HMWMegasite.com's Home Business Blog

Are You Carrying Buckets?

2007-08-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

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Are You Carrying Buckets?

By Yanik Silver
www.SurefireMarketing.com

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I let my personal trainer, Jeff, borrow a copy of "Rich
Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. A few weeks later during
our workout session he blurts out, "You know what -- I'm
carrying buckets!"

"Huh?" I replied.

Jeff reminded me in the "Rich Dad" book Kiyosaki gives the
example of someone carrying buckets to supply a town with
a water and another person building a water pipe line to
carry the water. It took longer for the pipeline to be
built but once it was done - the money would continue to
come in with or without him.

What are you doing?

Sadly most people are carrying buckets. They are getting
paid based on the hours they work. Even if you are a
highly paid surgeon or attorney your income is still
limited by the hours you can work. Everybody has been
taught to think the harder you work the more money you
make. What if that's completely wrong? What if it's the
smarter the work, the more money you make?

Personally, I prefer to work once and get paid over and
over and over again. And there are lots of ways you can
create recurring revenue for yourself. It could be via
royalties from an invention, a song, or a book. It could
be from network marketing. It could be from real estate.
It could be dividends from investments. Or it could be
from a multitude of other ways aside from the typical
9-to-5 grind.

The majority of my income day-in and day-out is a direct
result of work I did 1, 2, 3...even 6+ years ago or more. For
instance, if you create an information product to sell
(like a report, ebook, software, video, etc) you only have
to do the work once of creating it and once to write the
sales letter.

Then if you set up some automatic promotion avenues like
an affiliate program or autoresponder messages - you can
continue to get paid for that product indefinitely. One of
biggest income streams is a product I created 5 years ago
and still makes me a nice six-figure income each year.

Frankly, I couldn't turn off my recurring revenue streams
right now if I tried. That's because much of what I've
created has fed on itself. One product refers people to
another. Our affiliate network (over 35,000) refer people
to our sites. Some of our sites cross-promote our other
sites, etc. etc.

When you keep working on activities that have recurring
value you'll create a momentum that's tough to stop. But
the truth is -- it IS hard work in the beginning. It's
like a rocket taking off in which it burns most of its
fuel on lift off.

You need to put in the hours and effort upfront and then
you can ease off the throttle. But if you don't put in the
extra effort upfront you'll never achieve lift off and get
that momentum you need.

The more you think about doing the work once and being
paid multiple times the more creative your mind will
become. Ask yourself the right questions and you'll get
the right answers.

In fact, even this article, if I'm lucky, will become a
recurring income producing activity. I wrote this material
once and the publicity from it will hopefully get a few
people to my websites and into my marketing funnel.

Now of course, I'm not saying that every activity I do
each day is highly leveraged because I still do some "dumb
stuff" like checking email or filling out tax forms. But
I'm working on outsourcing as much as I can and focusing
just on income producing activities (just like you
should).

(c) Surefire Marketing, Inc.

==========================================================
Yanik Silver is recognized as the leading expert on
creating automatic, moneymaking websites...and he still
doesn't know how to put up a website.

He is the author, co-author or creator of several best-
selling online marketing books and tools, including his
newest resource for "not carrying buckets" -
http://www.InstantInternetProfits.com/?21134
==========================================================

2007-07-20T05:35:00.000-07:00

Make the Leap to Affiliate Marketing Success
Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-5357

If you are going to become a successful affiliate on the
Internet, you need 3 "intangibles." These are things that
must come from WITHIN you.

===> Intangible 1 <===

First, you must have a strong WHY.

Why must you make affiliate marketing work? What is driving
you? What is it that you CAN'T have in your life anymore
and/or what is it that you absolutely MUST HAVE now?

For me, I couldn't stand working 12+ hours a day anymore
and missing the experience of my children growing up. I also
absolutely HAD TO HAVE the freedom of being able to control
my life and finances through a little box that I could carry
with me anywhere in the world and not be tied to anyone's
time pressures or demands but my own. That was my carrot and
my stick. I felt a great pain deep in my gut of missing out
on my children's lives and the incredible freedom that
succeeding in this business would provide for me. I found my
why. You MUST find yours.

===> Intangible 2 <===

You must BELIEVE that it is possible.

If you don't believe that it's POSSIBLE for you to make
money with affiliate programs or make your living on the
Internet, you won't. It's that simple.

For me, figuring out that it was possible was just a matter
of realizing that many other people were ALREADY making
great money online. If they could do it, I could too. It
would just be a matter of figuring out what those people
were doing and then adapting it to my situation.

There is no shortage of undeniable PROOF that people
(millions of them) are making money online with affiliate
programs. Just get online and do some research and you'll
find countless testimonials and stories of REAL PEOPLE
making real money on the Internet. Or head to your local
bookstore and you'll find the same documented evidence of
this fact. Truth is, it's getting easier and easier to make
money online with affiliate programs.

I've always said that "affiliate marketing" is the job of
the future. In the "old" days, you had to go to a
potential employer, apply for the position and hope for the
best. Now you can simply go to any company you want, fill
out their affiliate application and start work immediately.
Affiliates are the new working class. Believe me, making
money with affiliate programs or making your living on the
Internet is WAY MORE than possible. It is pretty much (or
will be soon enough) unavoidable now. Affiliate marketing is
the "job" of the future that's already here TODAY.

===> Intangible 3 <===

You must be willing to MAKE THE LEAP.

Ready, FIRE, then aim... This is the operating philosophy
you MUST adopt to succeed with affiliate marketing.

