Resources For Internet Marketing

Creating and running an effective online business is realistically comprised of several hundred, rather than 6, but this will serve as a guide for the direction of your efforts.  Contrary to what you may hear rampantly on the Internet, there is no cookie-cutter, get-rich quick scheme on the web.  Not only is every online business different, what works for one person or in one month may not work for another person or in the next month.

The Internet is constantly changing, and the online market is inherently different this year than it was last year.  New technological improvements occur monthly, and impact the online business environment.  What works for one individual when he is the first to sell a certain product a certain way may not work just six months later when he has sold his idea to 40,000 other marketers, and they all begin to promote it.  Traffic generation tactics are significantly different than they were just a year ago, and hardly resemble profitable strategies three years ago.

These 6 Steps are simply the bare-bones skeleton of what has to happen for your online business to be successful.  They are foundational, and although the implementation strategies are different today than several years ago, the basic steps remain the same.

1. Develop or discover a product.  You must find a product that meets today’s needs.  A 5 year old product whose resell rights you can buy for a dollar or get for free probably won’t meet the needs of today’s consumers.  You must be willing to pay for the rights to sell a current , useful product, or become an affiliate marketer, where you promote a popular product, and in exchange are paid a percentage of the income from the sale.

2. Determine how the potential customers can view your product and see a sales presentation.  If you develop your own product or purchase the rights to sell someone else’s, you will need a website.  A few tips here: Rather than accept free web hosting, purchase your own domain name and pay to have your domain name and web site hosted by a professional web hosting company with a reputable history.  If your free web hosting company goes bankrupt, they generally take your fledgling business with them.

3. Once you have your web site up and running, unless you are using an affiliate program that supplies a sales page, you must develop a sales script and web copy.  Aside from your web hosting decision, this is probably the most important thing you can do.  You may be tempted at first to write a sales pitch on your own, but unless you already have a lot of experience in the offline market writing effective sales letters, you need to, absolutely must, invest in a few courses on web copywriting.  Be willing to spend some money upfront on learning this skill.  Too many marketers try to wing it in this area and after a few months of losing money online, finally break down and purchase the knowledge to write a good sales pitch.  Do it the other way around—buy the knowledge first, and start making sales from the beginning.  Customers will not buy just because you have a web site---they buy from the web site that does the best job of convincing them it has the best product for their need.

4. You must develop a traffic source that works.  When you first begin, you may be on a shoestring, and that is OK.  Assuming you have been willing to spend some money on sales letter writing and a decent web host, you may be able to skimp in the traffic arena for awhile, if you have plenty of time.  If you do not have money to advertise, nor time to seek out low cost advertising, you probably shouldn’t be attempting an online business.  If you do choose to go the low-cost route—know two things up front—the returns are really low and you will spend vast amounts of time on traffic generation.  Once you begin to make sales, you must invest your income in paid forms of traffic generation.  If you do not, you will run out of enthusiasm for generating the free traffic, and without reinvesting the income from your first sales into advertising, you are sure to fail.  Good sources of low-cost, but time consuming traffic are: writing articles and posting them to article directories, low cost classified ads, and ezine ads.  You may see hyped-up ads for thousands or visitors for a low cost or millions of banner ads for another reasonable price—both of these methods may have worked 2 years ago, but they are a sure waste today.

5. Once you begin to get traffic to your online business site, you must keep detailed records of where the traffic comes from, and what percentage of visitors from each source are purchasing your product.  If you have visitors that cost you $50 per hundred to come to your web site, but on average they only purchase $25 per hundred visitors, the income may feel good, but you are not profitable, and are losing money.  By tracking your expenses on each type of visitor and by tracking your revenue on the same sources of visitors, you can determine which campaigns need changes or need to be eliminated and which need to be increased in intensity.

6. By following this pattern of steps, and by keeping diligent records (there is plenty of good web site tracking software on the market that can help you do that), you can develop a profitable online business.  Again, it will not happen overnight, and you will not get rich quick.  However, if you build a solid online business with a solid foundation, and are willing to spend some money learning how to do it right, you really can become successful in business online.

 Okay, it's now time for the next installment of... "6 POWERFUL VRE(Virtual Real Estate) Business Models You Can Start Building In 2006 Using Google Adsense" series.

By now you should have a good idea of what Virtual Real Estate is and why it's to your benefit that you start a network of your own VRE sites depending on the model you choose.

In the last installment of this series I covered "Article Directories".

In this part of the VRE series I'm going to cover "Web Directories" in general and then give you some examples of what they might be and look like.

Sound good?

VRE Model #2. Web Directories.

An "Web Directory" is simply a directory on the World Wide Web that specializes in linking to other web sites and categorizing those links. Web Directory owners will often allow site owners to submit their site for inclusion. Then human editors will review their submission and if accepted, will be added to their database.

The one thing about Web Directories is they are often used as part of a website marketing strategy for being indexed in the major search engines like Yahoo!, Google, MSN to name a few.

The main strategy behind someone submitting there website to a directory is that a new site needs to quickly build inbound links from reputable sources. In doing this they will get a higher ranking within search engine results under there target keywords depending on the PR(popularity ranking) of that directory or inbound link.

That's the basic run-down of what an Web Directories purpose is and why they make a great VRE business model.

Web Directories can be and target anything you want them to. It's your directory, so you make the decision as to what it is about.

As your directory grows, so will its traffic.

And if you have targeted affiliate programs strategically placed on your directory along side your Google Adsense code, you could be making a nice, steady income form your directory like many others are right now.

Now... as I said at the beginning of this article I would give you some examples of some Web Directories with Google Adsense so you see for yourself whether or not this is something you want to venture into.

So, with that said, here are 3 directories that I think will give you a good idea of what to expect:


Free Stuff Directory:
All Free Things - http://www.allfreethings.com/

eBook Directory:
Wisdom eBooks - http://www.wisdomebooks.com/

Software Directory:
Software5 - http://www.software5.com/

Now remember, your Online Directory can be about anything you want. Your in control.

These are just some examples of whats out.

Did you happen to see the Google Adsense ads?

BINGO!

Also, pay special attention to where those Google Adsense ads are positioned because this is KEY to getting a good CTR(Click Through Rate) with your Google Adsense ads.

Now, at this point, it's up to you to make the decision on whether or not this is the type of VRE business model you want to use and start.

I recommend you surf around and see whats out there with your interests in mind. By doing that you will be able to get some good idea's as to what to expect and more importantly, model your directory and/or VRE sites from.

Well, that's it for now.

 VRE -- also known as "Virtual Real Estate" is literally everywhere online.

That's right. Everytime you do a search on whatever it is your searching for via the Internet you get a list of results. Within that list of results lye's thousands, if not, millions of pages of Virtual Real Estate that is making someone out there on the WWW some handsome profits.

The question is... "what have you done in order to stake your Internet "VRE" claim so you too can enjoy some of that profit as well?"

If you haven't started anything yet, that's okay because I did a little research for you and came up with these "6 POWERFUL VRE(Virtual Real Estate) Business Models You Can Start Building In 2006 Using Google Adsense" so you too can benefit like the many others out there online.

The first VRE business model I'd like to talk about are -- Article Directories.


VRE Model #1. Articles Directories.

Article Directories are in my mind are probably one of the best VRE business models on the web simply because they offer your audience and publishers Multiple Channels of information on any topic.

And the facts are, people come online for information.

So, what do Article Directories contain?

That's right... Information! ... and lots of it.

The other great benefit to Article Directories is that you don't have to write a single word if you don't want to because the whole purpose of starting your Article Directory in the first place is to get other people(we also call them authors) to submit their content for your readers and/or publishers to read and use.

