Work At Home Business Articles

Additional Money Qualifications

2006-10-18T17:42:00.000-07:00

If you are tired of surviving paycheck to paycheck it's time to ask yourself if you have the right qualities and traits to make that additional income. It is necessary to have certain qualities to successfully create extra money. If you're not cut out for it no one else will do it for you, irrespective of qualities. You need extra money, you work for it. Simple as that.

There are an awful lot of people out there around the whole wide world looking to make an added income. But it is essential to look at the realities of making added income before jumping in.

I mean no offence to anyone, but there are people that are better off with a second job than starting up a home business to supplement their regular income. It's not worth the wasted time and effort on the internet when the chances of their failure are great.

In today's economy, employers have got into the habit (maybe due to hard pressed assets) of delaying raises, but the cost of living keeps rising. To make ends meet it has become imperative that people to look for additional income opportunities as soon as possible to ease out of the current situation and to gain a better future. Apart from paying bills, concerns of a better life and growth are of ultimate importance in their lives.

Along with that, computers and the internet have made it possible to bring people and work together to match their skills, interests and abilities which can be molded into the right home business making it possible to bring in that added income without much of a fuss. Keeping the ease of setting up and starting off in mind, it is again advised not to jump. The home business route is not for everyone.

Make sure you possess the following attributes before thinking of the home business route to extra money. Be honest with yourself while reading the following since this can make or break you:

1. Are you Goal Oriented? To be successful in any endeavor, one must have goals. Goals define the means and ways of getting something. They can be set in two ways:
a. The amount of extra money you want to bring in in dollars.
b. How much time you want to spend on a specific job to receive the dollars.

What, When and Where are three important specifics that you have to define before embarking.

2. Ask yourself:
a. Can you afford the program? (The investment). There are some free startup programs available.
b. Analyze your strengths. What you are good at and enjoy doing?
c. The marketability of the program you choose.
d. How much time will it take to achieve your goals following the chosen program?

3. Courage: Instead of getting caught in analysis paralysis, get yourself enough courage to begin.

4. Selection of the right program is very important. Match your strengths to the appeal of the program.

5. Have a good plan in place to market your program. Ask questions if you do not know, but a good plan is a must.

6. Do you have self motivation and perseverance to go on and on? Keep abreast and educated.

Once you honestly answer the above positively, it would not be really difficult to succeed, otherwise look for other alternatives than to delve into a home business.

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Make Money From Home and Home Made Profits providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)

10 Reasons to Begin Earning Added Money in 2006

2006-09-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

Home based businesses to earn added income have become widely accepted all over the world and are spreading like wild fire. They have become the most favorable businesses to start for apparent reasons:

Dream how it would feel to get up at your own sweet time and not hasten to office in the customary mess of snarling traffic all the while getting choked on pollution. In addition, to begin the day as though you are fresh from home and nothing has happened. Listen to the Boss ordering you around and giving you the grind for deadlines.

Extra money has not hurt anyone up to now, and it should not be hurting you either. If you are ready and willing to do that extra bit of work or travel that added mile for your boss, I am sure you will be more than eager to do so for yourself, especially if you feel that it would improve the quality of life for you and your family.

Extra income does not come for free. It involves hard work but of the kind you would want to do. It is not hard work when you are doing what you always wanted. A little bit of inspiration could get you off the mark, wouldn’t it? Let’s get going point wise;

1. You will be your own boss with no one looking over your shoulder. Freedom of time, moment, goals, finances everything left to you.

2. Work at your convenience. Be your own time master. The benefits of flexibility are even greater for mothers and people having other responsibilities apart from profession.

3. Convenience to do whatever you want to do, whenever you want to do it.

4. The above factors help you to pursue your regular income job until you are sure of the additional income business. You can always switch.

5. Job security and fear of unemployment vanish.

6. Sense of pride. Make you more of a complete person who can proudly say that he/ she is an entrepreneur who has achieved something.

7. Self belief going through the sky. This factor will help you face most hurdles in life with a lot lesser heartaches and stress.

8. Limitations of earning do not exist. You can earn as much as you want by just stepping up the speed.

9. Many countries offer tax benefits for work from home businesses, since it is considered added income. So greater credit ratings with lesser tax obligations.

10. You can retire at your own time, at 30 or at 60, it’s entirely up to you.

Success becomes a commodity which you can measure with your own yardstick rather than others, which contributes a lot to your personality and the resources through the added money you earn. The above reasons are certainly worth a look if you are considering being thriving and independent in life.

Analyze the above points on a piece of paper before making your decision on whether you want that extra income or not.

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Work At Home Business Resource Center and Make Money From Home providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)

Extra Money Working From Home

2006-09-04T11:43:00.000-07:00

Every entrepreneur, to achieve any amount of success, should be motivated. Motivation comes from passion.Every book published or e-book that deals in money making and action screams passion - the most important ingredient in any successful entrepreneur.

Similarly, when you consider going after that extra money, you have to create a burning passion to do so. It will keep your fire glowing for a long time, at least till the first results become apparent. After that passion at a particular level keeps in rotation, after all money is the biggest motivator.

An entrepreneur starting upon the route of home office and extra income should strongly believe in himself and his capabilities. He/She should be thick skinned not be perturbed or affected in any way by others comments and opinions. People are just plain jealous. Clear conscience and faith in oneself does not seek external approval. Evidence enough that, once you are successful and start earning extra money, the negative opinions and nasty comments turn into praise. One should have the ability and courage to make independent decisions and abide by them. This would be your most valuable asset yet.

Online businesses are basically scams - popular opinion of people around you in any part of the world. Your online business needs your approval heart and soul; otherwise success will keep eluding you and so will the extra income you planned from it. If Edison did not believe that electricity can be harnessed to light up human life; we would still be living in the dark ages, wouldn’t we?

Being able to adapt with working hours, being energetic, planning rationally, focusing on interim objectives and stress control are hallmarks of a successful home business owner. If you think you lack in any of them, practice till you make these attributes a part of your involuntary senses.

Discipline to start is very important but to know where to stop is more important. Do not overwork or stress yourself to the point of not stopping. It will only burn out your imagination and render you useless for some time to come. Making short time extra money, you will lose out on the next few dollars (ex: Burning out today may earn you $1000 today, but by not working for the next 3 days you will lose $500X3 = $1500). Work the number of hours as per the plan you carefully laid out.

Creating your business is more important than earning money out of it. As your business sustains and grows, the money you earn from it automatically grows. Treat the home business as your hobby and keep abreast of it through updated information. Knowledge earned does not cost a cent here but will help in decision making in all spheres of independent life.

Last but not the least, fear of failure and not failure itself leads to most failures. Keep trying, look at failure as a part of learning and be thankful your benefit of knowledge from it. Learn fro your mistakes, a lesson we have learnt in primary school.

All the best for your online success.

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of Make Money From Home and Home Made Profits providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Set Up Your Online Business for Less

2006-04-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

Are you starting an online business with a small budget? That's OK. Online businesses are one of the lowest cost businesses to run - if you know what you need to pay for and where to go.

Follow these suggestions for getting your website set up inexpensively while not sacrificing quality. There are some things you need to pay for (and this will tell you how much) and other things you can do just as well for free.

STEP ONE: GETTING A DOMAIN NAME

There's no reason to pay more than $10 for a domain name, so feel free to shop around. Domains are important because they give you credibility as a business.

Free websites do not enable you to have your own domain name so instead you end up with mybusiness.freespace.com instead of mybusiness.com. See the difference? Your customers expect you to put some money into your business and this is a clear tip off that you are not doing that - and for $10, why shouldn't you?

STEP TWO: FIND A HOST

Hosting plans vary considerably. Much of what you pay for will be determined by the features your hosting account provides with its service.

