The Damn Truth About Network Marketing

The Damn Truth About Network Marketing

by: Scott Lucas

The Damn Truth About Network Marketing:

How I Was Wrong and How You Can Learn From My Mistakes

by Scott Lucas

© 2003, http://www.WebCashLeads.com/2894

It’s interesting to hear people’s opinions about Network Marketing. There are some people that think it’s a pyramid scheme, a scam, not a profession, or that it does not work. SHAME ON THEM! If only these same people got educated about the industry, they would think differently.

The people I’m referring to are the people who have been exposed to our industry either directly, they’ve been approached in the past or indirectly, they know of someone who was in Network Marketing, or was also exposed.

This is sickening! Uncle Harry tells you it’s illegal and that you’ve been brainwashed into thinking you can be successful in Network Marketing. Your landlord thinks it’s one of those ขpyramid thingsข and that Network Marketing doesn’t work, and your friend Marty says, ขYour doing one of those things AGAIN?!ข

Two of the above situations happened to me. No, I don’t have a Uncle Harry. First of all, my landlord is closedminded and doesn’t care to know the truth. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t say that to poke fun but to illustrate how there are other people like my landlord. I once heard that the truth shall set you free. Lets just hope they accept the truth.

As for Marty, that was a legitimate question. I’ve been in the marketing industry off and on for 5 years. My first experience was direct marketing traveling the East Coast, business to business, selling an all natural degreaser. I spent 3 months BROKE, living and mooching off the company, and only sold 1 case of 12 bottles the entire time. It was a very interesting experience and one I will never forget.

I did direct marketing again selling vacuums for about two months and sold NOTHING, then I tried once more selling a pendant and ID card that was used to retrieve personal and medical information electronically. I sold NOTHING.

So I tried Network Marketing. The first company I was with is over 30 years old and is on the NYSE. First I was a customer then I became a distributor, and I still use the service today. I have saved money using this service and will continue to do so. For about 7 months, I only sold one plan to my motherinlaw and that was that. It was with this company that I was introduced to selfdevelopment or self help. The training, support and resources were ALL there but one thing was missing my REASONS! So I ended up QUITTING.

During my next venture in Network Marketing, I was going to college to earn an Associates Degree in Computer Networking. I was learning to become a MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer). I was doing great, fantastic and on my way until I let myself get DISTRACTED. Four months before the end date of college, I came across another company. The pay plan was awesome… the people were great and supportive… I paid a total of $600 to attend three seminars and I felt great. But something happened. I had a lot of products in my basement and was using the products, but I lost BELIEF.

I was off the path! Oh my God! I also had thousands worth of products that were just sitting there collecting dust! What the hell was I going to do? Well, I did NOTHING.

In between companies, I dabbled with Internet Marketing. Buying courses, ebooks, programs, websites, audios, videos, reports and almost anything learning how to have a profitable home based business. There were so many ขgurusข and selfproclaimed ขwho donersข (those who said they’ve done it, but really haven’t).

Within a 5 year period I had invested $15,000 and felt lost, confused, aggravated, frustrated but more importantly shame. I was ashamed of myself because I was a FAILURE. I felt as if I failed myself, and others were there NOT to boost me up but to say, ขI told you soข (in a nutshell). Though very few of my family and friends knew about my experiences, the few who knew was enough.

I was wrong!! I should not have felt ashamed even though I was confused, aggravated, lost and frustrated. With so many Network Marketing companies and Internet Marketing courses, how could ANYONE make an educated decision to learn ONE system and stick with it? Multiple streams of income? Which ones do I choose? The ad copy looks great and is compelling me to buy but should I buy ANOTHER ebook, program or course when I haven’t even APPLIED what I’ve learned from all the others? That’s if I took the time to read it.

I was blaming everything and everyone for MY failure! I fell VICTIM to the myth that all I had to do is position myself in front of a trend and the money would come to me. That all I had to do was sit in my underwear, on the couch, send some postcards every now and then and watch the money roll in. My victim mentality was getting me, my family, my dreams, my hope and future in Network Marketing NO WHERE!

Do not make the same mistakes I have made. If you are still reading this, thank you and god bless you. That tells me one of three things:

You have the victim mentality and you’re still doing what I’ve done for the past 5 years.

You’ve been there and done that and have found the path.

You’re looking for a way out of the victim mentality and have not found the path.

If you’re still confused, aggravated, lost and frustrated then I know how you feel. If you’ve been there and done that and have found the path, you’re a good student! If you have the victim mentality but are looking for a way out but have not found the path, this is what I’ve found out.

I used to feel that the more I knew, the more money I would make. What I found is that it’s NOT TRUE. The more you know about marketing from more than ONE PERSON, the more likely you are to be confused, aggravated, frustrated and lost. Why? Because you’re learning from more than person about the same subject when both of them give you completely different answers. How else would you explain buying all those ebooks, courses and programs about Internet Marketing? Have you read all of them? I was guilty of doing this to.