That's backwards for most people who like to aim before
they fire. The fact is the Internet is a moving target...
The only thing constant about it is change. You need to stop
analyzing the game and simply jump into it. You can't learn
from the outside... You have to be IN THE RING to truly
understand it.

The lesson here is that you will never really be READY to
start an affiliate marketing business. You simply have to
start one. This is what I call "Making the Leap."

The good news is that the cost of failure on the Internet is
very small. In the "brick and mortar" world you need to
evaluate things very carefully before you decide to open up
a business. It's almost always necessary to invest
thousands of dollars to get an offline business off the
ground. However, on the Internet you can often start a
successful business for less than $100. The Plug-In Profit
Site is a great example of this as you can see here:
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-5357

You simply need get IN THE GAME... Each moment that you stay
"out there," you're wasting valuable time that you could
be learning and skills necessary to become a successful
affiliate marketer. In fact, if you're not in the game yet,
you're ALREADY behind the times. Make the leap to becoming
a successful affiliate marketer today!

Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy helps ordinary people all over
the world make money online with affiliate programs. If you
can follow 3 easy steps, you can get your own custom
website, autoresponder (email follow-up software) and
pre-written email marketing campaign professionally designed
and installed and ready to pull in profits for you in 24
hours or less! See details at:
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-5357

Note: You have permission to re-publish this article on your
own website or newsletter.

How To Use Affiliate Marketing and Article Marketing To Make Money

2007-07-20T04:59:00.000-07:00

Did you know that common ordinary people from all over the world are making money on the internet with their computer. In this article we will look at just one way you can do that and the best part is it will not cost you hardly anything to get started.

One problem you may have when you decide to investigate how to earn money online is what can you sell. Over 10 years ago Amazon.com started one of the first affiliate programs to help find people to sell products for them. That is what affiliate marketing is. You get paid to sell other people's products.

Today there is an affiliate program for almost every product in the world. This makes it easy to find things to sell. You should start by looking for products that you have an interest in and maybe some expertise in as well. With affiliate marketing you will be given a website that is coded with your i.d. number.

Your job is to drive traffic to your affiliate website and when someone makes a purchase you earn a commission. One of the ways to do that is through article marketing. If you can write 400 word articles about the theme of the products you are selling then you can use those to get traffic to your website. Here is how you do that.

Let's say your website is about cooking. You find products to sell around the theme of cooking at websites like CJ.com. Then you start writing about cooking. You write in more specific terms to attract a more specific audience. An article on how to cook Cajun chicken will attract more readers than an article on how to cook chicken.

There are hundreds of article directories such as IdeaMarketers.com where you can submit your article for free. They allow you to include a resource box where you can put the link to your affiliate website. When someone likes your article they will click on your affiliate website and they may buy a product.

This is one scenario of how you can earn money on your computer selling stuff on the internet using article marketing as an affiliate for a product. As you get better as this you will want to branch out and maybe get your own money making website or blog that is different than the affiliate website that everyone else has.

You can also go into other themes you may have an interest in such as golf, cars, gardening, or whatever you like. There is no end to the number of ways to make money online with affiliate marketing and article marketing.

About the Author:

---------------------------------------------
To find the best homebased business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.HMWMegaSite.com
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Review of NiceOffers.com (Noc)

2007-07-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

NiceOffers.com (NOC) is a division of Carson Services, the parent company of the well known affiliate program, Strong Future International (SFI).

The primary aim of NOC is to provide offers for consumers to save money on products and services that they are looking for either online or offline, anywhere in the world.

This review of NOC will explain what NiceOffers.com is about, how it can benefit consumers, affiliates and merchants, what the costs are, what the drawbacks are and how to sign up.

Nice Offers for Consumers

The NiceOffers.com website is a place for consumers to get discount or special offer coupons for many things which they buy locally or online.

The NiceOffers.com site has a search facility to help find offers in many different categories including electronics, entertainment, flowers and gifts, advertising and marketing, books, travel and more. You can search by state or by country and browse through a selection of offers. Once you have found an offer of interest you can tell a friend about it or enter your name and email address to have the coupon emailed to you.

Next, just visit the vendor and use your coupon, or enter the coupon code online if it is an online offer.

To search for offers just visit NiceOffers.com.
Nice Offers for Merchants

NiceOffers.com is a zero risk method of advertising for businesses online and offline. Advertising a business on NiceOffers.com is free and works on a cost per action basis i.e. you only have to pay when someone actually uses a coupon at your store, restaurant or online business.

The cost to the business is the discount amount for the customer + a fee called a “bounty” which you set yourself.

To register and setup a coupon just visit NiceOffers.com
Nice Offers for Affiliates

As an affiliate you have the opportunity to make money by:

* Referring consumers to NOC - You can give away coupons to your friends and family, refer people to the NOC website or advertise NOC offers on your own website or blog. Every time someone uses a coupon you’ll receive a portion of the bounty offered by the merchant.

* Referring new merchants to NOC – If you refer a new merchant to NOC you will earn commissions on every coupon that is used at that merchant for life.

Anyone can sign up as an affiliate of SFI for free and start promoting NOC straight away. SFI also provides merchant prospecting packs including professional postcards, letters and leaflets to attract new merchants. One good strategy is to look through your local newspapers for coupons, as businesses that are already using coupons are more likely to be interested.

The Cost of Nice OffersNiceOffers.com is free to join for affiliates and free to use for consumers. It is also free for merchants to list their business and they need only pay a fee when a sale is made.

Disadvantages of Nice OffersAt the moment, although NiceOffers.com is an international opportunity and can be used by affiliates, consumers and merchants worldwide, the majority of the offers on the site at present are US focused. For example, at the time of writing there are only 3 UK offers on the site and 34 Canadian offers.

