position or will I be paid on a commission or hourly basis? Here's another one question that any potential employee shouldn't hesitate to ask. Pay is always based upon something. It is either paid as a salary that has nothing whatsoever to do with hours worked or it is based upon an hourly pay scale for which you will be required to sign in and sign out or it is based upon a commission of percentage of sales that you must make.
4. Who pays me and when? That's an easy question. Every single legitimate company or individual employer has regular and specified pay periods. You might be paid once a week, once a month or twice a month. Any of those pay period options are perfectly legitimate.
5. Where are you located? This is a question that only someone who is working from home would have to ask. If you were working in the brick and mortar world, you would be well aware of the place where you were expected to report to work. The Internet presents another little problem. We are all connected electronically rather that physically. You might be working for someone who is located in Malaysia. You need to be told where the person or business is physically located.
6. How will I receive instructions? Here again, this is a problem that only comes up when the job is being done on the computer. You may receive instructions by email or by way of an instant messaging service.
7. Who will I receive instructions from? This is a question that might need to be answered for real world businesses as well as for online ones. Many times there will be more than one partner in an online business. You need to know who it is that will supply you with instructions and directions. You don't want to have to decide who to take direction from.
What Can You Do if the Tiger Gets You? You are not likely to ever recover any money that you have paid to the work-at-home scam artists have taken you for. Of course, it never hurts to try. Who knows? You might get lucky and at the very least you might prevent another person from getting taken in.
You might even make it hard enough on a work-at-home scam artist to make him think he has a tiger by the tail.
1. The Federal Trade Commission is the government entity charged with the protection of consumers. Call them at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). That is the place to report fraudulent business practices.
2. If you live in a metropolitan area, there is most likely a consumer protection office in your area. You can call them or write them.
3. Report the offending business to the Better Business Bureau. This sometimes seems to be an exercise in futility but it does have a direct impact on businesses.
4. If any part of the correspondence came to you through the USPS, you can contact your local postmaster to report it. Mail fraud is a federal crime.
5. You can contact the Attorney General of the state in which the company or individual is based. They may well have violated some state laws in the process of scamming you. Frankly, it just makes my blood boil when I see these slick advertisements that are aimed directly at those that are least able to absorb the cost of being scammed.
There may be very little that you can actually do to undo the damage that they have caused you, but by putting forth some time and effort you may prevent them from doing the same thing to others.
Everyday hundreds, thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people decide to investigate the idea of working from home or starting their very own home-based business. They have heard of others that have done so who have been very successful...maybe even wildly successful at it.
Some of these people are very computer savvy individuals. They may even have the ability to build their own webpages. They certainly know the ins and outs of operating a computer. Others aren't all that computer savvy but they think they have a great idea for an Internet business and are sure that they can find a way to follow their dream. The Internet really is the great equalizer.
The level of formal education that a budding Internet entrepreneur has doesn't seem to have much bearing on the degree of success that they can achieve on the Internet or how much of a failure they can become. There are those who have reached dizzying heights of success who never finished high school and those who have hit rock bottom who have multiple college degrees. The commonalities of those who succeed in either working from home or running a home-based business are:
1. They are all self-starters. 2. They have a positive attitude. 3. They are willing to learn. 4. They develop the necessary survival skills....it really is a jungle out there.
If you are considering starting, or have already started working from home or a home-based business, you are obviously a self-starter. You wouldn't have even considered such a venture if you didn't have a positive attitude. You are apparently willing to learn, you are reading this book. The world of Internet business is the electronic equivalent of a jungle. In words made famous in “The Wizard of Oz”, “There are lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” Survival and success aren't based on education. They are both based upon the mastering of survival skills.
There are Lions
Funny! When you log onto the Internet, there is nothing that indicates that you have just entered an untamed jungle. You don't hear any roaring lions or other ominous sounds and you don't see any wild animals that are planning to have you as the main course for dinner but they are out there. They are just in disguise.
There is no particular order that you will meet these dangerous characters but some of the first ones that you are likely to meet are those that I like to think of as the "welcoming committee".
Selling What’s Free, The object of this welcoming committee is to sell you what can be had for free all over the Internet if you know where to look. Anti-Virus Protection The first thing that you will be told that you must buy is anti-virus software. Now, there are some very good anti-virus programs out there that are being sold. But if your financial ability is somewhat limited, you really do not have to buy expensive anti-virus programs.
Yes, you must have an anti-virus program on your computer. There isn't any doubt about that one. The Internet is full of creeps that get their jollies by infecting computers with viruses, worms and trojans. You don't want that to happen to you or your computer. There are those that spend their every waking hour just dreaming up new and insidious ways of making problems for the rest of us.
Luckily, there are just as many good folks out there that spend their time figuring out how to keep them from doing it to us. Two of the best known anti-virus programs out there are Norton and McAfee and both of them are very good programs. Both of them are also rather expensive. McAfee is more expensive than Norton but neither one of them are really cheap and they are certainly not free.
However, there is also a very good one that is absolutely free. AVG has many anti-virus and other security programs available but they also have a free version. This free version works very well and provides ample protection. You can find this free program at AVG (http://www.grisoft.com/doc/products-avg-anti-virus-free-edition/lng/us/tpl/tpl01).
Firewalls
Most computers today come with built-in firewalls. Windows added that feature to XP. It is already on your computer when you bring it home. Just because you already have a firewall that is sufficient to protect your computer, doesn't mean that there won't be members of the welcome-to-the-jungle committee who won't be trying to sell you one.
You will be told that the one that is on your computer has failed to protect you. You will see these little pop-ups telling you that you need to have your computer scanned. The scan is, of course, free. The purpose of the scan is to sell you something that you don't need....usually a firewall, but there are other programs as well. You already have a firewall and multiple firewalls do not add protection. They actually interfere with each other.
You are better off to stick with the firewall that came built into your computer. Instructional ‘Courses’ There are many very good instructional courses available on the Internet. There are even more instructional courses on the Internet that are totally bogus. They only offer you information that is readily available for free and charge you large sums to provide it to you. One of the very worst ones that I have seen promises to teach you "data entry". This course has absolutely nothing to do with data entry or data entry work. It "teaches" you to sign up for affiliate programs and place ads in Google Ad Words for those products.
Affiliate marketing can be a very lucrative Internet business. It isn't learned easily but it is a real Internet business. This program tries to disguise affiliate marketing as data entry solely for the purpose of fooling young stay-at-home-moms, retired people, and others into spending fifty hard-earned bucks on a program that isn't going to be of any value to them at all if they are looking for a work-at-home job and aren't prepared or able to put in the hundred plus hours each week that are required to launch a successful affiliate marketing business.
Remember this. Anybody with dollar signs in their eyes, a computer and an Internet connection can advertise instructional programs. Some of these "helpful" folks simply gather information that is readily available on the Internet, package it, write some slick advertising and then sell it to unsuspecting, hard working newbies who just haven't learned the ropes yet.
Before you ever sign up for a "course" and pay money for it, do some research about the subject being "taught" first and then ask yourself these questions:
Question #1: Can I find this information for myself?
Question #2: Is this information that I really need?
Question #3: Can this information really help me?
Question #4: Is the information being offered what it appears to be?
Question #5: Is there a guarantee?
Question #6: Will I be required to spend additional money to implement the information?
Question #7: How stiff will the competition be?
Question #8: Does the "course" assume that I have more computer skills than I actually possess?
Question #9: Is the person teaching the course really knowledgeable or well-known?
Question #10: Does the advertisements sound too good to be true?
Disguised Pyramid Schemes
Pyramid schemes have been around since about the time the actual pyramids were built. You'd think that in the intervening few thousand years people would be able to easily recognize a pyramid scheme when they came face to face with one. The people who dream these things up, however, are pretty slick characters.
A pyramid scheme never, ever, comes labeled as a pyramid scheme. It is really easy to get sucked into one of these schemes. You need to understand how they work and be able to spot them for what they are.
There are a few "buzz" words that can tip you off:
1. Recruit: “to engage in finding and attracting employees, new members, students, athletes, etc.” That's one of the definitions of the word according to the dictionary. The use of the word, "recruit" (or any variation) should be a major tip off that the program that is being promoted to you is most likely a pyramid scheme. Some of these schemes can be easily spotted while others are a little harder to identify. Just beware when you see the word, "recruit".
There was a scheme that went around awhile back that was sent by unsolicited email that offered an "exclusive opportunity" to earn a boat load of money by recruiting people to sell a device that would provide access to the Internet by television. No, I'm not kidding. This happened and people fell for it.
2. "Buy the secret and sell...." This is a typical pyramid scheme that you will often see. This is another "offer" that arrives in your inbox that you have not solicited. You are offered an "exclusive" opportunity to buy a secret that will allow you to make a hundred thousand dollars a month (no work required) and then you can sell this secret to others for a substantial profit and they will make money for you. These gullible folks will just fill your bank account with beautiful green-backs. Wait! You are the gullible folk they are targeting.
You can believe me when I tell you that there really aren't a lot of people out there in this world that are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to send you money. You can also believe that there is no legitimate Internet business that is going to immediately make you hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. You might someday make that kind of money but if you do, it will be after you have put in an incredible amount of time and effort and not because you bought a "secret"...there isn't one.