Now, the Rule Of Thumb is simple when it comes to growing your Article Directory and that is... the more authors you recruit, the more your Article Directory will grow, filling it full of targeted information for your readers to digest and for publishers to use on their websites.

It gets better, so keep reading.

Did you know that the more pages you have within your Article Directory means... the more search engine food you'll have for the search engines to come and index into their database which will then be displayed within the search engines search results.

Remember in the beginning of this article when I was talking about the search engine results being full of Virtual Real Estate. This is where your Article Directories webpages(or your Virtual Real Estate) will be listed for web surfers find.

This also means that you'll receive a lot of FREE targeted search engine traffic to your Article Directory as it grows giving your authors FREE targeted traffic to their sites and keeping them happy, and at the same time, will be building your VRE nest egg on the WWW.

Are you starting to see the benefits to starting your own Article Directory on the Internet?

I hope so.

But don't go anywhere just yet, I'm not finished.

There's two more things I want to talk to you about before this part of the article series ends.

The first is RSS -- better known as "Real Simple Syndication" and what RSS does is it allows you to syndicate your Article Directories content or just content in general through an RSS feed so that any reader and/or publisher who subscribes to a particular RSS feed within your Article Directory will receive ANY new updated content that is published... INSTANTLY!

The other benefit to a RSS feed is... lets say you have 1000 publishers subscribed to one of your RSS feeds and one of your authors submits a new article at your Article Directory, all those publishers who subscribed to that RSS feed will receive it once that RSS feed updates and when someone clicks on the link within that RSS feed to read the new article, guess where the visitor is sent to?

You guessed it, your Article Directory, with your Google Adsense ads(I'll talk about that in a second) and whatever other related affiliate links you have on that webpage.

Now... for the BEST part, how-to make a $Profit$ with your Article directory.

I'm telling you, this is the easiest money you'll ever make for simply supplying your viewers and the Internet(A.K.A. The Information Super Highway) with what it needs the most, Information!

How do you do it?

Heard of Google Adsense(as I mentioned just a minute ago), because if you haven't, now you have.

What is Google Adsense?

Google Adsense is Googles affiliate program for publishers and how it works is it displays ads targeted towards the content on that particular webpage being viewed.

How do you get paid? Simple. Your reader just has to click on one of the ads within the Google Adsense ad box on that webpage and depending on what the topic is and keyword could pay some handsome commissions(usually between 35% to 50%).

And, guess what? You didn't even have to do any selling OR follow-up.

Not bad and believe me those clicks add up Fast and by having the search engines returning frequently for regular indexing and having RSS feeds(remember, when someone clicks on the RSS feed link on someone elses website they get redirected back to yours with your Google Adsense ads on it and other affiliate links) for other publishers to use on their websites you'll soon see your Google Adsense profits get Bigger and BIGGER!

Well, that's it for now. So be sure to be on the look out for my next installment of the "6 POWERFUL VRE(Virtual Real Estate) Business Models You Can Start Building In 2006 Using Google Adsense".

I have talked to a number marketers on the Internet and by far the biggest reason most of them haven't made money is because they don't bring enough  targeted visitors to their websites. I am not saying they don't know how to bring target visitors to their site, because I am sure many of them do. What I am saying is that most marketers are not willing to put in the effort it takes to drive massive amounts of traffic to their sites.

No one likes to admit it, but let's face it most of us are lazy, we are always looking for an easier way to do things. There is nothing wrong with that, but there are some things that just have to be done a certain way and there just isn't a short cut.  When it comes to targeted traffic we have all looked for an easier way. I tried auto traffic exchanges, it doesn't get much easier than that. Would you like to guess how many products I sold using auto traffic exchanges. Don't waste your time guessing I have never sold a product using auto traffic exchanges and don't remember ever selling a product using manual traffic exchanges for that matter. I am not against using traffic exchanges they have their place, but selling products is not one of them.

You are probably thinking when is he going to get to the 5 ways to increase targeted visitors. I am getting there, but you need to understand the 5 ways are important, but the reason you are not making money is not because you don't know the 5 ways to bring targeted traffic to your site, the reason you are not making money is because you don't believe they work. You may have tried a few of the ways to get targeted traffic, but never put in a lot of effort or did it the way you wanted to do it because doing it the way you were told to do it would just take too long. The people that will make money after reading this article are the people that have a burning desire to make it no matter what the cost, and no matter how much time it takes. The people that came to the Internet looking for an easier way to make money than going to a dead end job will have to wake up and realize that making money on the Internet is not a lot easier than going to that job. Those that accept that and stop looking for the easy way to make money will benefit from this article.

5 Ways to Increase Target Visitors

1. Writing Articles

2. Search Engine Traffic

3.Posting In Forums

4. List Building

5.Viral Marketing

An article is restricted to a certain number of words so I can not tell you exactly how to use the 5 ways to increase targeted visitors, but you can find that information at any marketing forum for free, one I use a lot is The Warrior Forum. I hope you noticed that most of the 5 ways to get targeted traffic involve writing, most people have trouble writing, I have trouble with it, that is what this article is about, just buckle down and do it no matter how hard it is. Don't be like some people and write an article and say to yourself, it took so long to write this article I will just submit it to 10 article directories. You need to submit that article until your fingers can't type any more, if you will do that it can get easier, because then you will be making some money that you can use to have ghost writers write articles for you.

Good Luck!

There are tons of resources available that will teach you how to make money on the internet. Heck, I've written tutorials like that myself. But, perhaps it's easier to demonstrate what to do, with a lesson on what not to do. This article will teach you how to drive visitors away from your website screaming "Get me outta here!" If you prefer being alone with your website and don't want all those pesky visitors bothering you, then follow the guidelines below and you'll get rid of them quick as a blink.

1. Don't state on your website what you do or what you sell. Make it a complete mystery why you decided to build your website in the first place. It's like a secret club -- your visitors are left in the dark. Have you been to sites like this where you show up and think "What the heck is this site about?" If you're not presenting a clear statement about why your visitors should spend their money (or at least come back again), then you're on your way to hermit-land.

2. Overwhelm visitors with lots of information. Almost as bad as the "What the heck is this site about?" problem is the "Oh my Goodness! Oh my Gracious!" sites. As a visitor, you know the sites I'm talking about. The page opens and your jaw drops. There is a sea of banners, with links everywhere and articles galore. Where do you go? What do you do? I'll tell you what I do. Click the little "x' in the upper right-hand corner to get the heck outta there!

3. Make the ordering process really complicated. There's nothing I love more than putting items into my shopping cart and then spending 20 minutes trying to figure out how to set up an account and pay. Guess what? I sure don't click the 'contact us' button. I click the "x" instead. You've succeeded in getting rid of yet another pesky customer who wanted to spend money.

4. Fill your site with outdated information and broken links. Pfshew. You dodged a visitor with that one. They clicked on a link that was broken -- and off they went.

5. Make sure there's no way for an interested customer or business partner to contact you. Heaven forbid, you might get some spam if you have your contact information on your site.

Thank Goodness you don't have those gosh-darned customers emailing you while you're trying to read up on Brad Pitt's love life.

Obviously, I'm being silly, but you do know that these examples are true. You've seen sites that seem like they are trying to drive you away. If you are spending time and energy putting up a website to make money, then, make some money. You CAN do it!

Everyday, thousands of new surfers open their browsers for the first time, it is confusing in the beginning, but if you have some good advices in the early beginning, you can surf easier and faster with a friendly browser...