To be a good student, one must find a teacher or mentor and MODEL what they did to reach their GOALS. Notice I said ขaข teacher or mentor. This means ONE person, not two or more.

Very few people understand the concept of modeling and goal setting when it comes to a profitable business, whether it be Network Marketing or Internet Marketing. I know I did because I just wanted to know how to make money.

The SECRET to making money in Network Marketing, Internet Marketing or any business is a mandatory law that very few marketers know, or will share with the masses because this law will break their business or will change your victim mentality into a success mentality.

ALL successful people had a MENTOR and those who want to be successful in marketing, have to have a mentor. This is a law, a mandatory principle to your success. If you continue breaking this law, as I once did, you will have similar results in your marketing career as I once did.

For the sake of your confusion, frustration, aggravation and DEBT, either change what you’re doing RIGHT NOW or STOP what you’re doing all together because you will not succeed.

Scott Lucas

Elizabethtown KY

2707376187 (anytime)

mailto:[email protected]

About The Author

Scott Lucas is an upandcoming entrepreneur that knows the mandatory law the Internet is trying to steal from you, but you don’t even realize it. If you feel the Internet could be your goldmine, now is your chance to take back the 93.5%! http://www26.brinkster.com/abnormalthinker/stolensuccess.htm

* This article is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. *

This article was posted on May 18, 2003

by Scott Lucas

Can We Talk? I Mean Honestly? I’ve Got Some Good N

Can We Talk? I Mean Honestly? I’ve Got Some Good News and A Warning for You Too

by: Dee Scrip

1. Have you ever found an incredible buy somewhere and couldn’t wait to rush home and call all your friends to tell them about it? It is such great news and you know it will save them a ton of money.

2. Or have you ever been warned about a sinister person lurking under someone’s car at night waiting for their next victim to arrive? You are so concerned that you feel impelled to warn all your friends as soon as possible so they won’t become a casualty because of lack of knowledge.

Well, if your answer is ขyesข to either one of these questions, perhaps you can relate to what I am about to tell you…

You see, I’ve found the most awesome bargain since Alexander Graham Bell first invented the telephone! And I can hardly contain myself from sharing it with you because I know once you try it out, you are going to absolutely love it, and especially since it will save you a ton of money.

Well, here it is! Some ingenious person combined the features and convenience of the telephone with the power of the Internet, and came up with a computer phone. It intrigued me so much that I had to try it. And guess what? Now I am making all my phone calls from my computer! Plus, I have been pocketing almost 80% in savings after comparing the costs with what I was paying when using a traditional phone. It is a really simple concept too. How cool is that!

When I first tried the computer phone out, I found I didn’t have a built in microphone on my computer. That was a bummer until I discovered a microphone for a computer only costs $5.00 at a local store. And, all I had to do was plug it into the back of my computer so that I could talk. That alone was thrilling just from the simple fact that I am basically computer challenged.

Well, let me tell you, after I plugged that baby in and talked to a few people, I was off and running telling every friend I had about this incredible find! And now I am telling you too! You’ve just gotta try it! You are going to absolutely love it! I promise you!!

Even some of my friends on dialup connections to the Internet were able to use it too!

I don’t want you to become a casualty of computer phones either. So here’s my warning…

I found out there are a lot of computer phone (VoIP) companies out there offering their wares. But along with that, I heard a lot of clients using their services were given a virus or worm, and some poor folks even had their personal and confidential information accessed by some unscrupulous hackers who sold it to other villainous individuals information like their social security numbers, their birth dates all the makings for your personal identity to be stolen.

Being the naturally curious person that I am, I wanted to find out how that happened. Here is what I unearthed.

Over 90% of the VoIP computer phone providers were operating on unsafe lines – the kind hackers can easily access. How so? Because these computer phone providers were operating from publicly open and interpretable industry standard codec (codes) and industry standard protocols (IP addresses) to lower their costs. And being publicly accessible meant that hackers were lurking nearby just waiting for another innocent victim to prey upon.

I know it is hard to believe there are these types of criminal entities out there, but unfortunately, the harsh reality is that there are.

So, now I am thinking – how can I protect myself from these pathetic misfits while I am using my computer phone. Guess what? I found out how! It was just a matter of finding a computer phone provider that did NOT operate on these publicly open and interpretable industry standards.

In fact, here is some more good news I want to share with you too.

I found a computer phone provider that operated on its own proprietary highend encryption codec (code) hosted on its own proprietary patented technology. You want to talk about being optimally safe and secure…well, you’ve got it! Not only that, this one you can try out 7 days for free.

My thoughts are, if someone is so confident about their product that they would let me try it for free first – before even deciding if I wanted to purchase it, then they must have the real deal.

Personally, since I have been using the computer phone, I have kept in closer contact with my family scattered throughout the country, and I have made quite a lot of new friends in many other countries – all of which I talk to as long as I want absolutely free. Way too cool !!