3. "Let others do the work": This little phrase has pyramid scheme written all over it. The "pitch" is usually for a non-existent product. You will be sent information buy bulk mail that gives you instructions for getting other's to promote this "product" and all you will have to do is count your millions. Right! Don't fall for that one.
Disguised MLM
If you are really new to the world of internet business or work-at-home job opportunities, you may not know what MLM means. It means Multi-Level-Marketing. MLM is similar to a pyramid scheme but it isn't exactly the same. True pyramid schemes don't involve the selling of an actual product but MLM is all about selling an actual product.
In Internet terms, Multilevel Marketing is selling products by using independent distributors and allowing these distributors to build and manage their own sales force by recruiting, motivating, supplying, and training others to sell products.
The distributors' compensation includes their own sales and a percentage of the sales of their sales group (downline). “So,” you say, “that just sounds like a good idea for making money.” Well, it IS a good way for making money. The problem is that it is illegal.
Do you see that tip-off word, "recruiting"? The other tip-off that this is a MLM scheme is the phrase, "percentage of sales".
There is nothing illegal about setting up and affiliate program and PAYING a percentage of sales to those who sell your products or services to others. There is nothing illegal about COLLECTING the percentages that are offered by the producers of the products or services.
That is simply good business and a more than just common practice in the Internet business world. The problem arises when you start COLLECTING percentages of sales from people whom you have recruited to sell the product. Then another level is added and it becomes multi-level marketing. Even one additional level is illegal but there are MLM schemes that will have many, MANY layers.
The main Internet banking and money exchange on the Internet is Paypal. Paypal employs full-time personnel to search for and identify MLM schemes. When these schemes are uncovered, the account (and all attached accounts and credit cards) are frozen.
Yes, it is true that sometimes Paypal does misidentify a perfectly legitimate business as a MLM scheme but it doesn‟t happen very often and the problem can usually be resolved in just two or three business days. This very thing happened to a friend of mine not long ago. It was resolved but not without him being able to prove that his business was not a MLM scheme.
This does point out the fact, however, that there are those who are looking for illegal MLM schemes. You may think that you are very anonymous on the Internet but when you do business on the Internet you are not longer anonymous. Beware of Lions There are a lot of big hungry lions in the Internet jungle. They are looking for easy marks...they love newbies best of all.
How To Decide If Freelancing Really Is The Way To Go?
If you are planning to quit your current job and enter the world of the freelancer, then you had better be pretty darn well sure that this is something you want to do.
Even if you are totally sure that you want to become a freelancer in your chosen field, is it something that is financially possible for you?
Can you support your family on the salary you make from a freelancer?
What about healthcare, are you prepared to give that up too in pursuit of a future as a freelancer?
Can you handle the stress that comes from working with tight, often ridiculous deadlines on your projects?
Do you work well by yourself and can you speak well when talking with a potential client who may want to hire you for his next project?
Finally, do you have what it takes to constantly advertise yourself and your services to anyone who may be interested?
Far too often, people think that they want to be freelancers simply because it sounds cool.
After all, many people get it into their heads that there is no more relaxing work atmosphere than being able to wake up late, work on your computer while you are wearing your pajamas, and take off whatever days you want as your vacation.
Sure, those are all perks of being a freelancer, but let’s be honest here - there are quite a few trials and tribulations that you will have to go through as a freelancer before you can reach the point where you do not have to worry about your finances anymore.
Yes, that is something that so many people fail to realize – you cannot expect to simply quit your current job for life as a freelancer and suddenly have hundreds of potential clients knocking at your door in hope that you will do a project for them.
There is much more to freelancing than that, so let’s find out if you have what it takes to make it in the cutthroat world of the freelancer.
The first thing that you have to realize about being a freelancer is that you may not be able to make ends meet on freelancing alone for quite some time.
So, if you are thinking about quitting your current job – don’t do it just yet. Instead, test the waters and be sure that you like freelancing first, and find out how much money you can make as a freelancer before you even begin to work on your resignation papers.
As a fledgling freelancer, your best bet is to start off with clients that may not pay as much but will be able to get you in the door.
Sure, you will have to take jobs that you may think are below you – but in the end it will pay off.
Maybe not financially at first, but by way of getting your name out there and adding employment opportunities to your ever expanding list of satisfied customers.
Therefore, if you want to freelance professionally, you have to be willing to take a pay cut at first in order to be successful later.
Secondly, you have to figure out whether or not you can support your family on the salary you will make as a freelancer.
Remember that you will have to take a pay cut from your current job when you first start out as a freelancer, and when you finally quit your current job for good, will you be able to bring in enough work to keep your family’s lifestyle at the same level it currently is?
These are important questions that you have to ask yourself before you make that big leap into the world of freelancing.
While it is not very important if you decide to keep doing freelance work as a supplement to your current income – it will become extremely important if you decide to make your freelance salary your sole income.
Next, you have to think about what you will do for healthcare as a freelancer. Without the support of an already established business behind you, you will have to pay for your own (and your family’s) health insurance out of pocket.
This is not a big deal if you have a spouse that gets health insurance from his or her workplace, but if your spouse is a stay at home parent or is involved in their own freelance business, this becomes a major expense to think about.
So be sure that you will be able to afford health insurance for all of your loved ones when you become a freelancer.
Stress management is a key factor of working for you as a freelancer. You will be faced with projects that may require you to work long and hard before you can finish them.
Often, these projects will be extremely difficult and be under some ludicrous deadline – making them that much more intense. So, are you good at handling stressful situations such as these?
After all, if you are not able to get the project back to your client on time and in working order, you may be discredited and have a much more difficult time finding work for many months to come.
Are you a team player or do you work better as an individual? While this question may seem insignificant, remember that as a freelancer you really have no team to rely on should you not know how to do something.
Sure, you could scour the internet for answers to your questions – but that will take away valuable time from your project.
So, if you are the type of person who can accomplish tasks more efficiently in a group, then you may want to rethink the idea of going freelance, because the individualize work environment of a freelancer is certainly not for you.
Finally, can you handle the fact that you must constantly advertise your services to just about anyone who may need you to do some work for them?
Do you have enough self esteem that you can promote yourself as if you are the best freelancer out there?
Being able to constantly advertise your services is a major benefit for anyone looking to become a freelancer.
While it is possible to by shy or withdrawn and be successful at freelancing, you will have a much easier time if you are more vocal about promoting your services to prospective customers.
Find Out Where To Look For Customers In Droves When Freelancing
So you have finally decided to take that first big step in your career change towards the world of freelancing, but there is just one hitch – you have no idea where to find your first clients and customers.
A few years ago you would have to act solely by means of local businesses and private residents of your community in hopes that someone, anyone you know could lead you to a potentially high paying client for your freelance work.
Writers always had it easier because there were hundreds of magazines and newspapers who always needed freelancers on a day to day basis – but if you were a web designer or a software programmer, chances are you were out of luck. But that was back before the internet wove its way into homes across the world.
Finding customers for your fresh freelancing operation has never been easier thanks to the internet. People and companies looking for freelancer workers to help them with a project or two are all over the place and can help you get started in the freelance world if you are lucky enough to find a client that will work with you time and time again.
Furthermore, as a freelancer you can also use the internet to your advantage to advertise your services on various forums and other freelance web resources. In these situations, instead of you looking for some prospective clients, they look for you – allowing you to focus on whatever tasks and projects you are currently working on for others.
As an up and coming freelancer, the first thing you must do when looking for clients is to get your name out there. Let people know who you are, what you do, how well you do it, and what you can do for them.
Potential clients love a freelancer who is willing to get the job done right the first time on a timely manner, and if you have no prior experience, you may have trouble getting high paying customers to trust you right off the bat.
However, if you start with a few low paying jobs, you will quickly find that you can advance through the ranks very rapidly and soon be able to net all of the projects that will allow you to keep your freelance business self sufficient.
There is no better way to get off on the right path as a freelancer than to assemble a clear, concise, and focused portfolio of your work.
You can either include this portfolio as an email attachment when you apply for positions offered to you by clients, or if you have some web design skills you can create a personal portfolio website that outlines all of the specific projects that you have worked on over the years for various clients.
Whatever type of portfolio you choose to create, be sure that it is targeted to the audience you are trying to attract, as there is no sense in including work you did as a software programmer if you are looking for work as a freelance photographer for example.
Now, when it comes to finding clients for your freelance business in masses, you need to focus your attention to the various forums and discussion boards that dot the web.
Google is a great way to search for different websites that are specific to your chosen freelance field, and if possible you should avoid posting advertisements for your services in freelance forums that are not frequented by people who are looking for freelancers in your line of work.
Posting out of section makes you look bad and could result in you being banned from various freelancing websites that may have proven helpful to you in the future as your business expands.
Because it is so important for you to find freelance websites that are focused to your particular field of operation, you need to decide on one or two services that you think you can find freelance work in and then go from there.
If you choose one of the popular freelance jobs, such as writer, editor, photographer, web designer, or software programmer then you will have a much easier time finding work online because there are so many different freelance directories available to you.
As any kind of freelancer, one of the best places to start your search for customers from around the world is Craig’s List.
This is your one stop shop that can help you find work in your local metro area as well as in cities and countries from around the world.
Most of the jobs offered at Craig’s List allow you to work at home although you may have to visit the offices of some of the higher paying positions from time to time.