 Tip 1: Surf in security.
 The first action that you will do if you are new to the net is to open your browser to surf. If you have a PC, like most of the Internet population. You will have Internet explorer installed in your computer, but it is not the best browser available on the net, and it is in fact limited. You may think that it is hard to surf on Internet.
When you will discover Mozilla Firefox, you will be even more happy to surf on Internet, for sure.
One of the first reason you should use Firefox is the integrated Firewall, which protect you against spyware and other adawares.

Tip 2: No need to type http://www.---.com all the time.
The second reason to choose Firefox is that you save time; for instance, when you went on ebay.com yesterday, you wrote: http://www.ebay.com with Firefox, you just type “e” in the address bar of your browser, then http://www.ebay.com will appear in the drop down menu, it's like magic, and it's fun too.

Tip 3: See all your pages in only one window.
I really love this one; you can surf in tab. That is really powerful.
For instance, with Internet Explorer, whenever you click on a link, you have 2 choice: open the page in the same window, or open it in a new window. Firefox enable you to open several pages in one window.
Let's explain: you are now looking yahoo.com, and you want to see the news, you just right click on the link, select open in a new tab, and you have now two pages in only one window. To switch between your pages, you just need to click on anyone of the page you want to look in, all that in the same window. You can open fifteen windows in one time if you want.
Better, you can bookmark(in Internet explorer, bookmark is favorites) a tab, and open it later. It is a very intelligent way of surfing. It is very efficient when you are doing some researches on a subject, on google for example.

Tip 4: All your downloads at the same place.
The fourth reason to choose Firefox is that when you download a file on your computer, sometimes, you want to open it, but you face a problem: Where did you save that file? With Firefox, just  click on tools, and then you select download, and a pop up window appear. You just scroll to find your program. It will save you time and a lot of headaches.
However, it is recommended, for the  first time, to save your download on your desktop, then after save your file in the folder you choose. You can download firefox for Free. You just type firefox in google.com and you're done.

Tip 5: Don't forget a good anti virus,
While you surf on Internet, some hijackers will attempt to damage your computer, by introducing a virus in it. If you don't take your precaution, you may loose all that is stored in your hard disk. You can download AVG, which is excellent at .http://www.download.com

There is a lot to learn when you start on Internet, but take your time. And everything will go smoothly.

Developing a website is important if you want to be a player in ecommerce. However, you don’t want to just develop a website any old way. Instead, you want to develop a website for your audience. When doing research online you have probably seen generalized information on how to develop a website, however it is unlikely you have found significant information on how to develop a website specifically for your audience. The following tips will be really helpful to you to develop a website just for your audience.

Tip #1 Goal

First you need a goal when you are developing a website for your audience. If you do not know what you are looking to achieve then it will be very difficult to be successful. Also, it takes a goal to drive your website where it needs to be. A goal is what allows you to develop an initial plan for your website and helps guide you in developing your website as well.

Tip #2 Audience

Your audience is very important and should be considered in conjunction with your goal when developing a website. Basically, you are developing your website for a certain audience and these are the people that will help meet your goal so this is very important to consider. Just make sure you determine who your audience is before you begin developing your website.

Tip #3 Content for Audience

Once you have determined your goal and your audience it is time to determine the content that will be used for your audience. You might not realize it, but the type of audience you are focusing on will really affect the content you use on your website. So, make sure you have your audience targeted so you know what content will work best for these individuals.

Tip #4 Update 

Another important tip for developing a website for your audience is to plan when you will provide updates. This might seem like something you could consider down the road when your site needs updating, but is really not the case. You need to know when your audience will most likely be viewing your site and when they won’t so you know when to provide updates. A little bit of planning will go a long way.

Tip #5 Format

The format of your website is also a very important aspect and one that will really affect whether or not you reach your audience. Once you know who your audience is you will have no problem developing a format that will reach them. Also, your format improves your site’s message, so it is beneficial in a variety of ways.

       STEP 1. Find something you feel is a good business opportunity. You can scour the internet for all sorts of different business ideas and opportunities. Doing a search on any search engine with the keywords Work At Home, Business Opportunities, Home Based Business, Affiliate Programs, Make Money Online, etc., will produce 1000's of different search results. Affiliate programs are THE ABSOLUTE BEST business opportunities out there because the ONLY thing you need to do to run your internet business is to market your affiliate link. With a traditional business you must deal with inventory, storage, packing, shipping, complaints, returns, phone calls, emails, checks and credit cards just to name a few! Not so with affiliate programs, once someone has clicked on your affiliate link your only job is getting the next person to click on it. Sweet deal!

      STEP 2. Get your own webpage. You want to put your internet business on a webpage of your own. A webpage is like a store front. It projects respect to your business and who you are. Think about it. Do you feel the same about buying from a vendor on the street as you do about buying from a person in a store? They’re both vendors, but the store gives you a certain feeling about the person you are buying from that a street vendor just can’t give you! Your webpage dose not have to be fancy. If you only have a brief description of what your webpage is about along with individual descriptions of your product or products people will respect that. If it is affiliate programs you have decided upon, simply put a BRIEF description of what is being offered along with your affiliate link. Do not disclose too much in your description because people might THINK they know what it is all about and not click on your link. You want to let your affiliate website do all the selling for you. These sites are professionally designed to maximize the number of people who buy or join so a brief description, just enough to spike their curiosity, is sufficient.

STEP 3. Get your own Blog and make one post a day. A Blog, short for, “Web Log,” is a great way to establish yourself as an authority figure on whatever topic you decide. As people return to read your daily articles, they will eventually come to view you as an authority on whatever your Blog is about. They will eventually develop confidence in what you are saying, and will begin to trust you. As a result some people will check out your webpage to see what you have to offer them, and people tend to buy more from people they know and trust. Their confidence in you will be an additional factor that will compel people to buy from you. There are many places online that will host and let you set up your Blog for free.

     STEP 4. Put Cost-Per-Click(CPC) advertising such as Google AdSense on your website. Having Cost-Per-Click advertising on your website is a way to earn additional income that can be VERY substantial. Most people who visit your website will not buy from you. If people are going to leave your website, wouldn’t you rather them leave through a link on your website that will pay you money every time someone clicks on it? Google makes putting their AdSense on your website E-A-S-Y! The ads are relevant to the content of your website. Google can even put its AdSense on your Blog as we’ll.

STEP 5. Write and submit articles to article submission sites. This is the most important advice you need to know. This is how you will get FREE advertising! People are searching the internet for free information. When you submit your articles online, the search engines will eventually find them and will spider every word. When people do a search using keywords or phrases that are in your articles, they will turn up in the search results, so be sure to insert highly searched for keywords and phrases into your articles! You will need to include at the bottom of all your articles your bio. Your bio will contain a brief description about who you are along with a link to your website. It might read for instance [ John Doe is the owner of yoursite.com. John helps people to work at home using various business opportunities that include affiliate programs. If you desire your own home based business visit http://www.yoursite.com] The more articles you write and submit, the higher the chances are of your articles keywords and phrases showing up on search results. The more links you have pointing back to your website, the higher your websites page rank with the search engines will be, meaning the higher up on the search results will your article turn up, so don’t stop writing and submitting articles! I do want to stress however, quality over quantity. Take your time and check your spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. No one will take what you have to say seriously if you don’t write correctly.

So there you have it! Having a successful internet business is simply a matter of understanding how things work, and applying that knowledge. It dose not take any special skill or any great intelligence.  If you follow these five steps, you cannot fail. The most important thing, as with anything in life, is persistence. Continue following steps three and five and watch your internet business grow!

If you're like most small business websites on the internet today, you use link exchanges to market your website. But sometimes finding websites to exchange links with can be a time consuming task. Here are a few proven methods for finding websites to exchange links with.