Well, these are my great finds and warning for you. As an update: I have since become a computer phone solutions provider and can promise you that these computer phones are absolutely amazing in quality and safety, and are light years above the ขcompetitionข if you can call it that.

Why not try one out for yourself? It is free and you will have nothing to lose. Actually, you will have everything to gain, including putting some of that hard earned money back into your own pocket.

Here ya go – try it out 7 days for free at http://www.whypay4calls.com/gtp/to.pl?l=ARTFREE

Oh, and I almost forgot. I have put together a little Report entitled ขWhy Hackers Love Computer Phones – Shocking Inside Informationข which is absolutely free also. Here’s the website for that: http://www.whypay4calls.com/gtp/to.pl?l=ART04

© Dee Scrip – All rights reserved.

About The Author

Dee Scrip is a well known published author of numerous articles on VoIP, VoIP security, and related VoIP issues.

http://www.whypay4calls.com/gtp/to.pl?l=ARTFREE

This article was posted on February 09

by Dee Scrip

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

Take Flight with Reliable Marketing

Take Flight with Reliable Marketing

by: Howard Keith

In the last year I have so many people try to educate themselves on how to market their website.

There were programs they joined that they believed were going make them rich with little or no effort only to find once again they lost their money. Then there were others who totally amazed me, since they found marketing that really worked.

Their goal was to make money on the internet delivering a good product. Then they realized, even if you have a new innovative product thatกs fantastic if people don’t know about it or can’t find it, there’s no point. I have seen so many websites come and go in the past year because they were unable to match the right kind of reliable marketing with their particular product.

Due to all the scams and misunderstandings regrding the internet people have become skeptical to use their credit cards online. Website owners found paypal to be an excellent vehicle. They remember setting up their account and next thing they knew they were finally selling more. In some cases sales increased 1000%. People find it easier and safer to enter their password and click pay verses having to enter all their personal information.

Then they discovered affiliate programs. They I had problems with only one so far. Not crediting people who joined under me as my down line. I found if you ask a friend to sign up as an affiliate to you, you will know immediately. Unfortunately for me I didn’t realize it until two months later. Everyday I learn something new and so will you if you take the time to educate yourself. I am making friends everyday with other website owners. We are becoming a team and sharing information on what’s good and what’s not.

I used a company called Build Traffic my website is number one on MSN, Yahoo and quite a few others. It shockedAnother way to increase income with very little effort.

Then they found linking to other sites helped them to get greater exposure. Some people say links to your site increases their location on the search engines.

Others submited their site for free to safe lists, FFA pages and so much more. They also used pay per click advertising. A majority of people had a steady succession as they learned from their mistakes.

There are many reliable marketing companies to help you grow. Determination helped them to become a winner with internet marketing. A new website that has been changing from day to day has quite a few marketing products. Look things over carefully and decide what may be right for you. The website offers a variety of products and yes there are free things you can join that can help you too. http://www.reliablemarketing.com. People say stay away from safelists , FFA marketing and other areas. They do this so you stay away and purchase their marketing products. I found a little of everthing worked. Thatกs what they continue to do every day.

Marketing becomes easier to understand as you experiment with different marketing techniques. Yes people make mistakes but the outcome is positive and thatกs the bottom line.

More then one person told me that build traffic helped them to hit number one on the MSN search engine, their sales increased and they were off and running. You can find build traffic at the reliable marketing website.

http://www.reliablemarketing.com.

Itกs free to look and at the same time educate yourself prior to making any major financial investments.

Please feel free to email me.

About The Author

Howard Keith has exstensive knowledge through years of marketing through the internet.

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 19

by Howard Keith

What? Me Start a Home Business?

What? Me Start a Home Business?

by: Rudy Cline

Most folks in the workforce dream at one time or another of starting their own business. Have you ever heard the phrase กYou need to fire your bossก? Many of us would like to do that! Yet when it comes right down to it, most will never venture to make it on their own. Even worse, statistics show many who do venture out on their own, fail within the first five years.

To succeed, you must have a passion and a plan.

Enter me. At the age of 45, I found myself an unemployed Purchase Manager as my textile factory shutdown. I looked all over to find a job of equal maney and/or benefits. During a period of high unemployment, I was not successful in my search. Thus I began to look for ways to make money from home or starting my own business.

In my quest for my own business, I found that franchises offer a simple prepackaged business or money making idea. But most franchises would require a million dollar investment. I found myself looking elsewhere.

However, on the internet, there are literally hundreds of home business ideas from which to choose which will suit every personality and all levels of financing. From internet marketing to growing your own profitable home garden to sell gourmet foods to restaurants and catering services.

While brainstorming and searching the net, I found some of the following ideas for a home based business:

mobile windshield service

vending service

answering service

multilevel marketing (mlm)

floral plant service for offices and hospitals

pooper scooper service

dog walking service

gift basket service

income tax service

pool cleaning service

landscaping service

pet grooming service

Hopefully the ideas above will give some fresh ideas of your own. Once you do have your idea, it is a good idea to find someone else who has had success in this business. Then wherever possible, copy them as much as possible.

