Finding Your Home Business Niche

Copyright © 2003, Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-4993

When some folks begin to think about a business of their own, they know in that very moment what kind they are going to start. Then, there are the rest of us...

Knowing that we want to have a business of our own is not enough. Many of us have struggled with the important question of what type of enterprise we would like to start.

Franchises offer a simple pre-packaged money making idea, but the cost of a franchise often makes it a prohibitive option to most folks who contemplate going out on their own.

For those who do not have a million dollars to buy a McDonalds franchise, we must look to other ideas for our own business.

There are literally hundreds of lucrative home business ideas for you to choose from, which will suit every type of personality and all levels of financing. From selling information on the Internet as a infopreneur, to growing delicious gourmet mushrooms for sale to restaurants and catering companies; there is a pile of money to be made by filling a need, for these and a host of other necessary services.

Of course, actually liking what you do, will have a lot to do with the success of your new venture, so be sure to pick a home business that you'll enjoy running and that will keep you motivated.

For example, if you're a math whiz, an accounting or income tax service might be the ideal home business for you to start. Perhaps writing is your forte and you'd like to start your own home based copywriting service or advertising agency. Each of these businesses can be run successfully--and profitably from the comfort of your own home.

Academia might not be your cup of tea, but maybe you are good with your hands --- having a creative genius where crafts are concerned. Craft items are red-hot sellers at swap meets, country fairs and world wide over the Internet, and they can provide you with solid profits. If crafts don't interest you, then why not start a laundry service with pick-up and delivery, or a shopping service for shut-in's--even a companion service or granny sitter or a doctor shuttle service; any of which, could be much in demand, in and around your neighborhood or community.

When brainstorming new ideas for your future home business, keep in mind the soul of any successful endeavor is providing a product or service that others will actually purchase in quantities. Satisfy the needs of your target market, and your target market will keep you and your home based business healthy, happy and profitable.

Below are some suggestions for home business ideas that might help you decide on a suitable venture in which to invest.

Multi-level-marketing (mlm), floral/plant service for offices and hospitals, pooper-scooper service, dog walking service, answering service, vending machine service, gift basket service, homemade soap maker, mobile windshield repair service, mobile tire repair service, income tax specialist, researcher, freelance writer, business card and letterhead designer,
courier, shut-in/shuttle service, landscaping service, tree trimming service, wood crafter, carpenter, crafts and crafting supplies, pool cleaning service, plants/nursery starts, growing
herbs, growing mushrooms, garage sale and swap meet vendor, proofreader, private investigator, typing service, interior decorator/designer, website design, wedding consultant, hot lunch/snack vendor at local courthouses, pet sitting service, pet grooming service, Internet entrepreneur, paralegal, gourmet catering service, new media production, mobile cosmetic technician, mobile nail technician, mobile hair stylist, aerobics instructor, personal fitness trainer, advertising consultant, companion service, small printing service.

Ideas, ideas; hopefully the above ideas will give you some fresh ideas of your own to mull over. A spring board if you will, on which to dive into your own chosen home business.

When you work from home, any business you start has the potential to explode into a perpetual gold mine! It just depends on how much your home business is in demand around your community or on the Internet. Your home business might start slow and steady, regularly picking up clients as you become more established. On the other hand, your chosen home business may take off like wildfire, quickly becoming too hot for you to handle by yourself (well done!). This is the time to enlist the help of willing family members to help you out in your time of need, which will make your business into a friendly, family concern. This will also help family members better understand your business and get a grasp on the mechanics of profit.

Good luck in all your decisions and have fun with your home business, which ever one you choose, and don't forget to enjoy your newfound freedom!

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7 Ways to Build A Huge Opt-in List

The best way to make money on the Internet is to build your own opt-in list. It will become your “gold mine”, so it makes sense to spend time putting things in place to get the biggest and most responsive list possible. This way you can build a relationship with thousands of potential customers all over the world without spending more than a couple hundred dollars a year for the Internet access and the list management tools you use. Small sales are great but building for the long term is more cost effective and produces much better results.

How can affiliates build a responsive opt-in list?
You are probably already sending traffic to your site. Why not have all your traffic go to your opt-in page? Your opt-in page is your most effective tool for gathering email addresses to form your list.

Your opt-in page should be, able to fit in one screen without having to scroll down the page and to the point. It should have a ‘killer headline” with 4 or 5 benefits and an attractive opt-in form with name and email fields.

Your next step is to generate traffic to your opt-in page or pages:

1. Post an opt-in form on every page of your website.
Give people the opportunity to subscribe to your list on every page of your site. The more exposure your opt-in page gets the better the response to your newsletter will be.

2. Include A Bonus for Subscribing More people will sign up for your free newsletter if the offer includes a free bonus like a free ebook or free software.

3. Write and submit articles around the web and place a link to your opt-in page or your autoresponder in your biography – This is really one of the best ways to build your list.