1: Search Engines Queries

Using Google or Yahoo, perform the following searches, replacing “keyword” with a keyword related to your site.

Keyword add url
keyword add site
keyword add link
keyword submit url
keyword submit site
keyword submit link
keyword link exchange
keyword link swap
keyword reciprocal link
keyword related sites
keyword links directory

2: Find out who's linking to your competitor's.

If you can find out who is linking to your competitors, you can try to acquire a link to your site ob each site that already links to your competitors. Just search for link:http://www.competitors-url-here.com

3: Other link directories

Find sites that relate to your site that have link exchange directories. Visit each site in their link directories and attempt to exchange links with each site.

4: Link exchange tools

There are several excellent websites that match webmasters with related sites that are interested in exchanging links. Two of the best are Linkalizer and SiteSell's Value Exchange. In general, you'll want to stay away from sites that completely automate the link exchange process. I have used some of them, but the search engines do not like these sites, and may penalize your site if you use them.

5: Software

There is also software available that searches for and automatically emails sites to see if they will link exchange with you. I have used and like LinkAssistant. If you decide to use this method, ensure that you comply with all spam laws and the search engine's guidelines.

All 5 of these methods are proven, dependable ways to find link exchange partners. Use them and start gaining more free links to your website today!

5 Mistakes You Must Avoid When Starting A Home Based Internet Business


2 years ago I left my job as a sales manager to start a home based Internet business. I had already bought a lot of books promising substantial incomes within days or at least a month.

Nothing could stop me now – I had several project up and running in no time.

First mistake to avoid is rushing into a home-based business that program that you know little or nothing about. Many people on the Internet want to make money from selling you the perfect home based business. In many cases they haven’t even tested the program themselves.

Second mistake to avoid is thinking you can go from zero to a successful Internet business in 30 days or less. I am not saying it is impossible, but most end up with a giant information overflow and no money in the pocket. You must plan for a modest income the first 3-5 months.

Produce a list of alternatives and try to identify the critical success factors and skills needed. Be realistic – you have to have some of the key skills needed it you are going to succeed.

Third mistake is quitting a program to soon. What I did and you should not repeat is thinking that it is something wrong with the program when the money doesn’t start pouring in. Often it is a question of making minor changes, measuring the effects of the changes and wait for things to start happen.

Forth mistake is starting cheating when you get desperate and low on self-esteem There are a lot of scrupulous people out there making money from guys like you who has been knocked in the first round

A lot of communities is exchanging clicks for Google AdSense. Did you really think you could get away with it? You end up getting banned from the program and excluded from one of the best home based Internet businesses you can find. Again be patient – you will succeed if you really try.

Fifth mistake to avoid is not learning the basic stuff. The basic skills for succeeding with a home-based business is to create content, attract visitors and make money from you visitors. You can buy some product and services that helps you on the way, but you must understand and be able to handle the basic stuff if you want to establish your home business and survive.

Starting a home based Internet business is like a boxing match. Be patient – work hard and smart and you will become the champ of home-based Internet marketing.

 5 eBay Selling Tips for Newbies


I’m directing this article to those who are just starting their eBay Selling Venture.  Whether you’re selling books, DVDs, CDs, collectibles or clothing, all things (with the exception of eBooks and services) need to be mailed.   And it’s the postage, handling fees and mailing that seems to cause a great deal of angst among new sellers.

You’ve heard the advice – don’t overcharge for shipping.  That is very good advice, indeed, as nothing turns off potential buyers like sellers who gouge you on the shipping costs.  It’s also a practice that can rack up bad feedback.

However, I’m going to play Devil’s Advocate here and suggest that you don’t go overboard and give so much of a break on shipping that you’re chipping away at your profits.  It’s good to remember the “hidden costs” of shipping:  bubble wrap to secure your breakables, tape, shipping envelopes, boxes, etc.  Then there’s the gas you put in your car to take all those trips to the post office.

You might think I’m being cheap, but, if you added up all your eBay expenses for the year (as some did for their recent taxes) you might be shocked to see how all the packing materials and gas for your car added up and took a little chunk out of your eBay profits.  And, believe me, they do add up.

Some people are even more surprised to find they underestimated the weight of their packages, causing their profits to shrink even further.

How can you be fair to both you and your buyers?

1.  Buy a scale.
It may sound simple, but purchasing a scale can save you a bundle in shipping.  If you’re just eyeballing the weight of the package, you can often times guess too low, and be in for quite a shock when you go to the post office and see the package is going to cost twice what you thought to ship.

2.  Know the dimensions of your packaging before listing the item.
 Some packages cost more to ship because of their dimensions.  Knowing the weight alone isn’t enough.

3.  Offer the buyer a variety of shipping methods.
 Some prefer speedy delivery with Express mailing, while some prefer to save money with parcel post even though the wait is longer. It’s always a good idea when using parcel post or other slower ground shipping to alert the buyer by email that it can take anywhere from 8 to 10 days.

4.  Save yourself money whenever possible by using boxes that have been used.
 Most stores are more than happy to let you rummage through their old boxes and take some home with you.  But, do remember to choose boxes that are presentable, secure and strong enough for your items.  And, if you have breakables, don’t skimp on the bubble wrap.

5.  Give yourself a small handling fee that will cover your expenses.
 Some sellers add on an additional $1 or $2 to the shipping fees for their handling fees (depending on the cost of the item and how much packaging you have to use).  I really advocate doing this because your expenses will add up if you do a lot of selling on eBay.  Be sure to be upfront with your buyers that you have a small handling fee so they can’t complain about it later.

Being fair to both yourself and your buyer will keep you both happy, and keep more of your profit in your pocket.

 5 Big Internet Business Lies


You have heard from people saying Internet Business is a waste of time, you will not make any money, there is no real money to be made online, it will never work and so many others negative words coming from people who don’t really understand in this Internet Business industry.

The thing is, it does work. Why some people make a fortune and some don’t even make money at all? Simply because the people who make thousands or millions of cash knew all the lies in this business and they will not trust these lies.

So what is this big internet lies? Below here are the 10 big internet lies that you should know:

1. Starting And Running A Business On The Internet Is Expensive

Do you know that you can start your business with zero cost? You can actually earn your income by joining a very high quality affiliate program. Usually, as an affiliate marketer, your job is concentrating on marketing only. All the follow up, delivery of the product, answering questions from customers and so on are done by the owner of the program.

Usually the ‘expensive’ statement often comes from people who are living in non-U.S. countries, especially if the country’s local currency is smaller than that of the U.S. Dollar. If it is not a currency issue, it is a vision issue. See and think small to get small. See and think big and your results will have a tendency to match your thoughts.

2. You Can Make Easy Money From The Internet

Most people believe you can make money overnight and by not doing anything at all. If it is what you have in mind right now, this myth is what sets the realistic apart from the unrealistic. You have probably heard of stories of how people make 5 to 6 figure incomes in the shortest period of time imaginable.

These stories might be true but did you know most of them have failed so miserably several times before they can really make money? They have learned from their mistakes and move on. It may seem as if some gurus are overnight successes with the wild numbers some people have brought in during a day or a week selling information or products online.

Some interesting facts about overnight success – it normally takes months if not years to realize. In other words, they prepare, they create a joint ventures, they get ready and then build up anticipation for a launch – then BOOM it explodes!

3. You Must Know HTML, Programming And Graphic Designing In Order To Start Your Business

You don’t need to know all of these at all. Period. In fact, one of the biggest shockers was the discovery that most of the biggest on the gurus today do not have the first clue as to how to build a web page.