Are you setting up a simple, one page site? You could probably use a low cost host for $5 per month. Do you need some extra help with templates and layout or expect a high amount of traffic or downloads? You may have to pay more but it can be well worth the extra expense to have integrated webpages already set up or to ensure your host is providing you with enough bandwidth to handle the traffic on your site.

Never use a free host, unless perhaps you want to start with a blog or similar format while you get your own website up and running. Free hosting usually means you pay in other ways - lack of a domain name or a lack of quality. Many free hosting accounts are for personal use only and do not allow commercial accounts. Try to get recommendations from others when looking for a good host.

STEP THREE: DESIGN

As previously mentioned you can find professional templates on some hosting services. These can give your website a professional polish without the expense of hiring a designer. You are limited, however, on the look you choose depending on the variety of designs available.

Templates are also available to others so your site may have the same appearance as someone else. If you need custom work done consider hiring a freelance web designer from a site like elance.com or ask a local student studying web design. Freelance sites often put you in touch with new designers who will charge less while building on their experience and adding to their portfolio.

Spending money wisely is important when starting any business, but some free services will cost you in reliability or image. On the other hand there are some cheap deals you may not hear about so don't give your hard earned money (or worse - your credit) for a service you can pay less for and get the same results.

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of Ways To Make Money From Home Make Extra Money and Home Made Profits providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Women Business Owners - The Power of Guided Multi-Tasking

2006-04-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

Multi-tasking is a natural aspect of business for women business owners, especially those with families.

The fact is if you are a woman business owner, you are most likely already a multi-tasker of epic proportions. You know how to combine family, childcare and business tasks as a matter of course. Whether it's carpooling, deliveries, and business errands, or phoning clients, babysitters and arranging multiple schedules, you think in terms of multiple areas of impact most of the time.

When your business is in your home you have additional challenges and benefits which your multi-tasking abilities can make work for you. You can handle household chores and meal preparation in between appointments, phone consultations, or writing that new piece for your monthly newsletter. You routinely make decisions which involve multiple areas of your life more or less simultaneously.

Taking that next step of how to apply your natural ability to enhance your business success is not so difficult, but it does require a new focus. You have to start thinking in terms of the various areas of your business the same way you think of the various areas of your life. You have to step back and get a little wider view of things.

The best way to do this is to set aside some quiet time when you will not be disturbed and really take a look at what it is you want your business to accomplish, in what time frame. Using the backward planning approach works very well.

Once you have developed your general goals, rework them into specific targets. In other words, take the generalized goal, say of "X number of new clients by X" and develop the set targets you'll need to accomplish to reach that goal.

A project plan (target list) and work chart can be a very helpful tool for the next process of breaking down each target into the associated tasks required to fulfill each objective. Using these two tools, you can create the work chart for each specific area, and then see how the various targets are related. For instance, a new promotional pack for your business will have various components: brochure, logo, support materials, testimonial letters, perhaps a multi media presentation. Each of these items becomes a block in the project work chart, and completing portions of any one may provide materials for the others.

Once you have accomplished this you will have a clear picture of all the tasks required for each area of your business. Now the process of checking in on the larger picture as you work each day becomes a simple matter of using these tools to keep you on track.

Target lists and project work charts are tools often used by engineers as they develop a new piece of equipment, hardware, firmware, or software. First the targets or functions of each piece are defined and then the steps to creating each working component are laid out. By following this method, the relationships between the various targets, or, in this case, components of your business plan, are visible and easily identified.

This avoids getting the cart before the horse, or working on portions of the plan that cannot be implemented without other components also being in place.

The next step is to integrate the project work charts into a daily system of self check as you naturally group your work according to like tasks which can be accomplished in clusters of multi-tasking events. In this way you can significantly increase your progress and your business will thrive.

Once you have clearly charted targets for the business you can start to apply the multi tasking skills you aridly have to what needs to be done to make the targets happen.

The next step to optimizing your multi-tasking is to ask yourself where you do your best work. What gives you the most energy and creativity? What is the most difficult for you to tackle of the things that require your attention?

A professional counselor, in the midst of changing her business from one based on individual clients to seminars and group events met the challenge of having to think in ways unfamiliar to her by relocating her new event planning activities to her kitchen! She recognized that her most relaxing and enjoyable activity was preparing fresh foods for family and friends. When she moved her event planning to the kitchen, her natural confidence and creativity in that environment enabled her to expand her event planning thinking much more easily than she could in her office.

The food and her pleasure in its preparation, as well as her sense of well being and confidence in this environment gave her the creative energy she needed to expand her thinking and create new and different events for her clients. By providing herself with the support of her naturally creative environment, in this case cooking, she added to her creative power in an area where she had less strength and experience.

Often, by breaking up more mundane tasks with those which are more creative or inspiring, it is possible to keep your energy level higher than if you were to attempt to force yourself to do the "boring" task alone.

Learning your own personal rhythm and areas of your own natural creativity and enthusiasm and thinking in ways which allow you to tap into those parts of yourself you can greatly enhance not only the results of your work, but the sense of well being you find in your work.

Finally, as a multi-tasker, there is some danger that you can become too diversified and lose the focus and clarity of knowing what is most important in your business and in your life. By implementing target lists and project work charts as a guide to daily actions and updating them as each new target is complete you have a simple and effective system for starting each new day, and for meeting all your business objectives.

The daily action of a quick review of the target list and work chart also provides the added benefit of stimulating new ideas and inspirations to continue enhancing your multi tasking skills, keeping your work fresh, interesting and exciting.

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of Ways To Make Money From Home Make Extra Money and Home Made Profits providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Affiliate Marketing - Is It For You?

2006-04-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

Affiliate marketing's been a staple of the internet marketing scene for many years now. It's highly touted as a money maker for newbies and experienced marketers alike. But does it really pay to be an affiliate marketer? Let's take a look to learn more...

Basically affiliate marketing's an agreement between a web site owner and a merchant. The web site owner's actually an advertiser for the merchant or product creator. The agreement is a contract between the two parties that stipulates that the site owner can use various methods including the space on his site to promote the merchants goods. The merchant meanwhile agrees to pay a percentage of each sale generated through the affiliates personalized link.

This benefits both sides because the product creator spends nothing to advertise their goods and the affiliate pays nothing to research and develop new products.

This creates a win-win situation.

The product creator wins by saving money on advertising, which is one of the most costly aspects of doing business, by passing this cost on to affiliates. Basically it's a pay-per-performance deal because the merchant doesn't accrue any costs until the sale's made and the merchant pays the specified commission.

The affiliate marketer wins by being able to sell an already developed product, thus saving the time and money on the front end by not having to deal with R&D and product creation. The product is already developed and proven by the merchant, and all you have to do as an affiliate is find as many prospects as you can that will bring in the profit for both the merchant and yourself.

Another benefit to the affiliate is that most programs are free to join and have pre-made sales material so your marketing experience doesn't have to be that of an expert.

Probably the biggest benefit to being an affiliate marketer on the internet's the internet itself.

Because of the global reach of the internet it's very easy to reach tens of thousands of prospects for almost any type of product line. It's also very easy to intensify your efforts as an affiliate marketer to exploit new and productive strategies such as viral marketing, ebooks, special reports and autoresponders.

Lastly, as an affiliate marketer you get to pick and choose between many different products to promote. You're not married to a specific product or even a specific product type. Your risks are minimal because there are no long term binding contracts so if one product doesn't bring in a profit you can quickly and easily replace it with another.

All in all affiliate marketing's still an excellent way to earn income from the internet. Perform your due diligence, find a hungry market, find a good product and go for it!

