First off let me go ahead and cut through all of the BS and tell you that yes, I am going to try and get you to acquire a product or service from me at some point or another. I can't help it, it's just what I do.
If your already heading to your browser's address bar at this point I understand, I probably would be too. If not then congratulations, this may (or may not) be your first proverbial brick in the "business that JACK built" as they say.
Now, I don't consider myself the authority on internet marketing to any extent but what I do have is experience. And by experience I mean I've been ripped off and scammed by many unsavory marketers. Not to say that everything I've ever bought into was a scam, but most were lacking in some area or another. Many of the programs had no support and were too hard to figure out (I was a N00b), or they were just too costly and difficult to promote properly.
Despite being overwhelmed by a tidal wave of lies and misinformation I have managed, through trial and error, to find a few good things that have worked for me.
The best way to demonstrate this is by retelling you the story of my very first online experience. It was almost two years ago that I decided I was going to try and make a little money online. My wife was pregnant and was not working anymore so I needed to find a way for us to make some extra income to compensate. That's when I found a little program that you may have heard of or even bought yourself, I won't say exactly which one... actually I will. I don't even know if its around anymore but if it is, you should know what to look out for.
It was Angel Stevens process orders from home kit. She claimed on her sales page that you could make money easily by processing sales orders that companies needed completed for around $15-$30 a piece. The premise was made to sound like there was an actual employer that you would be doing business with and that they would supply the all customers you needed. The company only needed you because it was quote "too costly for them to process all of the orders themselves". Sounded great to me. SOLD. $250 total for the entire kit at a time when I really didn't have the money to spend in the first place.
What it essentially turned out to be was an over glorified affiliate program. Technically you were processing orders but they neglected to mention (until you buy it of course) that YOU would be responsible for ALL advertising and conversions before you to get paid your $15-$30 per order. Not so easy for someone who had absolutely no marketing experience whatsoever. I gave it my best shot but I was never able to get anything going. The ad also said that they offered a personal training coach, which they actually did, but after setting up the initial meeting I was never contacted again. Even when I tried to email and call them they never responded back. Luckily I was able to get a refund since the transaction was through Paydotcom and they have their own return policies.
My experience with the process orders program wasn't a complete loss however. Some of the information was actually very usefull and it introduced me to the whole concept of affiliate marketing. Which would eventually lead me to get burned a few more times but that's O.K. we all have to start somewhere.
Let me tell you from my heart that despite what all the advertisements say, making money online when you first start out is hard if you don't know what your doing.
"I made $20,000 last week in my SLEEP!!!"
"Make $100's a day doing absolutely NOTHING!!!"
"Get paid $1,000's on complete AUTOPILOT!!!"
Sure, It is theoretically possible to make $20,000 in your sleep. What they don't tell you however is that they invested a couple thousand dollars into the program themselves to get these type of results. I don't know about you but that's something I can't do on a shoestring budget nowadays.
Yes, making thousands of dollars a day on autopilot is possible. However, in order for a business to become completely automated, you generally have to outsource your projects to other people or firms to do them for you. That costs money that a lot of people don't have.
It takes effort and hard work if want REAL results. That goes for just about anything in life, there is simply no substitute for hard work. It will pay off eventually but the KEY to a successful business is making your work worth the effort. If you don't enjoy what your doing your probably not doing it well. I have to say that I enjoy doing this than any other J.O.B. that I've ever had in my life. I've worked in factories and warehouses before and this definitely beats the hell out of those jobs.
It's been over a year and a half since I began working online and it's been a huge learning experience. Everyday I learn something that helps me to sharpen my writing skills or make me think in new and creative ways. Even the endless amount of ads and junk I get in one of my email accounts are useful to some extent. I look at the ads that I receive and I try to sort the ones that stand out from the ones that don't. I do this to get an idea of what my competition is doing and what might appeal to the people I'm trying to market to. This helps me decide what kind of ad campaign to run and how to effectively market my product.
The best way to learn how to do something is by getting your hands dirty, by that I mean jumping in and trying different things. Pay attention to what your competition is doing. If they just ran a new ad on ebay and its converting sales then obviously they're doing something right. You just have take what they are doing and do it a little better. That's how you begin to succeed. Take it just a step further than the competition and customers are almost guaranteed.
Knowledge is power
In my opinion if you are new to online marketing, or starting out with any kind of product, you should try online auction sites like ebay, ioffer, or ebid.com. This way you can relate, buy, and sell to many other people in an environment that is generally friendly and SCAM FREE. They have many policies in place to protect buyers and sellers alike from malicious people. It just takes a little time to set up a paypal account to send and receive payments and to make an ad for what your selling.
You also might want to try taking paid surveys for some extra cash. I have done this before and you can make a couple hundred bucks in a fairly short amount of time if you really get into this. I have to warn you though you usually have to spend some money on trial offers or paying shipping and handling fees for you to qualify to receive payment. Nevertheless, it does work and pays fairly well for the amount of time it takes.
Multi Level Marketing can be daunting for beginners. Learning to find the ones that have the best product and the best pay out can be a little overwhelming for someone who doesn't know what to look for. That's why it may be easier to just sell your own stuff on ebay or craigslist. You can earn plenty of money with the right MLM program but you have to know how to market them effectively or you could end up spending more money in the long run.
Have you noticed that I use the word product a lot? It's because the goods and products you sell are very important to how your business will shape and grow. YOUR stuff is the only thing connecting you to the other person, it is what will represent YOU. That means you should market quality products that have genuine value. It's easy to make a quick buck on a cheap and trendy product, but if you have a product of lasting value people will remember that. And THAT is what will get you happy customers, and happy customers are repeat customers.
O.K. now the part I talked about in the beginning, enticing you to acquire a product or service from me. Seriously though, the two links links below are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you join, but it is my opinion that these programs are the cheapest and easiest ways to make some nice extra money to get you started. I'm talking $50 - $100 a day with a few hours work and even more if you put the time into it. No matter what you do, don't just do sit there and do nothing. I did that myself for a long time and you know what it got me? NOTHING!
With the way the economy is going today everyone should be trying to make money on the internet in some way, shape, or form. Even if it's just to cover your cable bill, that would be one less bill you have to pay and more money for you to spend on the stuff you love.
Good luck! (links below)
LINK # 1
LINK # 2
LINK # 3
BTW, xbox live gamertag: Element H
Hit me up if you ever want to play.
A blog about a few things I enjoy; video games and networking being just a few of those things. This also contains some of my thoughts and feelings on life in general. If you stick around you just might find something interesting...
