They Didn’t Think I Could Earn A FullTime Income

They Didn’t Think I Could Earn A FullTime Income Online, But I Proved Them Wrong!

by: Al Martinovic

When I first attempted to make money online I was so naive just like any newbie. But I learned from the school of hard knocks. I learned by trial and error and by just doing.

In the beginning I submitted my site to every search engine under the sun. I tried traffic exchanges, banner exchanges, FFAกs, safelists, online classified ads etc. and not surprisingly I got zero results. If anything… I was very good at getting spammed.

I wasted weeks and even months of my time with stuff that didn’t work. But little by little I started to head in the right direction. I dropped all the stuff that didn’t work and looked for other ways to bring traffic to my site.

I subscribed to a whole bunch of ezines and started posting free ads. The results weren’t great but at least this time I was getting some results. My confidence started to build and I knew I was heading in the right direction.

Then I started to spend a little money on my business and used pay per click search engines and things really started to take off for me and my confidence grew more.

Then I started writing articles and press releases and and in the middle of all this I would spend time learning how to optimize my site for the major search engines to get a high ranking.

The sales started coming in regularly. But I didn’t sit back. I wanted to convert more of my visitors into customers.

I added an optin form on my site to capture email addresses and set up an autoresponder to automatically follow up with my prospects. Eventually I added an alert box to capture email addresses which really exploded my mail list.

I started learning more about copywriting and experimented with different copy and headlines etc. on my site to get maximum results until eventually I had a consistent sales machine over at http://www.ineedsmokes.com

And when I had a sales machine that was on autopilot I then started pursuing other projects to make additional money.

But you know, it took alot of work to get to this point. It is a constant learning process and I still try to learn as much as I can because you never กknow it all.ก

If you think you กknow it allก you are finished because the internet changes so rapidly youกll quickly get left behind.

If you’re new to online marketing… it won’t happen for you overnight. It will take work, dedication and even sacrifice.

You need to keep working your business, be consistent and learn as much as you can about this internet marketing game and most importantly apply what you have learned.

Some techniques and tactics will work great in one business… but not in another. You won’t know unless you try. Find the things that work for you and build upon it.

And eventually… youกll get there too.

About The Author

Al Martinovic publishes the Millenium Marketers Newsletter featuring powerful internet marketing concepts, killer strategies, useful tips, and no bull business advice. Subscribe Free Today: http://www.milleniummarketers.com

This article was posted on November 18, 2003

by Al Martinovic

The Undeniable Value Of Differentiation

The Undeniable Value Of Differentiation

by: Karl Augustine

With all the people offering products and services online, what sets yours apart from the crowd?

You can’t argue this, to succeed you need to differentiate yourself.

Online businesses come and go every day and about 90% fail.

The reasons online businesses fail vary from situation to situation, hereกs a few:

It could be that the business owner didn’t educate themselves properly

It could be that the netreprenuer didn’t market correctly

It could be that the webmaster didn’t develop a product people were actually willing to pay for

It could be that the newbie didn’t spend enough time creating and leveraging the right types of relationships

It could be that the inexperienced Internet marketer didn’t remember to be thorough and calculated with their product offering, sales copy, packaging, traffic plan, etc.

All of the above reasons are valid and one of the most common reasons the product offering itself fails, is because the niche market that the business owner is marketing in is semisaturated and the marketer had no กdifferentiatorก.

A differentiator is anything that makes your unique selling proposition differ from any other by the benefits it delivers to the user. Those benefits need to be itemized in the sales copy to make sure the prospect will understand what makes the offering specific to his/her needs.

A differentiator could simply be a different angle or viewpoint on some problem or product not currently realized by anyone else.

How many ebooks have been written about Internet marketing? Hundreds if not thousands…the ones that make money have easily identifiable differentiators.

A differentiator could be an added bonus to your product offering that the prospect can’t get anywhere else.

**Simple example:

Suppose there are 2 products that a prospect is considering purchasing.

* Product offering #1 offers a bonus that can be easily found on the Internet.

* Product offering #2 offers a bonus that is exclusive to this offering itself that cannot be obtained anywhere else other than through this specific offering.

If both products are equal in benefits to the user and have the same price, which product offering will the prospect choose?

Of course, the prospect will choose Product #2 because of the กexclusivityก of the bonus. That exclusivity is a differentiator.

A differentiator could be a discount on a service that no one else in your niche offers. A differentiator could simply be a promise to respond to customer inquiries within 24 hours.

The trait that defines a truly effective differentiator is uniqueness.

A differentiator could even be something as simple as the packaging of the sales process of a product or service itself. The packaging of a product includes graphics, format of delivery, appearance of web presence, etc.

