Work at Home Based Business

Archive for August, 2008

There has been a lot of talk around the forums lately about guru bashing and how they just rip us poor innocent dumb suckers off. Well, I thought it was about time that I put all of this nonsense in perspective. I’m not saying that there aren’t bad people in the world, because there are. But just because somebody is a guru doesn’t make them a bad person or a con artist.

I understand that there are all kinds of people out there, as far as intelligence level goes. Some people are really bright and can spot a snake oil salesman a mile away. And then there are those of us who will believe anything that we’re told. So it’s not fair to put all the blame on the consumer. The merchant has to take some responsibility. However, and I’m going to use college as an example, there has to come a point where even if we’re as dumb as pet rocks, we have to take some responsibility as well.

Why do I bring up college? Well, when I was about 17 years old, I graduated high school and was all prepared to go to college. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do. The only thing left to do was pay my tuition, which was a hell of a lot more than a guru seminar, take my classes and graduate…hopefully to get a job afterwards.

I spent one year out of college looking for work. I couldn’t get one person to hire me. Now, did I go back to my college and tell them that they ripped me off because I couldn’t get a job? Of course not. I wouldn’t have thought of it. Nobody would have. Truth is, when you went to college, no promises were made. You were going in the hopes that you’d have a better chance TO find a job once you got out. But ultimately, there were no guarantees.

And yet, when we buy a $97 ebook or a $997 seminar, we expect to come out of it with enough ammunition to make 6 figures in a month. I don’t know where this entitlement mentality comes from, but it’s certainly isn’t the guru’s fault. Do they put up sales pages that make us think that all we have to do is buy their product and we’ll be rich? Maybe, but no more so than the college recruiter who comes to your high school and tells you how 85% of their students start out at $35,000 a year. What they don’t tell you is that the other 15% don’t get any jobs at all.

Before we start pointing fingers at the gurus, maybe it’s time we took a look at ourselves. Are we putting in the effort we should be putting in? Are we spending the money we need to on advertising? Do we have the skills necessary to write a compelling ad? If not, are we willing to learn?

Until we can answer those questions honestly, we might want to hold off on blaming the gurus for our failures.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim
If you want to discover the REAL truth about Internet marketing and get some solid tips to take your business to the next level…get my free report at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/realtruth.html and subscribe to my REAL Truth newsletter where you’ll discover more than from all those high priced ebooks combined.

I get a kick out of a lot of home business owners. They tell me that the reason why they want to run their own home business is because they don’t want to work for a boss and they want to be able to make their own hours and have the freedom to do as they please. Hey, that’s what a home business is all about. I had no choice. I started my own business because I lost my job. But trust me, I wish I had quit my job long before I lost it, because this is the life. But what about you? Are you running a business or are you working another job?

The bigger question is, how can you tell? Well, the best way to tell is by looking at what you do on a daily basis and see if you’re a slave to it. If you didn’t do what you did today, would you still make money? This is a problem with people who freelance. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking freelancing, as it pays very well, but unless you work, you don’t get paid. That’s why, as well as copywriting pays, I wouldn’t want to be a slave to that business model, which is why I don’t take on copywriting clients regularly. I’ll do one from time to time, more to help out somebody who can’t afford the outrageous prices of some of these guys, but I’ll never make it a steady income.

If you want to earn a good living online and not become a slave to it, you need to think long term. In other words, you want to set up a business model that will pay you in the future for the work you do today. The best way to do this is with some kind of membership site. The reasoning behind it is that you make the sale once and get paid a residual income for months or even years to come. Think I’m kidding? I belong to some membership sites (they’re really good ones) for over 5 years now. Think they’re not happy to have my business for that long?

So take a look at what you’re doing today and see if it’s something that you’ll want to be doing years from now. If the answer is no, maybe you want to rethink your business model. It’s never too late to make changes that will bring you a greater income with a lot less work.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim
Looking for a solid 4 step plan to building your own business…FREE? Pick up my free report at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/4steps.html and get started TODAY!

If you’re an Internet marketer (you are an Internet marketer, right?) you know that if you’re creating your own product, outsourcing the sales copy is very expensive. Copywriting costs are astronomical. You can spend anywhere from $2,500 to $15,000 on a sales letter, depending on who you get to write it for you. And the waiting list for the big guys is months long. Well, this article is going to give you some good basic tips on writing your own copy that just might save you a few bucks.

Let’s start with your headline. If you get this part right, you’ve got an 80% chance of making the sale. Why? Because your headline will account for about 80% of your sales. Okay, but what’s a great headline? Essentially, a great headline is one that points out the main benefit of getting the product. For example, if you’re selling a natural acne cure, a headline like “Cure Your Acne In 3 Days Naturally…Guaranteed” will work wonders. This will get the prospect to read the rest of the sales page.

As for the content of your sales page, the best way to keep the prospect interested is to tell stories. Don’t bore them with a lot of facts. Facts tell…stories sell. You want to engage your reader. So tell him something about your personal experience with the product. Tell him how the product has changed YOUR life. Let your personality shine throughout the sales letter.

As far as the offer itself, you have to make it an offer that is almost impossible to refuse. Only you can do this. It’s your product. So check out what other competing products are going for and see if you can’t beat their offer. If most products like yours are going for $47, then selling yours for $37 or even $27 may make it an offer that people won’t be able to turn down.