Another amazing resource for freelancers of all kinds is Guru, a website that helps prospective freelancers in all fields find customers from around the world.
It caters mostly to well establish freelance professionals though, so you may want to turn to it later once you have exhausted your other freelancing options.
If you are a freelance writer or editor, there are a couple of excellent freelancing websites for you.
The first is Freelance Writing, a massive database where employers and freelancers can post their information in hopes that they will find a suitable match on a per project basis.
You will mostly find lower paying jobs here, but it is a great start if you are just getting into freelancing or if you are simply looking for a couple of easy part time projects to supplement your current income.
Also, the Writer’s Market is a great place to not only find work but to learn all of the ins and outs of the writing and editing business. You can get in touch with potential clients as well as hone your skills as a writer.
Those involved in the world of design and programming should turn to ScriptLance as their source of well paying jobs in their chosen industry.
As one of the leading websites for those involved in programming and design, this is probably the most likely place that you will find a well paying job in the web and software field. If you are looking for other options, check out the Freelance Job Search, a website that will help you find lesser known, but well paying freelance jobs in the world of web design, graphic design, and programming.
Learn How to Get started In The Freelancing Business
We have all read an article, seen a photograph, tinkered around with some software, or visited a website that was designed by some type of freelancer.
Chances are that at some point or another we have all wanted to go out on our own – away from our current jobs – and start a new career path as a freelancer in our field of specialization.
But why don’t we?
What holds so many of us back from going out and doing what it is that we want to do with our lives?
Why do we allow ourselves to be tied to our employer as if some invisible shackles enslave us?
What types of skills do we need in order to finally break free from the nine to five shifts and start out on our own as a freelancer?
You should ask yourself all of these questions before you even think about quitting your current occupation in pursuit of a freelance job.
Each and every year, far too many people believe that they can simply quit their jobs and pursue a career as a freelancer in whatever their specific field may be – and far too many of them fail, only to go crawling back to their previous employer in hopes that he will give the destitute freelancer his former job back.
This unfortunate circumstance happens for one reason and one reason alone – the person who wanted to branch out on his own as a freelancer had no idea what to expect.
People told him that he could be free, have as many days off as he wanted and retain all of the profits from his work.
But nobody ever told him that he may have to work long and hard to meet deadlines, manage his finances himself, and compete with thousands of others for the same clients.
Before you begin any ventures into the world of freelancing, you should know that it is not all fun and games – a lot of serious thought must go into your actions if you are to be successful.
Now that you have thought it over and you are absolutely sure that freelancing is right for you, it is time to set foot into your new career path and start looking for some work.
Whatever you do, do not quit your current job right now, as you will not have a livable source of income for at least a few months while you search for well paying projects.
Quitting your job will come in due time, but only after you have managed to net a few illustrious contracts first.
With your passion and desire in hand, the first step of your new life as a freelancer should be to log onto your computer, pull open your web browser of choice, head over to one of the top three search engines, and look for work.
Use specific keywords that can describe what you want to do with your life and sooner or later you will wind up with a massive database of different websites that cater to the freelance community in your specific field.
After all, if you are a freelance writer why would you look for work at the software programming freelance directories?
Once you have constructed a list of the top websites in your field where you think you will be able to find clients, visit the sites daily (or subscribe to their RSS feeds) to find projects that would not only be interesting to you but will also pay the bills.
Chances are that when you start out down the road of a freelancer in any field you will find that you can only get small time, low pay contracts and projects that really do not require much skill at all.
This is because you are new and relatively unknown to the freelance community.
As time passes though, and you get client after client, more and more people will start to know who you are and the kind of work you will do.
You can then net the higher paying projects that will allow you to really start supplementing your income greatly.
Eventually you may even find that some potential clients may start coming to you with their work, hearing how much you can accomplish or how good you are at meeting deadlines from the people who hired you previously.
Upon becoming a freelancer for the first time, it is also important that you create a mass of different items that can show off the kind of work you do.
Making this portfolio may be one of the most important things you can do if you want to succeed as a freelancer, as it will help you move up in the world of freelance work.
Only include projects that you have all of the rights to, as if someone thinks that you may have stolen pieces of your portfolio from others, the word may get out and you risk not being hired for freelance work by anyone – ever.
Furthermore, only add items to your portfolio that make you look good in whatever particular field you are trying to find freelance work in.
Sure, if you are looking for freelance work as a web designer you could include an article you wrote on chemistry, but why would someone looking for a skilled web designer really care about something you wrote for a chemistry website – unless your client was also hiring you to write his web copy.
Finally, your competition from around the globe will be another major barrier in your pursuit to become a self sufficient freelancer.
People from all walks of life and from just about every country in the world will be competing for the same projects as you, so you had better be prepared to offer something that other people simply cannot compete with.
For example, if you are a freelance writer or editor, the best way to compete is to explain to your clients that you are a native English speaker.
Graphic and web designers as well as software programmers should take plenty of extra college courses to show how well they are educated in their craft.
Finally, no matter field you are freelancing in, you should always take some time as an unpaid worker to create some examples for your portfolio that really highlight your strong points.
After a long day at the office, you decide to stop by your local Barnes & Noble bookstore to pick up a copy of your favorite magazine.
When you open it up to a story that you find fascinating, you look at the author’s name and see that in his biography it says that he is a professional freelance writer.
Looking at the selected photographs, drawings and diagrams quickly makes you realize that all of the artwork for the story was also done by freelance photographers and graphic designers.
Returning home from the bookstore, you decide to start up your computer and log online to check out the news for the day that you might have missed.
Topping the list on your favorite tech news website is a brand new program that looks like it could be a lot of use to you.
Visiting the software programmer’s website shows that he is also a freelancer – and seems to be doing rather well at his chosen trade.
Realizing that so much is created by freelancers, you decide to dedicate the rest of your evening to researching the freelance databases to see if you have what it takes to join this growing world of self employed individuals.
Before you begin your hunt to be a freelancer though, you need to know the benefits and the drawbacks of working for yourself on a per client basis.
A lot of people will tell you that setting foot outside of the office was the best thing they ever could have done while others will tell you that they could not wait for each of their freelance projects to be over because they simply could not stand the stress of their assignments.
In order to be a successful freelancer you really have to weigh all of the pros and cons and be absolutely sure that the career path is right for you.
So, without further ado, here are some of the most common benefits and drawbacks you will face as a freelancer.
Benefits
The moment you decide to become a freelancer, everyone you talk to will probably tell you how cool it is to be your own boss.
You are in control of your work and nobody else (except for your clients) can tell you what to do. If you don’t want to work on Fridays – you don’t have to.
Take any days off that you want, but make sure that you finish your projects by the deadline. By being your own boss, you really have the freedom to steer your life where you want it to go.
You get to plan your own schedules, choose the projects that you find enjoyable, charge any rate you please, and be almost totally self sufficient – a major bonus of being a freelancer for many people looking to escape the daily grind.
Another of the big benefits you will always hear people talking about when it comes to freelancing is that you can set your own dress code. If you find all of your freelance work online, who is to say that you don’t have to just hang around in your pajamas or underwear all day long?
No sense in getting all dressed up when you can just get out of bed, enjoy a nice cup of hot coffee, watch the news for a few minutes and then plop yourself down at your computer to start your workday.
Freelancing gives you the ability to work in your own style and in total comfort no matter who or what you are doing work for.
By working freelance you can also spend a lot more time with your family and friends.
Because you do not have to go to work on a strict schedule, you can spend time with your children when they get home from school and with your friends and your spouse whenever they have off work.
The flexibility of having a freelance career is second to none and there is practically no other job in the world that gives you both the spare time and the financial freedom to do what you want to do when you want to do it.
Finally, with freelancing you have a near limitless income potential. Because you work for yourself, you get to keep all of what you earn. Not a penny goes to anyone else (aside from the government in the form of taxes).
All of the profits belong to you so you get to spend it how you please. Furthermore, because you work on a per project basis, you can accept as many projects as you want to earn as much money as you see fit.
You are not salaried, so the more work you do, the more you get paid.
Drawbacks
As with anything in the world, there are drawbacks to becoming a freelancer in any field you choose. The predominant drawback is that you are not as financially stable as you are when you are working for someone else.
You have to take care of all of your money management, you have to work on project after project if you want to have enough money to stay financially afloat, and you have to provide for your own healthcare.
These three factors all add up to create a feeling of fiscal insecurity for many people, and because of the major financial risk involved, many people feel that freelancing is not for them.
There is also heavy competition in the world of freelancing. The internet has been both a blessing and a curse to freelancers from around the world.
On one hand it has opened the doors to make the world of freelancing much more accessible to anyone who has ever thought about setting out on their own and becoming their own boss.
On the other hand though, the internet makes it very easy for freelancers to get in touch with potential clients and possibly steal jobs right out from under you.
Because of the heavy competition as a result of the internet, you may have to start out with very low pay for each project you do as a novice freelancer.
When your client list expands however, you will be able to make more in the long term.
Freelancing – A Great Option and Way of Making a Living in a Recession
When you think of freelancing, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? You probably think of a writer, novelist or journalist right off hand.
That is primarily because for centuries, the only real job you could have as a freelancer had to do with your mastery of the written word.