4. Viral Marketing can be as simple as a signature attached to your email that contains a link to your opt-in page. If you send a joke and it is passed on– your signature goes with it – simple but effective viral marketing.

5. Pay per click This is one of the easiest ways to begin getting targeted traffic. Send your traffic to your opt-in page with a free gift. When they have opted-in have them land on a thank-you page that pre-sells the product you were advertising.

6. Ezine Advertising Advertising in ezines is another fantastic way to effectively build your list. Write killer ad copy with some form of free information product or service as a give-away and send the traffic to your opt-in page.

7. Linking Trade links with related websites that are not in competition with yours and you should see a great boost in your traffic.

Our marketing strategies should be geared towards building a business that will shovel profits off the Internet into our bank accounts for years to come. Building a large opt-in list is one of the first steps towards achieving this goal.

About The Author
------------------------------

Home Business Entrepreneur Janice Sharman has helped lots of ordinary people start profitable Home Businesses. For FREE information on how you can start a successful Home Business email: janice@profits4sure.com and join the thousands of successful Home Business Entrepreneurs.

Tough customers: How To Reach Gen Y

Teenagers and young people may march to a different drum but they are some of our present customers and definitely our future customers. I think it is important to know just what makes them tick.

The article below should shed some light on who they are and what they want. Have fun with it.

Janice Sharman

Tough customers: How To Reach Gen Y

By Joanna L. Krotz

They're growing up on the wired alphabet: PC, CD, PDA, DVD and CUL8R. They average $100 a week in disposable income, spending a stunning $150 billion a year. And they influence another $50 billion in family purchases, bumping the total to $200 billion.

Say hello to Generation Y, also known as Echo Boomers or Millennials. For sheer spending power and cultural hegemony, this consumer group is unrivaled in American history.

If you haven't thought much about how your wares might attract this cohort of big spenders — who are savvy and wary in equal parts — start thinking. It's where your future lies.
Who they are

Born roughly between 1980 and 2000, Gen Y-ers are the 70 million-plus offspring of Boomer parents, or about a quarter of all Americans. Gen Y's leading edge has already graduated from college, while the youngest are busy multitasking to a Hilary Duff or Beyonce soundtrack. (Some demographers narrow the birth years to 1977-97.)

Every generation, of course, is shaped by cultural and political events of its time. This group, however, has been weaned on some rather nasty and transforming national traumas, as noted in a recent issue of American Demographics. That list includes the O.J. and Monica scandals, the 1999 Columbine school shootings, and a presidential election that failed to pick a winner. All before Sept. 11.

A host of marketers already nurture brands that target Gen Y's teen core. Some examples: media such as Teen People magazine and the influential MTV, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2001; clothing like Lucky Brand jeans and Pacific Sunwear; entertainment and accessories like MP3 players and Hello Kitty linens; plus dozens of cosmetics, consumables and sports gear.

How you reach them

Attracting a teen customer is like triple dipping: First, you get the youngster. Next, you get the parent. Third, you get the loyal customer that teen grows up to be.

Reaching today's teens, advises David Cooper, senior manager in consumer product practices at Boston-based Bain & Co. consulting, can be accomplished with three generic strategies:

1. Make your products cool for the kids as well as their parents. "Offer pop clothes at good prices with a brand that will appeal to 30- to 50-year old soccer moms and dads but that Gen Y is not loathe to adopting," Cooper says.

2. Exploit contests and promotions. "Gen Y is unbelievably enthusiastic about winning free concert tickets or cars or ski weekends," he says. "Marketers need to generate teen excitement with radio and mall tie-ins, advertising, discounting, promotional kiosks — anything that's cool and has cachet."

3. Become "hip." Yes, I'll explain. It means a combination of location and concept, Cooper says. "You have to be present where teenagers want to spend time, in skateboard parks, at concerts, in malls. Older marketers are not as comfortable doing that."

Concludes Cooper: "You need to balance the benefits of attracting the younger market against the difficulties of embracing alternative business principles."

After that, you need to get a handle on how Gen Y makes buying decisions. Like teens before them, Gen Y relies on peer recommendations, says John Burnett, professor of marketing at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business. "But they are far more socially conscious than any generation since World War II," he adds. "They believe in giving, participation in nonprofits, and in donations of time and resources."

Cell phones and good causes

In its second annual survey of Gen Y buying habits, which queries online users age 12 to 17, Cone/Roper found in 2000 that:
• 91% of today's teens value companies and products that support good causes.

• 89% of teens would be likely to switch brands to one associated with a good cause.

That, too, was well before Sept. 11, 2001. In anecdotal follow-ups, Cone/Roper found comments from this 16-year-old in Charlotte, N.C. to be typical: "The idea that an airplane crashed into a 110-story tower and thousands of people were pretty much executed, that makes you set aside all the materialistic things and all the little selfish whatevers." She said it made her want to "give back."