The marketing material also tends to be slightly more US focused, with 1-800 numbers.

How to Sign Up

Consumers and Merchants should visit https://www.niceoffers.com/8779034
Affiliates should visit https://www.ezinfocenter.com/8779034/MRA

About the Author:
Suzanne Morrison works from home on the internet full time. She is an affiliate of SFI and the webmaster of Business Ideas Online

Leisure Audio Books Reviewed

2007-07-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

Leisure Audio books (LAB) is a recently lauched affiliate program that allows you to promote a wide range of downloadable Audio books from an online store of over 6000 titles, including business, self help, fiction, health and more.

You can sign up for a Leisure Audio Books account for free by visiting http://3293.leisureaudiosales.com Once you have created an account, Leisure Audio books will provide you with a link which you can use to send people to your own audio bookstore for a 15% commission on all sales.

If you aren't familiar with this new affiliate program, which was launched in June 2007, read on to get all your questions about Leisure Audio books answered.

What type of products can I promote with Leisure Audio Books?
As the name suggests, the Leisure Audio Books affiliate program allows you to promote a huge range of downloadable audio books in MP3 or WMA format. Categories include arts & drama, biography, business, crimes & thrillers, fiction, foreign language study, health & recreation, history, humor, juvenile, radio shows, religion & spiritual, self help and TV & Film.

How much do I get paid?As a free Silver member you can earn 15% commission on Audio book sales. Upgrade to a Gold or Platinmum Member and that commission increases to 20% and 25% respectively. You can also promote the business opportunity and receive recurring commission on any members who upgrade to Gold or Platinum levels. The commission percentage on membership upgrades are 15% for Silver members, 25% for Gold members and 50% for Platinum members.

How am I paid?Leisure Audio Books will pay any commissions due to you by Paypal in the first week of every month. If Paypal is not suitable for you there is the alternative of being paid by check for an administration fee.

How much is it to join?It is free to join as a Silver member earning 15% commission. If you wish to upgrade to a Gold or Platinum level it is $12.95 per month for Gold and $24.95 per month for Platinum. Discounts are available when you first join or if you pay annually

Do I need my own website?
Having your own website is always an advantage, as with any affiliate program, but it is still possible to join Leisure Audio Books if you don't have a website. You could promote it on your blog, or advertise your affiliate link in your email signature, use classified or pay per click advertising or even tell your family and friends about your store.

What help & training is available for affiliates?The Leisure Audio books back office has an impressive range of tools to help affiliates. There is an extensive faq, a promotional page with lots of suggestions on how to promote Leisure Audio books incuding sample emails, banners, business card templates, classified ads, squeeze pages, splash pages and more. There is also a section on "Getting Started" explaining exactly what you need to do to promote Leisure Audio books. If you want to promote specific areas of the store e.g. business audios only or self help audios only you can easily generate links for these areas, as well as graphical and non graphical links to specific products. Overall I was very impressed with the Leisure Audio Books back office. There is a lot helpful material there for affiliates.

How do I Sign Up?You can signup to Leisure Audio Books from this link http://3293.leisureaudiosales.com

About the Author:
Suzanne Morrison works full time from home on the internet and is the webmaster of http://www.homebiz-direct.com------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review of the IAHBE ( International Association of Home Business Entrepreneurs)

2007-05-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

I have been a member of the International Association of Home Business Entrepreneurs(IAHBE) for 3 years now and have found it to be an invaluable resource for the latest home business related news, tutorials, tips sofware and books, as well as a great way to get your hands on a number of valuable books, audios and software for free!

The IAHBE was launched back in January 2002 and has thousands of members from all over the world.

I've put together a brief FAQ style review of the IAHBE so you can decide whether or not it is the right home business resource for you.

What are the benefits of an IAHBE membership?

The general benefit of the IAHBE is the huge wealth of information and resources for your home business. Your membership includes the following:

1) An Intropak worth over $1000
Everyone who joins the IAHBE receives a pack of information, gifts and discounts worth over $1000. At the time of writing this includes:

A free book "The Home Business Revolution's Greatest Entrepreneurs"
A free subscription to the Home Business Connection magazine
A free audio cassette "Underpaid and Overtaxed?"
Free 30 day trial of Affiliate Mastery
15 Free Leads
Five books by Fortune Now author and world renowned business speaker and trainer, Tom "Big Al" Schreiter for the price of one
Generous Discounts on various other books, advertising, business cards and more

2) Access to the IAHBE Learning Center
This is a huge password protected collection of articles, audio tutorials, seminars, home business E-Books, software for PCs & Macs, marketing courses and various other tools to help you with your home business and it includes both US specific information and international information.

3) Freebies each month
The IAHBE membership also includes physical freebies each month. For example, this month the membership included a book worth $26 "The New Culture of Desire" by Melinda Davis and a year's subscription to the magazine "PC Magazine" worth $131!

Are there any drawbacks?

Although the majority of the resources in the IAHBE membership can be used by anyone regardless of their location, the free magazine subscriptions are generally only available to US residents and the free books have a higher shipping charge for those who are not based in the US. Despite this, there is still enough there for international members to make their membership worthwhile.

What is the cost?

The cost of the IAHBE membership is $29.95 per month. If you are a member of SFI this will also qualify you as an Executive Affiliate (EA) for the lifetime of your membership.

Are there any guarantees?

There is a 30 day money back guarantee. If you don't like what you see you can just cancel your membership within 30 days, no questions asked and receive a full refund.

How do I sign up?