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of Ways To Make Money From Home Make Extra Money and Home Made Profits providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Network Marketing - The Ultimate People's Business

2006-03-31T05:42:00.000-08:00

If you've ever heard of Network Marketing, you've probably heard it said that it is essentially a people's business. Some have also labelled it a people's franchise because of the similarities between the business models of network marketing and franchising. Advocates of the industry name it as the ultimate people's business and say there is nothing quite like it.

Of course people that are in network marketing will immediately respond positively to this whereas those that are not familiar with the industry, or have had some bad experiences might be strongly opposed to this idea. One of the unique characteristics of this type of business is that every individual distributor is in business for themselves but never by themselves. They will always be part of a larger organization and the compensation models are designed in such a way that every person can count on some form of support from their upline.

It is no secret that fortunes can be made in this type of business and many have done just that. Of course this is not the majority of network marketers, but every individual distributor does have the same chances. Success or failure in network marketing is not dictated by politics, race, age, background or gender, but always by results. In that respect it is probably also the fairest business model in the world.

For many people however the true value of their home based business is not directly in the financial return. The lessons a person can learn while building his or her own network marketing business are truly priceless. Many people are totally transformed through the personal growth they experience as a direct result of their challenges in their MLM businesses. It forced them to get out of their comfort zones, grow, and in many cases become a better person.

So what is so unique about network marketing in this respect? Doesn't every entrepreneur have to deal with challenges? The answer of course is: Yes, they do. And they also experience personal growth as a result from this. However there is a significant difference. Most entrepreneurs are self made and many of them learned their trade largely outside of formal education. Either they were taught by a family member, a mentor or perhaps they learned everything the hard way: by trial and error. Very rarely will you find an entrepreneur that has an extensive library of books and tapes on personal development. Most businesspeople don't attend seminars and motivational trainings. They think it's all a bunch of hype. While in some cases this can be true, there are many trainings and seminars that teach the principles of success better than any textbook found in business schools.

One of the great things about network marketing is that this type of education is built into the training systems of all good companies. There is no business on the face of the earth that places such a strong and direct emphasis on the importance of personal development as the network marketing industry. Many companies might argue that they spend a great deal of their budget on education; training employees and as such assisting them in personal development but in most cases what they are actually talking about is personnel development. Although the words are almost identical, their meanings are vastly different.

Network marketing is all about building people. It is probably the best school on the planet if you want to learn about what it takes to be successful in life and you don't need rich parents or some kind of scholarship to enroll.

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of Ways To Make Money From Home Make Extra Money and Home Made Profits providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

5 Tips on Using Private Label Content

2006-03-29T09:59:00.000-08:00

Private Label Content is becoming increasingly popular as people join the rush to fill their websites with high-quality information. Admittedly, you can have articles written by freelance writers at sites like Elance or Rentacoder, but it gets expensive. For those who are not yet generating a high income through AdSense or affiliate sales, Private Label Content (PLC) provides a welcome alternative.

=== What is Private Label Content? ===

PLC generally refers to articles, e-books and manuals that are free for subscribers to use as they wish. There are a few restrictions, however: you cannot claim copyright to PLC, or submit it to article sites, unless you change the content significantly. (Interpret 'significantly' as 'unrecognizable as the original article'.) The cost of membership varies, but typically ranges from around $24 to $67 a month. For this you might receive anywhere from 150 to 300 articles per month. Some sites also offer graphics (e-book covers and site header graphics) and even ready-made sales letters.

To use PLC to the best advantage, you need to be aware of a few things.

=== 1. How Can You Use PLC Articles? ===

The most common use for PLC articles is to provide useful, interesting content for websites. There are other uses, however. Think about your immediate needs. If you require an incentive for people to sign up for your newsletter, you can offer an e-book or training manual made up from PLC articles. It's easy to tweak these to be more relevant to your website and your clients. (As well as putting yourself in Google's shoes, put yourself in your clients' shoes. What do they most need to know?)

You could also create an e-course (anything from 6 to 52 articles - a short e-course, or one that offers an article for each week of the year). This gives you an excellent reason to stay in touch with your clients.

=== 2. How Can You Alter PLC Articles? ===

Submitting articles to public article directories along with your resource box is a great way to generate traffic to your web-sites. However, many directories don't allow you to submit duplicate content - ie, you have to submit your own unique article. Therefore, when submitting an article that you obtained from a private label content resource, it's advisable to first alter the article before submission. Here are a few tips in that regard...

(a) Change the title of the article. If you are using keyword-optimized articles, make sure you keep the keyword in the title - but be creative about the words that surround it. So if your article is based on the keyword "Mongolian Guinea Pig", your title might be "Where to Find the Mongolian Guinea Pig" or "Taking Care of Your Mongolian Guinea Pig" and so on.

(b) Change the opening paragraph. All you need to do (usually) is make sure that your keyword appears once. Take a look at the rest of the paragraph. How can you say the same thing in a different way? Look for synonyms - using your thesaurus - or alter the tone. Perhaps you can adopt a more casual approach (this might work better for your readership anyway). You might prefer write a different introduction altogether.

(c) Work through the article. Add a sentence here; subtract one there. Present the facts in a different order. Expand by adding some new points. Break a long article into two shorter articles. (If you do this, make sure each article seems complete in itself.)

(d) Rewrite the ending. When you do this, think about what you want the reader to do. Is this a good place to put your own affiliate link, or write a lead-in to your own product or services?

=== 3. Blend Several Articles Into One ===

You can get a whole new look if you take two or more PLC articles on the same theme and blend them into one longer, fact-packed article. Sometimes you might find you HAVE to do this, if an article seems a bit 'lightweight'. Not all PLC articles are created equal! Sometimes it's obvious that the writer was low on inspiration.

=== 4. Think Outside the Square. ===

Most PLC articles are presented in batches relevant to one niche. For example, you might find that over the course of a month you get 20 articles on golf, 20 on cell phones, 20 on credit cards and 20 on travel. Let's say that you are busy building a golf site. It might seem at first glance that only 20 of the 80 articles are relevant to your needs.

Not so! Golf vacations, for example, are very popular. Could any of your travel articles be massaged to fit the theme of golf vacations? It's very likely that they could. And what about communication while you travel - or while you play golf? Does the golfer need a new cell phone that will easily adapt to overseas communications? How will the golfer pay for a new set of clubs or a golf vacation? Might he need to explore credit card options?

You see how it's done. Be creative in your use of Private Label Content, and you will definitely get your money's worth.

=== 5. One Final Tip - Hold Out For Quality! ===

Now that Private Label Content is becoming popular, more and more PLC sites are opening up. You can afford to be choosy. Check out the quality of the articles on offer, and especially the niches being targeted. Niche areas like golf and credit are popular, and that's exactly what you want. You want to go where there is an *existing* demand. You do NOT want obscure niches where there is little activity. You WANT to go where there is competition. Naturally, the profitable niches will always have competition. Where there is competition, there are buyers! So you want to look for demand, look for competition, and carve your niche!

Finally, consider being a member of more than one PLC site. Is it worth it to you to spend $150 a month on quality, no-strings-attached content? That would get you membership of 3-4 sites and upwards of 400 articles each month. Even if you can use only 50 of those articles, you're getting them for $3 each - a bargain!

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of Ways To Make Money From Home Make Extra Money and Home Made Profits providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Set Up Your Online Business for Less

2006-03-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

Are you starting an online business with a small budget? That's OK. Online businesses are one of the lowest cost businesses to run - if you know what you need to pay for and where to go.

Follow these suggestions for getting your website set up inexpensively while not sacrificing quality. There are some things you need to pay for (and this will tell you how much) and other things you can do just as well for free.

STEP ONE: GETTING A DOMAIN NAME

There's no reason to pay more than $10 for a domain name, so feel free to shop around. Domains are important because they give you credibility as a business.