But we are not still stuck back in the early nineteen hundreds – no we are in the twenty first century, a time that appreciates freelancers in hundreds of different jobs.
Sure, you have probably heard of freelance photographers too, you may have even met one or two in your life, but what about freelance software designers, freelance medical billing specialists, or even freelance scientific researchers?
There are all jobs that have recently begun to see massive growth in their respective fields because more and more people are realizing that they can make far more money working for themselves as freelancers than they ever could solely from working under the wing of their previous employer.
So it sounds pretty good doesn’t it? You work in some field for quite a few years, get a lot of practical experience in your chosen area of employment and then gradually make the switch from working the nine to five to becoming your own boss as a freelancer.
But is it really as easy as it sounds to become a freelancer and actually make a living doing work on a freelance basis?
We have to keep in mind that there are quite a few freelancers out there who are only doing work part time.
Not because they make a ton of money and only have to work a couple of days per week but because they actually have had some trouble finding work in the past and need a much more solid career option in order to make sure that they do not find themselves facing bankruptcy.
However, such a scenario does not have to happen to you if you are willing to do whatever it takes to become a freelancer. Your career switch may not happen overnight – but eventually you will become highly successful at what you do.
It’s a guarantee.
The first step in making that jump from office work to freelance is to decide whether or not you have what it takes to become a freelancer.
We all want to be our own boss, but do we all have the drive and dedication that it takes to be successful without the watchful eye of our supervisors?
Sadly, we don’t.
Therefore, you have to really sit down and think about what makes you so special in the world of freelancers.
Do you have a large enough skill set to make you stand out amongst the hoards of different people all seeking the same work as you?
Do you have the time management skills necessary to run your own freelancing operation and meet all of the deadlines set upon you by your clients?
If you have even the slightest doubt in your mind about freelancing, then maybe there are other career paths that are better for you in the long run.
Now, provided that you are willing to jump in to your freelancing business with both feet, you need to start off on the freelance path slowly before you can really start raking in the cash.
Don’t quit your job just yet! Instead, you need to begin your hunt for freelance work in your area of expertise on the internet and see what you can come up with.
Some skills, such as the ability to write coherently or do software design for clients of all types, are highly marketable and you should really have no difficulty whatsoever finding a goldmine of work.
On the other hand, if you are only able to do tasks that are not as easily marketable on a freelance basis, you will have much more difficulty finding work for your freelance operation.
Currently some of the most popular fields for freelancing include writing, editing, photography, web and graphic design, software design, and architecture or drafting.
Once you have settled on a field that you want to freelance in, you will need to start finding your first clients. Whatever you do, do not start your hunt with any of the clients that you may have dealt with in your current job.
There are all kinds of laws against this practice and it may get you into serious trouble if you are caught.
Instead, turn to your favorite search engine and search for some forums and databases specifically designed for freelancers seeking work in a particular field.
There are tons of different places for you to visit, so within an hour or so you will probably have at least ten or fifteen bookmarks of places online where you can find employment as a freelancer.
When you find you have some free time, all you have to do is search around on each one of these bookmarked websites to find the freelance positions that sound good to you.
When you start out as a freelancer, you will probably have to take a few jobs that do not pay very well at all. That’s fine because these jobs help you build your skill set.
They will help you learn how to more effectively manage your time, speed up your workflow, and even help you get more used to using a computer and the internet to search for answers to any questions that may pop up while you are doing work for your client.
The low paying jobs will probably last for awhile, as until you have assembled a massive list of satisfied clients you will have to primarily compete with all of the other freelancers in your field entirely on how low your rates and fees are.
Eventually though you will graduate into higher and higher paying jobs until you will find that you have practically doubled your current income with income from freelancing.
At this point you should feel confident enough to possibly start thinking about reducing the number of hours you work at your current job to part time status or even quit your job all together and make your fortunes solely through freelancing in your selected field.
How To Determine If Your Business Is Growing And Staying Green
When you are green, you are growing. Once you start to turn red, you are expiring. Don’t you want to always stay green then? As an entrepreneur, one thing that you should realize is that the world never stays the same.
You are, for the most part, always going to find some changes happening. As a business owner, if you can not adjust your business to those changes, you may find yourself facing more problems then benefits. Many companies have had to go out of business simply because their product no longer works with what the consumer needs.
It does not matter what type of business you have either. The bottom line is that if you are not green and growing, you are not going to make it in business for long. Is your business green and growing?
The Long Term Goal The long term goal of any business situation is to insure that they are able to meet the needs of the client or consumer. If they can not do this, they can not have consumers and will eventually fall out of the scope.
If they do happen to do this, they will find rewards continuously with increased profit and new customers to fill their pockets. In this case, the long term goal that you need to make is to maintain green. You need to maintain some aspect that will continuously help you to move forward with what is happening within your business.
If you are not sure why this is important, take for instance, the current situation. Enter The Car Manufacturing Business Today, we hear quite a bit of talk about energy cost, the cost of gas and all that goes with it.
In fact, today, more people know what the cost of a barrel of crude oil is than they ever have. Why is this; and what does this do for the industry?
If you haven’t spent any time shopping for a car, you may not realize that many manufacturers are struggling to stay in business. Their problem is that their cars, trucks or anything in between are not able to meet the demands of the consumer.
Why not?
They may not be able to offer low enough mileage. With each passing year, more and more consumers are looking for a better way to fuel their energy needs. That comes in the way of cars that are hybrids and those that do not run on gas at all.
In these cases, if the business can not meet the needs of the consumer, how can they run effective businesses? They can’t and that is the same thing that can happen to virtually any business out there.
Unless your business can be green, growing and exploring new routes to take, it can not meet the needs of the consumer who is, of course, the lifeblood of the business. How To Do It The question that you need to ask yourself, then, is what do you need to do to make this happen in your business?
Let’s say that you have an internet business. Perhaps one of the important things that you must do is keep up with search engine optimization.
If you do not follow and keep in contact with the new rules and the changing scheme of matters, your website won’t rank well and will fall out of the scope of being worthwhile. In this case, it is essential that you maintain the ability to keep your knowledge and your skill at the highest quality.
The same goes for various other businesses including those such as insurance agency and real estate agency. Unless you keep your knowledge at the top, you can not make sure you are doing what is right.
There are other ways that you need to think about this as well. For example, what about marketing? If your marketing is not trendy enough (or happens to be too trendy for the wrong market) you may find yourself in trouble. In this case, it is essential for you to find a way to target the right audience with the right medium and to keep it up.
You already know how to market your business; just make sure that you stay up to date on how to do this as the market changes. What other aspects of your business can you think of that have the same potential for your attention?
Finding the various ways that you need to stay fresh may include keeping your business product fresh, with the latest technology and aspects to fit the consumer’s need and even reinventing yourself to insure that the company always stays at the top.
When you invest time and money into keeping yourself green, the business always has the potential for success. Understanding The Ever Changing Consumer One of the most difficult things that you will need to do as an entrepreneur is to insure that you meet your consumers needs.
What is difficult about this is not the fact that you need to do it, but rather how you go about understanding your consumer. Some companies spend millions of dollars on research each year to insure that their product or that their sales pitch will be well received by the economy.
The scary factors is that even with all of that, they are still risking a lot and often they do fail at what they are doing. This can leave the small entrepreneur left to wonder how in the world they can afford to make this happen.
Understanding the consumer is not an easy task. It is essential that someone work hard to find out this information though. If you are interested, you can do this through hiring a company to do your marketing research.
This can be a solid decision that is provided at a decent cost to you. Depending on your specific business and your product, as well as your marketing budget, this may be a good option for you. On the other hand, it may not be something that you wish to pursue.
In that case, it is essential that you invest some time in finding the right solution through other means. No matter what you do from talking with your customers individually to watching market trends in what your competition does, the goal is to insure that you keep offering the best product possible.
To make sure that you are green, compare what you have to offer to the consumer’s other choices. What do they have that makes them a better choice over you? When you can answer that and then tackle that, you will be green and growing, growing towards profits of course.
No matter what aspect of your life you are talking about, goal setting is a crucial factor throughout it all. As you will see, each of the decisions you make as an entrepreneur will affect your overall goal of being successful with your business. Yet, there is more to it than just that. You should also set goals because they can help you to make the right decisions throughout the process of getting to the level of success that is coming.
By investing the time and energy that you have in setting goals now, you help yourself for each decision it takes to reach the end result you are hoping for. In other words, if you set some overall goals today, you can help insure that your business will be there and be prosperous throughout the future of the business.
Goals now, count. While we all have the same goal of finding success in the future, we still need to set goals to help us to get to that point. It doesn’t happen overnight!
How To Set Goals Successfully
When it comes to setting goals, there are not many of us that are very good at doing so. There are plenty of opportunities for mistakes to be made, but the real problem comes in how we set them as well as what we do once we set them.
For starters, it is essential to know what your goals are. Take a few minutes right now to figure this out. Simply sit down with a blank sheet of paper (yes, you can use your computer too!) and avoid all distractions for ten minutes.
Write down anything and everything that comes to your mind in regards to your goals.
What are they?
Where do you want to be in a year?
Who do you want to have with you?
Where do you see your business in five years? 20?
What dollar amount of sales will make you happy this year?
What do you need to make in profits to reach a new level of satisfaction each year?