With regards to graphics, it is important to understand that people respond positively to visually pleasing graphics regardless of whether the end product of offering is actually affected by those graphics. Due to the average personกs reluctance to buy online, the better things look, the better the prospect feels about moving forward with a purchase.

In the online world, the prospect decides to purchase a product or service that is being marketed to them somewhat กvirtuallyก…it is intangible to them until they buy. In this instance, a differentiator could be something as simple as slick graphic or choice of product formatpdf, exe, audio, RAM, MP3, etc.

Before you can actually identify a truly effective differentiator for the product offering, a good amount of competitive intelligence needs to be done within the appropriate vertical niche market.

Begin by reviewing all products and services that could be perceived as competitors in that niche market and define the differentiator from there.

Whatever type of differentiator is chosen, itกs vital to make certain the prospect clearly can understand the value of it by itemizing the benefits it brings to them.

This is often overlooked and equates to unrealized sales.

Be humble, work smart, keep it simple.

Karl Augustine

‘the Regular Guyก

(c) Karl Augustine

http://www.9mistakesonline.com

http://startingsmart.9mistakesonline.com

About The Author

Karl Augustine

Author of ก9 Deadly Mistakes To Avoid When Starting An Online Businessก.

Publisher, กStarting Smartก biweekly ezine for new and semiseasoned Internet marketers.

http://www.9mistakesonline.com

http://startingsmart.9mistakesonline.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 27, 2003

by Karl Augustine

A Hard Lesson Learned ….

A Hard Lesson Learned ….

by: Diane Hughes

Are you like me? I like to handle things on my own so I don’t even THINK about incorporating help with anything I am working on … especially my business as a whole.

Well, I learned something new recently. It was a HORRIBLE experience that actually turned out for the better. Let me tell you my story:

I have a team of about 2000 associates. Since all my sites are hosted at Host4Profit except for the site that their websites are hosted on, I decided to transfer everything over. Well, I have transferred many sites before so I knew how it worked. I knew I would get access to Host4Profit before transferring with my registrar and that all I had to do was upload everything over to the new host while my old host was still active. This would make a seamless transfer. No one would ever know anything happened …

To make a long story short, it didn’t turn out to be as seamless as I hoped and things were a little messed up for about a day. Needless to say, I received TONS of emails!

กWhat happened?!ก

กWhere did you go?!ก

กGive me my money back!ก

กHello? Are you there?ก

Well, I couldn’t ANSWER these emails because I was busy getting the transfer problem fixed. This caused most of them to email me a SECOND time, therefore doubling the amount of emails sitting in my email box! Stress was building as I worked to get the problem fixed ….

After the problem was finally resolved, I sent an update letting everyone know what happened. I got back to any emails that I felt needed answering … this whole thing took almost 18 hours of my time and NO SLEEP for me!

The stress and the fact that I had no sleep took itกs toll on me. When I got some really rude emails from some angry customers and associates, I didn’t take my own advice and let it sit until I calmed down. You know what I did instead? I gave refunds to all of them! I didn’t even want to deal with it … as a result, I refunded over $1000 in sales.

I know, I know … you’re asking yourself, กHow could that be a good thing?ก Well, it made me get out of my bull stubborn กIกll handle it allก attitude and incorporate some much needed help. Now I have someone to answer those emails, someone to answer those calls, and various other things. What a RELIEF! Why didn’t I do it sooner?! 🙂

If you answered กYesก to my first question above, heed my advice. Take off those bull horns and find a couple of people that you trust to help with some of your dauntless duties. And if your business is not big enough yet to incorporate help and you’re handling it just fine … don’t forget this advice when it grows right before your very eyes

Copyright 2004 Diane Hughes

About The Author

Diane C. Hughes * ProBizTips.com

FREE Report: Amazingly Simple (Yet Super Powerful) Ways To Skyrocket Your Sales And Build Your BusinessInto A Tower of Profits! ==>> http://madmarketer.com/diane

This article was posted on April 26, 2004

by Diane Hughes

After Fifteen Years or More of Frustration With In

After Fifteen Years or More of Frustration With Internet Marketing, I Think Iกve Found It!

by: Dan Pendleton

Hello Internet junkies and friends,

Did I mention my frustration with online marketing and the years it took me to get where I am today?

Did I mention Iกve found the right solution and the benefits included for you, and I, and the whole family?

Well, If I didn’t, then excuse me while I take a deep breath. Awww…

Thereกs an ole gospel hymn with the words, กI saw the light…ก, meaning Jesus Christ as, the way, the truth, and the life. Amen! Many of you have probably sang it a time or two, right?

Well, could I tell you that I believe I have found the light. The Online Internet light that is.

Yes, and Iกll explain a little in detail as you read on, but first…

Most of you who have been around the internet, or computers for that matter, have seen just about everything you can imagine when it comes to a Home Based Business or internet marketing, right?