Just visit IAHBE or become a member of SFI and purchase the IAHBE through the affiliate store.

About the Author: Suzanne Morrison is the webmaster of Home Business Ideas and is a successful work from home internet marketer.

Note - You may republish the above article in your blog, website or ezine provided you retain the "About the author box". You may replace all the IAHBE/SFI affiliate links with your own.

2006-2007 "Online Marketer Of The Year"

2007-04-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

My friend Stone Evans has been nominated for the 2006 - 2007
"Online Marketer Of The Year" award. Check it out here:

http://www.onlinemarketeroftheyear.com/stoneevans

You'll have a chance to login to Stone's personal computer
and watch him compete against the top marketers in the world
including:

Dan Kennedy, Joe Sugarman, Robert Allen, Mark Joyner, Yanik
Silver, Mike Filsaime, Rich Schefren, Nick Marks, Gary
Ambrose, Alex Mandossian, Anik Singal, Armand Morin, Bill
Glazer, Bill Harris, Brad Antin, Brad Fallon, Carl Galletti,
Dan VanOrman, Dave Lakhani, David Frey, David Garfinkel,
Donna Fox, Eric Holmlund, Gauher Chaudhry, Harris Fellman,
Jeff Johnson, Jill Lublin, Joel Comm, Joshua Shafran, Keith
Baxter, Lorrie Morgan Ferrero, Liz Roberts, Lynn Pierce,
Marc Harty, Matt Bacak, Michel Fortin, Dr. Mike Woo-Ming,
Perry Marshall, Rhea Perry, Ray Edwards, Rick Raddatz, Ryan
Deiss, Shawn Casey, Stephen Pierce, Stu McLaren, Tellman
Knudson, John Carlton, Frank Rumbauskas and Russell
Brunson.

You will have a chance to watch all of these legendary
marketers LIVE and vote on who gives the best content.
Because they are very competitive people and want to win
this competition - they aren't going to hold ANYTHING back.

To register for this FREE webinar series, please enter your
name and email address in the form on the right on this
page: http://www.onlinemarketeroftheyear.com/stoneevans and
you will be given a free ticket to this webinar series.

It's like the "American Idol" for Internet marketers...

Enjoy the competition! :-)

Sincerely,

Howard

Tips On How To Have Success On The Internet

2007-03-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

Developing a business on the internet can be easily done if you do it right, but there are a number of decisions that you have to make along the way. Because of the pressure that many people aren’t used to dealing with by working for themselves, it can be equally difficult to develop a business. Trying to decide what content to put on the internet, how to market your business and what programs you want to sign up for are just a few of the decisions you will have to face.

The first thing you will have to do is put together a plan. Having a plan from the beginning will set you on the right track for where you intend to go. The internet will throw a number of obstacles at you, but having a plan will allow you to dodge them and continue on. Over time your plan should and probably will change, but knowing where to go from the start will be extremely beneficial.

After you have a plan, developing quality content for your business is crucial. All across the internet there is a plethora of content on all sorts of subjects. The problem is that many people take already produced content and reword it, making many websites repetitive from others. If you want to have success on the internet, you have to offer fresh and enticing content to reel in your customers. The best way to do this is through research and interacting with your readers.

To know what the readers want you have to ask. By going on forums and posting questions on blogs, you can get a better idea of what people are looking for. Not only can you become more informed, but you will also come across as social internet marketer that is willing to take time out of your day to build relationships. Quality customer service and personal relationships go a long way on the internet.

Finally, once you have content and begin to develop your business you need to market it. There are several ways to market your business from article writing to paid advertising to affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is great because it gives you the ability to make money from other people’s websites just by putting a link from their website on yours. In turn, you can begin to bring customers from their website to yours. The higher traffic volume you can generate, the more business you will develop.

Overall, if you are determined and goal-oriented you can have success on the internet. Just remember, you have to be patient and take the time to develop your website thoroughly and interact with the readers. By doing so, people will begin to trust you and come to you for answers.

About the Author:

-----------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.HMWMegaSite.com
-----------------------------------------------

2007-03-18T04:23:00.000-07:00

Advertising Your Home Business on a Budget

Advertising Your Home Business on a Budget

Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy

http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-5357

When you are starting out in a new home business
and no one knows who you are, one of the greatest
challenges you will face is how to drum up new
business.

If there were not people in your community or
marketplace that you knew who needed your
products or services, you probably would not have
started your business to begin with. But, once
you have talked to those who you personally knew
who needed your what you offer, then your next
task is to find others who will help keep your
doors open.

Many people know that they must turn to
advertising at some point in the future, but they
hope that day will be long down the road. For
some, this utopian concept will come to fruition.
But for the rest of us in the real world, we must
come up with creative solutions for meeting our
home business advertising needs while working
within our budget.

Most people have a misconception about having to
spend lots of money in order to advertise their
home business. When you start out, you honestly
will not have much money available for
advertising, and if you do, you should still
spend it wisely.

Before you jump headfirst into the world of
advertising, let me share some of the lessons I
have learned concerning this most important topic.

LESSON #1

It does not have to cost an arm and a leg to
advertise your home business, unless you fail to
plan and fail to test.

As much as is possible, you should always test
your advertising. If you jump in and start
dumping tons of money in to advertising without
first testing your advertising, you might find
yourself broke and without sales at the end of
the road. Most people who commit this error write
off their failure on the home business they chose
or the economy or any of a hundred other excuses.
But, if they are unwilling to take responsibility
for their mistake, they will never learn from
their mistake. Don't let this be you.