All of these things may be things to spark your mind. Determine where your business will be within the next years. Look long term for starters. Then, follow these tips.
Goal writing is made easy through some basic steps.
1. Write down your longest term goal. This is the place that you want to be in a number of years, or the place you need to be to be as successful as you plan to be.
2. Give yourself a time frame for making that happen. You may want to say that you want to make your first million in two years. Or, it may take many more for that to happen. Giving your goal a time frame helps to get your mind set in how to make that happen. If you leave it open ended, the long term goals are not benefited by your actions each day, as they would be here.
3. Give yourself smaller goals to reach as steps up to the larger one. For example, the new entrepreneur may be able to say that he wants to be in an office, set up and running within a month’s time. In six months, he plans to be running into profit, after expenses have been paid down. Determine what your steps are to reaching your goal. Make sure that you write them with time frames attached too.
4. Now, write them by hand on paper in the following manner. “Within six months, I will have paid off all debt that I owe and be running in the clear. I will do this by pushing sales and not pushing any new expenditures during that time.” In this manner, you have listed not only what the goal is and the time frame to have it done, but also how you will get there.
5. Take this piece of paper and place it everywhere and anywhere that you will see it at least several times per day. Seeing it will allow you to think it. Thinking about it makes it happen. Success through goals is the only way to find it.
Now that you know what your goals are, it is essential for you to make sure that they do happen. You will need to read those goals each day, at least one time per day. When you think it, see it, feel it, you make it happen. Throughout the following posts we will discuss what long term decisions you need to make as well as what various things you need to do to make them happen. When you go through each step, determine your goal for it. How will you implement it into your current work day and how will you insure that it will happen?
Do You Really Know What Being An Entrepreneur Means To You ?
What does being an entrepreneur mean to you? Anyone that is interested in finding true success throughout their lives can do so, with the right tools, the right amount of ambition and the knowledge to make it all happen.
Yet, the entrepreneur, no matter which business he is in he must plan ahead and find success through much more than just these things. To be an entrepreneur, you are not just looking for benefits right now.
While you are sure to want your business to truly take off and do well in its first year, its infancy, it is just as important, if not more so, that the long term goals that you have match the need that you have as well.
In the long term, the entrepreneur’s world is much different and much more unique. To find true success, he needs to think of today as well as tomorrow-two fold.
How and what will you do to insure that your business, the one that you have worked so hard to make happen in the first place, is going to make it in the long term? Although this is not something easy to do, you can do it with skill.
Throughout this series of articles to follow, you will learn some of the most essential principals of protecting your business not only for today, but also for the long term. As a new or aspiring entrepreneur, you did not think about what the future would hold because only today mattered.
Yet, now is the perfect time to step back and to find out just what the best way to manage your business sin the long term is. If you wish to have a business that allows for success and money in your pocket down the road, it is essential that you spend some time now planning for it to happen.
The good news is that you do not have to go to school or be a rocket scientist to figure this out. In fact, we provide a great deal of the information and resources that you need here, without any need to look elsewhere. Of course, we also hope you are inspired to take the next step and to find the true benefit of your business by putting these things into action first and foremost.
When you do these things, true success and money in your pocketbook is all that will matter.
1: Today Isn’t Everything, Really As an entrepreneur, your job is very detailed. You need to be the creative one. You need to be the boss. You need to hold the vision of your business at the head of each and every thing that you do for that business.
But, today isn’t everything. As a business owner, you must remember the fact that the long term goals and process of your business can only happen if you plan for it now, not in the day. You have probably heard people tell you that you need to; “Live in the day!” As an entrepreneur, this is not possible and should not be the way that you hold your business agenda. But, why not?
Most of the time, we would like to think that all we really need to do is to put together a plan and hold onto it. Somehow, things will fall into place. It has to. That’s all it can do.
Yet, from a business standpoint, there is much more to think about. For example, you may have employees that need the funds that come from your business for their day to day expenses. You may need to take into consideration the overall benefits that you have in keeping your business going. What about your assets? Will they make it through the process? How about your cash flow? What will happen if something does go wrong?
All of these things are really only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ruining a business in the long term. The bottom line is that you need to consider what your business will be like today as well as ten, twenty and more years down the road.
Think About This Before we get started, it is essential that you understand two concepts of your business dealings. When you make a decision in your business, ask yourself these questions first and foremost.
1. When I make this decision, what is the short term and immediate effects of doing so? How does this affect my business today?
2. When I make this decision, what is the long term effect of making this choice? How will this decision affect my business months and years from now?
When you take the time to carefully consider decisions that happen in front of you, you put yourself in charge of your destiny. If you allow the cards to fall where they may, you may not be in business six months from now. Therefore, as you work through these decisions, ask yourself what steps you can take right now that will better your overall business in the short and the long term. Of course, we should mention that there is never a for sure way to know what the future holds.
There is no way to know if you are really making the right decision or not. But, what you have to do here is to insure that you give tomorrow the best possible chance that you can. Don’t let it just happen, make today count for tomorrow and tomorrow’s tomorrow too.
Important Characteristics Every Entrepreneur Must Have
Are you planning to start and run your own business? Do you know the right qualifications and characteristics an entrepreneur must have to succeed? Does your profile match that of a successful entrepreneur? In this article we will explore and discuss the essential characteristics that every entrepreneur must have. There are several important traits and values that are common among successful entrepreneurs. Before you go and start your enterprise, it will be very helpful to think and reflect whether you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. If not, you can also start developing these character traits.
1. Successful Entrepreneurs are Self-Confident – to succeed in the highly competitive business world, confidence and trust in oneself is an indispensable trait. Self-confidence means trusting your own powers and capabilities. The world of entrepreneurship is not alien to failure and disappointments. To survive in such a cutthroat world, an entrepreneur must have the ability to look within himself and find the drive and persistence to pursue his enterprise. An entrepreneur must have the gumption to face any adversity and tackle any problems that may be encountered in the world of business.
2. Successful Entrepreneurs are Risk-takers – being an entrepreneur means having the ability to trust your hunches and acting on them. Great business ideas sometimes start as a hunch which enterprising individuals acted upon. There is always the risk of loss in any endeavor, and entrepreneurs have just the right confidence to take calculated risks to achieve their objective. However, an entrepreneur’s risk-taking does not depend on luck, but on sheer effort and hard work.
3. Successful Entrepreneurs know the value of money and are careful about their finances – to succeed in any business; an entrepreneur must understand the value of money and the cost of things. Typically, successful entrepreneurs learned how to earn and value money at a young age. Most of them started out by earning loose change as teenagers mowing lawns, doing groceries, babysitting for neighbors, etc.
4. Successful entrepreneurs have the so-called head for business – many entrepreneurs are gifted with intuition: they know what product or service is going to ‘click’ next. However, this ability does not involve clairvoyance or extra sensory powers of some sort, but rather, keen observation and understanding of what is going on around him. A good entrepreneur is always on the look out for new ideas and new ways to make money.
5. Successful Entrepreneurs are competitive – the world of business is a very competitive environment. An entrepreneur must be aggressive enough to pursue his goal despite having many rivals and competitors. An entrepreneur must know how to stay ahead of his competitors, either by introducing new ideas and exploring new ventures, all in the spirit of expanding his business.
6. Successful Entrepreneurs are honorable and have a good work ethic – although it is a fact that the business world is ruthless, but the successful entrepreneur will strive to make every business deal honorable. The mark of a successful entrepreneur lies in a good personal work ethic that ultimately leads to good business practices, excellent reputation and good association with industry peers and business partners.
7. Successful Entrepreneurs know the importance of leisure time – hard work and determination are very important values every entrepreneur must have. However, a good entrepreneur knows when it’s time to take a step back from all the rigors of business and enjoy some downtime with their family. Besides, we all do need a little relaxation to refresh the body and mind before plunging back into the challenging (and stressful) world of business.
These are just seven of the most important characteristics of an entrepreneur. Of course, the characteristics every entrepreneur must have are not limited to the ones mentioned. Having these characteristics is not a guarantee that an entrepreneur will be successful. But with these characteristics, an entrepreneur has just the right ingredients for success. All one needs to do is to find the right mix of these values, excellent timing, perhaps a bit of luck and, of course, faith in oneself. So, do you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur?
Go over these characteristics and values mentioned and reflect if you do have these.
Starting a Business takes a lot of thinking and planning. Finding an excellent business idea can be a daunting task - what with the different options of business ideas you can choose from. In this article, we will explore the process of finding the right business idea to start on as well as offer some of the hottest and most popular business ideas. A successful business does take a great idea to begin with. However, this is not necessarily the case all the time. An original business idea can either go up or down. Since it is unproven and untested yet, such an idea doesn’t usually come with an established market.
Starting a Business
The first step to starting your own business is to find a brilliant business idea that will make money. To find that excellent business idea, you should think creatively, even out of the box, so to speak. You can start by asking yourself what interests you. You must be enthusiastic and passionate about your business idea. That’s why as much as possible, your business endeavor must really be in your field of interest. You can find business ideas possibly from your friends and family members. You can also do some research on the internet to find the hottest business ideas today. Another great way to think up a new business idea is to observe the latest trends.
Which business idea should you pursue?