Many of you have joined at least half of those promising you lotกs of money that didn’t materilize.

Well, I guess Iกm right there with you, and after nearly fifteen years of messing around with this stuff, I wasn’t getting anywhere because I didn’t have the necessary tools nor funds to get the job done.

Let me tell you, I feel your pain.

It was aggrevation from the word กgoก.

Iกve looked here, and Iกve looked there. I tried this one, and I tried that one. I signed up for this one, and I signed up for that one, leaving me totally blank.

Helpless is the word. Didn’t know what to do.

I was so frustrated I quit the whole mess for over a year and didn’t try a single thing until just recently.

My wife was getting so mad at me, she cried several times because I was taking time away from her and the family simply because I was trying to find a way to make a little extra cash for us.

Why do wives do that to us husbands when we’re suppose to be the bread winner of the family?

Great day in the morning Dan, please, don’t go there! You’re asking for trouble, bud!

Okay, sorry. Letกs move on.

Making cash online in your very own online business is the wave of the future here today.

And I know there is a piece of that pie out there for me.

Folks, what I want to tell you is something Iกve never seen nor been a part of in my entire life of net surfing or entrepreneurship.

And all because of the internet!

Thousands of people like you and I are reaching out for at least a crum that may fall from the pie!

Just a crum, thatกs all!

And I know, I don’t have to tell very many of you who are successful any of the details about WWW.

People all over the world are being successful making tons of money every day, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

What a trip! What a joy to be sitting at home in the comfort of your computer chair increasing your wealth simply by working a few hours a day. Simply amazing!

And to think I can do this without someone looking over my shoulders telling when to jump and how high. Duh!

Now, sit back for a few minutes and let me tell you a little bit about my decision to reach out and grab the future, today.

There is a wonderful product, created by a wonderful man that has helped me tremendiously, and Iกm just getting started with his amazing system.

As a matter of fact, Iกm still in shock at the hard work he has done and the results I know Iกm going to get.

It will happen! Heกs promised it will if I follow him. So, here I go!

His name is Stone Evans.

His product is the Plug In Profit Site.

His business is your business and heกs in the business of making you a (successful) business. Make sense?

But, Iกm going to tease you a little and ask you to read on.

Many years ago while surfing the internet for the right business opportunity for me, which was made famous by people like yourself, and others, I signed up for this *free* thing, (I don’t even remember what it was, or who it was), and while looking in my email one day I got blasted by this ezine and that ezine I never signed up for, much less knew what they were offering. กGeez, whereกd all this junk come from? I didn’t ask for this stuff!ก, I can remember saying while being dazed and amazed.

I believe most of the time itกs called, Spam.

So, much to my surprise, there it was, or should I say, there I was, smack dab in the middle of cyberspace going places Iกd never thought possible all because of someones ezine or newsletter. And boy did the advertisements start rolling in.

I had to eventually change my email address and use a different one to get rid of all that stuff!

I suddendly became a hotbed of information to hundreds, maybe thousands of netpreneuers that I didn’t even know, or wanted to know, or much less want them to know me.

Does this make sense?

Yes, I had joined the ranks of the less fortunate attacked by some of the internets most famous people wanting me to join with them in partnership, or whatever!

Soon, I began to read some of the information I was getting and found it to be very helpful.

Most of it however, went into the ole file 13 trashcan never to be seen again.

Some netpreneuers I joined with because they had some really good stuff and I liked a lot of what I was reading and became very interested.

Of course, many were promising how to getrichquick on the internet by doing this or doing that, which I found to be very misinformative and lost some money on as well.

Any of you been there? You know what Iกm talking about, don’t you! Duh!

Well, time went on and Iกd try a few things even up to the point of trying to start my own website using MS Word and a few simple and *free* webpage programs, but got nowhere fast.

Oh, the webpages looked pretty and such, but I had no idea what I was doing.

I didn’t even know what an optin list was much less how to build one. I lost tons and tons of money there because I wasn’t educated enough to know how to build my list and educate my people on the stuff I was trying to sell.

I even tried several hosting companies that offered *free* websites in their group which produced nothing more than wasted time, much of which was taken from my wife and family.

กKnoก whaddah mean, Vern!ก

Anyway, to make a long story short, and after years of messing around with this stuff, I really believe I found what Iกve been looking for with Stone Evans and his Plug In Profit Site along with his ก30 Days To Successก, which Iกm telling you about right now as I write this article.

As a matter of fact, Stone is the one who told me to write this article.

Thanks Stone! Iกm forever grateful for your guidance and entreprenuerial excitement and willingness to help a simple person as myself.

‘this Is Great Stuff!!!ก

Now, I have my very own, fully functional, with all the bells and whistles moneymaking website, setup *free* by Stone Evans himself, for a minimal monthly investment ready to begin cashing in on some of my hard (and Stones) work invested.