Whatever your choice for a home business, once you have made the decision to go forward. Go for it!! Do not accept no! Remember to tell yourself กFailure is not an optionก. Too many businesses fail because the owner lacked confidence or passion. Like the now deceased coach Jimmy Valavano told his team many times: กNever, ever ever give up!!ก. You MUST be passionate about your future.

Good luck in all of your self endeavers and don’t forget to enjoy your new found freedom!

Copyright 2004 Rudy Cline

About The Author

Rudy Cline of Homeworkforyou.org can help you launch your own moneymaking website thatกs 100% ready to take orders and pull in massive profits right now…guaranteed! Visit: http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main2380.

I am a former Purchase Manager of a large corporation for 12 years. My company got moved overseas. I am semiretired and spend much time surfing the net. I\กve been sucessful at making money on the internet and enjoy helping others do the same.

This article was posted on March 24, 2004

by Rudy Cline

Three Ways to Get More Referrals

Three Ways to Get More Referrals

by: Jay Conners

When you are in the business of sales, among the many key ingredients to your success is receiving referrals from as many sources as possible.

Wouldn’t it be nice if every morning you walked into your office and had a referral sitting there waiting for you on your desk?

Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way, but here are few suggestions that should help steer some referrals your way.

1. Referral Groups

There are many referral groups out there for you to choose from. The premise of a referral group is first and foremost to receive and give referrals.

It works something like this;

Once a week your referral group meets at a designated spot for breakfast or lunch, and the meeting typically lasts for an hour to an hour and a half.

These groups normally don’t allow for any kind of conflict between industries, so you will most likely be the only one representing your industry. For instance there is only one banker, one printer, one loan officer, etc., etc.

In the beginning you spend some time catching up and exchanging business cards. As you are eating, each person is given a minute or two to take the floor and talk about themselves and the company that they work for, and give the group an idea of what a good referral would be for them.

Personally, I have been involved with these groups in the past and find them to work extremely well. One of the more popular ones is Business Networking International (BNI). You can find a local chapter on the web.

Look at it from this point of view, if your group has twentyfive people in it, than consider it a sales force working for you. Don’t forget, you are required to give referrals also.

2. Chambers of Commerce

Every city, town, or county has a Chamber of Commerce. They are not hard to find, and they are fairly simple to join. You can easily find your local chapter on the web or in the yellow pages. They also advertise in local business directories and news papers.

The chamber is a very friendly and relaxed atmosphere. They meet once a week usually with a luncheon at a local restaurant. The first half hour is a network and business card exchange, followed by lunch with announcements about upcoming events, and a guest speaker.

Before hand, tables are provided to display your literature and props, and be on hand to discuss your business.

Chambers also hold annual events that you can participate in. Their events are normally held in the form of business expositions where you can rent a booth to display and sell your products.

Chambers normally have a lot of members depending upon the location, so you will probably find yourself competing for business with other people in your industry.

I continue to be involved with my local chamber, and have found it to be very beneficial to my career. I have found these organizations great for meeting people as well.

Keep in mind, these organizations come with very reasonable annual fees’, so make sure it fits your budget.

3.Giving Referrals

Perhaps one of the best ways to get referrals is to give referrals. If you give someone a referral and it works out for them, they will love you and remember you forever. And in turn, send referrals back your way.

I have to say, throughout my career, I found this to be one very effective way to get referrals. You might want to consider teaming up with someone with a similar job in your industry. For instance, if you are a loan officer, team up with a realtor, or if you are a home inspector, you might team up with an appraiser.

These are three very effective ways to keep those referrals coming your way. They have worked for me, and I have found them to be a nice way to break up my week, and build relationships with other business people in my community. Give it a shot. You won’t be disappointed. Good luck!

About The Author

Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 31

by Jay Conners

Cyber Love At First Sight

Cyber Love At First Sight

by: Elaine Currie, BA (Hons).

How I Found My Home Based Business Niche.

By: Elaine Currie, BA (Hons) © The Hunting Venus Group

I found myself suddenly and unexpectedly unemployed after more than twentyfive years in the same job. Prior to this I had no ambition to own my own business. I had previously had vague thoughts that it would be very nice to be able to work from home, but I never had any idea of what I could actually work at. I have a computer, I am literate and can type at a pretty fast rate. Apart from these, I have no skills which I can see as the basis for a home based business. I like reading and I grow all manner of plants from beans to cacti, but I couldn’t see anybody paying me to stay home and do any of these things.

If you had told me then where I would be today, and what I would be doing, I would have thought you were crazy. I would not have believed that I would own some websites (my own domain actually), be working from home and have published articles which I had written myself.

I searched for work, both on and off the internet and the more I searched, the more downhearted I became. Sure, there were jobs about but they all required things I lacked: some wanted experience, some wanted much younger people, the worst ones wanted people who were prepared to work long hours for peanuts.