There are virtually no limits as to the choices of business ideas for entrepreneurs. There are literally thousands of options. From pizza parlors to freelance writing, from services to products, you can definitely find a business idea perfect for an entrepreneur like you. However, which among these thousands of options are you going to stick with? As mentioned above, you should be enthusiastic and passionate about it. There is an adage in entrepreneurship that goes like this: “Do what you love the money will follow.” However, this formula does not guarantee instant success. Many entrepreneurs have pursued business ideas that are in line with their interests with varying degrees of success and failure.
Some Inexpensive Business Ideas for a new Entrepreneur
Let’s assume that you are just about to start your own business – a new entrepreneur so to speak. Whether you are a homemaker looking for ways to earn extra income or an unemployed trying to start a business from scratch, there are several opportunities and ideas you can tap to start a business without spending too much capital. The following business ideas will not guarantee instant riches within months but they have the possibility to grow into full-time businesses in due time and with the relevant amount of work too.
Be a web entrepreneur – the internet offers vast potential for earning money. From freelance work to AdSense, there is simply an abundance of business ideas you can choose from. You can start by setting up your own website, no need to have technical know-how about web design, just make sure that the site looks good and it provides excellent content. Then, sign up for an affiliate program – this is where you will earn. Then, learn as much as you can about search engine marketing and promote your website. Regularly update your site with new content and just wait for the revenues to come in. It may not be much at first but over time, affiliate programs can help you earn a decent income – and you didn’t spend too much except your time and your knowledge to achieve these outcomes.
Be an eBay Businessman – This is the online version of the garage sale, if you have some things you don’t really need, you can actually earn some money by putting those up for auction at eBay. Just make sure you stick to products that you know about. You can also start making your own products such as candles, art jewelry, and many more. You can sell these on eBay or any other internet mall site.
These are just a few of the huge array of business opportunities you can choose from. Widen your horizons and look for more possible businesses ideas. Dig up magazines, journals, and other publications that might provide additional business ideas for entrepreneurs. Do your research on what the latest trends are. Who knows, you may find the right business idea for a new entrepreneur and strike gold.
Ideas for Entrepreneurs: Realities of Home Based Internet Business Trends
Before your eyes gloss over with the thought of establishing your own home based business via Internet and reach the dizzying heights of entrepreneurial stardom, let us first have a reality check which also includes a check of the trends.
Entrepreneurs venturing into the World Wide Web typically have dreams of having time all for themselves, sitting on their couches with laptops on and money pouring continuously with every click. That's possible, all right but this normally is not a regular case scenario.
Though we are talking of home based business in here, it is still not true that we can get things easily. Or that we can earn hundreds of thousands even while we sleep. Don't be lured with business opportunities in the web that offer too-good-to-be-true fantasies. If they're dealing with a motto like "be a millionaire in 1 month" then it is time for you to have doubts. Success don't come easy, you know that. Only those who have a perfect combination of events and ideal attitude towards works would be the people who can be showered with success.
The specific idea of becoming a home based internet business entrepreneur is that of leaving an old job of stressful deadlines buzzing and annoying bosses overlooking your works, in exchange for a flexible job that you are in total control of.
That's true. You really would have these benefits when you switch to home base jobs and perhaps, you'll gain even more.
Well, working home based on the internet is totally relieving. You wont have to abide with company cultures or deal with people you refuse to see every working day. You will also get around spending on transportation, clothing and eating allowances and most especially, you'll be freed from the worries of stress and tension.
However, it's not always easy sailing with running internet businesses. They are equally risky as compared with off line business ventures. We are not putting a scare in here, it's just that we want you to open your eyes to truths that you would sooner or later face. Truths that are inevitable parts of internet business transactions.
After quitting your job, which most home based Internet entrepreneurs do, you have to be prepared to loose many things. However, if home based internet business works well for you, those losses will become insignificant as compared with the gains you have acquired through taking risks.
One great risk is you'll stop getting your fixed source of income. There are good and bad sides to this. And depending on your case, they may either make or break your business life.
All jobs have some degree of uncertainty in them after all, business would have to deal with risks of failure or of success. However, entrepreneurs have a good argument of controlling your own income is better than having other people fix it for you. That way, you'll have greater room for growth. However, you must also be prepared for periods of losses.
Remember that even the largest establishments fail as We have recently seen in regards to the Global Economic Recession . No one can ever be assured that Internet sales will keep on coming either. You would surely have great and bad months and the only thing that you can be assured of is that you'll always have to deal with unpredictability of trends. If you are not a risk taker, a steady paycheck may appeal to you more than an unsteady business earning.
As an entrepreneur, you have to face the truth that once you embark on an internet home based business, this very thing will be your life. It's like turning work into your obsession as to eliminate the work attitude and all factors that go with it. Once you leave work, you really have to leave your old job. Most entrepreneurs practice breathing their own business so they need not experience fatigue while working and will therefore be able to dedicate long hours on their work without even getting fed up with it.Dedication is vitally important.
Making money would be impossible unless you take charge of really selling your business. Well that would surely be a task that you would have to dedicate yourself into. Initially, you invest days of unrest into getting your home based business through its second juncture. And the same would be true until you can actually settle yourself and realize that everything is going great.And even if You are lucky enough to reach that level You must never become complacent and begin to let things slide because Your business will suffer in quick time.
Remember that there is no sure path to success, even if we are to implement success in its many facets into every thing that We do,& then to toil and really sweat for it for some people success still does not transpire. In the end though, you'll be happy that you did. After all, all your toil will boil down towards your earnings.
This Is How Moms Can Easily Make Money Helping Other Moms In A Recession
If it’s one thing moms can do it is stick together. Making life run smoothly with kids, home and career can be a tall order. Communicating with other moms helps to ease the stress. If you are looking for a business venture, why not make money helping moms just like yourself?
What will you offer to these moms? Well, your product is as close as your memory. Your expertise is the product you can market to moms everywhere. There are situations that you have encountered and overcome as a mom that other mothers are facing too. They could benefit from what you know to make their life a bit easier.
Packaging your Product – EBooks
Put your advice down on paper. You probably have a lot of good advice to offer but it won’t sound like much unless you can get it out of your brain and into a legible and readable format. If you have a talent for writing this will be less of a challenge for you. Take a writing course to bone up on the finer points of writing outlines and organizing your thoughts on paper.
Your format for these organized thoughts is an eBook. Everyone has heard of them but might not know exactly what they are. An eBook is essentially a book in digital form. You can create and publish them yourself. For the work that you put into the project, you are greatly rewarded with pure profit.
The first consideration is the length of your eBook. A typical eBook can have as few as 70 pages or as many as 150. People will pay more for longer eBooks.
EBooks are popular media because they can be downloaded or printed in an instant. As soon as the payment is processed, the customer gains access to the eBook. No storage space other than what is on your computer or flash drive is needed to house the eBooks you buy.
Selling your EBooks
Consider your market – other moms. Let’s say that the subject of your eBook is getting a toddler through the terrible twos and threes. Fill your eBooks with information that moms want to know:
• Tips for bedtime • Disciplinary tips • Going out in public • Dealing with mom stress • Testimonials • True life examples
All of these ideas can be used to flesh out your eBook. These same bullet points can be selling points for your eBook. When creating the eBook website page, use snippets from stories in the book, testimonials from others who have read the book and a partial list of chapters in the eBook as advertising on the page.
Condense chapters into enticing articles that you submit to article directories. Don’t give away too much because you want moms to buy your eBooks. Supply a link to your website in the resource box.
As a mom you can join online forums to share your helpful advice with other moms. Use a link to your eBook page in your signature line for easy access. As you develop a following on these forums, other members will visit your site and see your eBooks.
EBooks can be used to share information that you have learned as a mom with other moms. They are easy to create and with a marketing strategy, can bring large profit to your business.
WAHM: Your Ticket to Being Home with the Kids & Earning an Income for Your Family
Have you ever dreamed of a job where you could spend time with your family and earn money at the same time? Most traditional jobs don’t offer that. But, becoming a WAHM could be your ticket to your dream. But, before embarking on such a quest, here is some helpful information detailing what it’s all about.
WAHM?
Just what do these letters stand for? WAHM stands for Work At Home Mom. Over the past 20 years, more and more women have come out of the workplace and gone back into the home.
The decision hasn’t been an easy one. It became apparent a long time ago that men were the only ones being allowed to “have their cake and eat it too.” They could pursue a corporate career and still come home in the evenings to the family.
Women with careers had a different path to follow. Besides working longer hours to achieve the same pay and credibility as their male counterparts, they also had to contend with the housework and the kids. After a long day at the office and doing the household chores, the kids sadly got what was left over which was usually a very worn out mother.
That has since changed. WAHMs are proving everyday that women can contribute to the family financial situation and nurture their families. Both online and off, a network of support has been created for any woman who wants to consider an option that will help them meet their needs.
How to get started?
When you talk to your family about the possibility you want to have an idea of the direction you will take. Check out sites like justaddsweat.com, internetbasedmoms.com and wahmtalkradio.com. They offer helpful hints to moms getting started with a work at home enterprise and also a network of opportunities for connecting with other WAHMs.
If your income has been a big part of the monthly family finances, then switching to a work at home enterprise will cause your finances to take a hit. Be sure there is enough financial cushion in your bank account to weather the first six months of your new career. It will take time to establish your business.