I don’t believe Iกll be able to repay the man in my lifetime.

Stone has put together one sensational website, not only for me, but for anyone interested in starting his/her very own profitpulling home based business in just a matter of hours. Not days folks, hours!

There are programs and products guaranteed to make you money, even while you’re sleeping. 247! Stone and hundreds of other netprenuers have done it and are doing it right now as we speak.

I, myself, am waiting for those big checks to start rolling in.

Now, this is something I can do.

This is also something you can do. Itกs easy, and itกs cheap! Very little per month to operate your very own Home Based Internet Business and I urge you to take a very close look at this system.

This is probably the one youกve been looking for? And if it isn’t, it should be.

Stone places his 100 percent guarantee on it himself.

All you have to do is visit, www.ezmoneymaker.com and sign up my *free* newsletter setup by Stone himself, and read the articles with much interest.

Again, thatกs…www.ezmoneymaker.com

Should be found on most web browsers.

An opportunity sitting there waiting for you to make the first move.

Folks, in this life game of chess, the person who makes the first move, is the person who makes the last move.

Wouldn’t you like to be that person?

About The Author

Hi, Iกm Dan. Iกm married to a wonderful woman named, Linda for over 10 years now. I still have my hair and my sense of humor. I also have a brand new grandson, Jeremy, 3 months. I live in the great state of (confusion) Kentucky and bleed blue blood for Kentucky basketball the best in the world! Football sucks!!! Also a bornagain christian waiting for the rapture!

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 11, 2004

by Dan Pendleton

A Bang On The Head, A Kangaroo And An Entrepreneur

A Bang On The Head, A Kangaroo And An Entrepreneur, What Happened Next?

by: Jason Lewis

If you are always on the look out for a money spinner, sometimes youกll find them pop up in the most unlikely of places.

A Herd Of 45,000 Website Visitors That Didn’t Cost Anything…

In September 2003 an amazing turn of events led to a massive flood of media coverage, which in turn sent a stampeding herd of free visitors to a brand new website.

Leonard Richard is a 52 year old farmer living down under in Victoria, Australia. He was out and about on his farm not too far from his house, when a branch fell and hit him hard on his head.

Leonard estimates that he must of been out cold for at least half an hour and was in a really bad way.

As luck would have it, Leonardกs pet kangaroo called Lulu, discovered him and helped to raise the alarm. I didn’t realize this myself, but kangarooกs can make a kind of barking noise. The persistent and somewhat out of character barks from Lulu eventually managed to alert Leonardกs family in his house nearby.

Itกs uncertain but Leonard thinks that Lulu may have also turned him on his side to keep his airway clear, although Iกm not sure whether I believe that bit. Leonard was airlifted by helicopter to the nearest hospital.

Lulu was credited with saving Leonardกs life. The news of Lulu the กlife savingก kangaroo soon spread. The RSPCA decided to give Lulu a very rare bravery award which resulted in a lot of media interest.

A Quick Thinking Entrepreneur…

On the other side of Australia, a quick thinking entrepreneur and website designer by the name of John (sorry thatกs all I could get), got in touch with the Richardกs family and offered to set up a website for them free of charge.

They would then be able to share their story across the globe. The website didn’t go live until April this year, just before the RSPCA officially announced the award. This was when the media frenzy whipped up a real pace and the website was literally flooded with visitors. So many, that they had to shut the site down and upgrade the servers. You can view the site here:

http://www.luluthekangaroo.com.au/

An Opportunity To Bring In Some Cash

If you look at the site, theyกve managed to take advantage of all this traffic by adding a few money spinners on the site.

Theyกve got a small banner for GoDaddy website hosting, and they also adapted it to feature a picture of Lulu as part of the banner animation (nice touch).

They’re selling Tshirts with a picture of Lulu on them promoting world peace.

They have put together an ebook detailing all the events up to and after the accident.

Finally, they have converted the ebook to a mini disk as well.

As another nice touch they are also donating a percentage of the profits to charity.

They seem to have made a fair attempt at trying to make some money from what could have otherwise been a family tragedy. Good luck to them I say!

Keep Your Eyeกs Open For Potential Money Spinners

This sort of opportunity is nearly always going to be a shortterm money spinner. Obviously, most people are not going to stumble on a life saving kangaroo like this one.

However, as an entrepreneur it may pay you to keep your eye out for any unusual events, acts of bravery, etc. Basically anything that has the potential for a lot of media interest.

Most people like the Richardกs family would never even consider building their own website after a situation like this. You can get a domain name and some hosting for about $20. If you know how to build a basic looking website, the only additional cost will be your time.

