Work at Home Based Business

Archive for June, 2008

Every once in a while, you write an article that you know is not only going to take people by surprise, but it’s also going to cause a bit of a ruckus besides. Well, that time has come again. I know a lot of people are unaware of what I am going to disclose today about the Clickbank Marketplace. So hang onto your hats. You’re gonna love this one.

If you check the Clickbank Marketplace on a regular basis, you’ll find that all of a sudden, a product that wasn’t there the day before is all of a sudden number 1 in the marketplace with a gravity of about 300. Gravity is the number of affiliates making money selling the product. Ever wonder how these products get gravities so high? Well, here’s the deal.

The top products in the Clickbank Marketplace basically get there with this process. The product is handled by a network. One person in the network is responsible for creating the product. Another person is responsible for the sales process. Finally, and this is the critical part of the whole thing, another person is responsible for recruiting affiliates. And what this person does is he emails his list of thousands of marketers, tells them a new product is out, and tells them to go and promote it. After that, it’s off to the races and suddenly you have hundreds of people making money promoting this product.

That is why, as a single marketer with a new product, you can’t possibly get your product up to the top of the marketplace unless you have a huge network like that. It’s not going to happen.

Now, this isn’t a knock on the product. It could be a good product or it could be a crap product. That’s just it. You DON’T know. The product got to where it is simply because of the network.

So the next time you check out the Clickbank Marketplace and want to know how that XYZ product that wasn’t there the other day is all of a sudden number 1…now you know.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim
The Real Truth Videos – Find Out All The Dirt About Making $$$ Online

How many articles have you read, websites you’ve seen and posts on blogs that are purely sales pitches? Is it always hype that makes the sale or has the time come when its more important to be a little more personal?

I don’t consider myself to necessarily be a great salesperson. As a relatively new marketer I have found success by making a connection with people who read my blog, articles etc. Don’t get me wrong, there is a sales component but when you love what you do and love what you have the opportunity to share with others then people feel the connection. They do not feel they are being fed a sales pitch and begin to feel a more trusting relationship with you. That is the key because now you are approachable.

I like to write in a manner that I am speaking to a friend of my progress. I always let people know in my posts they can contact me by leaving a comment and they will definitely get a response and I will tell them all they want to know. I have had many people write comments asking for help, advice and want to learn more about my programs. My conversations with those people are even better.

I personally feel its important to be really honest. Honesty shows through. People can feel it and are drawn towards you instead of the many people who are promoting exactly the same program you are promoting. People seeking home businesses are becoming more savvy and many have been burned before. They are wary and rightfully so. If you give them the opportunity to connect with you then you potentially have a loyal downline member for good!

There are so many ways to make a home business work for you but I believe its key to show who you are, keep it real and be approachable. You’ll be receiving those emails, inquiries and sign ups in no time.

Take care,

Laura

Read more of Laura’s posts at http://www.moneymakingmathteacher.com/blog

Everybody loves a good debate. It gets the juices flowing. Well, it seems that the latest hot topic is forced continuity. For those of you who don’t know what that is, don’t worry, you will by the time you’re done reading this article. For those who do…you’ll get my opinions on it. Take them with a grain of salt because you know what they say about opinions.

Okay, so what’s forced continuity? Well, the best way to describe it is with an example. Let’s say you go to a sales page and on it, it says, “Get FREE Report On Article Marketing”. You say, “Great, I think I’ll get that.” Then you get down to the part where you actually get this report and your read the following:

“This report will be sent to you via postal mail. You will be required to pay shipping and handling of $2.50. Also, you will be getting my monthly newsletter delivered to your door for an additional $30 a month unless you cancel within 30 days.”

Got it? That’s pretty much what forced continuity is. In order to get one thing, you have to agree to get something else that you have to pay for and that something else is usually something that you will get month after month until you decide to cancel. In some cases, they’ll really make you jump through hoops to do just that.

Some people like forced continuity (mostly the merchants) and some don’t (mostly the customers) but for whatever reason, it does seem to work…if you believe some of the conversion figures being passed out by the big names who are using this tactic.

What do I think about it? If it’s up front and out in the open, where there is no doubt as to what is being offered and required, I have no problem with it. Personally, I will never use it and I won’t ever fill out an offer with forced continuity because I don’t want the hassle of having to cancel something I didn’t really want in the first place.

What I do have a problem with is marketers who hide their forced continuity conditions or don’t even post them on the page, either of which can get you in trouble with the FTC. And that’s what I think most people are bitching about. And I can’t say I blame them. Just be open and honest about it and I think you’ll be fine.

Where do you fall on this debate? I can see both sides. I don’t think this is a black and white issue. Heck, Columbia House used it for years back when I was a kid and getting 12 albums for 1 cent. I sure didn’t mind having to get 6 more albums over the next 2 years or whatever it was. But some people have a problem with that stuff.

So if you’re going to use forced continuity, make sure it’s clear to the person on the other end.

The last thing you want is the FTC on your case.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim
If you’re sick and tired of all the lies and misinformation on the Internet, my FREE book “Blowing The Lid Off The Lies Of The Internet” should prove to be a real eye opener. You can get your copy at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/btl_squeeze.html

A lot of people are going to get this question wrong and it’s because they don’t understand the true psychological barriers to earning a living online from the “comfort” of your home. Okay, there, that should give you a clue. The question?