I was regularly searching on the Internet for opportunities for home work. I joined forums and read posts from women who were desperate to work from home, most of them had children and were unable to find suitable jobs to fit in with their schedules. It began to seem as if there is a great army of people all wanting to work but unable to find the right opportunity to suit them.

I signed up with a couple of companies to get paid for reading emails, but reading a couple of emails each day is not the way to make a fortune. I still read emails for these companies, but only out of sentiment (you will understand what I mean by this when you get to the end of this story).

I picked up a couple of ideas which seemed promising and I tried them out. The first thing was mystery shopping, which sounded simple enough, and potentially enjoyable – well, getting paid to go shopping sounds good to me. I found many companies through searching the internet and I applied to dozens of them; I wanted a full time job, not just the odd shopping trip. Months went by and I heard nothing from any of these companies.

Fortunately, I had not been just sitting back and waiting for the mystery shopping jobs to come pouring in. I saw advertisements for paid surveys, and it seemed that you could make a fulltime income filling in surveys on line. There were many websites which advised that you should never pay a fee to join a survey company, and these sites displayed the web addresses of various survey companies. At the same time, I saw a lot of advertising by a company which promised access to an enormous database of the best paying survey companies for a fee of only $35, which you would be bound to recover within a few days. Against my better judgement, I paid over the $35 and was disappointed to find that many of the companies in this database would accept US and Canada residents only. Nothing wrong with that, apart from the fact that I live in the UK. Of the companies which would accept international residents, I had already signed up to most of them. I got precisely nothing back for my $35. The only money I earned came from two paid survey companies which I did not join through that database. To date I have received a total payment of £12. I have earned another £21 which is in an account which would only pay out if my total reached £50.

My work search turned into a research project. I started looking at home based businesses rather than jobs. No shortage of possibilities here, but how to choose? I saw some attractive websites aimed at selling all kinds of goods but I had no idea where I would obtain stock, or even what I should try to sell, let alone how to set up a website, and my budget was limited. I tried searching for turnkey businesses. I looked at affiliate programme opportunities, and they seemed a good idea, no stock to buy or handle, but what should I sell? There were also different grades of memberships. I hardly knew what most of it meant to start with, but I was learning, and I was getting a pretty good feel for what I didn’t want.

I would like to say that I found my niche as a result of my own genius, hard work and perseverance. Actually, it was an accident. I opened one of my paid to read emails, clicked on the link and had my first view of a Plugin Profit SiteÔ. I try to avoid clichés but this truly was a sight for sore eyes, eyes which felt as if they were ready to bulge out of my head after hours of staring at a computer screen. If it is possible to fall in love with a website, I did just that; I knew absolutely without a doubt that I wanted a Plugin Profit Site of my own, it was everything I needed and more besides.

An attractive young man (young enough to be my son, I am afraid) was offering to build for me free of charge a website, complete with five free to join affiliate programmes selling a wide range of items, to provide multiple ways of earning money. He was also offering me, free of charge, my own prewritten newsletter, his own guide to setting up and running my business and many other free things which I came to appreciate even though I didn’t know what they were at the time (remember, I did not know a mailing list from a grocery list at this time, and I thought a lead was just something you needed to walk your dog). I could take delivery of all this within 24 hours, thank goodness; I don’t think I could have waited a minute longer. I did not resist this temptation for even a second and within 24 hours, I was a website owner all ready to trade.

The learning curve started here but I’ll save that for another story. I’ll just tell you one thing that I learned: I found out that I had, once again, been extremely lucky. I joined a couple of forums and read many posts from people who had struggled for years to find a decent home based internet business. These people told harrowing tales of failure, money lost, mounting debts, years of hard work and worry. In a strange way, I feel almost guilty that I found my niche by accident.

About The Author

This is one of a series of articles published by the author, Elaine Currie, BA(Hons) at http://www.huntingvenus.com The author’s monthly newsletter is available free from mailto:[email protected].

This article was posted on January 04

by Elaine Currie, BA (Hons).

We Do Eat Our Young: The Story of a Successful Hom

We Do Eat Our Young: The Story of a Successful Home Business

by: Joe Saddoris

Whether it is in the world animals, recovering drug addicts, or business if the truth were told we do eat our young. As when I was young I would watch Wild Kingdom every Sunday night, sure enough there it was a big strong fast Cat would be chasing down and eating some young antelope.

As a social worker I work with clients with addiction problems and have noticed they display a similar trait as the cats. Once a person gets in recovery for just a short while they tend to be the least tolerant of the new people struggling to get into recovery. In the market of Home Business I have noticed a similar occurrence with the people that have struggled and found they way to having a profitable Home Business.

When I was hunting for a legitimate home business to start up, (which is no small task) I found what appeared to be a real business. The definition of a real business is a business that does not make any claim to be fool proof takes real effort, takes at least six months to start making any profit, and one that requires an investment of my own money.