As this story showed, having a website really helped to give this tale of bravery worldwide recognition. If you type กlulu the kangarooก into a search engine you will find loads of news sites linking to Luluกs website. I very much doubt there would have been as much interest if the news websites didn’t have Luluกs website to refer and link to.

Joint Venture Possibilities

If you have your own niche product already, you could go looking for human interest stories that relate to your product. Alternatively you could team up with a joint venture partner that does have a related product.

Hereกs An Exaple…

Letกs say that a story breaks in your area about a woman that has given birth to 7 children all at once. With IVF treatment this could happen. This sort of thing is usually very popular in the media.

You could approach the woman and offer to build a website for her. With all those children she is bound to get a lot of media coverage, and she might be interested in trying to make a bit of money from all the media interest. At the end of the day, all those hungry mouths will need to be fed somehow.

You could propose a 50/50 split on any profits from displaying a few ads and links to baby related products on the site.

Summary

This is not the sort of thing that you would be able to give up your day job to pursue, but it could provide you with a nice little cash boost.

Jason Lewis, Copyright 2004

About The Author

Jason Lewis is the Author of the new กBusiness Brainwavesก Newsletter. Uncovering new business ideas and untapped กgaps in the marketก that the average person can profit from. Join now, while itกs still free! ==> www.BusinessBrainwaves.com

This article was posted on September 18, 2004

by Jason Lewis

Finding A Host That Cares

Finding A Host That Cares

by: Jane Fulton/Smart

This was one of the hardest things to do for me and I thought I would share my experiences with you.

Wow! I got my website done just the way I wanted it. I now needed to find a host to host กMy Perfectก website. I thought, กHow hard can this be? The hard part was getting my site builtก. Well, the experience didn’t turn out to be that easy……

Now remember, I was a กFreshก newbie. I didn’t know what a Control Panel really was, and had never seen one or operated one. I had only been using a PC for 4wks!

I started looking for ‘reasonableก hosting. At this time I was only interested in what it would cost. I found a host that I thought was ‘reasonableก. At least it was one of the better priced ones. 🙂

SecretI didn’t even know how much space was given to me. They listed it at 50MB. How much was that? I didn’t have a clue, but figured it was enough for me. It was, when I first started.

I won’t mention their name in this article. I went to their site and signup for a 50MB space for a website, paid my money and was anxious to get started. I couldn’t wait to see กMy Siteก on the internet!

I went to the control panel and tried to upload my site. (They had their own FTP). Well, I wasted about 4 days and then decided to email my host and ask for help. After another 3 days of waiting for a reply, I was very disappointed when I got the reply. They told me that they had a manualuse it! Guess what? I had already tried that. I couldn’t understand the ‘techyก talk. I emailed them back and told them that I didn’t understand what the manual was talking about, that I was a newbie. After another 3 days, they replied with, ‘thatกs the only help we offer.ก I emailed back and asked for my money back. After another 3 days, they emailed me back and told me that I couldn’t get a refund! Well, why not? I had paid my money, but couldn’t use the space I had paid for!

One thing I did learn, when I first came on the internet, was how to go about getting your money back, if you had been involved with fraud. I went to: http://ftc.com That is the Federal Trade Commission URL. I filed a complaint about the company and waited.

Well, in about 2 days, I received an email from the hosting company that they were giving a full refund of the money I had paid.

I then began my search, once again, for a host. I stumbled on my current host by accident. There was an ad in a newsletter, talking about a host. It also said they offered a Free site to start with. When I emailed the guy running the ad (Gary, my angel), he told me that I needed to pay for hosting, to be considered serious online. I told him about the experiences I had had with other hosts. He informed me that I could take a look at the control panel, before I decided to purchase hosting and that he would be my mentor through this process.

I took a look at the control panel and found that it didn’t look that hard, so I signed up for hosting. Gary was there every step of the way. Without him, I would be pulling my hair out! After my site was on the net for about 1 month, Gary got sick and I didn’t want to put a lot of pressure on him. I started emailing my host, Dan, when I had a problem.

The first email I sent to Dan, included the fact that I was a newbie and this was my first experience with a website. I soon found out that Dan was my second angel. He would tell me how to do something. If I didn’t understand what he was saying to me (because of the jargon), he would go in and do it for me. I admit that I didn’t learn much when he did it himself, but when I had a little Free time, I would go to the manual and try it over and over, until I could do it for myself.

Because of the problems I encountered with hosting and the one person I found to helpme, I decided to start my own hosting company and load it with features that I could have used as a new person just starting out. It had to be easy to use and I wanted it loaded with benefits that you didn’t have to go searching for. My solution? Have a look: http://jnjservices.biz.

Be careful when choosing a paid host. Make sure that they know you are a newbie and will need help. If they don’t have the time or won’t take the time to help you, then hosting with them is a waste of your money.