Free websites do not enable you to have your own domain name so instead you end up with mybusiness.freespace.com instead of mybusiness.com. See the difference? Your customers expect you to put some money into your business and this is a clear tip off that you are not doing that - and for $10, why shouldn't you?

STEP TWO: FIND A HOST

Hosting plans vary considerably. Much of what you pay for will be determined by the features your hosting account provides with its service.

Are you setting up a simple, one page site? You could probably use a low cost host for $5 per month. Do you need some extra help with templates and layout or expect a high amount of traffic or downloads? You may have to pay more but it can be well worth the extra expense to have integrated webpages already set up or to ensure your host is providing you with enough bandwidth to handle the traffic on your site.

Never use a free host, unless perhaps you want to start with a blog or similar format while you get your own website up and running. Free hosting usually means you pay in other ways - lack of a domain name or a lack of quality. Many free hosting accounts are for personal use only and do not allow commercial accounts. Try to get recommendations from others when looking for a good host.

STEP THREE: DESIGN

As previously mentioned you can find professional templates on some hosting services. These can give your website a professional polish without the expense of hiring a designer. You are limited, however, on the look you choose depending on the variety of designs available.

Templates are also available to others so your site may have the same appearance as someone else. If you need custom work done consider hiring a freelance web designer from a site like elance.com or ask a local student studying web design. Freelance sites often put you in touch with new designers who will charge less while building on their experience and adding to their portfolio.

Spending money wisely is important when starting any business, but some free services will cost you in reliability or image. On the other hand there are some cheap deals you may not hear about so don't give your hard earned money (or worse - your credit) for a service you can pay less for and get the same results.

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Home Made Profits and Ways To Make Money From Home Make Extra Money providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Networking - Why, How and Where

2006-01-15T14:57:00.000-08:00

It's hard to be in business today, certainly in the professional services sector, without having heard the term 'networking'. Regarded by many as the Marmite of business, it is said that you either are a networker or you aren't. And if you think you aren't, you shouldn't even try to do it.

Rubbish!

First of all, networking is essential to any business - whether offline or online. The business you get from personal recommendation will be some of the best business you ever do - they have pretty much made up their minds to use you before they even call you, and they are a lot less concerned with price. And it's not just for solicitors and accountants - when your pipes burst, how did you decide on a plumber to come out and fix it? Was it someone you had heard good things about before? Maybe you didn't know anyone, so you called a friend and asked if they knew a good plumber? Joe Bloggs Plumbers just won the business of fixing your pipes through networking.

A good way to look at it is not as 'networking' but as 'word-of-mouth marketing'. Because it is part of your marketing mix - how's your advertising? Local papers? Spot on radio? Good, good. PR? Interview on local news this week? Fantastic. How about promotions? Give aways? Offers? All sorted? Great stuff. Got a website? Optimised for the search engines? Lots of enquiries from it too? Brilliant.

And how about your word of mouth?

Not enough people concentrate on generating referrals and getting people to mention their business to others. Millions of pounds of business is done every year through referral and recommendation. If you're not getting any of it, you need to think long and hard about why not.

So you've got yourself to a networking event, you tell the people there about what you have to offer, and then ask if they want to buy it, right? Wrong! If you do this you have become the person at a networking event that everyone wants to avoid - the one handing out business cards like they're dealing a poker game; the one who asks you nothing and tells you more than you could ever want to know about what they do.

So how do you do it? The best way to network is to build trust, build relationships, to think about what you can do for the other people in the room before you think about what you might get. Be a 'people person', be genuinely interested in the people you meet at events. Great networkers want to help as well as get help - because they like helping others, not just because it might get them some business in the future.

Networking is about building a relationship that eventually leads to business being done, either between you and your new contact, between you and someone they recommend, or between them and someone you recommend. Don't discount that last one - they have to get something out of your relationship as well, otherwise it isn't a relationship. If you help them get more business, they will do the same for you - in fact they'll feel obliged to.

Where can I network?

The short answer is absolutely anywhere! Remember Joe Bloggs Plumbers, the guys who fixed your pipes? You don't find many plumbers at networking events, but they still get referrals. Networking happens when you talk to your colleagues at work, when you go to the pub with your friends, it happens when you overhear a conversation in the bus queue. Networking is about the impression you leave people with, and you make impressions all day, every day.

Of course you will make more effective contacts for referrals at specialised networking events, but remember there are several different kinds of events you can go to. Some of the most established are breakfast meetings, which usually start around 7.00am and finish around 9.00am. Meetings are usually weekly and the format is very focused and regimented. For those who like this format, there is a lot of business to be done, but it is an acquired taste. Try it out, but bear in mind whether or not you can keep up with the regular early mornings and very formal structure. Also, most breakfast meetings are restricted to one person from each business sector, so you are not as likely to meet people you can form alliances and joint ventures with, which is a very important, and often overlooked part of networking.

There are also several different kinds of event organised by groups such as local government organisations, such as race days, golf days and others. These can be a lot of fun, but are very often filled with people who are there for the golf rather than to do business, and you may have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince. Networking events are really a matter of preference and perspective, and you should go to as many events as you can at first, and then stick with the ones that work for you.

In summary, there is a simple and effective way to network that anyone can do:

1. Get to know people as people, not prospects.
2. Everything happens after a meeting, not during. Always, always follow up.
3. Give referrals as well as expect to receive them.
4. Keep in touch on a regular basis.

Best of luck with your networking!

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Home Made Profits and Ways To Make Money From Home Make Extra Money providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Content is the Key to Boost Your Traffic and Profits!

2006-01-11T12:12:00.000-08:00

You may not realize how vitally important and valuable CONTENT is to your home based business. In fact, content can do more to build your business and profits than just about any other resource or service available.

Here is a list of 5 key ways that content can help build your traffic, subscribers, and customers starting today!...

1. Boost your search engine ranking and therefore your daily visitor count by posting keyword rich articles and content on your web-site. For example, if your home based business involves offering products and services related to fitness, posting fitness related articles and content will attract unlimited prospective customers on a regular basis!

2. Generate double or even triple the number of newsletter subscribers you do currently, simply by offering content in the form of "special reports" or manuals as bonuses for subscribing to your publication. People love freebies, so give them what they want and watch as your results increase!

3. Create an automated cashflow by using content to formulate multi-part email training courses with related web-site or affiliate links "sprinkled" throughout each course. Use an autoresponder service to automate the delivery of your training course (such as a 5 part training course delivered over a 5 day period).

Training courses can also serve as excellent bonus offers for your prospective newsletter subscribers.

4. One of the most important keys to a successful online business is not JUST having a list of mailing list or newsletter subscribers... It's about building a trusting relationship with your subscribers (ie, "cultivating" your list)...

By sending informative articles (content) to your list on a regular basis you will establish yourself as an expert on your topic of business, as well as gain the trust of your subscribers over time. As a result, your subscribers will be EAGER to take advantage of your "paid" product and service offers. (Just make sure that you NEVER take advantage of the relationship you develop with your list by offering products or services of poor quality just to make a quick buck!)

If there is one "constant" in Internet marketing, it's this: A cultivated list of subscribers is as good as money in the bank. Write that down and never forget it!

5. Another excellent way to generate no cost traffic is by submitting ready-made articles to "content hungry" web-site and newsletter publishers with your "resource box" attached. A resource box is nothing more than a little 3-6 line "bio" about you and/or your web-site - including a link to your site (or even instructions on how to subscribe to your newsletter)...

When submitting or offering your article(s) for reprint purposes, just make sure to specify that each article is to be reprinted "as is" with your resource box attached.

...Even one article can go a LONG way towards generating no cost traffic and visitors for you. Just imagine your article being sent out to a newsletter subscriber base of 100,000 individuals - many of whom will be reading YOUR included resource box and clicking on your URL to learn more about what you have to offer!