Opportunities
First, figure out your interests and skills. WAHMs can find business opportunities to work for someone else doing everything from audio transcription to writing articles to accounting. Be aware that there are scams about and that legitimate companies looking for professionals won’t ask for money upfront from you.
Some WAHMs carve out their own niche and begin an online business. If you are skilled with crafting, you can create a website to promote your crafts and sell products. A blog is also another idea. Blog about your area of expertise and develop a following. Combine that with affiliate or search engine marketing to generate revenue.
Making it work
With new career comes the issue of balance between home and work. Just because you are home doesn’t mean you won’t need help around the house or time away from the kids in order to work. Consider these tips for creating a balance:
• Develop a set schedule for work and play on a weekly basis • Discuss dividing up household chores between you, your spouse, and older kids • Do pre-work such as fixing lunches, prepping breakfast, choosing clothing the night before • Hire a babysitter once or twice a week • Separate home office space inside the house
There are advantages to being a WAHM. Plan carefully and be patient. Support from your family makes all the difference.
If you are serious about making money online, there are a number of ways to do it. One profitable idea is eBooks. They require very little cost upfront and can provide lots of revenue for your business.
What are EBooks?
EBooks are digital reading media that is easy to pass along to others. Many are opting for electronic books over printed books these days for several reasons. One, eBooks are shorter versions of more traditional books that can be created and published by you.
Secondly, eBooks are easy to use and store. They fill files on your computer instead of space on bookshelves in your home. EBooks can be read in PDF format online or printed to take with you. Unlike traditional books, as soon as you order an eBook, you can have access to it in minutes.
What does that mean to you?
Do you like to write? If you have a way with words and a talent for enticing readers, you can use eBooks to bring a profit to your blog or website. Use your niche as subject matter for your eBooks. Since you already have knowledge about, say, Internet marketing, put your experience to work by offering it to others in the form of an eBook.
The cost to you is negligible. With a blog or website, you already have access to the Internet and a computer that is probably filled with software that is needed to work with eBooks: Microsoft Publisher, Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Word. It is a matter of creating the inside of the eBook. There are books and online articles that give tips for writing eBooks people will want to read.
EBooks vary in size. You may be able to charge more for longer books or you may command a good price for shorter ebooks that provide very concise and valuable information.
An eBook can be composed in a Word document on your computer. Use Microsoft Publisher to format your work and add extras to attract readers. Turn your Word document into a PDF file for easier downloading and printing by customers.
Selling EBooks
Now that you have created this eBook, you’ll need to find a way to get it into people’s hands. Marketing your eBook follows the same lines as marketing your website or blog.
Use article marketing to draw attention to your eBooks. Create an article series based on your eBook. Submit these articles to article sites and on your blog or website. Give just enough information in the articles to have the reader wanting to know more. In the resource box, mention the eBook and link to your website. Submit articles to social bookmarking sites with links to your website page showcasing the eBooks.
For customer ease, link your eBooks with your checkout process. Once the customer pays (PayPal, credit card, debit card) they will receive a link via email or automatically where they can download your product.
EBooks cost you next to nothing to produce so the money you make is all profit. Turn your writing skills and expertise in a certain area into money for your business.
Writing EBooks is also just one way that You can start a Home Business in a short amount of time and for very little start-up costs. Below is a list that can help You with the initial steps involved with the beginning of a new Home Business.
Tips for Starting your Home-Based Service Business
The current trend is towards more home-based businesses especially considering the global economic situation. They require a much lower overhead and startup money making them an easier and quicker option for entrepreneurs with limited funding. If you are thinking about starting a home-based service business, here are a few tips for getting started on the right foot.
What is a service business?
Service businesses are those that provide help to others. This can be anything from mowing the lawn to managing business accounts. The basis of a successful service business is one that supplies a need. In your area, it may take some research to discover the top service needs and then figure out which one you can provide.
Benefits of a home-based service business
There are several benefits to running a home-based service business. First of all, you can run the business from your home. Since you already pay a mortgage, utilities and car payments, the only thing you need spend money on now is the equipment for your business. And, running a service that began as a hobby means you already own most of the needed equipment.
Secondly, a home-based service business requires low overhead and startup costs. We alluded to the startup costs above and the low overhead means no employees but you. The key to keeping the overhead low is taking on only as many projects as you can safely and efficiently handle by yourself.
Home-based service business options
As we mentioned, you can usually run these service businesses out of your home. Establishing a website for selling your services lowers the overhead even more and maximizes your profit. With the Internet as your potential customer base, the opportunities are endless for marketing and finding clients. Here are some home-based service options.
Virtual assisting has taken off in a big way in the last ten years. Using a computer, fax machine, telephone, and Internet access, you can perform various administrative duties for large and small companies. You are paid for the work that you do so there is no extra charge for the company. Virtual assisting skills run from transcription to accounting to managing email and company websites.
Transcription by itself can be a profitable venture. Medical offices and businesspeople are always in need of someone to transcribe their audio or video files. It is far easier and less time consuming to record an interview or dictate a medical procedure. Your job will be to turn that file into a document for patient charts and online use by various businesses.
Ghostwriting is the process of writing articles, novels, eBooks and more for an individual or a company. Using your writing talent, you can make a lot of money creating literary works (print and electronic) for others who need them.
Getting started tips
There are considerations before beginning any type of business even a home-based one.
1. Check out the local laws for registering and zoning a home business. Most home businesses require no zoning issues unless you will be meeting clients in your home and posting signs in the yard.
2. Small business tax laws. Now that you are a business, you are subject to different tax exemptions, deductions and payments. Sites like www.irs.gov can give you the information you need.
3. Set up a separate work space at home. This could be as simple as using a spare bedroom or den with a door to keep your work separate. If you rely on the telephone a separate phone line can be added. When a workshop is needed, consider using a garage or purchasing a large outbuilding.
4. Use on and offline marketing methods to find clients. This includes: viral marketing, newspaper and Yellow Pages ads, flyers and direct mailings, email marketing, article marketing, setting up a website and etcetera.
5. Create a schedule to divide time between work and family. Balancing both is hard. Scheduling time and sticking to it means more gets done and no one is slighted.
A home-based service business is an alternative for people who want to know entrepreneurship without spending a lot in upfront costs. If you have a talent and can meet a need, consider a home-based business.
Twitter is experiencing phenomenal growth every single day and certainly looks like continuing on that course for the next foreseeable future.
As a business owner the question isn't whether You have signed up and already using Twitter for the promotion of Your business. If You are not, then the real question is how long can Your business do without using Twitter and it's access to millions and millions of people for FREE ?.
Lets face it people, Twitter is where folks of just about every persuasion are hanging out together connecting, chatting, sharing ideas and of course letting people know about their business in some way or another. But there is a right way and a wrong way to go about this.
With that being the case the actual percentage of people on Twitter that are interested in what You may be promoting online or selling in some way whether it be online or offline is in fact quite huge. This size though obviously depends on Your actual business or niche, meaning the actual variance in that percentage would fluctuate between higher and lower amounts.
Either way, with the very fact of how many people that are joining and using Twitter everyday, even a business owner or niche marketer that is within the most obscure or small markets is sure to find an audience of some size also using Twitter.
However no matter what the size Your audience may be, the ability to make the most from them lays squarely in Your ball court. Twitter users are mostly savvy and if maybe they are not, the actual closeness that happens when using this platform means for sure that the not-so-savvy person is following or followed by someone who is savvy and they will alert them to the situation at hand.
The number one way to make great long term connections who are interested in buying Your products, or even other peoples products from Your recommendations, is to NOT try selling anything at all to them within Your Tweets. Yes I know it sounds silly but it is the truth.
You first need to provide them a real reason to even listen to You before they will consider purchasing from You, and the simplest and best way to do this is to give as much free, relevant and usable content that You can combined with honest help and friendship that You can at all times.
By providing Yourself as a glowing beacon of fantastic constant free information, etc, relating to Your business or niche. The people searching and looking for that information will soon look towards You in a somewhat authority figure light and will then want to know more about You and check out Your website or blog where Your more stronger sales pitches would and SHOULD reside, in a much more warmer and much less lower barrier of being sold to type of manner
It is all about the relationships that You build first and foremost, the bigger and better You can build those valuable relationships within Twitter first, means the bigger and better Your business and it's profits will grow is certain to follow.
Make no mistake Twitter can make You a whole bunch of cash in many ways in regards to Your business and those ways continue to grow and are created everyday, but also be sure to remember that the ability for Your business to gain the most ( or NOT ) from the millions of FREE valuable contacts on Twitter relies on You approaching the use of it properly.
By building a great feeling of close community on Twitter and giving that community the ability to get constant free usable information and help from You, will do Your underlying business growth a great deal of endless GOOD.
Twitter provides the fastest growing place online for Your business to find and grow it's exposure to millions for FREE by just following a few simple steps and they are :
1. Always add value for Your Followers
2. Always build Your relationships first
3. Always be trustworthy and honest.
4. Always be prepared to give that little extra and go the extra mile for Your followers.
By providing the above points to them, Your followers will actually grow Your business for You from them just simply re-tweeting your tweet #RT ! The more great free value You add to them, the more they will re-tweet Your material. Again all this for free, Twitter rocks there is no doubt about it !
It really is quite simple, if You treat Twitter with respect and always create above board connections based on honesty and integrity, well, then Twitter will pay You and Your business back 100 FOLD and 100 times bigger !