These gurus earned more money because they knew how to reach people. They either outsource for professional help or establish Joint Ventures with other individuals who can compensate their lack of knowledge in any one of these areas.

As a matter of fact, most successful people are true successes because they only focus their time on what brings them successes.

If you want to create your web pages without having to learn programming, HTML and designing skills, just find someone else that can do it for you. There are many professional web designer you can find on the Internet which you can hire them to design your web pages exactly like you wanted.

4. On The Internet, There Is No Need To Know How To Sell

This statement has make people who hate selling are attracted to ads that read “no selling required”. Think for a moment, is there any logic at all you can make money without doing anything at all? Usually these programs are usually unworkable and some are run by fly-by-night operators.

In this business, don’t try to sell to other people. Instead, you inform your potential customers. Show people what their lives would be like with what you offer and you will have a sale without selling anything at all!

5. You Don’t Have To Build A Mailing List At All

Laughing out loud – that is like saying, “I don’t want to be in business”. Put this in your head, your mailing list is as important to you as the “Yellow Pages” is to a conventional B2B business.

“The money is in the list”. You probably heard this from most gurus out there. But you should also have this word in your mind, “The money is in the relationship”. The idea of networking with people is unattractive to most who hate to sell.

Remember though, you are not selling anything. You are just showing people their life and how it can easily be enhanced by what you have to offer.

All the above are just some of the big Internet lies. Actually there are a lot more Internet lies you should stay away from. You have to be smart in order to really achieve success that you could possibly imagine. Success is like enlightenment. It is a path and not a destination.

 4 Tips To Increase Your Blog Readership Fast!


Aside from being a fun hobby, what is the point of having a blog? The answer is to draw readers. Whether you are selling advertising, a product, or just your own set of ideas, you want as large a readership as possible with most blogs. So if that is the case, then it is important to know how to draw readers to your blog. There are a number of ways to increase the readership of your blog. Here are four tips that will help you to increase your blog readership that are easy to do and will definitely pay off for you.

First of all, to increase readership you would want to increase the number of pages each reader is seeing. You don’t want to be judged only on your last post, but rather on the whole of your work. To that end, try highlighting related posts within your blog. At the end of an article, highlight posts that may be of interest to those who like the current post. Most blog platforms are fitted with plug-ins that will help you with this, but if they are not, then go ahead and at least list the links to other pages manually. Another similar idea is to highlight the related posts within the content of your post. If you are talking about a subject you have discussed before, link off of one of the keywords into the past post that is related. This will also help a past post to maintain its freshness.

A second tip for increasing your blog readership is to think about doing a series. A series is a great way to keep a reader coming back again and again. In addition, if you are linking back, you can get readers looking at multiple posts even after you are done with the series. Be careful when doing a series, because you do not want to frustrate readers. However, if you have a topic you genuinely think you should handle over a period of time, then a series can really help your overall readership. If you are curious as to whether or not a series is working for your blog, then check posts. See if readers are posting through the series to see if they are following you. If they are, then your series is a success and you are only helping your blog readership.

Another way to increase readership is a little more “controversial” if you will. You can try putting excerpts on the front page of your blog from certain posts. Many people claim it is just a way to get more hits on your site. The truth is that extra hits are a little side benefit of it, but the real value is that it can make your site more engaging. By adding excerpts to the front page you can manage the front and keep it fresh while also teasing those who get that far into reading more than just your most recent blog post. This will encourage a prospective reader to explore your blog site a little more than they may have normally. Again, you want to be judged by the whole of your work, or at least by a larger piece of your work than just one post and this will do that. If your writing is up to par, then, you will see a rise in your readership.

Finally, if you really want to build and increase readership, you have to have good quality content. It should be useful, original, and interesting to your target audience as well as keeping them wanting more of the same. The more you raise the quality of your blog’s content, the more you will see your membership, readership, and page hits go up without even having to use any other “tricks.” People know what they like and they like quality for the most part. Giving the readers what they are after is probably the best way possible to increase your blog readership.

Having a blog can not only be fun, but if you are doing it right it can also be profitable. Either way, though, you want to maintain and increase a following, or readership. There are as many tips out there to increase blog readership as there are blogs, but to really get things going, consider using these four tips. Follow them and you will see your readership grow.

 4 Tips To Build A Content Site With More Repeat Visitors


On the internet, content is known as "the king". People visits a site not for the flashy graphics nor the wonderful website designs, but because of the information they learn from the website.

Having high quality content not just attract visitors, it also attracts search engines to visit your sites more and increase your search engine placements.  However, in order to get more traffic that can turn into money,  you'll need repeat visitors who are eager to read your new update on your content site.

Therefore, your website should have rich, premium, informative content to capture repeat visitors and more search engine traffic.

Here are some simple tips that would help you build a content site that can attract more repeat visitors:

   - Make sure your website's layout is simple and easy looking to the visitors' eyes.  Don't add too many flashy features in your webpage to disturb your visitors's focus when they are reading on your content.

   - Always remember the most important part in your content is the headline and the first few paragraphs. Whether your reader will read on or not heavily depends on the attractiveness on these parts. Always try to capture their interests and give them what they want to know.

   - Update your website with fresh new content frequently. When your visitors revisit your site and find you have not add new content, they will visit elsewhere immediately. And if this situation goes on, they will not visit your site again. Besides, search engines love websites that update content frequently, and give them higher search rank.

   - You should consider to use blogs.  Blogs are very easy to set up and update.  Once you have entered your entries, all you have to do is to click a button to publish them. And blogs are getting indexed fast and easily in most search engines!

Content is king, and you can take benefit from it easily!

4 Things Web Analytics Can Teach You - What Your Traffic’s Telling You


Brick-and-mortar stores often change displays, move goods around, and put impulse items beside checkouts. The reason behind these changes is they’re analyzing customer traffic and studying behavioral patterns to understand how consumers shop. As an online retailer, you need to study your customer traffic as well in order to increase sales.

Listen: Your Customers Are Talking

There are a number of web traffic analytics companies, such as http://OneStat.com and http://StatCounter.com, that analyze your customers’ shopping patterns. They follow your customers’ clicks to and through your web pages and provide you with valuable info on how your customers experience your website:

1. You see which keywords bring you, not only the most hits, but also the highest conversion rates. People often find the generic words they use bring them a great deal of traffic, but that traffic averages a shorter stay on the site. The longer people spend on your site, the more likely they are to buy something. Analyzing that data allows you to see which keywords are effective for you.

2. You see the average amount of time users spend on your site. Due to latent conversion, this is a good indicator of how business will be in the coming months. If your users are taking their time, looking at things carefully, that tells you they’re really interested and will likely come back to complete the transaction.

3. You see if your traffic’s leaving as soon as they hit your landing page—if they are, you know you have a problem. As soon as users get there, you want to reinforce to them they’re in the right place. Says John Marshall, founder and CEO of http://ClickTracks.com, “Make sure the keyword the user clicked is associated with, and strongly connected to the copy in that landing page, and throughout the experience… Just paying attention to that could probably get you a 20% to 50% improvement in your conversion rate.”

4. You see where people are exiting your site. This is especially important when you have customers leaving in the middle of checkout. If you see a high rate of users, with full shopping carts, leaving on a particular page, you can pinpoint what’s costing you sales:

• If they’re exiting on the page where you explain shipping costs, you might see your shipping appears higher than your competitors’.

• If they’re leaving halfway through filling out the buyer’s information, you might consider that your buyer questionnaire’s too long.

Web analytics puts you in a position to see what’s working on your website and what isn’t. It’s a way to see where you need to make changes and then measure how effective those changes are.