Well there you have it, 5 sure ways to build your online business exponentially with the help of articles and content...

With the declining effectiveness of many of the online advertising methods that we've relied on in past years, content is only strengthening its position as the ultimate KEY to generating unlimited traffic, subscribers, and customers!

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Home Made Profits and Ways To Make Money From Home Make Extra Money providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

5 Tips on Using Private Label Content

2006-01-08T19:42:00.000-08:00

Private Label Content is becoming increasingly popular as people join the rush to fill their websites with high-quality information. Admittedly, you can have articles written by freelance writers at sites like Elance or Rentacoder, but it gets expensive. For those who are not yet generating a high income through AdSense or affiliate sales, Private Label Content (PLC) provides a welcome alternative.

=== What is Private Label Content? ===

PLC generally refers to articles, e-books and manuals that are free for subscribers to use as they wish. There are a few restrictions, however: you cannot claim copyright to PLC, or submit it to article sites, unless you change the content significantly. (Interpret 'significantly' as 'unrecognizable as the original article'.) The cost of membership varies, but typically ranges from around $24 to $67 a month. For this you might receive anywhere from 150 to 300 articles per month. Some sites also offer graphics (e-book covers and site header graphics) and even ready-made sales letters.

To use PLC to the best advantage, you need to be aware of a few things.

=== 1. How Can You Use PLC Articles? ===

The most common use for PLC articles is to provide useful, interesting content for websites. There are other uses, however. Think about your immediate needs. If you require an incentive for people to sign up for your newsletter, you can offer an e-book or training manual made up from PLC articles. It's easy to tweak these to be more relevant to your website and your clients. (As well as putting yourself in Google's shoes, put yourself in your clients' shoes. What do they most need to know?)

You could also create an e-course (anything from 6 to 52 articles - a short e-course, or one that offers an article for each week of the year). This gives you an excellent reason to stay in touch with your clients.

=== 2. How Can You Alter PLC Articles? ===

Submitting articles to public article directories along with your resource box is a great way to generate traffic to your web-sites. However, many directories don't allow you to submit duplicate content - ie, you have to submit your own unique article. Therefore, when submitting an article that you obtained from a private label content resource, it's advisable to first alter the article before submission. Here are a few tips in that regard...

(a) Change the title of the article. If you are using keyword-optimized articles, make sure you keep the keyword in the title - but be creative about the words that surround it. So if your article is based on the keyword "Mongolian Guinea Pig", your title might be "Where to Find the Mongolian Guinea Pig" or "Taking Care of Your Mongolian Guinea Pig" and so on.

(b) Change the opening paragraph. All you need to do (usually) is make sure that your keyword appears once. Take a look at the rest of the paragraph. How can you say the same thing in a different way? Look for synonyms - using your thesaurus - or alter the tone. Perhaps you can adopt a more casual approach (this might work better for your readership anyway). You might prefer write a different introduction altogether.

(c) Work through the article. Add a sentence here; subtract one there. Present the facts in a different order. Expand by adding some new points. Break a long article into two shorter articles. (If you do this, make sure each article seems complete in itself.)

(d) Rewrite the ending. When you do this, think about what you want the reader to do. Is this a good place to put your own affiliate link, or write a lead-in to your own product or services?

=== 3. Blend Several Articles Into One ===

You can get a whole new look if you take two or more PLC articles on the same theme and blend them into one longer, fact-packed article. Sometimes you might find you HAVE to do this, if an article seems a bit 'lightweight'. Not all PLC articles are created equal! Sometimes it's obvious that the writer was low on inspiration.

=== 4. Think Outside the Square. ===

Most PLC articles are presented in batches relevant to one niche. For example, you might find that over the course of a month you get 20 articles on golf, 20 on cell phones, 20 on credit cards and 20 on travel. Let's say that you are busy building a golf site. It might seem at first glance that only 20 of the 80 articles are relevant to your needs.

Not so! Golf vacations, for example, are very popular. Could any of your travel articles be massaged to fit the theme of golf vacations? It's very likely that they could. And what about communication while you travel - or while you play golf? Does the golfer need a new cell phone that will easily adapt to overseas communications? How will the golfer pay for a new set of clubs or a golf vacation? Might he need to explore credit card options?

You see how it's done. Be creative in your use of Private Label Content, and you will definitely get your money's worth.

=== 5. One Final Tip - Hold Out For Quality! ===

Now that Private Label Content is becoming popular, more and more PLC sites are opening up. You can afford to be choosy. Check out the quality of the articles on offer, and especially the niches being targeted. Niche areas like golf and credit are popular, and that's exactly what you want. You want to go where there is an *existing* demand. You do NOT want obscure niches where there is little activity. You WANT to go where there is competition. Naturally, the profitable niches will always have competition. Where there is competition, there are buyers! So you want to look for demand, look for competition, and carve your niche!

Finally, consider being a member of more than one PLC site. Is it worth it to you to spend $150 a month on quality, no-strings-attached content? That would get you membership of 3-4 sites and upwards of 400 articles each month. Even if you can use only 50 of those articles, you're getting them for $3 each - a bargain!

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Home Made Profits and Ways To Make Money From Home Make Extra Money providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Networking - Why, How and Where

2006-01-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

It's hard to be in business today, certainly in the professional services sector, without having heard the term 'networking'. Regarded by many as the Marmite of business, it is said that you either are a networker or you aren't. And if you think you aren't, you shouldn't even try to do it.

Rubbish!

First of all, networking is essential to any business - whether offline or online. The business you get from personal recommendation will be some of the best business you ever do - they have pretty much made up their minds to use you before they even call you, and they are a lot less concerned with price. And it's not just for solicitors and accountants - when your pipes burst, how did you decide on a plumber to come out and fix it? Was it someone you had heard good things about before? Maybe you didn't know anyone, so you called a friend and asked if they knew a good plumber? Joe Bloggs Plumbers just won the business of fixing your pipes through networking.

A good way to look at it is not as 'networking' but as 'word-of-mouth marketing'. Because it is part of your marketing mix - how's your advertising? Local papers? Spot on radio? Good, good. PR? Interview on local news this week? Fantastic. How about promotions? Give aways? Offers? All sorted? Great stuff. Got a website? Optimised for the search engines? Lots of enquiries from it too? Brilliant.

And how about your word of mouth?

Not enough people concentrate on generating referrals and getting people to mention their business to others. Millions of pounds of business is done every year through referral and recommendation. If you're not getting any of it, you need to think long and hard about why not.

So you've got yourself to a networking event, you tell the people there about what you have to offer, and then ask if they want to buy it, right? Wrong! If you do this you have become the person at a networking event that everyone wants to avoid - the one handing out business cards like they're dealing a poker game; the one who asks you nothing and tells you more than you could ever want to know about what they do.

So how do you do it? The best way to network is to build trust, build relationships, to think about what you can do for the other people in the room before you think about what you might get. Be a 'people person', be genuinely interested in the people you meet at events. Great networkers want to help as well as get help - because they like helping others, not just because it might get them some business in the future.

Networking is about building a relationship that eventually leads to business being done, either between you and your new contact, between you and someone they recommend, or between them and someone you recommend. Don't discount that last one - they have to get something out of your relationship as well, otherwise it isn't a relationship. If you help them get more business, they will do the same for you - in fact they'll feel obliged to.

Where can I network?

The short answer is absolutely anywhere! Remember Joe Bloggs Plumbers, the guys who fixed your pipes? You don't find many plumbers at networking events, but they still get referrals. Networking happens when you talk to your colleagues at work, when you go to the pub with your friends, it happens when you overhear a conversation in the bus queue. Networking is about the impression you leave people with, and you make impressions all day, every day.