What’s the hardest part about Internet marketing?

If you said, not knowing what you’re doing…buzz. Sorry, wrong.

That’s only true at the very beginning. Sure, nobody knows what they’re doing when they first start out. Heck, I didn’t know what I was doing when I first started either. But I learned.

However, even with all the knowledge, you’re still not going to have success unless you do one very critical thing.

Know what it is?

Time’s up…Buzz.

Okay, here’s the answer…take action.

I don’t care how much you know. Unless you actually sit down and do the things that you need to do, you’re not going to have any success at all.

Okay, some of you are probably saying, “Duh! Well, of course not.” Ah, but do you REALLY understand WHY this is such a huge problem? I mean why is it that so many people don’t take action?

I’m going to explain why with a very specific example. After you are done reading this, you will TOTALLY understand why this process is so hard for people.

Let’s say that you want to create your own ebook. It doesn’t matter what the topic is. It can be anything at all. Okay, let’s take a look at what’s really involved with doing this.

Well, for starters, you have to create the book, which means tons of writing and tons of research in order to get the book written. But that’s only part of the problem.

A good marketer knows that in order to sell this ebook, he has to build an opt in list of prospects. To do this, he needs to create another book to give away as a free report. Plus, he needs to create a squeeze page in order to get opt ins. Then, he needs to create an autoresponder series of relevant content in order to persuade people to buy.

On top of all that, he has to create a sales page to actually sell the ebook from. And these can cost a fortune if he can’t write sales copy himself. And finally, if he wants to establish a web presence, he should also have his own full blown web site…another pain in the butt to create.

As you can see, this is a ton of work. And we haven’t even gotten to the part of actually advertising your product. But why is it that people don’t want to do this? It’s not so much because of the work itself, though that is a part of it. It goes deeper than that.

See, when you’re confronted with having to put THAT much work into something, in the back of your mind, you’re always thinking, “What if I do all that work and it’s a flop?” The thought of having to put in all that work for NOTHING is what scares people the most and that is why they don’t do it.

Truth is, if somebody did all the above for them and said, “Here, take it” they’d at least give it a shot. They’d have little to lose by putting out a few ads. If it didn’t sell, so what? They at least didn’t waste all that time creating something.

Well, when I realized this, I finally decided to do something about it. I’ve created a test product to see how it does. It’s called, very simply, “Business In A Box” and it has all the things I discussed above. All you need to do is take it and upload it to your server. Yes, you will need to get your own hosting and domain. That’s the only thing I don’t provide.

Here is what you get in “Business In A Box”.

Squeeze Page for collecting opt ins
Free Report to give away to these opt ins
52 week autoresponder series to follow up with opt ins
Product to sell
Sales Page
127 page web site loaded with content. (No, you’re not seeing things)

The only thing you have to do is just upload the sales pages, squeeze pages and site and get an autoresponder (I recommend Aweber) to send out the followup series to.

If you want to get more detailed information, here’s the web site:

http://www.stevewagenheim.com/biab/

I’ve sold a few beta copies and you can read the testimonials on the sales page itself. There are more but I didn’t include them all because, quite honestly, you wouldn’t believe what people had to say about this offer.

Why am I making it? Well, I look at it this way. I’ve already done the work by putting all this together so why not give others the chance to use it as well? So few are going to take action anyway (even doing all this for them) that I’m not worried about there being a glut on the market. Besides, I’m only going to let so many of these go before I pull this page down. So don’t be surprised if you go to it today and find it gone.

Anyway, here’s the site again.

http://www.stevewagenheim.com/biab/

If you have any questions at all, just send them to:

swagen2167@aol.com

Put “Business In A Box” in the subject

There is nothing I won’t answer. It’s not like it’s an ebook of secrets that I have to keep from you. I could tell you everything that’s on every page of every site and it won’t matter. You’ll either have to get it or do it yourself, which is what I am trying to save you the trouble of doing.

So ask anything you like. I’m an open book.

In the meantime, you now know what the hardest part of making money online is…taking action.

And believe me…for most people…it’s the deal breaker.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim
Business In A Box

I have been very fortunate to have the ability to choose the option of working at home instead of outside of the home. I know there are many who are not so fortunate to have this option.

Some people think just because you do work at home you’re available any time, any where, any place…true on some levels. One of the many luxuries of working at home is the flexibility it allows. You can drop everything when your child calls from school to say you forgot to pack their sandwich or when your child is feeling under the weather and want Mommy to come take them home.

Working at home has it challenges too. Getting sidetracked is very common and so easily to do. If you’re not talking to your clients or co-workers, you need some kind of interaction…it doesn’t matter if it’s on Yahoo or networking sites…the hours can just fly. Goofing off is a sure-fire drawback, but remember there are harsh consequences for these actions. All work and no play is an unbalanced lifestyle and it can become a unhealthy lifestyle.

My choice of choosing to work at home has open new doors for me to explore. Through all my hard work, I was given the opportunity to co-blog on this (Trent’s) blog. In April, I was given another opportunity to write for another work at home blog and I now have a group blog with two friends I met online. All this for choosing to work at home! It’s not shabby at all and I’m grateful for all the opportunities presented to me.

I don’t take anything for granted because it can be snatched right out from under you in a blink of an eye.

Thank you, Trent for giving me this opportunity to share my writings with others. I hope they will find it useful.

To your success,
Sophia
Work At Home Space