For business owners, such sentiments are a wake-up call. "Companies that support causes will win teen loyalty and dollars," the report says.

Generation Y is also, of course, the most digitally sophisticated yet. About nine out of 10 teens have a home computer while half have Internet access. More than 50% of teens 12 to 17 own a mobile phone, according to research by Boston consultant Frank N. Magid Associates and Upoc.com, a mobile community marketer. That's more than 12 million, and counting. A quarter of all 18- to 24-year-olds have Internet-enabled phones.

Desire for community

Lots of Gen Y choices come from viral marketing — another name for peer-to-peer recommendations. To tap into that, Upoc.com links its digital prowess with its desire for community.

For instance, Sony Pictures hired Upoc.com to promote its movie, "Ali." After registering online, the teen receives wireless text messages (such as "When did Ali meet the Beatles?") to his cell phone or pager. That's called "interest-certain content," because the user signs up to receive the messages. In addition to building buzz for "Ali," Sony gets a database of customers (and teens) who like movies about sports figures.

Gen Y is also remarkably diverse. About one-third minorities, predominantly African-Americans and Hispanics. They are noticeably tolerant. One in four teens lives in a single-parent home; every high school student seems to know someone who's gay. Neither is a big deal. Even so, traditional values and parental approval are important, more so than for Gen X before them.

Don't talk down to them

When pitching Gen Y, keep in mind that they've grown up on slick ads and commercial messages. "They don't trust advertising," says Burnett. To get past that skepticism, Burnett suggests:

• Deliver consistent, excellent service.

• Understand the teen/Gen Y group. Do homework and don't make assumptions that they're all one homogeneous group. Acknowledge the differences.

• Don't talk down to them. "The most common characteristic is that they know a lot of stuff. The awareness level is very high," Burnett says.

In general when marketing Gen Y, be honest. Any whiff of over-promising or false advertising will send them running. And if you're looking to learn more, consider assembling a team of teen peers who can reflect the fast-changing tastes for you. Many teen marketers rely on field reps or young trend spotters.

"What's most important to appeal to teenagers is to be genuine," says Victor Ornelas, whose Ornelas and Associates advertising agency in Dallas markets to Latinos. "Teenagers are easily disillusioned by events and trends. They walk to their own beat."

About the Author:
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Joanna L. Krotz writes about small-business marketing and management issues. She is the co-author of the "Microsoft Small Business Kit" and runs Muse2Muse Productions, a New York City-based custom publisher.

Home Business Owners Begin The Recovery Process

As Hurricane Wilma winds down her awesome activity, Home Business Owners clean up and try to get their lives back on course before tropical storm Beta decides where she will go and whose lives she will disrupt as she travels the Atlantic.

This article with 'Tips to Help Home, Business Owners Begin the Recovery Process', should help Home Business Owners speed up the process of getting back on their feet.

Janice Sharman

Tips to Help Home, Business Owners Begin the Recovery Process

The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) has outlined key steps to help residents and business owners work toward recovery following Hurricane Wilma.

Protect yourself.
Always be careful when entering a damaged building. If there is serious structural damage, contact local officials before entering. Report downed power lines or gas leaks. Keep electricity turned off if the building has been flooded.

Protect your property.
Take reasonable steps to protect your property from further damage. This could mean boarding up windows and salvaging undamaged items. Your insurance company can tell you what they will pay for regarding protection.

Report the loss as soon as possible.
Contact your insurance agent or insurer as soon as you can. Provide a general description of the damage and have your policy number handy if possible. Write down the adjuster's name, phone number and work schedule as soon as you have them.

Prepare a list.
Keep damaged items or portions of them until the claim adjuster has visited, and consider photographing or videotaping the damage to document your claim. Prepare a list of damaged or lost items for your adjuster.

Keep receipts.
If you need to relocate, keep records and receipts for all additional expenses. Most insurance policies cover emergency living arrangements.

Return claim forms.
After your insurance company has been notified of your claim, it must send you the necessary claim forms within a certain number of days (time period varies by state). Fill out and return the forms as soon as possible. If you do not understand the process, be sure to ask questions and write down the explanation.

Cleanup.
When starting the cleanup process, be careful, and use protective eyewear and gloves if available. Adjusters may tell business owners to hire a professional cleaning service.

Build stronger next time.
When you're ready to start repairs or rebuild, work with your contractor to make the new structure disaster-resistant.

Posted by: laurakujawski on Wednesday, October 26, 2005

This information was taken from the IBHS publications "You Can Go Home Again" and "Getting Back to Business." For more recovery and rebuilding information, visit the IBHS Web site.

Advantage Of A Home Business After A Hurricane Disaster

Today my thoughts are centered on the residents of southwest Florida, Central America and the Caribbean after hurricane Wilma. What is in store for the islands of the Bahamas?