Now when you read that definition you may feel confused, however if you stop and think about what has made anything you have ever done successful and real it would include all of the above criteria. Now back to eating our young, just how does this pertain to people in the home business? When I was starting out I knew very little about the home business and nothing at all about how to be a successful marketer in the Internet business on a meager budget.

I thought if I want to know how to do these things then I need to ask the people that are already doing it and having some success. Seemed reasonable, however what I found was that most if not all of the people running a successful internet business from home where not only not open but more than glad to sell me all kinds of programs that were to be the root of all my success.

Sadly what I found was that these people were making money off of me and not wanting to help me what so ever. I felt very frustrated with not being able to find anyone that was willing to share with me or help me repeat what they had been able to do in their home business. Yes they were eating their young.

I finally happened across a group of people that thought like I did. This group believed to be successful them selves they had to pass along all they had been taught by others. This was it, I began to get real marketing ideas that cost very little and took a lot of work. I do not mind the work and the great thing is that with the help of successful work at home business owners I soon become successful in my home business.

Of course the only way I can continue my success is to pass on what I have been taught and as long as I do that I will be successful. My success is your success and when you learn the method you pass it on to others. It all seems so simple and the idea is simple the work is hard and it is not free so if you are looking for this type of success, a real home business drop in and let me tell you how I did it.

Copyright © Joe Saddoris

http://extraincomeinternetnetworkmarketing.com

I grant permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way (grammatical corrections accepted).

About The Author

Joe Saddoris Owner of http://extraincomeinternetnetworkmarketing.com.

Joe also operates www.myselfesteem.com this site is for the betterment of adults seeking a better way of life. Joe also publishes two weekly newsletters. To Receive either of these newsletters sent a blank email to: mailto:[email protected] and mailto:[email protected].

[email protected]

This article was posted on November 22, 2004

by Joe Saddoris

Web Site Professionalism? What Is It?

Web Site Professionalism? What Is It?

by: Radhika Venkata

Your web site should be

visitor friendly to navigate

search engine friendly for the crawlers

Automated with ecommerce and subscription forms…

Your visitor should get the feeling that you know your กstuffก.

Here are few tips to show your web site professionalism:

1. Uniform Layout and colors:

When you see Arial font on one page, Verdana on another or some other on different page and top menu navigation on one page and sidebar navigation on another… How do you feel about the site? Immediately what strikes your mind is กNewbie webmasterก. Keep a consistent lay out through out the web site. You can use SSI(server side inclusion) to update the whole site with in seconds. http://www.webmasterscentral.com/wd/ssicontent.shtml

2. Links:

Check links for 404 page not found errors. When your visitor clicks on order link and found กpage not found errorก and come again after two days to see the same error… Means you noway care about your web site.

3. Start Your own optin list:

Ezine or a free course optin lists gives you good credibility. You can also have mailing lists for updates of your products.

http://www.scripts4webmasters.com/arpproadv/index.shtml

http://www.autoresponseplus.com/

4. Customer support:

Offer good customer support. No matter what type it will be… Live support or email support or phone etc. State clearly the options that your visitor can contact you.

5. Write articles and publish on your web site:

This way you can attract the search engines and visitors. Your pages shows up in search engine results and not to mention the increase in your web site traffic.

6. Start Your own affiliate program:

You can do this by cgi scripts that install on your web server. When your affiliates keep your web site links on their web sites and your web site link popularity goes up and get good ranking in search engines.

7. State Your private policy:

State the terms of use of your product and web site, disclaimer, private policy regarding the visitor logs etc. This way you will be saved in most situations.

About The Author

Radhika Venkata Subscribe to กEbookBiz Magazineก which is completely focused on ebook business and Internet Marketing. Receive FREE Ebooks with Resale rights every month!

http://www.ebooksworld.com/freetosell.shtml

Webmaster Resources: List Your product, ezine or web site free! http://www.webmasterscentral.com/

This article was posted on November 14, 2003

by Radhika Venkata

The Tale of the King and His Wealth

The Tale of the King and His Wealth

by: Arun Pal Singh

Once lived a great king who was getting old and wanted to retire. One day he announced that all his personal wealth would be distributed to the public. However one would have to earn his share as the king did not want the wealth to go to unworthy.

His wealth would be in the seven stories of his palace. One might take whatever one wished, he announced. The word spread fast and people gathered. No one wanted to miss this opportunity of getting rich.

The entrance was opened and people eagerly rushed in. Presented to them were common items of pottery, glass and earth. They checked every place. Nothing else was there. People got disappointed. This was not what they had expected. Many left cursing.

Others decided to try second floor. As they moved there they found things which were costlier but nothing which could be called wealth. Many left again. It was wastage of time after all. The king either had gone mad or played a bad joke

Rest of them pushed themselves to the next level through a passage that was narrower and steeper. Here displayed were some coins of lesser value. Discouraged quite a number left again. I was clear now that the king had really played a joke. There was no wealth to be found.

Few who were encouraged enough resolved to go to further. They had to walk a path harder than previous. Those who could not tread returned. Only a handful reached fourth storey and were rewarded with silver coins.