About The Author

Jane Fulton/Smart has been helping people online for over 5yrs now. She is constantly looking for solutions for you.Here is one of her affordable solutions for advertising: http://threedollarads.com.

This article was posted on April 19

by Jane Fulton/Smart

When Do You Ask For A Refund?

When Do You Ask For A Refund?

by: Kim Regan

Have you ever asked to have your money refunded after buying something online? Do you do this often? What are the reasons youกve asked for refunds? Savvy marketers will try to find out why without making you feel you should not have asked. This would be valuable information to them. Anyone selling on the internet should be willing to have a fair and prompt refund policy. To back up their products and claims without hesitation. It is especially important to do with online sales since the transaction is done without being able to ‘readก the salesperson and operation face to face.

Fairness and ethical behavior goes both ways. Due to the fact that online info products and downloadable software are easy to copy and keep while also obtaining a refund, the buyer kind of has a special กburden of honorก too. I have asked for refunds when a product was totally misrepresented and poorly done. In one instance the video and audio courses were sold as being กconvenient and viewable anytime and anyplace. Turns out it was a convenience for the marketer since you had to view them from his site, and you guessed it, the site was very, very SLOW. If I buy something costly and you sell me like that, I want to download and OWN it.

Another time I went through an ebook that had not been cheap to buy and it just didn’t contain too much I didn’t already know. I was just about to ask for a refund (and no, I don’t do that often, only a few times EVER) when I decided to look again at the ads that made me bite on the offer. The seller had not misrepresented anything. And his offer and presentation were not กjunkyก. I simply had learned more about the subject than I thought and hadn’t realized it. Good for me! The additional value for me then became studying what was very good ad copy. I didn’t ask for that refund.

A common situation you may find yourself in is not being ready for the level of material you are reading. A little more study at the basic level and perhaps simply putting the material away until you are ready may be the answer. Some advanced topics will not make sense without base knowledge. Due to the vast scope of some subjects it might be hard to cover it in one product or course series.

Don’t hesitate to ask for a refund if you truly feel the product was misrepresented. Educate that marketer about what you feel was wrong. If they don’t improve, they deserve to give all their money back. Just don’t be one of those awful people who buys an expensive product KNOWING they are going to ask for a refund. Thatกs the same as stealing and is unethical. If we want the convenience and gratification of being able to immediately download what we have purchased to continue, we can’t bleed the online merchants dry.

Copyright 2004 Kim D Regan All Rights Reserved

This article may be distibuted freely, as long as this entire article, including links and resource box are unchanged.

About The Author

Kim Regan is a web entrepreneur with experience in the small business, online marketing and technology fields.

FortuneExpo http://www.fortuneexpo.com

This article was posted on August 28, 2004

by Kim Regan

The Story of a Downsized Manager and His Ebook Bus

The Story of a Downsized Manager and His Ebook Business

by: SS.Jay

If youกve been following the business and economic news around the globe, you should know about how unemployment rates have hit year lows. The recent economic downturn was one of the worse in history and has affected loads of people. In fact, companies were cutting cost for any small reason and retrenched numbers hit more than 1 million worldwide.
My best friend of 10 years, Mark, was a manager with a listed company. About a year ago, he got retrenched and suffered from depression. Just recently, we met up for some drinks and he has started his new career with much success, earning a hefty 5 digit figures monthly. I got him to write the below article which describes his career path.
*** *** *** ***
It was 4th of April 2002, and after having a light breakfast, headed for work as usual. While I was driving along the busy streets, my eyes kept twitching, and deep inside I knew something was going to happen, I drove real careful that rainy morning.
Upon reaching my office, I was told to make a stop over at my superiorกs room. The moment I stepped into her office, I knew instantly that something was wrong. She went on and told me about the companyกs difficult moments, how I have performed during recent years and finally came the final stab, กMark, Iกm sorry, our company no longer needs your service and feel you can crave your own career somewhere else.ก Even though I was kind of prepared, my heart sunk.
I was making almost $10000 per month, and suddenly Iกm left with nothing, the only relief was that Iกm alone in my family, no one else had to suffer with me. For the next few days, I was trying to drown my sorrows with drinks. That was my life for the next few weeks, until one day, I flipped through the morning papers and saw a seminar which caught my attention: กQuit Your Job, Make Money At Home!ก Okay, I thought to myself, กIt was a free preview and I had nothing to lose, why not.ก
I attended the seminar and my life took a 360 degree turn. Although the seminar only briefly introduce about the concept of Ebook Businesses, I had made up my mind to start my first Ebook Business. I couldn’t spend on boot camps, expensive workshops with my current situation. That didn’t stop me though, with a little savings, I cooped myself at home learning all about building an ebook business. I spent tons of time, in fact almost five months before I came up with my first Ebook business. Unknowingly, I had spent thousands on learning to build my ebook business. My savings were seriously depleting to a point that I might not be able to feed myself any further. Fortunately, that point didn’t never came and Iกm hoping it won’t.
After I successfully created my first Ebook Business, I made some money and went on to build a couple more businesses. Iกm proud to say that I can build my ebook business with much ease now. In fact the following 5 steps is all anyone really needed to build an ebook business.
Every time I plan to start another ebook business, I follow my 5 step formula:

Choosing a Topic
Creating the Ebook
Creating the Site
Accepting Payments
Marketing my Site

Choosing a Topic:
Most people back off when they try to come up with a topic for their ebook. For me though, itกs one of the simpler steps. I ask myself a few questions:
กWhat is my Passion?ก
กWhat do I know about, my knowledge?ก
กWhat am I interested in at this instant?ก
These three questions usually immediately give me a topic that I would love to write on. I have written on a few subjects I was totally alien to, but my interest in the subjects allowed me to write about the subject and at the same time learn more about it.
Creating the Ebook:
This is also real simple, once Iกve decided on a topic, I simply elaborate on the points I wish to put across. I write my ebook in Ms Word and then convert it into a PDF format, because I want more people to be able to read my book. Thereกs some common logic to writing an ebook. For example: Its much more difficult to read from a screen compared to a printed copy, for this reason, I always format my sentences to be of 1.5 spacing and try to use larger fonts.
Creating the Site:
I was a total computer idiot when I first put my mind to starting an ebook business, in fact I still am one right now. When I first started, I didn’t want to use professional web designers (they cost too much!). SoI approached a few web designer friends and asked them to come up with templates that I can just edit and use. Of course, I didn’t know anything about loading the site and all, and til today, Iกm still grateful to my friends who created those templates with detailed instructions to using the templates. Now, whenever I plan to launch another ebook site, I simply use an HTML editor and edit the templates according to their documentation. I spent nothing on creating my sites, my friends only requested dinner for their work and I truly appreciate that. Technically speaking, I haven’t spent a dime creating my sites.
Accepting Payments:
This is the whole point; I wanted to start my ebook business for one simple reason, to make a living. I was downsized, I had no money, and I needed money!! I didn’t have particularly good credit history and couldn’t get myself a 1st party merchant account, (I didn’t want to spend thousands on those anyway!). Still I am able to accept credit cards in all my sites, and I spent a one time fee of less than $50.
Marketing my Site:
This is where I had to work really hard on. No wonder they called it Internet กMarketingก. Marketing makes or breaks any internet marketing site. I learnt that first hand with my first ebook website. I only made a tiny amount simply because of ineffective marketing. Now, a year later, Iกm able to generate targeted traffic, some of them totally free. One important equation I learnt was that Sales was Directly Proportional to Marketing!!
It has been almost 20 months since I was downsized, and frankly speaking I went through some of the most difficult times of my life. The Internet literally brought me back to life and Iกm real grateful. Now, I live comfortably off my ebook businesses and have plans to marry the woman I have loved all my life.
(C) CreaTeEbookProfits.com. All rights reserved

About The Author

See how S.S.Jay uses Markกs style of building Ebook businesses กHold you by the Hand Styleก Get his Free ebook ‘tips to Starting An Ebook Businessก at http://www.CreateEbookProfits.com

This article was posted on June 10, 2004

by SS.Jay

Broke, Desperate and at the End of Your Tether?

Broke, Desperate and at the End of Your Tether?

by: Rosalind Gardner

Have you been trying to start an Internet business and find yourself broke, desperate and coming to the end of your tether?

Well, you’re not alone.

Here are samples of correspondence that Iกve received from folks who are in exactly that situation.

ก …I have bought so many books I have lost count and am now so totally confused (and broke) about what to do Iกm just about to give up.ก

ก …I am twenty years old and entirely dependent on myself. I have no parents and I am out on my own trying to make my way in this cruel world. I struggle to get by with my current job as a bus boy and I am tired of living from paycheck to paycheck. I am currently out of school and wish to go back but I do not have the time nor the money. I have dreams but do not have the time nor the money to pursue them.ก

ก …I am a parent, divorced and am struggling to make ends meet. I cannot quit my job.ก

ก …I desperately need more income.ก

ก …bill collectors hounding…ก

ก …I am a mom of six children and I have tried and spent thousands of dollars on trying to make money.ก

ก …as a two month veteran on the Internet I don’t know if I can take another hit. I feel like Iกve been 10 rounds with Mike Tyson and Iกm really thinking about staying on the canvas. Thousands of dollars later and Iกm still on the starting line!ก

ก …invested thousands of dollars of my savings in the last two years in home business that I could not afford.ก

ก …burned really bad within the last two years for alot of money.ก

Does that ring any bells with you?

Yes?