To those of us living outside the US who have viewed the devastation on TV, it just seems like too much coming on the heels of hurricanes Katrina and Rita...

Getting back to normalcy must seem a pretty daunting task to most of the victims of those powerful storms right now, especially those who have lost everything but the clothes they were wearing.

The people with online home businesses are a little more fortunate than the people with jobs. They can continue your business as long as you have access to an Internet cafe or a computer and a credit card. This is just an added advantage the Home Business Entrepreneur has over those with JOBS!

If you would like to give some tangible help to the victims of the three recent hurricanes, you are welcome to make a donation by going to

http://give.redcross.org/

Give generously! Who knows when it will be our turn to face disaster?

Janice Sharman
Start Your Own Home Business HERE.

Jitters as Google tests classified ads

By John Markoff The New York Times

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO

An online classified advertising service being tested by Google has set off intense speculation after a Web site for the service was accidentally made public and discovered by a computer programmer.

The service, which was named Google Base and was for a time accessible at base.google.com, described itself as "Google's database into which you can add all types of content."

"We'll host your content and make it searchable online for free," it said.

The new service could automatically funnel listings on all kinds of subjects and display them as part of the company's sponsored ad links on the right side of pages displaying search results from Google queries.

Word of the new service, which could compete with newspapers as well as with online classified services like those on eBay and Craigslist, hurt eBay's stock price on Tuesday. The shares fell nearly 4 percent, or $1.41, to $38.01.

The Google Base page was discovered on Monday by Tony Ruscoe, a British programmer, who said he had created an automatic program to search for subdomains accessible at the Google.com Web site. The company, based in Mountain View, California, took down the test site and replaced the page with a "403" forbidden-access response.

Google released a statement suggesting that the purpose of the test site was to make it simpler for Google customers to post content on Google.

"We are testing new ways for content owners to easily send their content to Google," the company said in a statement. "Like our Web crawl and the recently released Google Sitemaps program, we are working to provide content owners an easy way to give us access to their content. We're continually exploring new opportunities to expand our offerings, but we don't have anything to announce at this time."

Google executives, who are having a conference for partners and advertisers, called Google Zeitgeist, would not comment.

EBay is a major Google advertiser.

Display expertise in your business

By Robert Spiegel
Tribune Columnist
October 24, 2005

When my first book on home business was published, I did a number of radio phone interviews on the subject. The interviews were simple. The talk-show host would quiz me on the subject - live - and I would respond with my home business wisdom. I provided the questions in advance, so I knew all the answers.

At the time I was promoting that first book. I was working from home as a writer and raising small children. The radio shows were all over the country, so the interviews came at all times of day. During many of those interviews, my kids were at home. To keep them quiet while I was live on the radio, I used well-tested discipline techniques: bribes of sweets and television.

But when the new puppy walks in front of the television and one kid pushes the puppy away and the puppy lands on top of the kid's sister and starts licking her face, a cycle of chaos begins. Soon there's a houseful of yelling, laughing, barking and shoving, then more yelling. One of the standard questions I sent to the talk show hosts was, "How do you run a business while taking care of kids."

I was trying to answer the question when my house exploded with kid noise. The host laughed and said, "Sounds like you're facing that issue right now!" The comedy was perfect and we had a good laugh over the radio waves. From then on, I coaxed my kids to misbehave during radio interviews.

The with kids screaming in the background, it was obvious I was boot-deep in the problem of running a company while raising small kids. Thus it demonstrated my familiarity with the subject of raising kids while running a home business, even if it also demonstrated my inability to completely conquer the problem.

One of the best ways to market your business is to show that you're an expert on the service or product your business sells. In my case, showing that I was an expert on home business - through actual practice - gave authority to my book. Whatever business you're building - an accounting practice, a photography service - your ability to demonstrate you're an expert will help convince customers and clients that you're an expert. There are a number of specific ways you can show your expertise. The best venues for presenting your knowledge are those places where your best prospects are most likely to seek information. For an accountant seeking local clients, a chamber of commerce presentation to new business owners might be the best venue. For Web designers, writing a blog that appears online could be the best place to reach potential clients.

Here are some ways you can demonstrate your expertise:

Speaking at conferences and public forums.
Conferences, seminars, workshops and meetings are a good place to present yourself as an expert. It helps a great deal if your speaking skills are strong. You can develop those skills at little cost through Toastmasters International. Toastmasters groups get together in virtually every community at breakfast, lunch and dinner meetings.

Publish a blog.
I write a blog - short for Web log - on environmental compliance in the electronics industry as a way to promote a Web site that I edit on the subject. The blog lets me present my subject knowledge in an informal, in-the-know manner. You can propose a blog at a Web site on your subject or publish a blog yourself at one of the many blog sites on the Internet. Try Blogger.com.