 4 Instant Tips for Running a Successful Internet Business

Running an internet business is not a difficult task; but running a successful internet business can be a bit more difficult.  There are thousands of people that have their own online business, but many of them are not having any luck at all.  If you want to be successful while running your internet business, there are a couple of tips you can follow.

1. Before you can run a successful internet business, you are going to need the necessary knowledge.  In other words, if you are looking to start an internet business, choose an industry that you are familiar with.  By doing this you will ensure yourself of knowing where to start, and how to handle problems as they arise.  Of course, it is possible to run a successful internet business even if you do not have past experience.  You will just want to make sure that you do your homework before starting.  This way you will have some background information on the industry instead of simply going into the venture blind.

2. Make sure that you are organized from the very start.  The most successful internet businesses are ones that have a quality business and marketing plan in place from the start.  This will allow you to follow your plan as the days go by so that you do not get lost.  It is hard to be successful in anything if you do not know where you are trying to go.  A business plan will give you an idea on how you want your company to progress, where as a marketing plan will direct you on how to grow your company.  These are two things that are synonymous with every successful internet business.

3. Never be ashamed to ask for help if you are having a rough time.  A lot of business owners do not like to ask other people for help because they do not want to hurt their pride.  This is something that you should come to grips with before you even get started.  It is impossible to know everything about your industry, so there are times when you will have to ask questions.  Instead of thinking of this as a bad thing, why not look at it as a way of making new business contacts?  If you are having a technical problem that you cannot figure out, you should get in touch with an IT company right away.  There is nothing wrong with doing this.  In fact, if you do not ask questions to other people you will only be holding your company back.

4. Do not reinvent the wheel, by following an established Internet Marketing Plan you can take a shortcut to your online success. Be aware though to not follow unsuccessful plans, there are free ones which are just excellent like "The Internet Marketing Master Plan".

By following the tips above you will be well on your way to running a successful internet business.  Remember, anybody can run a business, but to be successful you will have to be determined.

 3 Simple Tips For Making Money Online Even If You Don’t Have Anything To Sell!

Have an idea about making money online but don’t know where to start?

There are several ways to make money on the Internet – even if you don’t have a product to sell. Keep in mind that running an online business takes time and effort, just like running any business. However, you can get started without any products, which is one less roadblock for most people wanting to start a business.

You don’t need to be a computer expert to run an online business, but you do need to either be able to set up a website, or have the resources to pay someone else to do it for you.

Here are 3 simple ways to make money online even if you don’t have your own product:

Affiliate programs
Being an affiliate means you are selling other people’s products, and you get a percentage of the sale, or you make a small fee for each person who requests more information. Most major retailers offer affiliate programs, along with many smaller retailers (with lots of good products and services). It’s not a good idea to try to compete with an established retailer like Wal-Mart, Target, or Circuit City. A better way to make money is to find a “niche” that serves a smaller group of people, that you can easily reach.

For example, rather than selling sporting goods to everyone, you might start a fishing site that sells canoes and fishing products to people who like fresh water fishing. You can also find smaller retailers who may offer more specialized products to those who know a lot about fishing, while selling the basics from Wal-Mart to beginners.

A good place to start is Commission Junction (http://www.CJ.com), and you’ll get an idea of the products you can offer. Be creative in finding your niche, start with something you know a little about, or enjoy doing, and before long you can be making money online!

Adsense from Google
Adsense is an advertising program from search engine Google.com (there are other advertising programs you can offer, but for now Google’s is the biggest and most popular). By placing ads on your site, you earn money for each person who clicks on the ad. Google will automatically determine which ads are best for your site, based on the topic of each web page. All you have to do is place the code on your web page, and Google does the rest.

You can also sell individual ads, and determine your own terms and price. But using a program like Google is simple, and if your set gets a lot of visitors, you can make good money. Again, the best way to succeed is to find a niche, create a website around that topic, and Google will be able to determine the best ads for your visitors.

Write a “How-To” booklet
If you don’t want to sell other people’s products, but don’t have a lot of money to create your own, a simple way to get started is to write your own “how-to” booklet. Pick a topic you know enough to write about, and start writing. Information products are always good sellers – the key is to solve a particular problem. “How to catch fresh water fish” or “How to plan a fishing vacation on a tight budget” are possibilities for the fishing niche mentioned above.

To learn more, do a search for “creating information products” or “writing e-books”, and you will find lots of resources. Once you create your product, Clickbank.com offers a simple service to help you sell your information product, and there are others to help you get started.

Again, be creative, there are lots of problems out there that people need help with. And offering a good solution can make you lots of money!

Making money online takes more than just building a website. You need to pick the right products or services. Then you need to find the right audience to sell those products and services. Then you need to promote your website to enough people so you can make money. For now, you should have enough ideas to get you started – even if you don’t have a product to sell yet!

3 Simple Steps to Own Your Website - Explained.


So you want to build that website – for whatever reason, perhaps you’ve started a business or simply wish to share pictures of the new addition to your family. Let me tell you it’s easier than you think – all you need is directions that you can follow and you will soon be online.

Let’s talk what it will cost upfront. For $10 - $20/month you can have a working website (Imagine: www.yourname.com), available to anyone in the world with internet access. That’s a trip to your favourite fast food joint. (Yes, you can afford it!) There are also some ways of getting a free site – still residing at www.yourname.com, but lets learn about all those weird internet terms first.

There are 3 basic components required to building a personal, custom website.
You need:
- A domain name
- A hosting account and
- Content written in HTML or some other web language.
I know, what’s a domain name!!!?

Here is an analogy I teach:

You live in a home that is built on a certain piece of land (that you rent or buy). That piece of land has a specific address.

Your website (a collection of individual web pages) sits on a hosting account that you rent. That hosting account is found at a specific address – called a domain name.

Your Home Your Website
Your Street Address: e.g. 1 John St, Anytown
Your domain name: e.g. www.yourname.com
Your plot of land: Your hosting account
Your physical house: Your web content

Here is the 3 step process:
STEP 1: Choose your address
STEP 2: Rent some space on a computer connected to the internet
STEP 3: Build the house you want and place it on the space you bought in step 2

Let’s explain each step:
STEP 1: Choose your address (a domain name)
With the internet you can choose what you want your address to be (your domain name).  What are you selling? What would make a cool name? Understand that after over 10 years of public internet access – a lot of good names have been taken. So get creative, and be unique but understandable. An easy place to start with is your full name for a family/personal site or your product name for a business site. Make a list of about 10 possibilities that you like in this format www.yourdesiredname.com Move to the next step.

STEP 2: Rent some space on a computer connected to the internet (A hosting account)
With a quick search for the words “Web Hosting” on the internet, you get a list of web hosting companies – all eager to sell or rent you some space on their computer. GoDaddy.com and 1and1.com are some recommended companies – feel free to look into others, but there are thousands upon thousands – so don’t waste your time searching for the cheapest (you pay for what you get, but $10+ will get you a decent hosting account.

Many of the hosting companies will either give you or sell you your choice of domain name at the same time you start your hosting account. Bring out your list from STEP 1, and when instructed in the purchase process, enter in your first domain name choice. You will be informed if that name is available or not. Keep trying out your names in order of your preference until you find on that is available. Finish the purchase process and let the hosting company instruct you on how to access you account. (They’ll send you an email – and if you go with one of the companies I recommended, you can call them with your questions.)

STEP 3: Build the house you want and place it on the space you bought in step 2
You have some choices to make here:
A - You can ask someone to build you a site.
B - You can build it yourself.
C - Use a free website builder – (like a blog)
Each has its pros and cons.