OK…I want you to pinch yourself to confirm that you’re still among the living.

Still here?

Good!

Where thereกs life, thereกs hope.

Now take a long, deep breath. Make that 10 deep breaths.

No, seriously. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and feel your body relax.

Relaxed? OK, here are some suggestions.

First of all, focusing on losses won’t help you win. Let go of the past. Whatกs done is done. Unless you can recoup some of your money, learn the lesson, chalk it up to experience and move on.

Next, work on building a mental image of yourself as an extraordinarily happy and successful Internet entrepeneur.

Trust me, this works.

Failing my first attempt at air traffic control training, I felt defeated, depressed and stupid. When given a second training opportunity, I was reluctant to try, fearful of failing again.

Then the little voice inside my head told me how much I really WANTED that job. I also wanted to prove that those who cast me aside the first time were wrong that I COULD do that job.

But could I really?

It was time for some honest selfevaluation. What stumbling blocks had I put in my path? Was it lack of knowledge? Lack of effort? Not at all. I didn’t honestly BELIEVE I could do it, AND I was intensely AFRAID of failing.

Yikes! What a great recipe for failure that was. I got exactly what I focused on most.

However, believing you can be successful at something when youกve failed before is a bit of a trick.

It CAN be done, however. I adopted a กB.S. baffles brainsก or กFake it ’til you make itก approach. Every step of the way I asked myself what a REAL air traffic controller would do in that situation, and then did that. Even when I wasn’t completely confident, I forced my voice to at least sound confident. I acted the part until it became my reality.

So how did REAL netpreneurs approach their business and become successful?

Well, because itกs impossible to think clearly while worried about how to pay this monthกs rent, they didn’t spend their last dime on an business opportunity.

If you’re currently in serious debt, then consider talking to a financial planner to help rework your finances.

Leo Quinnกs กOwn Your Own PayCheck Againก is a terrific resource for those who are serious about debt relief. He prescribes uncommon methods that I know from firsthand experience really work.

His book is a bit pricey, but itกs a far better investment than buying an information manual that instructs you to go out and spend even more to build your business, when you don’t have it to spend. Why not learn some techniques on how to pay off your debt quicker and keep a little more in your pocket?

Check it out here:

http://NetProfitsToday.com/ownpaycheck

If you can afford to pay the bills but not much else, focus your energy on saving and earning the amount youกll need to build your business without worry. Invest small amounts on things that will bring real returns in the short term.

For example, scour your basement and your friendsก basements for things to sell on eBay. The insertion fee for items listed at less than a buck is 25 cents US. If the item sells for under 25 bucks, youกll pay a 5.25% กfinal value feeก to eBay. Do that enough times and pretty soon youกll have five hundred or a thousand bucks to invest in your business… but only if you SAVE what you make.

Vist eBay.com now to see whatกs hot and selling.

Even if you have wads of cash, be realistic and informed about how you spend your money.

Iกve talked to far too many folks who invest in expensive coaching programs, believing that somehow their business will magically appear once theyกve completed the course.

In reality, whether you buy a $27.00 dollar, or a $5,000 Internet business coaching program, in most cases you’re buying information on how to build a business, not a service that will do the work for you.

If thatกs what you want, then you may want to consider buying an existing business. However, it may be hard to find someone who has invested the time, effort and money to build a profitable online business, who is willing to sell. Basically, at that stage, the business should generate revenue automatically without a whole lot of input from the creator… so theyกd be a little daft to sell, don’t you think?

Do your due diligence. Read the fine print, ask questions and understand exactly what you’re getting. And with regard to those coaching programs…. get a written contract, and search the forums for at least five people who have taken the program and were really happy with it… i.e. aren’t just saying good things because they’re trying to sell you the program through their link.

If you choose to go the information manual route, plan to follow ALL the instructions, or fail otherwise.

For everyone who ever told me กI bought this, that or the other book (or DVD, course, program, coaching package) and it didn’t workก, it was easy to prove that it wasn’t the book that didn’t work it was THEY that didn’t work.

We can’t expect to be successful with ugly websites, little or poor content, not building a list or not building a relationship with our visitors and subscribers.

The truth of the matter is that there are no shortcuts.

Each and every step is essential, and every successful netpreneur has paid his or her dues to get to where they are today. They did their homework, made mistakes, and learned the lessons always believing in their ability to succeed.

Starting an internet business is still easier, faster and less expensive (by far) than starting an offline business. If you want to do it bad enough, you WILL find a way to make it work.

About The Author

Article by Rosalind Gardner, author of the bestselling กSuper Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 in One Year Selling Other Peopleกs Stuff Onlineก. To learn how you too can suceed in Internet and affiliate marketing, go to: http://NetProfitsToday.com.

This article was posted on March 30

by Rosalind Gardner