Of course you will make more effective contacts for referrals at specialised networking events, but remember there are several different kinds of events you can go to. Some of the most established are breakfast meetings, which usually start around 7.00am and finish around 9.00am. Meetings are usually weekly and the format is very focused and regimented. For those who like this format, there is a lot of business to be done, but it is an acquired taste. Try it out, but bear in mind whether or not you can keep up with the regular early mornings and very formal structure. Also, most breakfast meetings are restricted to one person from each business sector, so you are not as likely to meet people you can form alliances and joint ventures with, which is a very important, and often overlooked part of networking.

There are also several different kinds of event organised by groups such as local government organisations, such as race days, golf days and others. These can be a lot of fun, but are very often filled with people who are there for the golf rather than to do business, and you may have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince. Networking events are really a matter of preference and perspective, and you should go to as many events as you can at first, and then stick with the ones that work for you.

In summary, there is a simple and effective way to network that anyone can do:

1. Get to know people as people, not prospects.
2. Everything happens after a meeting, not during. Always, always follow up.
3. Give referrals as well as expect to receive them.
4. Keep in touch on a regular basis.

Best of luck with your networking!

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Work At Home Business Resource Center and Ways To Make Money From Home | Make Extra Money providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

How To Conduct A Market Analysis For Your Business

2006-01-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

The term "market analysis" is often confusing to entrepreneurs, especially for people who focus on a specific niche or market segment.

In fact, many small business owners don't understand the process or complain that conducting a market analysis is too complicated or too expensive and wonder why or if it is necessary.

What is market analysis?

In the most basic terms, a market analysis is an assessment of:
- A particular problem or opportunity in a market.
- The needs of the target market relating to the problem or opportunity.
- Ideas for marketing a particular product or service that fills the needs of the target market.

When should you conduct a market analysis?

- When you are starting a business.
- When you are entering a new market.
- When you are considering a new product or service.

Why should you conduct a market analysis?

- To minimize business risks.
- To understand the problems and opportunities.
- To identify sales opportunities.
- To plan your marketing/sales approach.

The process of conducting a market analysis can be divided into three parts:

Part 1 - Understanding Market Conditions

This gives you basic information about your entire market -- the size, the competition, the customers.

Part 2 - Identifying Market Opportunities

This gives you more targeted information about potential problems or opportunities in the potential market, and includes information about growth, current and future trends, outside factors and more information about specific competitors.

Part 3 - Developing Market-Driven Strategies

Here is where we get into what market research does for you. It helps you to pinpoint opportunities to grow your business. By understanding the market and knowing what opportunities are available you can create a marketing strategy that leaves your competitors in the dust!

Here are 10 questions that can help you get started:

1. What is the market I want to reach?
- Who are they? (Basic Demographics)
- What is their biggest problem in relation to this market?
- Are their needs being met by the products or services provided in this market?
2. Who is my competition in this market?
- Are they successful in this market?
- Are they marketing a similar product or service?
- What is the market share of the three biggest competitors in this market?
3. Is there room for growth in this market?
4. What is the size of this market?
- Is there room for growth?
- Is the industry growing? Stable? Saturated? Volatile? Declining?
5. How is my product or service different from the competition?
6. How can I reach this market?
- How is my competition currently reaching this market?
- Is it the most effective way?
- What are the alternative ways of reaching this market?
7. What are the business models of my competition in this market?
- Are they effective?
- Is there a way to do it differently or better?
8. What do customers expect from this type of product or service?
- What are the core competencies of this product or service?
- What would make the product "new" "different" or "better" for the customer?
9. How much are customers willing to pay for this product or service?
10. What is our competitive advantage in this market?

Knowing the answers to these questions will not only help you figure out if there is a need for your product or service, it will help you figure out the best ways to reach your customers, price your products or service and ultimately make more sales!

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Work At Home Business Resource Center and Ways To Make Money From Home | Make Extra Money providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Starting an Online Business - Affiliate Programs Make it Easy

2006-01-04T15:41:00.000-08:00

If you have been longing to start a business online you may be coming across terms you've never heard before. You may also have found the opportunities available are overwhelming. Where do you begin?

AFFILIATE PROGRAMS - EASY START

Affiliate programs may be the easiest online business to start running. Why?

With any online business you must have a product or service to sell. First you must create this product or service and then you must be able to fill orders.

Selling your own product or service also means creating a website, learning how to write ad copy, setting up a marketing plan, being able to accept payments online and obviously doing the work. If you're selling a physical product then you will need to make or buy the item, package it and pay for shipping costs. If you provide a service than you will likely have to start by doing free jobs to build your credibility and then when you are charging for your service you are still limited by how much work you can actually handle.

THE MAGIC OF AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

Affiliate programs are a great way to get started in an online business. In fact there are even some 'Super Affiliates' who are making fabulous incomes from affiliate programs. So, what ARE affiliate programs?

Affiliate programs allow you to sell another company's service or product and make a commission on every sale or lead. You do not even need to build a website or handle the transaction. Your job is to drive traffic (customers) to your affiliate link.

An affiliate link is a special URL code that will identify customers coming to the company's site from your advertising. It will likely be the website address with a code attached to the end.

Some affiliate programs also have tiers. That means if someone who is interested in SELLING the product comes through your link and signs up you will also get a small percentage of THEIR earnings.

HOW DO I CHOOSE A PROGRAM?

You should research the popularity of some of your interests. Try to determine if people are buying that product or service online. There are many sources for finding that information including free ones such as the Overture keyword tool.

When you have found an area that is popular then type the subject along with 'affiliate program' into your search engine and see which programs have services or products for that area. You can also use an affiliate program directory.

When you have found a program that looks interesting you should read the terms of the program. Make sure that payouts are not based on a high commission earning or you may never see your money. Also try to choose programs with high commission rates. Often you will find ebooks and downloadable software has the highest rates as there is no physical product to make or ship. If you are satisfied with the terms then you need to sign up - usually a simple process.

START MARKETING

The reason affiliate programs are so great for beginners is that you only need to focus on marketing - not making - your product.

Many affiliate programs have information on how to market and give you tools such as banners, product feeds and more. You can also look for other information on marketing including writing articles, creating pay-per-click campaigns, commenting in online forums etc. As you gain experience marketing you will make adjustments to your selling and start creating a wonderful income!

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Work At Home Business Resource Center and Ways To Make Money From Home | Make Extra Money providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Making Your Home Business Work!

2006-01-03T12:45:00.000-08:00

Running your own home based internet business is a piece of cake. Right?

You've probably heard how easy it is to rake in tens of thousands of dollars practically over night, and how you can have all kinds of "free time" and extra cash for traveling and shopping at your favorite store...

Just throw up a web site, add a few affiliate links, post to some forums and presto - you're in the money!

But the reality is this. If you want to succeed in your own home based internet business, whether it's affiliate marketing or selling your own products, you will have to work at making it successful. You have to make it your job to succeed. You must treat it as your job, not as your hobby.

It's great to think that with just a few easy strokes you'll be running on auto-pilot, bringing in loads of cash and then on to the next venture. But without some simple planning and consistent effort you're setting yourself up for failure.

Here are a few tips to help you get started.

STAY ORGANIZED

Set up folders in your email client.

You should set up a folder for each contact and keep important correspondence while deleting what you don't need. If you belong to membership sites that require passwords, keep the "welcome" letters where you can find them.

Set up folders on your desktop.

If you download a lot of software, ebooks or PDF books from specific individuals simply name a folder on your desktop after the author or site owner. Then when you download something you can place it in their folder.

Make your own HTML home page.

For quick and easy access to all your important sites make up an HTML page with hyperlinks to your most frequently used sites along with a brief explanation of each site. Keep it on your desktop for easy access.

STAY FOCUSED

Set aside a specific time for work.