The first option is great if you can afford it and can find someone reliable. If you want cheap, post a job at your local high school – someone in computer club will be able to help you for really cheap. The problem is that they may not always be around when you need them to make changes. Enter choice B

It’s great to learn a new skill, and you can learn for free online – just invest a little time. Remember once you know how… you own that knowledge forever and you will never depend on someone else to build your site. Again search online for “how to build a website” They will tell you how to design, build and upload your site onto your hosting account form STEP 2.

If you don’t really require a customized design and all you want to do is place some text and perhaps some pictures online. I suggest starting what’s called a blog - these are often free, and have a really simple “HTML CODE FREE” way of adding your content. All you do is type and publish. You can often still have your own domain name here, but each blogging company is different. Again search online for blogging – and read what the various companies offer.


Content
There is one thing that is really important and that ONLY you can do! That is come up with the content and the idea. Think about what you have to offer and what problem it solves for your visitors and prepare your content so as to answer that problem. E.g. You write great jokes. People are looking for jokes… your website should give people some jokes and perhaps they can register for your daily joke email.
Write simply, write short, write clearly. As time goes on, remember to keep your site fresh. Keep the content updated and relevant to your ideal visitors.

The goal of this article was to give you easy steps of how to get a website for yourself. Naturally you can learn more about each step, and there are many people who can give you help, but now you can start the journey. Create your list of domain names, purchase a hosting account (including the domain name you want) and build your site and keep the content fresh.

In future articles I’ll take about next steps:
- “I build it, but they ain’t coming to see it.”
- “I built it, but nobody’s buying”
- “I built it, but I don’t know how to improve it.”

A journey of a million miles starts with one step – so go to step 1 and start. (Don’t worry – this is not a long journey – but it’s exciting!).

Here to Help You!

Thanks for reading,
Your Rich Cousin
(Author and Business Success Story) Get the free e-book that got me started and helped me start making money at http://www.richcousin.com It's so straight forward and easy to understand AND you will have the support you need to start making a great income online.

3 Quick Ways To Start Your Own Online Business In Less Than 24 Hours


The Internet and online business especially are becoming more and more popular by the day in todays world simply because people are starting to see the true benefits of the web, consumers are starting to trust the web more, and more importantly, the start up costs for a online business are next to nothing compared to the offline world of business start ups.

The only set back most people run into when wanting to start one of their own online business is How and Where to get started.

I did a search under the keyword term "home based business" and the search results returned 575,000,000 results for that keyword alone.

That's a pretty intimidating number for someone wanting to start their own home based business on the web wouldn't you say?

These were the same obstacles I was up against when I first ventured into the online world of business.

But I didn't let that stop me and I hope that won't stop you either from wanting to start your own online business.

So, I saved you the hassle and put together 3 of the quickest ways for ANYONE(that's You) to start their own online business with next to no investment required and can get started in less than 24 hours.

Are you ready? I hope so.


Business Model #1. Affiliate Programs.

Affiliate Programs are simply programs set up by the business owner for others to sign up for and promote for the business owner for a agreed upon commission(usually between 10 - 75%).

The great thing about Affiliate marketing is it doesn't cost you a single penny to get started, you don't have to worry about refunds or customer service that come with owning your own product.

All you have to worry about is generating the traffic to your affiliate link and collecting your commission cheques.

This is the quickest way to get started online... Period!

Here's a few Affiliate Directories to give you a start:

Associate Programs - http://www.associateprograms.com



Business Model #2. Resell Rights.

Resell Rights are simply products that have already been created and are available to anybody who is willing to pay for the Resell Rights to market them.

The upside to this is you get Ready-To-Go websites with PROVEN sales letters that convert. The best part of all is... you get to keep 100% of the $Profits$.

The draw back is you can't claim those products as your own. The original creator of the product maintains full rights. You just get to keep all the profits.

Not such a bad trade off wouldn't you say?


Business Model #3. Private Label Resell Rights.

Private Label Resell Rights are simply products that are ready to be branded with your name to it.

What I mean by that is you get full rights to the product or products and are able to claim them as your own even though you didn't create them yourself.

This is the fastest way for anyone to start a online business who really doesn't have any experience or knowledge on how to create their own products.

The other really cool thing about Private Label Resell Rights products is they come with Ready-To-Go websites which then again saves you time and money in having to create them yourself.


Well there you have it, 3 Quick Ways To Start Your Own Online Business In Less Than 24 Hours.

The easiest way to locate any of the above via the search engines is by entering something like this into there search engine web form:

affiliate programs + "what your niche is"

(Note: make sure you use the quotations around what niche you want to target. Very Important!)


This will save you time and target your search much better, where as if you were to just enter 'affiliate programs' into the search engine web form you would get a gazillion results, leaving you frustrated.

Now, the only thing left for you to do Right NOW is make a decision on what you would really enjoy doing as a business online.

Once you've figured that out the only thing left for you to do is put together a... Plan For $Profit$.

3 Legitimate Reasons For Getting An Immediate Product Refund



So now that you've finally decided to purchase that product and can't wait to try it out, you have to find out that it does anything else but what you've expected. Don't worry, you still have a chance to get your money back with the following tips for getting an immediate product refund.


1. False advertising

"Get 10.000 hits to your website in 24 hours". Such tempting promises might sure make you wanna flip out your credit card immediately. But when you apply the methods or use the software and have to find out that those 10.000 hits might really result in 10, then this is a legitimate reason for requesting a refund. Unfortunately it's not always that easy. Many vendors get around such false advertising by stating in the fine print that these results cannot be guaranteed. Therefore always keep an eye on such statements and if you cannot believe what's advertised then search for product reviews using your favorite search engine.

2. Product outdated

Believe it or not, but I've seen products that were still advertised and happily took the money out of the customers' pockets but were totally outdated or didn't work anymore. I once bought a product that could not be downloaded anymore but still had the sales page up and running, it even displayed the current date indicating the end of a special promotion. Every attempt to contact the creator of the software failed and after I read in a forum that I wasn't the only one not being able to download the software, I contacted the credit card processing company and got my money back.

3. Usability

Not every software is as user-friendly as Windows (you got the joke, right?!), which can be frustrating if you want nothing more than use it immediately. For most complex software products there exist written tutorials that exactly describe how to use them and sometimes even video tutorials that make the product handling even easier. If you've read and watched all tutorials and still cannot manage to use the product, then state this to the creator and you should get that refund.

If you've contacted the product creator and still were not able to get a refund despite some legitimate and acceptable reasons, not all hope is gone. Most marketplaces offer a refund guarantee for products that were sold through them (e. g. Clickbank offers its customers a general refund policy of 8 weeks after the product purchase, for a vendor like PayDotCom you have to contact the credit card processor like Paypal which has a refund policy of 60 days).

It is always suggested to clearly state the reason for your product refund and to keep a friendly communication style. Even if the product is not worth a single penny it doesn't make things easier when you insult the creator. Try to show that you've really tried to use the product in an efficient way, maybe attach some screenshots, include suggestions what could be better, etc. The product creator might loose you as a customer but still can benefit from your experience and will most of the time happily give you the refund.

Whatever you do, please be fair. It's just not right to purchase a product which you badly want and then request a refund to get your money back but still continue to use the product. Most marketplaces (Clickbank, PayDotCom) tolerate 2 or even more refunds, but after that you might not be able to purchase anything again through the specific company.

3 Free Website Marketing Ideas - Easy And Quick


Online marketing is not cheap. You can spend thousands of dollars on Pay Per Click (Google Adwords) and thousands of site-targetted dollars (AdBrite), and you can spend thousands just buying text links from individual sites. Trust me, I've spent thousands on advertising.