Joyfully many stuffed and left. Thank God! The day was not wasted on some misadventure. They had come from far. They were tired now. They did not want to go further. They had work at their homes too.

However, ten people decided to go ahead. It was a very difficult journey. The was almost vertical and very rough. Only four could reach next level. Others left, not being able to continue. Those who reached found gold coins in abundance. Two decided to end here and left with gold happily.

Two went further on a path that was almost impossible to walk. They did manage to reach sixth floor. It was a hall full of diamonds of finest quality.

Pleased with this one started filling his bags whereas other went into deep thoughts.

ขWhat happened? You don’t want thisข asked the one who was filling.

ขI wonder what could be next!ข

ขWhat else do you want? This is more than enough for seven lifetimes. Moreover I can’t see any doorwayข Other man was astonished.

ขBut there is one floor leftข said the man who was determined and began his search.

ขYou have gone madข said other and left with diamonds.

There was actually no door. The man searched every corner but none was to be found. That was until he saw roof and a rope hanging too small to reach. He jumped and failed.He tried repeatedly without success till he could not jump.

There has to be some way, he thought as he lay exhausted. There must be some way.

It was then an idea struck him. He made a heap of diamonds to reach and pulled the rope. A doorway appeared in one of the walls. Beyond that was a beautiful ladder. As he climbed a hand pulled him to seventh floor.

The king himself stood there ขWelcome O worthy one! I can retire in peace nowข

The man was appointed as king next day.

Nature too offers us a fortune of wealth that we can earn. Everybody wishes to be rich but not all are ready to fully walk the path that leads to. Most of us who start get discouraged by initial unsuccessful attempts and stop. Others remain satisfied with the nickels they are offered and leave the journey.

Rare ones have the determination to find actual wealth.

We can stop at silver or go beyond diamonds.

How far would you go?

Copyright 2004 Arun Pal Singh

About The Author

Arun Pal Singh runs a successful business from home at http://www.homeforprofits.com. He is also publisher and editor of Home business tips and tricks, a free newsletter with hundreds of tips for home business which can be subscribed by mailing to [email protected].

This article was posted on December 13, 2004

by Arun Pal Singh

Web Blogs, Defined, Explained and Understood

Web Blogs, Defined, Explained and Understood

by: Sharon Housley

What are Blogs?

Having heard the term previously but not having paid much attention most are just to afraid to show their ignorance and ask the question, what is a blog? Lets face it; the term blog does not conjure pleasant images.

Blogs are web logs that are updated regularly, usually on a daily basis. They contain information related to a specific topic. In some cases blogs are used as daily diaries about peopleกs personal lives, political views, or even as social commentaries. The truth of the matter is that blogs can be shaped into whatever you, the author, want them to be.

Where Did Blogs Come From?

The roots of blogging can be traced back to the mid 1990กs. Who the very first blogger actually was is unclear, as the art of blogging did not really take hold until 1999. The original กweblogsก were linkdriven sites with personal commentaries. The very first blogs were human guided Internet web tours. While initially thought of as diaries or online journals, blogs have evolved into the latest fresh web content.

The Future of Blogs

A buzz word in techie circles, กbloggingก is the wave of the future. Whether its a fad, or proves to be a new way to communicate with existing and potential customers it deserves at the very least a cursory look.

Why is Blogging Helpful to Businesses or Individuals?

Just as animated .gifs were once cool, blogging is the trendy thing to do. That does not mean that it is not beneficial to businesses. Webmasters struggling to keep fresh, attractive content on their websites to lure visitors back, have found blogs the answer. Content is a necessity for online businesses, both for purposes of being found by search engines but also because it gives visitors a reason to come back.

Now that we have established that blogs are not only trendy but also beneficial to businesses, its important to understand how they can be used to your advantage. We currently manage and update two blogs on a daily basis. The first is our new business blog at:

http://www.notepage.net/blog.htm

This professional business blog allows us the opportunity to tell potential, or existing customers industry news, updates, or generally how mobile or paging software can be used in specific situations to alleviate problems. The bottom line is we control the content. Its updated daily, which increases the chances that search engines will spider on a regular basis and it helps with page rank because itกs been submitted to all the blogging directories. Initially started on a whim weกve found it beneficial to report tips, tricks or make visitors aware of new regulations related to the mobile or paging industry.

The second blog we manage is at:

http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog.html

This blog is less formal and contains marketing tips, or promotional advice for software developers or online marketers. We found that we had overflow from our monthly newsletter. Generating a daily blog would require very little effort and would assist us in creating fresh content which our readers told us was of significant interest.

Blogs & Your Business

The bottom line is you need to determine how a blog will benefit your business, determine a schedule and adhere to it. Let your readers know what to expect and when to expect it. Blogs provide great supplemental content and direct attention to areas of your business that you want to showcase; you direct the content but let your readers guide you.