Writing articles and books.
One of the best ways to show your expertise is to write about your subject. Those who write about a subject are considered experts. Some business owners self-publish books on their subject matter to show they're experts, but your expertise carries more credibility if you publish through a legitimate newspaper, magazine or book publisher.

If you can convince a legitimate publisher that you're an expert on your subject and have something worthwhile to say, your prospects will gain respect for your expertise.

Robert Spiegel is the Albuquerque author of "The Shoestring Entrepreneur's Guide to the Best Home-Based Businesses" (St. Martin's Press). For questions or comments, e-mail him at robspiegel@comcast.net.

Unfair boss could shorten your life: study

That crummy boss in the window office could be slowly killing you, according to a study of British workers published on Monday.

Researchers in Finland who did the study found that workers who felt they were being treated fairly had a much lower incidence of coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in all Western societies.

"Most people care deeply about just treatment by authorities," study author Mika Kivimaki of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health wrote in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine. "Lack of justice may be a source of oppression, deprivation and stress."

People consider that they are being treated fairly at work when they believe their supervisor considers their viewpoint, shares information about decision-making and treats individuals fairly and in a truthful manner, the study said.

The researchers tracked the 10-year incidence of heart disease in over 6,400 male civil servants in London who had been polled on their perceived level of justice and injustice in the workplace.

"In men who perceived a high level of justice, the risk of coronary heart disease was 30 percent lower than among those who perceived a low or an intermediate level of justice," the researchers said.

That finding was not accounted for by other risk factors, from age and socioeconomic status to cholesterol levels, alcohol consumption and physical activity, the authors said.

Rania Sedhom, a labor and employment attorney with Meyer Suozzi English & Klein in New York who commented on the research, said a parallel study in the United States could find even more dramatic results because of the longer American work day.

CHICAGO (Reuters)

Is a Home Business Right For You?

Copyright © 2003, Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-4993

Every morning as people wake up and make the commute to work, many dream of the day when they will finally work for themselves. Every time the boss lets someone know that they must give up their weekend plans for the good of the company, people contemplate the benefits of being the owner of their own business.

Are you one of these people?

If you are, it is important to ask yourself some very important questions before you make the uncertain leap into self-employment.

Many dream of the benefits of home business ownership, but few take into account the sacrifices that must be made to bring the dream to fruition. Please don't make this mistake yourself.

You must approach home business ownership with your eyes wide open. Ask yourself the important questions, and more importantly, answer your own questions openly and honestly.

AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION

Are you the type of person who relishes every chance to gather around the water cooler for social interaction?

If so, then home business ownership may not be the right decision for you.

Instead, if you feel that you can be quite content sitting alone at your desk; speaking only to clients and really minding your own home business, then you might have what it takes to succeed as a home business entrepreneur.

If you feel at ease with your own company and don't need a dozen coworkers milling around your desk, then you, too, could savor the freedoms that will allow you and your family, to live the lifestyle you know you want and deserve.

THE KEY TO HOME BUSINESS SUCCESS

Self-motivation is the key to success when you start a home-based business. You need to possess the ability to push yourself ahead. Your drive and determination will be reinforced with every new sale.

The level of success that you will achieve greatly depends on the time and effort you are willing to plow into your new home business. Your organization, planning and marketing skills, will all be put into practice when you embark on your liberating journey from employee, to being your own boss. In fact, you will be the wearer of many hats and gain a wealth of business experience along the way, when you finally make that commitment to work at home.

YOUR SUCCESS RESTS ENTIRELY UPON YOUR OWN SHOULDERS

You will now be the boss. Are you truly able to work independently? Do you have the drive; the tenacity, to persevere with your home based business? Will you be able to invest the
necessary time to nurture it, to watch it grow and see it through, from germination to full, glorious bloom? When you're the boss, you are responsible for the success of your home business, from A to Z, from disappointments to victory.

When you work at home, it will empower you to achieve many things you were unable to do when you were stuck working for that tyrant boss. Remember him? He's the guy that wouldn't let you take time off when your baby was sick...the same guy that called you in to work on Thanksgiving Day.

A home business means that you can take good care of your family and make money from home, simultaneously. You will have the best of both worlds! Just think--no more dirty laundry piling up--you can do it while you work. No more scurrying around at the last
minute searching for a babysitter either. And no more worrying about getting fired; you'll be the boss!

IN CONCLUSION...

Stay positive and focused on your home based business, even if, when sales aren't up to par, you get occasional negative remarks or derogatory comments from people with stuffy, dead-end jobs. Ignore their cutting words and bear in mind that success is the
best revenge! Keep your admirable, positive attitude at the forefront and show them what you're made of!