LESSON #2

All testing should be done in blocks. If you
begin to advertise simultaneously in newspapers,
radio and television, how will you know which
advertising is bringing people to your cash
register? You won't. All you will know that
something might be working, but you will not know
what is actually doing the trick.

Even if you tell people in your advertising to
tell you how they found you, my experience shows
that fewer than 10% of the people ever will tell
you anything --- and those people who do may not
even get the facts straight! You cannot rely on
your customers to tell you what advertising is
working for your home business. You must put in
the extra effort to know for yourself.

LESSON #3

Only when you have a proven and solid advertising
portfolio should you venture to drop big bucks in
an advertising campaign. Even then, you should be
careful to keep further measurements to determine
how much the maximum advantage of an ad would be.
Sometimes you might be able to reach ten times as
many people, but depending on the kind of media
and other factors, the additional exposure will
only generate twice as many sales. Keep your eye
attuned to situations like this to get the most
from your advertising dollars.

LESSON #4

As Lesson #3 illustrates, sometimes your best
advertising investment may actually cost you less
money. When you are first starting out, whether
you are running a home business or a business
outside of your home, you need to be able to get
people talking and thinking about your business.

If you are busy testing ads in media's such as
the newspaper, magazines, radio, and television,
you need to learn ways of promoting your business
that do not require large cash expenditures. A
few examples are:

· Word of Mouth
· Business Cards
· Press Releases
· Non-Primetime Ads on Radio and Television

Here is more information about each type of
low-cost advertising:

WORD OF MOUTH

This of course is the cheapest kind of
advertising on the planet --- it does not cost
you anything. Ask your customers if they know
anyone who could also use your products or
services. When they are happy with your offerings
and service, they will be willing to tell you
whom you can contact, and they will pass the
word for you.

BUSINESS CARDS

You can usually pick up 500 business cards for
about $20. When you do, hand them out. Do not
give more than a couple of cards to each person.
If they need more cards from you, they will ask.

Some people are known to network with others on a
regular basis. Some of these people are also
known to be always looking for an extra few
bucks. With these people, you can suggest to them
that if they write their name on the back of one
of your business cards and the card is presented
to you, then you will pay a referral fee to them.
You do not have to offer much --- sometimes one
dollar is enough. Look at your home business and
your offerings and decide how much would be a
good referral fee.

PRESS RELEASES

Press Releases are a good source for generating
news about your home business. The business
editor at your local newspaper is always on the
lookout for a good business story to fill the
business news section of the newspaper.

Of course, the business editor understands the
economics of running a paper and is more inclined
to run your story if you buy advertising in
his/her publication, but will still print
stories for special events and openings.

The important thing to remember about Press
Releases is that it must be constructed in the
form of a news story. Even if you are a sole
proprietorship, quotes from you should be written
in a third person format: John Doe said, "Your
quote here."

A Press Release should pack the most important
information at the beginning of the copy, and
leave extra details towards the end.

You should always provide the reporter who gets
the task a simple and easy way for him/her to
contact you directly. Often the reporter will
want to contact you to get details that will
enhance their take on your story.

NON-PRIMETIME ADS ON RADIO AND TELEVISION

Believe it or not, some of the best rates for
radio and television are on the overnight and
non-primetime venues. These target times are not
a total waste as they can easily keep the
infomercial people in business.

These off-hours are just less populated than the
primetime hours.

Don't be afraid to check your local radio and
television rates for non-primetime hours to see
what bargains may exist. With television,
primetime is 7pm to 10pm. With radio, primetime is
8am to 5pm. This sure leaves a whole lot of hours
available to advertise your home business at
discount rates!

IN CONCLUSION

When it comes down to it, there is a lot to
understand about advertising, but when you have
the basic knowledge down pat, everything will
fall into place and bring more dollars to your
bank account.

About The Author:

--------------------------------------------------
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Website Just For You That's 100% Ready To Take
Orders And Pull In Massive Residual Profits Today!
Get All The Exciting Details And Signup Now At:

http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-5357

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2006-01-06T05:06:00.000-08:00

Multiply Your Sales Through Affiliate Programs
By Howard Whittington

What could be better than exceeding your personal
sales goals for a given month or year? How about
doubling, tripling or even more of you sales goal for
the month? This is exactly what affiliates can do for
you. The amount of growth potential through
affiliates is unlimited; the more affiliates you have
the more money you can make, after all, if Sam Walton
tried to run every Wal-Mart store, he obviously
wouldn’t be very successful. You must realize that
for maximum growth you cannot do it alone. Think of
the success of companies such as Avon or Home
Interiors. Their success is based on two things; a
great product and excellent affiliate programs.

To attract affiliates to your company you should make
it worth their time. Offering one percent of sales,
is not an attractive offer, the higher the commission
that you are able to offer your affiliates the more
affiliates will be tempted to join your team. You
should also provide your affiliates with the tools
that they will need to successfully market your
product such as banner ads, articles, and anything
else that will help them to better market the product.
You should provide the affiliates with updated
product information through newsletters, new
promotional campaigns and other things to motivate and
inform the affiliates.

You can choose to run your affiliate program in a few
different ways, both of which are beneficial to your
business. A one-tier affiliate program allows you to
generally offer a larger commission and pays on one
level. The affiliate will receive a predetermined
amount for each sale. Using a two-tier affiliate
program, affiliates are paid on two different levels.
This is done by allowing the affiliates to recruit
others to sell under them. In this situation, the top
level affiliate would receive a slightly larger
commission than the recruit or second level affiliate.
For example if the top level seller makes 20% of the
sale, then she/he would make 15% giving the second
level affiliate the 5%.