The most important part next to the headline is the closing. You don’t want to close with something wimpy like, “Click below to order.” That is a terrible call to action. You need to put the words in the prospect’s mouth. “Yes Joe, I Must Have This Incredible System For Earning Money NOW!” That is how you close a sale.

Naturally, there is really more to this than I can include in an article. That’s why I’ve put together what is probably the best book ever written on ths subject…copywriting for the Internet marketer and NOT for somebody who wants to be a copywriter. It will give you all the tools you need to write copy that converts. You can find it in my signature.

There is no reason to spend thousands of dollars on sales letters.

Not even to me.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim
Want to write copy just like the pros? Visit my site at http://www.bcipe.com/ and discover killer copywriting tips that have allowed me to write my own copy for years and earn myself a 6 figure a year income selling my own products.

Every day at least one person will ask if a particular data entry job is legit.
Every day at least one person will ask to find a data entry position.

Data entry jobs are the most desired, most favourable and most sought after position online. You will hear often data entry jobs are rare, few and far between and it’s true. If that’s the case, why do you see them scattered online so much?

Here’s the difference between data entry jobs and data entry programs.

Data Entry Jobs
Data entry keyers inputs lists of data (alpha and numeric) into a spreadsheet or computerized database. Most reputable companies hire based on keyboarding skills, keystrokes per hour (KPH), accuracy and speed. These positions also require a cover letter and resume from the applicant and the applicant may be asked to take a typing test. They never ask you to pay for registration or training material fees.

Data Entry Programs
These are the ones people always ask about…especially for its legitimacy. Anything that promises or guarantees high returns for very little work is mostly a scam. I say mostly because the word scam is thrown around in a much too general way…just like the words data entry is.

These are not real data entry work or positions per se. These are business opportunities or programs which require upfront fees. The websites are colourful, bold and they almost always have screenshots of how much money can be made each day.

So, where’s the data entry?

These programs consist of using Clickbank, a retailer of digital products. You would sign up for a free account with Clickbank, choose a digital product and then use Google Adwords (pay-per-click) to promote. Filling out the information on Adwords is where these companies label it data entry. Misleading? Yes to a point because primarily you’re selling a product; you’re an affiliate and you’re not paid for the information you input, but you’re paid a commission based on how many sales you make.

Is it legitimate? I would not pay for something I know I could do free. They may throw in some e-books to help you become a better affiliate, but the Internet is a huge source of information and all of it can be found for free.

Now you know the difference between data entry jobs and programs pretending to be data entry, there are real companies who pay you as an Independent Contractor or employee. Although these highly wanted positions aren’t so readily available or highly publicized, don’t give up on your search. Don’t stop looking because your desired job may be just around the corner.

–

S McIntyre owns Work At Home Space www.workathomespace.com a free work at home resource focusing on telecommuting companies, daily telecommute job leads, articles, business resources and other work at home related topics. You can also visit her blog Healthy Perspectives healthyperspectives.blogspot.com featuring an array of health topics, nutrition, recipes and fitness for maintaining a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle.

More data entry information: Home Business Data Entry Clerk Jobs

Well, the title might get you wondering what this is going to be about! You might think I just took a leaf out of Steve’s last post to grab your attention and you’d be right! Well, after my last post here which is buried somewhere way back, which I entitled Social Links, I thought I’d carry on its theme a way further.

So what kind of recognition am I talking about here? You’ll have to read on to find out…

All Internet Marketers worth their salt know that if they want their websites to be seen by the kind of visitors, or traffic, that is going to click their ads and make money for them, they need to show well in the search engine results. And any old search engine will not do. If you want the big numbers, it has to be Google, simply because they are way the biggest and attract by far the most people searching for stuff.

The problem is that getting your website or blog to feature on page one for your main keywords is about as easy as climbing a mountain with one arm tied behind your back. Not impossible, just dang difficult!

To make an appreciable dent in Google’s SERPs, your site needs lots of good quality backlinks from a lot of different albeit relevant places. And your competition fighting you for that first page place are not going to help you to leap-frog over them! So where do you get enough quality links to take on your competitors and steal their traffic? How do you know what you need to beat them? Most people simply don’t have the resources to take on the front runners directly.

But you can box clever.

A useful tool like SEO Elite will tell you how many links your competition has got and what quality they are. In most niches that are not too competitive, such as make money, credit cards, loans, weight loss etc you actually do stand a fighting chance of moving up into the big league. Especially if you know what you need to do in order to get there. And knowing what in-links your competing sites have, means you can go out and get the same as them plus just enough more to overtake them.

Getting that Recognition

It’s not rocket science, but it takes some guile, a fair dose of hard work and the determination to win. And you’ll get there. Google won’t make it easy for you, of course as they are constantly tinkering with their index so you can never be too sure if one method that worked last week will still work today.

But the sure fire methods of getting links that have always worked still work today, such as those I pointed out over at my main site, The Honest Way on the post: How to Get Legitimate Backlinks – the link will take you straight there in a new tab or window so you don’t have to leave this site to read it.

A word of warning: Don’t use duplicate content when getting backlinks. Google are on to it and won’t count the links embedded in duplicates. Better to submit 10 quality original articles with your keyword anchored links in the resource box to the best article directories such as Ezine Articles and the like than submit a thousand to every one and his dog and have 999 of them ignored! Its more work but worth it in the long run.

As always: be positive, be tenacious and be successful!

Visit freelance writer Terry Didcott at his own place or check out The Honest Way