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Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy can help you launch your very own
money making website today that's 100% ready to take orders and
pull in massive profits for you right now ... guaranteed! Visit:
http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-4993

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Things You Should Know About Becoming A "Super Affiliate"

Online Affiliate Marketing is a sizzling topic right now! All this interest is fueled by the fact that the majority of successful online entrepreneurs earn most of their money from Affiliate Marketing. It stands to reason therefore, that finding a super affiliate or several super affiliates is like finding the mother lode in a gold mine. It is the dream of every affiliate merchant. Why? Because super affiliates can generate a significant percentage of an affiliate merchant's activity and account for more sales than hundreds or thousands of ordinary affiliates combined. With just three to five super affiliates an affiliate merchant’s business will grow exponentially.

So, how does one become a super affiliate? How does one become rich marketing affiliate products and services? The ads you read on websites and splash pages as you surf the web make it all sound so easy. They make it seem like all you need to do is sign up for an affiliate program, post a few banners, send a few classifieds and watch the money come rolling in. Well, it is not that simple, especially if you are new to online marketing and haven't anything else to go on but those online ads and the instructions given by most affiliate merchants. Making it big in affiliate marketing is not impossible nor is it that difficult. It does requires a good education, research, work effort, and persistence!

There are a two vital things you should learn before jumping with both feet into the online marketing arena.

1. Have your own presence on the Web:
I recently came across this quote which although somewhat dated, makes a significant point: "By the year 2001, there will be two kinds of business - those with web sites and those out of business." If you plan to succeed as an affiliate, you need your own website. The affiliates who make it big - the super affiliates – all have their own website where they can collect email addresses for their opt-in list. Don't ever forget that the really BIG money is still in the list. The bigger your list the more money you will make, period.

2. Control the traffic generated as a result of your advertisement:
Never send your prospects straight from your advertisement to your affiliate webpage. Your advertisement should send them to your website where you offer your website visitors a valuable free gift, like an e-book, a free newsletter or free report as a way of earning their trust. If they trust you, or are interested enough in your newsletter or free gift, they'll join your list. Once they are subscribed to your newsletter, you can send them periodic updates to the products or services you sell, that you think might be of interest to them.

If you do not yet have your own website, newsletter or training course, you will not be successful in marketing affiliate products or opportunities.

The secret to becoming a "super affiliate" is to build trust by honestly recommending your products and opportunities in your newsletter, ebook or reports and, of course, on your website. The more your subscribers trust you, the more of your products and services they will buy from you and the more successful you will become.

About The Author
------------------------------------
ProfitMarketer Janice Sharman, invites you to check out her Sure Profits Center where you will get ALL the Home Business Education, Internet Marketing Information and Resources You Need to become a "Super-Affiliate".

You have permission to publish this article in your ezine or on your website, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

Running An Online Home Business Is Not For Sissies!

When you look at the majority of ads you see as you surf the Internet, you truly begin to believe that an Online Home Business is a job made in heaven. Being in business for yourself can present real challenges but working online from your home presents even bigger challenges. Being an Online Home Entrepreneur is not for sissies! Most Online marketers actually fail during the first year they are in business.

Is patience one of your virtues?

Too many people still believe the wonder stories about Instant online success. Let's get rid of this notion once and for all. Yes, I too have heard the stories about people who have come online with the right product at the time and made BIG money, but that doesn't mean they didn't have to do a lot of preparation to get to that point, and it certainly doesn't happen for everyone. I have been around the Internet for a while and I am yet to meet anyone who just got on the Internet, built a website and tons of money came rolling in. It takes patient planning, long hours and doing the right thing day after day. If you are not willing to patiently put a good strategy into place then an online home business is not for you.

Persistence is another factor you have to take into consideration.

In this business you cannot afford to get upset and quit when you fail. Learn from your failures and change what is wrong. You are only a failure if you give up and quit after you fail. Success might be just around the corner, but you will never know if you quit, will you? Do you have the required persistence and determination to make it as an Online Home Business Entrepreneur?

Do you have what it takes to develop the discipline necessary to build your Online Home Business? It is not easy to wake up each morning and begin work when there are kids demanding your attention, a husband or wife that needs quality time and household chores vying for your attention. It requires great sacrifice, consistency, discipline and organization.

In order to build a huge opt-in list, you have to spend time at it each day or at least a few of days each week, especially in the initial stages. Trading links is extremely time consuming. Developing effective ads for placement, visiting and participating in forums takes a large chunk out of your day. Are you willing or able to discipline yourself to consistently begin carrying out these necessary tasks? Are you tough enough to get yourself into the routine necessary to become a profitable Online Marketer?

Far too many would be marketers blame their failure on the market. They give up thinking it does not work. The Internet is an evolving entity that requires you to be informed if you are going to be able to perform successfully. You have to be willing to learn and keep on learning day after day. Keep your bookshelves stocked to the gills with relevant information about your business. If you are not willing to keep on learning or if you feel you already know it all, you will never become successful.