Setting up the affiliate program can also be done in
two different ways. One way is to do it yourself
through an affiliate tracking software. This software
will provide you with a way to track affiliate sales
as well as allow the affiliates to view their
progress. The downside to this option is that you are
responsible for making payments. You can also choose
to hire an affiliate tracking company to do all the
work for you. These companies will allow the use of
credit cards and completely run the affiliate program
from billing customers, paying affiliates, and also
pay you. This is a great option for the busy business
owner or the beginning business owner and it is
affordable as most affiliate tracking companies charge
a small one time fee. However you choose to run your
affiliate program it is sure to increase profits for
your business.

About the author:
-------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.HMWMegaSite.com
-------------------------------------------------------

2006-01-06T05:03:00.000-08:00

Implementing and Opt-In List to Optimize Your Internet Marketing Success
By Howard Whittington

In order to make a success of your website or online
business, it is obvious that you will need customers.
Although everyone who visits your page will not become
a customer, they must have some interest in your
product or service that brought them there in the
first place and therefore they are a potential
customer. Potential customers are much more likely to
become actual customers if you make an effort to keep
in touch with them. This essential marketing tool is
called and opt-in list.

An opt-in list will allow you to keep track of your
potential customers by obtaining their email address
in order to keep them informed about the latest
updates for your product or service. You can create
your own opt-in list or you can use an opt-in list
creator that is available online from several sources.
The benefits of creating your own opt-in list is that
you will be able to send personal messages to the
potential customers and they will not need to do
anything, whereas with commercial opt-in lists, the
customer will receive a generated message and will be
required to verify their acceptance of the message.

An important part of creating a successful opt-in list
is to keep in mind that potential customer will visit
your site from many places and may not see your
homepage. Therefore it is imperative to have the
ability to subscribe to the mailing list from all
pages of your site. You should not, however, make the
subscription information a focus point of every page.
It is a good idea to put it at the bottom or top of
the page where it is visible but not distracting. It
is also a good idea to promote your mailing list by
using a give-away. You could offer a service, a
discount, or an ebook. You can also drive potential
subscriber to join your mailing list by writing
articles that will benefit the reader and at the same
time, build your credibly as an expert. You can
include the subscription information in the byline of
the articles. You could also write an ebook with your
subscription information on each page, which will
allow the customer to easily access the information
and join the list with ease.

Once you have created the mailing list and now have
your potential customers within your grasp it is your
responsibility to keep them updated and interested.
Provide them with quality information that is
up-to-date and of interest to them. Offer discounts
or a newsletter, something that the reader can use.
This will keep them interested and will drive them to
your site over and over, eventually they may make a
purchase and if not, they will be informed enough to
use word of mouth advertising for your site.

About the author:
-------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.HMWMegaSite.com
-------------------------------------------------------

2006-01-06T05:01:00.000-08:00

Golden Rules For the Use of Autoresponders
By Howard Whittington

Autoresponders are a perfect way to increase traffic
to your site. They can save many valuable hours by
automatically answering emails concerning frequently
asked questions about a service or product or by
sending a welcome letter to new members of your
program. There are many ways that autoresponders can
help your business. One of the most important is
their ability to track the effectiveness of your
promotions. Since autoresponders are one of the most
popular marketing tools available today, they are
being used by a lot of different kinds of business and
websites. Some of these take advantage of the system
to use the autoresponders in a negative manner. You
should be aware of some of the “Golden Rules” when
using autoresponders.

Thou Shalt Not Use an Autoresponder Address When
Submitting to Search Engines.

Since you will most likely submit your site to search
engines such as Google or Yahoo!, directories,
classifieds, and free for all sites, you should be
made aware of the fact that these sites commonly use
an autoresponder as well. If you were to use your
autoresponder to contact these companies, their
autoresponder will reply to yours and so on and so on.
Thus creating a cycle of autoresponses that will
flood your email box and theirs as well.

Thou Shalt Not Use an Autoresponder to Subscribe to
Ezines or Discussion Forums.

Since most of the time an Ezine will send you updates
and new information regularly, your auto responder
will send them a message each time. In a discussion
forum, every person in the discussion forum will
receive your auto response. This can be irritating
and most of the time you will be unsubscribed. It is
often hard for the administrators of the forum or
ezine to determine who is using the autoresponse and
therefore it is simply common courtesy to never use an
autoresponer in this manner.

Thou Shalt Not Use an Autoresponder to Take Advantage
Of Unsuspecting Individuals.

Some very unprofessional companies will use
autoresponders to respond to an automated message
when this is done the address in the “from” field will be
automatically subscribed to their mailing list. This
is a extremely un ethical use of autoresponders and
those who do it are in jeopardy of creating a very
negative image of themselves and their company.
Rather than promote their service or business, this
usually leads to people becoming very upset and
spreading a negative word about your company rather
than a good one.

The Internet can be a great place to do business and
autoresponders can be an excellent way to save time,
however when used in an unprofessional way, they can
lead to frustration and aggravation for others. Your
company will suffer the loss of much business if you
choose to participate in these abusive practices. The
appropriate use of auto responders can generate a
large amount of business, while inappropriate use can
drive away that business.

About the author:
-------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.HMWMegaSite.com
-------------------------------------------------------

2006-01-06T04:59:00.000-08:00

Five Proven Methods for Internet Marketing Success
By Howard Whittington

There are hundreds of ways that you can promote your
online business or website, some more effective than
others. These five proven methods will help you to
generate traffic to your site and also to generate
income into your wallet.