The most important thing about branding is that you need to constantly reinforce the promises you make to the targeted audience. A branding program can be reinforced by being consistent.
Consistency is the most important factor when you reinforce. It shows that you are serious about your brand and your product. It is important to be consistent to show credibility with the customers and the public eye. When a company is not consistent it looks bad for a company as if they are disorganized or have problems.
Reinforcing your brand needs to be done on a regular basis. You should practice constant branding techniques that work for your company. Schedule them weekly or monthly if you have to. For example, try to send out at least two press releases a month to numerous media contacts. Let them know how you are doing and what is going on with the company.
Make announcements about ways you better the community and people who use your products. Reinforcement works for a business with the media also. When you are continuously in contact with the media it will benefit you when something bad happens. Having the media on your side is very important. They will help you with damage control when a customer makes an accusation or if you need assistance with a bad situation.
Reinforcing your brand means that you back what you say you are going to do. You need to prove to the customers that what you say you will do is true and continuously reinforcing this will brand the idea into their minds.
Branding is something that every business needs to practice on a daily basis or whenever the opportunity arises. You must work hard to ensure that you make an impact on the way customers think about the products or services offered to the communities.
When you practice branding you need to ensure you are targeting the right audience demographics. Logos are important but they are not your selling point. They just make a statement. Use a tagline along with a logo or with an advertisement only when you think it will grab the attention of customers in a positive way.
Branding requires you to use media outlets to your benefit. You must be proactive in your methods of branding. You can hire someone to do the branding for you. A business has complete control over their brand and their image. The goal of branding is to get into the minds of customers in a positive way and help them realize your business offers a beneficial product to them. You have something that they need.
Branding requires you to separate yourself from the competition proving why the business is the best option to purchase from. There needs to be a clear picture what makes you different, unique, and why a customer should choose you over the competition. The thing to remember about branding is that it helps produce an image about a business.
Consistency is very important. You cannot perform branding by creating a logo on a website and walking away. Branding requires proactive approaches of exposure through article writing, press release distribution, public appearances, products with logos, and much more. Trust and credibility must be built through the branding process.
By using these techniques you can be off to an amazing start of building a trustworthy brand that customers can rely on. Also, always follow through with promises you make to customers through a mission or any statements.
Creating a competitive edge is another important aspect of branding. Today, the online world has many methods of branding. The most popular method of branding and gaining the competitive edge is through the use of Blogs. Blogs allow a site to increase traffic, improve rank through search engine results, and even helps with credibility building also.
About Blogs
Blogs are websites that use the new Web 2.0 technology which allows visitors to a site to post their own comments, articles, and more. Giving a user the access to post things to your site allows them to feel a sense of ownership to the business. They work in many ways which may include forums, discussion boards, or even look like a daily diary in a sense. They keep the visitors up to date on current events and allow for discussion to take place.
Reasons to Use Blogs
There are many reasons to use blogs for a business. A business may want to provide a discussion board that allows other customers to discuss troubleshooting tips and tricks. A company may post useful information about how to get the most longevity out of products, how to repair or fix things, and even how to prevent problems from occurring.
Using a Blog to Your Benefit
If you do decide to add a blog to your company site then there are many things to consider so you get the most out of it. Some companies allow people to post their own content while others cannot. Consider things like keywords and phrases, links, useful information, and even contact information.
The primary purpose of blog writing for branding is to gain more exposure to a business and get the word out to people that the company exists. Blogs are an excellent way to create hype and exposure because the web has millions of businesses and customers.
When using a blog it is important to make sure that you use important keywords that are relevant to the products and services offered by your business. These keywords and phrases should be the words that will be typed into the search engines when a user is looking for what you offer. The keywords should be used naturally throughout the content of the blog. They will work by allowing your blog to be pulled up in the search engine results when users type in the specific keywords and phrases you used in the blog.
Adding links to blogs is a very important thing for two reasons. They provide an easy method to get back to your site and provide an inbound link. Users always appreciate an easy way to get to your company. If you are talking about products and services offered in a blog without links to where the customers can find them then it will do no good. Customers will only search for a business for a very short period if they search at all. You have a better chance of a customer when a link is right there in the blog so they can easily click and find out more about the company.
URLs are also beneficial for a business because they provide inbound links. One of the ways that search engines work is that one of the ways they rank a business is through popularity. Popularity can be built up by links integrated within blogs.
The more inbound links you provide inside of a blog the more popularity a search engine thinks you have. Never forget to place inbound links inside of blogs and content you place on your blog. A blog needs to provide beneficial information for the visitors and readers.
When there is something useful to the reader they will come back for more. Blogs give you the opportunity to give the free advice and useful information that will benefit the users and cause you to gain credibility for being knowledgeable about the products and services offered.
Media is extremely important when branding a business. There are many different outlets and they can be used in many different ways to your advantage and even for damage control. Proper branding means staying tight with the media as your friend. Some say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer and this is true with the media. They can make you very popular or ruin you but nothing really in between. You need the media on your side at all times.
Local Media
There are many different local media outlets that you might consider using when you are looking to brand your company or a product. You can use local newspapers to announce sales, events, and other things. The television stations are useful when running advertisements or events on the news.
One thing to keep in mind is that public television stations are free and they cannot charge you money to run something on them. If you are a non-profit organization looking to brand your organization the best way to do it is through public television stations. You can announce events like blood drives and other things on public television. This is great exposure and it is free.
Other methods of local media may be local websites for town members. Some towns have a site for the community where people can post things like classified ads and other things. They are free sites and sometimes used more than the newspapers because of this.
Article Writing for Press
Another way you can use the media to your advantage is to write your own articles and distribute them to the press. This is very beneficial. If the press comes across times they need to fill additional space in their paper they may use them.
Sending articles to the press is free. The will not charge you to use them. If you write beneficial articles to magazines in the industry you work in then you may even get paid for the article. Article writing is a very beneficial way to advertise your business and helps with the branding process.
Sponsors
Looking for sponsors is very important. It is very similar to getting an endorsement. You may make a deal with companies to sponsor you that might include putting up an advertisement at a local event or charity you are holding. Sponsors need to see a benefit in it for them and they are usually willing. When you find local sponsors it helps build credibility with your business. You should always look for local or national sponsors.
Sponsors can be used on your website and at your local business. The most common way to obtain a sponsor is by offering them advertising for their business.
Written Testimonials
Written testimonials are very important in the branding process because they work in two ways. They help build credibility and trust with the targeted audience.
When you sell products or services to customers it is important to gather as many written testimonials that you can from customers. A customer can write up the type of product or service they purchased from your company and their experience working with you. The more written testimonials you have the better.
Written testimonials are beneficial because they create hype. They increase the excitement about your business and make people want to try your product. Testimonials tell the public that you followed through on delivering the promise made. This means that consistency is present and it is very important.
Without written testimonials it is hard to prove that you deliver. It is hard to build a brand without people to back you like endorsements through public figures and people in the community.
Special Offers
Building a brand also requires you to provide offers and special discounts to the customers. Customers are always looking for a great deal and when they know they can get it from you they will shop from you.
You might offer discount codes to customers for specific items or even a buy one get one free deal. These are excellent ways to promote a business. If you have an online company then you may offer free shipping or other types of discounts to people during a specified period of time.
Special offers work very well with customers. Free items usually work the best because customers find that nothing is ever free. Although it is not cost effective to give away free items you may include something free with a purchase of a bigger item.
Referrals
Another media consideration when you are building up your brand is that you need to work on referrals. Referrals work very well in building up your brand. This is word of mouth through customers who swear by you. These can be difficult to build up but when you get referrals it helps with credibility.
You can help with gaining referrals to your business by offering specials or discounts to customers that refer you to other customers. This may be a $5 discount on their next purchase or something else. When the customer sees there is a benefit in it for them they will often times refer the company to gain the benefit. This helps increase a customer base, revenues, and build up your brand.
Inserts
Inserts are very beneficial to brand building and a perfect use of the media. Some newspapers or brochures may have a cost associated with adding an insert in a newspaper while others may allow you to provide an insert for free.
Inserts in newspapers and magazines allow for more exposure of the company. Even if a customer doesn’t thoroughly read an insert they will remember the name of the company and your logo. It creates a stamp in their mind about you and the products and services offered.
This way if they come across a situation where they need a product or your service they will think of the business. Inserts work well and are very beneficial for getting into the mind of customers.
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I run several websites online that provide Me a sustainable income and the ability to be happy as My own boss. I am more than happy to answer any questions You may have regarding your online Business and it's strategies.
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Always happy to participate in mutually Profitable Joint Ventures that ONLY Sell Quality High Grade Products & Services, plus provide the ability to grow our lists with responsive customers.
Additional Information:
I have a good experience level at conducting Business online in a majority of aspects. Specialize in consulting, managing, building and marketing.
Profession Executive/Management, Sales and Marketing, Self Employed
Business Topics Sports, Internet Marketing, Marketing, E-Business, Advertising Strategies, Websites, Home Based Businesses / Public Speaking, Business Plans, Start-Up Businesses, Other
Business Interests Networking, Meeting International Contacts, Promotion of Product or Service, Marketing, Advertising, Knowledge Sharing, Partnerships, Meeting other Professionals in my Field, Other
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