However, my favorite form of marketing is the free kind. Anything free I like, especially if it helps my websites make more money without increasing my advertising costs.

Here are three easy and quick ways to market your website at no additional cost.

1. Free Business Cards

Free business cards are a staple in my advertising arsenal. You can leave them everywhere and give them to anyone. The best part is, they are free! Use them where you want, when you want, and as often as possible. That is the motto I live by whenever I get a shipment of free business cards in the mail.

2. Link Exchanges

Link exchanges are a great way of spreading Page Rank, but also of sharing visitors. Most people who like a site will bookmark it. After they have read everything they want, they will read the site that you link to. You get the visitors, and share the visitor through a link exchange.

3. Business card networking

After you have received your free business cards, use them to network with other people. Everytime you meet someone, hand them one of your free business cards. After that, ask for one of their business cards in exchange. If they don't have one, make sure you mention what you do, and the website address that is also listed on your free business card. Free business cards make a great networking tool if you will put them to use. Never forget, they are free, and should not be used sparingly. Use them in any situation you can think of. People will take them home and visit your site when they pull your business card out of their pocket.

With those three free website marketing ideas, your website will not only be more successful, but you won't have to spend any of your hard earned money on marketing!

"Seven Secrets of Internet Millionaires"


Internet millionaires don’t acquire their wealth and success by luck of the draw.  They know the secrets to success.  These secrets are so valuable that if you implement them, you will succeed in your own Internet business.

There are two general types of secrets that Internet millionaires know which include external and internal secrets.  We will discuss these secrets in detail in hopes that you will use them to your advantage and become an Internet millionaire yourself.

First, let’s look at the external secrets that Internet millionaires have in their tool kit.

Internet Millionaire Secret #1:  Internet millionaires recognize that strategy should be the foundation of any marketing plan.  It is critical to have a marketing strategy and not just jump into marketing techniques.  For example, we don’t have to use mass advertising anymore because mass advertising doesn’t have strength because consumers have choices.  You would have wasted valuable time and money if you used mass marketing techniques without first strategizing about the state of the market.

Internet Millionaire Secret #2:  Internet millionaires are not generalists.  They focus on selling their products and services to specific niche markets.  The business market in general is going in the direction of niche markets because customers have more choices regarding places to buy their products.

Internet Millionaire Secret #3:  Search for and grab untapped markets.  Seek out people that have not been able to have access to your product in the past.  In untapped markets, you don’t have to deal with competitors which helps keep the marketing costs down.  In addition, you will be able to establish a rapport and trust with your customers.

Internet Millionaire Secret #4:  Your backend strategy is crucial to success.
You want several profit centers that allow you to sell your products and services to more customers.  The backend part of your company supports these profit centers.  It diversifies your business so you are bringing in money through many different areas.  You can’t rely on retiring early if you only have one profit center.

Internet Millionaire Secret #5:  Try to automate as many services as possible.  This will allow you to sell services 24 hours a day 7 days a week online.  Automate your service centers to cut down on costs and help your customers at all hours of the day.

Internet Millionaire Secret #6:  Set up your business so that you are replaceable.  You can make yourself replaceable by branding.  Branding encompasses yourself or the value that you provide.  Branding yourself is lucrative, but it doesn’t allow you to take a break because you have to make every decision.  Branding your value, on the other hand, sells your expertise and not your time.

Internet Millionaire Secret #7:  Don’t work alone; build a team to support your business venture.  Create a team of marketing, business, a mentor and accountability individuals.  Remember, two heads are better than one so you can discuss ideas and strategies you have for your business.

Internet millionaires also have internal secrets.  An Internet millionaire has self confidence and believes in their product.  They are able to make decisions quickly.  They have learned the correct information and modeled others that have proven success.  They are not afraid to make a mistake and realize that their job doesn’t define who they are.  One of the most vital secrets is that Internet millionaires persevere and never give up no matter what obstacles cross their path.

“Facebook: $750 Mil in Hand Worth More than $2Bil in Sky”


It came up conversationally, but I believe I’m the only person at my company to have firsthand experience as a user of Facebook.com.  It was kind of funny to have all these online advertising professionals asking me all about the website everybody used in college.  Didn’t they get the memo?  I’m new.  I should be asking the questions around here.  The subject of Facebook.com is an interesting one that’s worth a closer look.

Without question 2005 was the year of MySpace.  Before Rupert Murdoch’s $580 million social networking venture took the interactive world by storm, it’s difficult to believe that even the most optimistic of the billionaire’s lackeys would have predicted that new acquisition would more than quadruple its reach within a matter of months.  With 23.5 billion page views by February, MySpace became the second most trafficked site on the Internet.

Murdoch’s success naturally generated buying interest in anything deemed online social networking.  One proposed deal in March 2006, was Viacom’s unsuccessful $750 million bid for Facebook.com, the phenomenon started by wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg.  After Facebook.com declined the offer, its founders pegged Facebook.com’s worth at two billion dollars.  Perhaps the brilliant sparks from MySpace’s success has blinded Facebook.com to the flipside reality of Friendster’s paradise lost.  There’s a real chance Facebook won’t see an offer this generous again.

Facebook.com is essentially an online medium of communication for college students and high schoolers.  For its valued reach Zuckerberg and his crew of Harvard dropouts (taking their cue from Bill Gates, no doubt) must be looking for Google-sized compensation, but the two billion dollar figure is arbitrary and difficult to justify.  Perhaps Facebook is emboldened by their own wise decision in not selling to Yahoo for $15 million in 2004.

Zuckerberg was likely trying to establish a market value for his creation, not an unwise move on the face of things.  However, Viacom’s offer was not by any stretch of the imagination pocket change and the number of entities that can and will double the bid Facebook already got is finite.

Facebook’s traffic numbers, as referenced on Alexa.com, during the last three months are not encouraging; that is, if the goal is to fish for more and greater buyout bids.  The numbers actually have trended downward since March, anathema for enticing hyper bidding growth.  These diminishing statistics can be at least partially attributed to the cyclical nature of the school year since Facebook, after all, is geared towards the college student.  It doesn’t matter how great the product is, it won’t keep students from doing their own thing during summer vacation and this yearly dip is potentially damaging.

Seeing as how fast online fads can expand and contract in social networking as we’ve seen in its short time span, what if the numbers don’t come back?  What if something new pops up in two months that steals Facebook’s thunder?  (And, again, MySpace’s success serves as good reason why this thunder is worth stealing.)

Facebook.com’s success has also been marred with some controversy that could taint its popularity with students.  At Syracuse University a flap over freedom of expression ensued when a Facebook.com group went overboard in critiquing a student teacher and ended up with expulsions from the class and social suspension before three students transferred.  After Penn State’s football team beat Ohio State this year students rushed the field and made a ruckus.  Overwhelmed police made only two arrests that day, but later in the week they logged onto Facebook.com and, like Canadian Mounties who always get their man, got plenty of names and faces and photos from the info posted by students about their on-field shenanigans.  Kids talk and these stories spread like wildfire, which may affect Facebook.com negatively – they can’t control misuse of their product and the negative repercussions that come from it.

The future is promising for the social networking business space and I don’t believe Facebook.com is doomed.  Still, given the nature of short-lived and over-hyped dotcoms, Facebook may have reached their growth climax this school year, with possibility for expansion and success only contingent on acquisition.  Time may not be on their side because as the pages of the calendar turn there will doubtlessly be new fads and trends that will threaten to make something else the “Next Big Thing” at Facebook.com’s expense.   The clock is ticking.