1. One thing that appeals to everyone is “free.” If
it is free people will take it. Think of the samples
of cheese given away at grocery stores. Do you really
want a small piece of cheese? Of course not! But you
take it simply because it is free and someone is nice
enough to offer it to you. The same principle applies
with information or services offered from your
website. You can send out free newsletters or offer a
free trail period. One popular thing that is being
given away now are free credit reports or free PC
scans. These freebies are what we in the marketing
field like to call teasers. After running the free
credit report or PC scan we alert the customer if
there is something found on their credit record or PC
and then offer to show them what it is or repair the
problem for a price. This can be an effective way to
get information to your potential customers, create
sales or to generate traffic to your site.

2. Your website contains information about a service
or product that you are very knowledgeable about. You
can use this knowledge to generate traffic to your
site by writing articles in your area of expertise and
having them published in an ezine or an article
information site. The most effective way to use these
articles is to write them for free and ask in return
that the publisher allow you to include a byline. A
byline is a very short summary of the author, their
credentials and their website. Your byline is a way
that readers will come to know you as an expert on the
topic and will in turn come to trust your site as a
source of credible information.

3. Some search engines will allow a website to
purchase their ranking. This is an excellent Internet
marketing technique in that it is effective and
inexpensive. In the pay-per-click programs, website
are only billed for those who actually visit the page,
unlike banner ads which may be seen by millions but
only used by a few. When using the pay-per-click
program you are asked to choose keywords and when
those are entered your site will appear and if the
surfer chooses to view your site, you are billed for
that click. Many pay-per-click programs will offer
other benefits as well, such as updated lists of
commonly used keywords.

4. You should remember that others are in the same
boat as you. You can choose to network with those who
have similar marketing ideas. When networking you
will be able to share links and refer customers to
each other. You should always be very cautious when
choosing a networking partner as everything that you
recommend is a reflection of yourself or your product
and therefore, you should be certain that your
networking partner is a reputable source of
information.

5. Simply because your website is online, doesn’t
mean that all your advertising should be. Advertise
in newspapers, TV, the radio or you can even send out
a press release to get your information to thousands
of people all over the country.

About the author:
-------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.HMWMegaSite.com
-------------------------------------------------------

2006-01-06T04:56:00.000-08:00

Autoresponders = Automatic Internet Marketing Success
By Howard Whittington

What if you could send out all the information that
your potential customers have requested without
checking your email or answering a phone? While this
may seem impossible, it is becoming more and more
popular among the most successful Internet marketing
gurus. This is all due to what is called an
autoresponder. An autoresponder is an automatic
method of responding to emails sent by existing or
potential customers and is an must for any Internet
business. Time is money and answering emails
personally take a lot of valuable time for both you
and the customer. Not only do autorespnders allow you
to spend the time elsewhere in your business, but it
gives the customer access to the information almost
immediately.

Since there are so many different uses for
autoresponders, they can be of value to virtually any
type of business. Some choose to use the
autoresponders to answer frequently asked questions
about a product or service. Others use them to
provide information about pricing or product
information. Autoresponders are also a nice way to
welcome new members to a website or group as well as
thank them after a visit.

One might ask what would be the advantage of using
autoresponders as opposed to simply listing the
information on the site. An important feature of
autoresponders is that they send you an email
notification each time a response is sent out. This
allows you to track the success of your promotions as
well as have the email addresses of potential
customers at your fingertips so that you can easily
send out updated and new information to them.

It is of the utmost importance to choose an effective
autoresponder. An autoresponder should be as
personal as possible and send out follow-ups to
potential customers since it has been proven that
persistence pays off. It could take up to seven
contacts before a final sale is conducted. Generally
speaking an advertisement should be short and to the
point. However, in this case, the customer has asked
to see this specific information and therefore an
effective autoresponder should allow you to place as
much text on the page as you desire. The
autoresponder that you choose should provide automatic
updates to customers free of charge.

The autoresponder is one Internet marketing tool that
will not cost you an arm and a leg. You can get free
autoresponders online from several sources. The
automatic responses will be a welcome addition to your
marketing strategy and will help to automatically
increase traffic to your site all while you do
nothing. Be sure that the one you choose includes all
the extras that will send you site to the top and your
profits through the roof.

About the author:
-------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.HMWMegaSite.com
-------------------------------------------------------

2006-01-06T04:50:00.000-08:00

Effective or Irritating: The Use of Pop Windows in
Internet Marketing
By Howard Whittington

A few years ago, pop-up windows were all the rage in
Internet marketing. It seemed that every time one
opened a web page they would be bombarded with offers
for this or that. It had gotten to the point where
surfing the Internet was almost like playing a video
game; when the ads would pop-up one would try and
close them out before another one came. This is
precisely why we have seen the decline in the use of
pop-up windows on the Internet today; surfers simply
do not even look at the pop-ups anymore. They close
the windows out before even reading the ad. Very
often, a surfer will even leave your site if there are
too many pop-up ads. They simply do not want the
hassle of closing those windows while trying to obtain
the information that your site has to offer. This
information, while valuable, is not as valuable as the
surfers time. Studies have shown however, that even
with these set backs, pop-up windows are still an
effective method of Internet marketing.

Is there some way that pop-up windows can be less
irritating and still be effective? Yes! What if the
pop ad were seen upon exiting your site instead of
entering? This would allow the surfer to obtain the
information that they need from your site, feeling
that they were able to come and go quickly without
being hassled by other ads and offers all the while
making the surfer happy. You have left the surfer
with a positive attitude and therefore are more likely
to respond to the pop advertisement. This is being
accomplished more and more by using what is being
called pop-under windows. When the surfer comes to
your site, the ad is opened discretely behind the your
web page. Then, upon leaving your site, after
obtaining all the information that they need , will
see the ad and therefore be more likely to respond.
Since the surfer has the information, he has achieved
his objective and is now open to do other things;
ideally respond to the pop under advertisement.