Creating a Blog

There are numerous online tools that can be used to create a blog. We found that because of security concerns, it would just be best to use a standard html program. In our case we used Dreamweaver and create daily posts. Its really not much more complicated than typing an email. The content is then sent via FTP to a web server. If you want to test the waters there are online webbased tool that helps you publish to the web instantly. The most popular web based tool is likely Blogger http://www.blogger.com.

Other Advantages to Blogs

While you may initially create a blog for your existing customers, you may find that you can attract new customers by illustrating your expertise in a specific field. There are numerous websites that act as กblog search enginesก, be sure to submit your sites to these websites to increase your exposure. This will also help with your page rank and possibly increase the likelihood you will receive decent ranking with Google. You can also create an RSS feed in order to syndicate blog content and gain additional exposure.

About The Author

Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and http://www.smallbusinesssoftware.net

This article was posted on March 01, 2004

by Sharon Housley

A Proven System That Made Me $73K in One Week: The

A Proven System That Made Me $73K in One Week: The #1 Thing I Learned You Must Have for a Successful Home Business

by: Brock Felt

Yes, the statement above is true. I did make $73,000 last week working 2025 hours a week from the comfort of my own home. But, that wasn’t always the case. For years, I struggled to find the right business that would pay me what I was worth. For years, I only made $30,000 a year working my tail off 80 hours a week.

I knew there had to be a better way.

The last thing I was doing before I found this powerful system, was fixing auto glass. I was working at a corner gas station not too far from where I live now, sweating it out in the scorching Arizona sun. I’d watch luxury cars come in—Porsche, BMW, Mercedes—and couldn’t understand why that wasn’t me driving them. I said to myself, ขI am hardworking, honest, and driven…why am I not making that kind of money?ข

But, the truth was…I hadn’t found the right system. I had tried so many businesses—brick & mortar, franchises, and the allpromising MLM. Nothing provided a proven, moneymaking, turnkey system.

Until I found the one I am using now…

For years I was so confused. I kept trying business after business, getting my hopes up and then falling into huge disappointment. Now, I wish to share with you what I have learned to save you from the huge frustration and wasted money I experienced.

Before embarking on any home based business it is imperative to have a proven system in place, period. Without it, you will be spending your days working harder and harder until you burn right out. This is exactly what happened to me. In place, must be advanced technology that does most of the work for you. This is very reason why great technology is around…so we humans can stop breaking our backs working like machines.

Before, I thought that the harder I worked the quicker I would see results. I was dead wrong. I have learned from using my powerful system that no one should ever have to work that much.

Now, this system can’t just be any system. First off, it has to be PROVEN. The system I use has made thousands of people millions of dollars for 5 years. When I got started, I saw average people become millionaires and others retire in 2 years!

My system is so easy, that if you can turn on your computer and cut and paste, you can have success.

I knew that I had finally found the right system. I saw other people’s results. These people weren’t rocket scientists or business scions either. So, I greatly encourage you to make sure the home based business you are exploring has a PROVEN system in place with immediate and high financial results.

In my first month, I made $19K – almost as much as my old yearly income!

Next, the system you are considering must be FULLY AUTOMATED. That means while you’re sleeping, while you’re spending time with your family, you are making money. While you are not ขworking,ข the system is working for you. Today, I finally get to spend time with my wife at home. And, just a few months ago we had our first baby. Now, I get to be around to see him grow up…his first crawl, his first walk, and the first word he says. Now, that is priceless.

Again, thanks to technology, we are finally able to live our lives without being chained to a job or a business. We get to experience true freedom putting a few hours in a day, whenever we want to.

With my system you will never have to chase your friends or family members!

Next, the system must have SUPERIOR LEAD GENERATION. Looking at the numbers, home businesses typically have a 1%2% closing ratio. Your leads must be fully automated and inexpensive. For most home businesses, I have found that you have to shell out at least $5 per lead. If you come across those numbers, I wouldn’t even consider it. It’s too much money to shell out. The system I use costs a fraction of that and is extremely easy to use. Again, if you can turn your computer on and cut and paste, you are ready to rock!

With my system it only costs 510 cents per lead!

Finally and most importantly, the system must be DUPLICATABLE. A person new to the system should be able to sit down and start utilizing the system immediately. His or her system should be exactly the same as the one that people generating hundreds of thousands of dollars are using. If a company promises you some kind of formula and it isn’t the exact same thing that the millionaires use, I would definitely walk away.

I hope I have saved you time, money, and much frustration by taking you through what I have learned on my journey in finding the best home business opportunity. To finally make the kind of money you truly deserve and have the freedom to spend it, I invite you, just like someone else invited me 2 years ago, to take a closer look at my proven system.

www.ezmillionaire.com

About The Author

Brock Felt went from working at a gas station to become a millionaire. Now an expert in the home business arena, he teaches others how to find the right opportunity and achieve unparallel success. Copyright © 2004 Brock Felt & MillionaireSuccessSecrets Industries.

This article was posted on October 06, 2004

by Brock Felt