It could be from 7pm-9pm every day or whatever time's good for you. During this time do not get distracted from doing only what needs to be accomplished for your business. Try to use the same time slot every day so you get into a routine and get used to the working mindset. Save the surfing for another time.

Set aside a work space.

Make sure that all your friends and family know that when you're in your work area you're off limits! No one's to bother you.

Finish one task before starting another.

As the old saying goes, "Put one foot in front of the other." Don't start working on something new until the first task is completely finished.

BE CONSISTENT

Work the ideas that "work."

When you find something that works well for you work it hard and get as much out of it as possible. If you're submitting articles to a certain site and they're paying dividends, keep feeding the cycle.

Learn from failure.

Don't get discouraged. Each failure's just a learning process. Use any failure to your advantage by taking the lesson and applying it to your next venture.

Test, test, and more test.

Always test headlines and ad copy. A small change can reap huge rewards.

With these few simple steps you will stay organized, stay focused, be consistent in your efforts and build a solid foundation on which you can build your internet empire!

After all, you are the one who will ultimately determine the success or failure of your business!

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Work At Home Business Resource Center and Ways To Make Money From Home | Make Extra Money providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Learn How You Can Overcome Procrastination Immediately

2006-01-02T22:10:00.000-08:00

Problem:
People procrastinate because many are paralyzed with fear of failure, loss, pain and some, success! What we fear becomes our reality.

Solution
1. Fear is “False Evidence Appearing Real.
2. 90% of what we fear never becomes reality.
3. The best way to overcome fear is to do what we fear.
4. It helps if you visualize the worst case scenario and accept it as a possibility and realize it will probably never come to pass.
5. Our imaginations exaggerate negative fears completely out of proportion and in most cases never occur!

Problem
Few have a strategy to accomplish their goals.

Solution
1. Make a contract with yourself.
2. Identify specific rewards for positive action.
3. Establish certain penalties for procrastination.
4. Break your goals down into small steps.
5. Schedule a time segment for each activity.
6. Give yourself rewards for correct action and penalties when you do not follow through.

Problem
Many have a lack of discipline. It takes 30 days to break old habits and establish new ones.

Solution
1. Create a Success-Habits-Reminder card with boxes for checkmarks to record your daily activities.
2. Tape it to your bathroom mirror.
3. Stick it on your desk to keep track of your actions.

Problem
Most people do not have a plan or assign priorities.

Solution
1. Create a “To Do” List.
2. Determine immediate, intermediate and long-range goals.
3. Plan the goals that are in immediate reach of your abilities and assign priorities: Important & urgent, Important but not urgent, Not urgent or important.
4. Do the urgent & important tasks first.
5. 80% of your activities are not important to your goals.
6. Only 20% are urgent & important.
7. Learn to eliminate the 80% activities that do not help you attain your goals.

Problem
Many try to complete the most urgent & important activities at the last moment.

Solution
Every day schedule a block of prime time to work on an important activity that is due in the future. Soon you will find the time to analyze and polish your projects many times before they come due.

Problem
There never seems to be enough time to contemplate your decisions

Solution
Schedule quiet time to make important decisions. Listen to relaxing music that balances both brain hemispheres. If you do not schedule time for exercise, rest, entertainment, fellowship and prayer your will spin out of control.

Problem
You are overwhelmed.

Solution
Learn to say, “No!” to activities and individuals that do not contribute to the attainment of your goals. Often, people take advantage of your kindness and generosity without ever realizing you have better things to do with your time.

Problem: Most people do not have a master plan.

Solution
1. Create a master list of all personal, spiritual, physical, emotional and financial goals for 1 year.
2. Assign priorities for each.
3. Predict a date for completion.
4. Write everything in pencil so you can change it.

Problem: Few people use an organizer or daytime planner to coordinate their activities.

Solution
1. Transfer the things on your master list to the correct dates in your organizer.
2. Check off each item as it is completed.
3. At the end of each day, reschedule the things that were not completed.
4. If an item is rescheduled twice, you are procrastinating.
5. Ask yourself, “What if I never do this?”
6. If the answer is, “No big deal!” Delete it.

Problem
Some people suffer from perfection paralysis.

Solution
1. Make the decision that you are not perfect and never will be. Everything you do will be imperfect in some way.
2. Realize that if it is worth doing, it’s worth doing wrong until you get it right.
3. Stop judging yourself according to your accomplishments.
4. Learn to trust yourself by developing intuition and following your hunches. You will find your first premonition is usually the correct one.
5. Discover just how right you are by making predictions and observing how a high percentage of them are correct. (Predict the line at the supermarket or bank that will move the fastest and take action accordingly.)
6. Make quick decisions in 20 seconds or less.
7. Make your decisions the correct ones by believing in your choices and acting with confidence.
8. In difficult situations, flip a coin, choose heads or tails and then observe how you feel about the outcome of the toss. Your response to the coin toss will help you make the right decision.

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Work At Home Business Resource Center and Ways To Make Money From Home | Make Extra Money providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

How to Boost Your Traffic and Profits with Content!

2006-01-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

Are you aware of how vitally important and valuable CONTENT is to your online business? In fact, content can do more to build your business and profits than just about any other resource or service available.

Following is a list of 5 key ways that content can help build your traffic, subscribers, and customers starting today!...

1. Boost your search engine ranking and daily visitor count by posting keyword rich articles and content on your web-site. For example, if your business involves offering products and services related to fitness, posting fitness related articles and content will attract unlimited prospective customers on a regular basis!

2. Generate double or even triple the number of newsletter subscribers you do currently, simply by offering content in the form of "special reports" or manuals as bonuses for subscribing to your publication. People love freebies, so give them what they want and watch as your results increase!

3. Create an automated cashflow by using content to formulate multi-part email training courses with related web-site or affiliate links "sprinkled" throughout each course. Use an autoresponder service to automate the delivery of your training course (such as a 5 part training course delivered over a 5 day period).

Training courses can also serve as excellent bonus offers for your prospective newsletter subscribers.

4. One of the most important keys to a successful online business is not JUST having a list of mailing list or newsletter subscribers... It's about building a trusting relationship with your subscribers (ie, "cultivating" your list)...

By sending informative articles (content) to your list on a regular basis you will establish yourself as an expert on your topic of business, as well as gain the trust of your subscribers over time. As a result, your subscribers will be EAGER to take advantage of your "paid" product and service offers. (Just make sure that you NEVER take advantage of the relationship you develop with your list by offering products or services of poor quality just to make a quick buck!)

If there is one "constant" in Internet marketing, it's this: A cultivated list of subscribers is as good as money in the bank. Write that down and never forget it!

5. Another excellent way to generate no cost traffic is by submitting ready-made articles to "content hungry" web-site and newsletter publishers with your "resource box" attached. A resource box is nothing more than a little 3-6 line "bio" about you and/or your web-site - including a link to your site (or even instructions on how to subscribe to your newsletter)...

When submitting or offering your article(s) for reprint purposes, just make sure to specify that each article is to be reprinted "as is" with your resource box attached.

...Even one article can go a LONG way towards generating no cost traffic and visitors for you. Just imagine your article being sent out to a newsletter subscriber base of 100,000 individuals - many of whom will be reading YOUR included resource box and clicking on your URL to learn more about what you have to offer!

Well there you have it, 5 sure ways to build your online business exponentially with the help of articles and content...

With the declining effectiveness of many of the online advertising methods that we've relied on in past years, content is only strengthening its position as the ultimate KEY to generating unlimited traffic, subscribers, and customers!

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Work At Home Business Resource Center and Ways To Make Money From Home | Make Extra Money providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Researching Information To Develop Your Unique Content

2006-01-01T10:13:00.000-08:00

We live in a sea of information. And information overload is an increasingly common complaint. Part of the complaint arises because we get hit with different headlines that point to the same content. So we waste time on things that have no added value. Bummer.