Not all pop-windows are created equally. There are
some things that you can do to make your pop-windows,
whether pop-up or pop-under more effective. The
pop-window should be easy to “escape” from. If the
surfer does not want to see the add, but has a hard
time closing it out, they will likely become
frustrated and could leave your site all together.
You should either use a button to that will allow the
surfer to close the window or be sure that the “x” is
easily visible. Another good idea is to use a script
that utilizes cookies. Cookie will prevent
pop-windows from overloading the surfer since you can
decide the frequency of the pop-windows, rather than
each time a page is opened. Also be sure that there
is no more than one pop-window per page.

When creating a pop-window, you will be asked to fill
out a short information form, select the length of
cookies, and choose the layout of the pop-window.
When choosing the design of the pop-window, you can
increase the effectiveness by creating a large
headline that includes benefits that will be most
appealing to the customer. You should also consider
using incentives and lastly do not ask the customer to
read a long and drawn out advertisement. Keep the
message simple yet powerful and your pop-ads will be
sure to generate profits for your site.

About the author:
-------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.HMWMegaSite.com
-------------------------------------------------------

2006-01-06T04:42:00.000-08:00

Getting Started: Creating a Business Plan
By Howard Whittington

You're excited. You have a great idea for a profitable
online business. Maybe it is an original idea that has
not been marketed online before. Maybe you have come
up with a new spin on the ordinary. Whatever it is
that has influenced you to start your online business,
be sure that you have a plan before you begin. This is
not the time to “pick it up as you go”. These are some
basic things that should be included in your business
plan.

The business summary should give a brief description
of the entire business and is an integral part of the
overall business plan. After you have completed the
business summary you should begin to list the
objectives or the goals that you want to accomplish
through the business. Next and perhaps most
importantly, you should develop your marketing plan.
The marketing plan will address all the specifics of
the business. When developing the marketing strategy
you should consider the following:

The target market. The target market is the customers
that you expect to see visiting your site. For example
will your product be more appealing to college
students or those who are in retirement?

Consider the competition for your product when
determining the marketing strategy. Choose a product
that will be seen as unique and useful. Visit sites
that are offering the same or similar products. Find
out the cost, and how they are marketing their
product. Finds out the pros and cons of their business
and try to improve your product based on their flaws.

Research the various methods for advertising online.
You should become educated about search engines and
how they work since each one is different. Also be
sure that you know how to submit your site to search
engines. You should be prepared to spend a small
amount of money on advertising, but the profits that
you will gain from the advertisements will prove to be
money well spent.

Think about pricing. Again, look at the competition
and see what similar products are selling for. Pricing
can play a big role in the success of your product
since selling a product well below the average price
may lead customer to think that there is a problem
with the product or that it is not of the best
quality. However, pricing items too high could also
detour customers.

Determine the shipping method. Be sure that you know
how products will be shipped so that you can have
shipping details clearly posted on your site. If you
are shipping things of great value, you should
consider providing shipping insurance. Also think
about shipping outside the country that you live in.

Think about the different methods of payment that you
will accept. If your business does not accept credit
cards, you should be ready to give up half if not more
of your sales. If you decide to accept credit cards
will you use a merchant account or will you use a
third party credit card processing center? Both will
help you get started and the third party processing
center will handle all of the business so you don’’t
have to. You should decide which you will use and also
if you will accept checks or money orders. It is
essential to have a secure server when taking credit
cards.

These few things will help your online business to
become a great success and also provide you with peace
of mind knowing that you have thoroughly thought about
and planned for the opening of your online business.

About the author:
-------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.HMWMegaSite.com
-------------------------------------------------------

2005-12-11T00:34:00.000-08:00

Do you have what it takes to be an e-entrepreneur?
Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
Author of "Dotcomology - The Science of Making Money Online"

These days, it seems like everyone wants to work
from home and make money on the Internet. But
before you even turn on your computer, the first
question you have to ask yourself is whether
you’re cut out for this kind of work.

The fact is, building a home-based business isn’t
for everyone. Some people like the commute. They
really do enjoy having a boss who tells them what
to do, and they like the routine of working
nine-to-five for an ordinary salary that can
barely pay the mortgage. Personally, I think
they’re nuts.

More reasonably, there are people who are
concerned about the risk of starting up their own
business. They’re not sure it’s worth the
investment of time and money, and they’re scared
of the responsibility that comes with running
their own company. They wonder if there is
another way to escape the rat race.

I’m sure there is. You could win the lottery or
wait for your Aunt Sue to keel over and leave you
her condo. Or maybe you could sit down with a pen
and paper and draw the blueprint for "The Next
Big Thing". Anything can happen... Right?

For me, what happened was creating a successful,
self-running Internet marketing system. It didn’t
happen without effort. It didn’t happen without
at least some initial investment of both time and
money and, of course, it doesn’t happen now
without me making sure that the taxes are filed
and the paperwork is done. But it happened.

I’m my own boss. I work from home according to my
own schedule and I get to pocket all the cash my
business makes. If you’re prepared to give an
e-business the time, the work and the money it
needs to get started and get growing, it can
happen for you too.

Article excerpted from "Dotcomology":
Don't Pay A Dime For Any Ebook, Marketing
Course, Software Program Or Anything Else Until
You've Read This Groundbreaking Document...
Click Here to Discover "Dotcomology" Now!