Having the "Right Stuff" means you are patient, persistent, consistent, willing to make some initial sacrifices, disciplined and willing to learn and keep on learning. Just remember, Rome was not build in a day and your Online Home Business will not be either.

Are you a "Sissy" or are do you have what it takes to become a successful Home Business Entrepreneur? Think seriously about these qualities before you brave the waters of Online Marketing.

About The Author:
------------------------------------------
Janice Sharman is a ProfitMarketer who currently runs three websites
Subscribe to her 'Secrets To Sure Profits' Newsletter at
http://www.profits4sure.com

This article may be freely reprinted as long as the resource box is included
and no changes are made to any part of it.

Things You Need To Know When Starting An Online Affiliate Business

When Amazon started its affiliate business in July 1996, I am sure Jeff Bezos did not foresee the tremendous power of affiliate marketing and the remarkable effect it would have in improving people’s lives all around the world…

Today Online Affiliate Marketing is a HUGE business! Millions of people from various countries around the world are marketing affiliate programs and products. And the number keeps on growing expotentially on a daily basis. People from all walks of life are taking the affiliate road to riches and becoming Internet millionaires.

So, what is this online rage called Affiliate Marketing?
It is a business relationship between a merchant or service provider and affiliate partners who work together to promote a product or service. The merchant pays the affiliate a commission for generating leads, clicks or sales for its product or service.

Why is Online Affiliate Marketing so popular?

1. Inexpensive:
People love the sound and feel of FREE, and most of the online affiliate programs are free to join. You can become an affiliate without having to pay a penny. You don’t even have to buy the product to promote it.

2. No employees to manage:
There is no need to hire staff. You can work completely on your own and at your own pace without the need to hire employees to do the work for you.

3. Customer service:
The affiliate merchants take care of all your customer services. There is no shipping, or handling. Product arrival is the merchant’s responsibility.

4. Little or no overhead expenses:
You don’t have to worry about things like credit card processing. That is also the merchant’s responsibility. You can spend as much or as little time as you want promoting your affiliate product or service.

What do you need to become a successful Affiliate?

Excellent Affiliate Programs
Choose your affiliate programs carefully. Look for programs you would be proud to promote and be associated with. Select programs that you know something about or have a background in. Promotion should be a pleasure rather than a boring chore or job. Check out the affiliate merchant for legitimacy, longevity and payment history. Everyone wants to get paid.

Education
The affiliate company should also have a good training program and follow up training or workshops to keep you up to date. It is extremely important to learn all you can about the product or service you plan to promote so you can promote it with the utmost zeal and confidence. Education should never stop. Time dedicated to the pursuit of product education each week is well spent.

The potential to earn multiple streams of income:
Select multiple programs, don’t just choose one affiliate program. Pick at least five programs to ensure multiple streams of revenue. It is great to get several checks each week from different affiliate merchants.

Promote, promote, promote...
Make this the first thing on your agenda each day. Before you begin any business tasks for the day promote your programs or services. The Internet is an evolving entity where marketing methods change rapidly. Keep informed of the latest methods coming on stream, learn how they can benefit your business and used them to help your business excel.

Affiliate marketing is still the easiest way to start an online business; so go for it. Create a turnkey marketing system that will generate multiple streams of Affiliate income for you every day of the year.

Home Business Entrepreneur Janice Sharman currently runs three websites and has helped lots of ordinary people start a profitable home business. Check below for FREE information on how you can start your own Home Business and join the thousands of successful home business Entrepreneurs.
http://www.profits4sure.com

You have permission to publish this article in your ezine or on your website, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

Discover advanced profit secrets that Internet millionaires have been reserving for a tiny group of their own high-powered clients... until NOW!

Video Review by Janice Sharman:

The Accelerated Internet Wealth Video Series

I've just spent the weekend "locked away" with my DVD player and a huge new video product by Corey Rudl, called "The Accelerated Internet Wealth Video Series," and frankly, my head is spinning from the sheer volume of information this series contains about how to literally shovel profits off the Internet!

If you're looking for actual "how-to" video demonstrations of million-dollar test results, case studies, and $100,000 research, this is definitely it!

These videos -- there are 9 of them! -- are filled with advanced stealth marketing strategies that can help you to make literally hundreds of times MORE money than your competitors!

Corey was a young vibrant world-recognized expert in online marketing -- with $20,821 a DAY in online sales to prove it! He died in a car crash earlier this year but his sheer genius lives on in his excellent products.

Last fall, he threw a huge three-day seminar for 1,000 of his customers, where he and a group of millionaire guest speakers showed everyone exactly how to get wealthy online...

... He invested $97,000 to edit the video footage from that event, and put it into this new video series.

I'm talking 13+ hours of highly detailed marketing strategies that Corey never intended to make public. You'll ll learn:

• How to get "whitelisted" with AOL, Hotmail, and Yahoo!
  