When you email your list or put up content on your site, and assuming you want to generate loyalty, it's necessary that you have content others haven't seen a dozen times elsewhere.

If this makes sense to you, here are some ideas you can use to EASILY generate fresh content with a minimal amount of time and effort.

First of all, think about a subject in which you are interested. Let's say it's horticulture. Now if you're not aware of it, let me put you in the picture. Most people do web searches from Google's home page and stop there. Not at all creative. Not at all digging for information from which to develop original content.

So let's go exploring...

1. Google has lots of tools besides just web searches. They let you check the news. (http://news.google.com) As of this writing, there are 1,680 news items listed by Google on the word horticulture. Bet you could easily do a summary of some of these articles and create your own content. But let's not stop there.

2. Google also has "groups." (http://groups.google.com/) These are folks who like to discuss *your* subject. So now you can go even farther. Look up horticulture in their groups. Now this information is potentially gold. Why? Because you can see what it is about horticulture that lots of folks are interested in.

Think you might be able to do a little research and come up with a free or even a for-profit report that gives them what they want?

Check out Google's other tools, too. You can even get research info from universities through Google. Start here: http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/

3. Next method: Do this search (keeping in the punctuation as written):

+horticulture +free +filetype:pdf

As of this writing, Google shows 196,000 hits for this query. What you get here are free downloads in pdf format about your subject.

Now you can't simply copy and use it as your own information. You have to create your writing in your own words. But there's no law that says you can't summarize what you find in other people's works. To make the point, you could even call your work something like: "Survey Report: Latest from the Horticulture Front!"

4. Go to Alexa.com. Do a search on your subject, in this example, horticulture. It provides the exact same results as Google because it's powered by Google. So why bother, right? Wrong. Because Alexa *does* provide value added information.

When you do the search, you don't want to click the link that takes you to the listed site. Instead you want to follow the link that says "Site info." When you do this, you'll find a section called: "People who visit this page also visit." This can be very valuable because it potentially shows *what the marketplace is interested in.* This can enable you to tailor your information product to what people want.

These are just some of the easy ways to branch out your explorations and find gold to weave into golden braids.

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Work At Home Business Resource Center and Ways To Make Money From Home | Make Extra Money providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

Keys to Targeting Your Internet Advertising

2005-12-31T13:42:00.000-08:00

So you got your website up and running. You hired an excellent web designer to craft a perfect home page and satellite pages that will really draw in the visitors and inspire them to buy. You have a beautiful catalog of products with detailed descriptions. You have a section dedicated to the services you provide with praises from past customers. And you have the best online shopping cart service out there so that you customers can buy from you with no hassles and next day shipping. That's great! Now where are your customers?

Driving traffic to your website is a much discussed and much misunderstood venture. There are a million theories out there that claim to drive tons of new visitors to your site daily. There are services that say they will increase your traffic by an enormous percentage if you will only pay them their small fee over a period of fifty years. There are so-called experts who will place your pages on all the best search engines on the net. They claim that with this kind of blanket exposure, your traffic numbers will explode within days.

But the only sure-fire way to draw productive traffic to your website is through targeted marketing. The important word to notice here is "productive." You can draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to your site every year by hosting a giveaway of some kind. Services that search the internet for freebies will have people clicking a link to your site like crazy. But these people are not there to buy anything from you ... quite the opposite. They are empty clicks. There is nothing productive about this kind of traffic. People looking for free stuff will rarely make you any kind of money. And that's what you're after, right?

So target your marketing to the people who really want to buy what you have to offer. How? Start by trying these basic steps...

* Hire an experienced copywriter. The copy that is on your site makes a world of difference in the sales you garner from the internet. Most important to targeted marketing are the keywords found in your title and the metatags in the website's code. An experienced copywriter will know how to determine the most effective keywords and place them strategically in your site's copy. If you cannot afford a copywriter, do some research and talk to your web designer about inserting metatags.

* You can enroll in pay per click search engines. Obviously, google.com is one of these, but most of the most popular keywords are already taken. If you can think of some original phrases that people use to search for your products or services, you can post your ad next to the text that comes up when people search for that phrase. Every time someone clicks on your ad to go to your site, you pay google.com a nominal fee.

* Submit articles to free ezine sites. This is especially helpful if you are a service provider. You can write, or hire someone to write, an article for you about your area of expertise. Give some free tips, offer your experience, and be accessible in the text. Then at the bottom of the article, you get a link to your website advertising your services. Every time someone publishes your article in their ezine or newsletter, they must use your web address at the bottom.

These are just a few of the many ways to ensure you get "productive" traffic. Empty clicks are just that ... empty... and your wallet will stay that way, too!

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Work At Home Business Resource Center and Ways To Make Money From Home | Make Extra Money providing opportunities to make money online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box.
Thanks! :-)

How to Boost Your Traffic and Profits with Content!

2005-11-02T11:11:00.000-08:00

Copyright 2005 Timothy Spaulding

I’m sure you know how important and valuable CONTENT is to
your online business. In fact, content can do more to build
your business and profits than just about any other resource
or service available.

So I have provided here a list of 5 key ways that content
can help build your traffic, subscribers, and customers
starting today!...

1. Boost your search engine ranking and daily visitor count
by posting keyword rich articles and content on your
web-site. For example, if your business involves offering
products and services related to fitness, posting fitness
related articles and content will attract unlimited
prospective customers on a regular basis!

2. People love freebies, so give them what they want and
watch as your results increase! You can generate double or
even triple the number of newsletter subscribers you
currently sign up simply by offering content in the form of
"special reports" or manuals as bonuses for subscribing to
your publication.

3. Create an automated cashflow by using content to
formulate multi-part email training courses with related
web-site or affiliate links "sprinkled" throughout each
course. Use an autoresponder service to automate the
delivery of your training course (such as a 5 part training
course delivered over a 5 day period).

Training courses can also serve as excellent bonus offers
for your prospective newsletter subscribers.

4. One of the most important keys to a successful online
business is not JUST having a mailing list or newsletter
subscribers... It's about building a trusting relationship
with your subscribers (ie, "cultivating" your list)...

By sending informative articles (content) to your list on a
regular basis you will establish yourself as an expert on
your topic of business, as well as gain the trust of your
subscribers over time. As a result, your subscribers will be
EAGER to take advantage of your "paid" product and service
offers. (Just make sure that you NEVER take advantage of the
relationship you develop with your list by offering products
or services of poor quality just to make a quick buck!)

If there is one "constant" in Internet marketing, it's this:
A cultivated list of subscribers is as good as money in the
bank. Write that down and never forget it!

5. Another excellent way to generate no cost traffic is by
submitting ready-made articles to "content hungry" web-site
and newsletter publishers with your "resource box" attached.
A resource box is nothing more than a little 3-6 line "bio"
about you and/or your web-site - including a link to your
site (or even instructions on how to subscribe to your
newsletter)...

When submitting or offering your article(s) for reprint
purposes, just make sure to specify that each article is to
be reprinted "as is" with your resource box attached.

...Even one article can go a LONG way towards generating no
cost traffic and visitors for you. Just imagine your article
being sent out to a newsletter subscriber base of 100,000
individuals - many of whom will be reading YOUR included
resource box and clicking on your URL to learn more about
what you have to offer!

Well there you have it, 5 sure ways to build your online
business exponentially with the help of articles and
content...

With the declining effectiveness of many of the online
advertising methods that we've relied on in past years,
content is only strengthening its position as the ultimate
KEY to generating unlimited traffic, subscribers, and
customers!

About the author:

Timothy Spaulding is the owner of the Work At Home
Business Resource Center and Home Made Profits
providing opportunities to work at home and make money
online with your own home business.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)