  
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This is the definitive resource for doing business online -- and the best part is that it doesn't matter what stage you're at with your business. There's information here for people who don't even have a web site yet...

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I give this video series a 10 out of 10 rating. Corey literally gives you a "behind-the-scenes" look at a level of online marketing that you've never had access to before!

Click here to view the sample footage from this series!

Your Own Home Business Are There Any Benefits?

What are the benefits of owning your own Home-Based business versus having a JOB?

HERE ARE A FEW BENEFITS!

SECURITY

October 2003 statistics show ‘13 million people unemployed in the US alone’, yet at the same time reports show an increase to $3.8 million households now attaining MILLIONAIRE status based on cash assets! Of these MILLIONAIRE households 20% are BUSINESS OWNERS. Notice, too how many of those who make the Forbes ‘500 Richest’ list each year are Business Owners versus employees!

99.99% of people who lose their jobs will be looking for something to earn them a living. And facts also show that 88% of the US population would rather be self-employed and working from home, versus working for a company.

The Result?

A new home-based business is started every 11 seconds in the U.S. alone. That calculates to the starting of 8,000 new businesses a day.

A former senior editor for the U.S.-based "Success Magazine", describes in his recent book that a shift in thinking has resulted in over 14 million people working from home full-time, and another 13 million part-time!

This number is increasing by almost 600,000 per year!

The average work from home income is $50,250 per year.

Analysts estimate that 44% of all households support themselves, at least in part, from some form of home-based business, and that's in the U.S. alone.

By 2010 that number will be a staggering 69%!

Despite the statistics above, many people are hesitant to leave the security of a steady job for that of a home based-business. But, which is more secure?

Analysts say that people who work from home are, if anything, more secure, since their destiny is in their own hands — not those of supervisors who are watching out for the employer, not the employee. Indeed, home-based businesses have an average three-year survival rate of 85% (compared with only 20% for other new businesses).

Unless you have more than one job, being ‘fired’ from that one job means an end to your only source of income. Most people who work from home have at least several clients; getting “fired” by one doesn’t necessarily mean the end of their entire income. Experts suggest trying your home-based business part-time at first; you can then quit your job whenever you feel your business income will match or exceed your earnings as an employee.

People are deciding to take their futures into their own hands!

TIME FREEDOM AND FINANCIAL SAVINGS

Consider the time and money spent traveling to and from work alone. How much time and money would you have if your commute to work were simply from the Bedroom to your Home Office?

The Texas based International Transportation Association showed that in 2001 the average person spent 51 hours (that’s over 2 DAYS) sitting in traffic. That’s $69.5 billion in wasted time and fuel! When you work from your home, there’s no frustrating commute to and from the office. Using the power of the telephone and the Internet, you can live and work almost anywhere.

You’ll be able to use your home as your office, giving you potential tax advantages and ultra-low overhead. You can spend more time with your family, reaping not only emotional benefits, but also the savings of not having to pay for childcare. Much of your travel and your meals can now be considered business expenses. The tax-savings from that alone are tremendous!

Who’s the Boss?

You are! You decide what work you do, when and how much. 14 million U.S. home-based businesses are operated full-time. Another 13.1 million are operated part-time.

DETERMINE YOUR INCOME LEVEL

Ask almost any employee what goals they have with their present job and they will tell you: promotion, advancement and with that, a pay increase. Almost all employees feel they are overworked an underpaid; that they are not paid according to their true value. Why let someone else determine your worth and control your income potential?

As we mentioned above, the average home business earns $50,250 per year. However, the top 20% of home-based businesses earn more than $75,000 per year! (For comparison, consider that the average per capita income in the United States in 1995 was just $22,800. Even more startling is the fact that 18% of retirees will have incomes below poverty level; only 4% will earn over $33,000.)

SO, IS OWNING A HOME-BASED BUSINESS RIGHT FOR YOU?

Ask yourself the following questions:

Do you feel that the only way to change your present financial circumstances is to personally take control NOW?

Can you dedicate a workspace and a telephone in your home for your new business?

Are you self-motivated, maintain a degree of self-discipline, and have a strong work ethic?

Do you have a strong desire to start a home-based business?

Are you prepared to stay focused and consistent in building your business?

Do you feel you’re worth more than you’re presently earning?

Are you willing to commit at least 2 years to helping your business succeed?

Are you willing to leave your “comfort zone” to carry out your business plan?

And lastly, are you prepared for the BENEFITS?

Don Hayes

Don Hayes, is an entrepreneur, professional and home-based business owner dedicated to providing the highest quality consultant advice on vacation values and travel benefits on the market today, and making them available to his clients. This has in turn created one of the hottest and most lucrative business opportunities in the World! See what Company I picked that gives me the best benefits in my free report,get it now while supplies last, call my personal Phone#:(877) 213-9642 or E-mail me @ : dhayes@coastalsite.net