Product Creation Tips for Online Marketers

I didn’t really start to make a lot of money online until I started to create my own products. You’re probably wondering why that is. Well, I’ll briefly explain and then give you a few product creation tips that I think you’ll want to make note of.

Okay, so why do you want to create your own products as opposed to marketing products that others have created? Well, one reason…competition. when you’re promoting other marketer’s products, you’re going up against all their affiliates. When you’re selling your OWN product, you not only have no competition, but you also have the help of affiliates selling YOUR product.

Having said that, there are a few things you’ll want to do when creating your own product.

At the top of the list, believe it or not, is to give your product a professional appearance. Trust me, in this business, looks are everything. So have an ecover made if it’s an ebook. Whatever the product is, have a matching graphic for it. This will increase, not only the perceived value, but also the number of sales that you make.

The next thing you want to do is make sure that the product is well made. For example, for an ebook, you want to have a table of contents, page numbers, a resource section and so on. You want the product to be as well made as possible. A well made product will bring about sales from previous customers. If they were happy with your first product, they’re more likely than not to buy your second product.

Another important thing to consider when creating your product is what you’re going to charge for it. If you’ve done your research correctly, in order to determine if anybody will even want your product, you’ve found that there are other products already out there similar to yours. It is important to know what these products are selling for so you can price yours accordingly.

If you want to make it to the next level in terms of income, then creating your own products is the way to go.

Protecting Your Products From Theft

One of the biggest problems with creating your own products is keeping them from being stolen. Before I go into this section in any depth at all, let me say that there is no one method of product protection that is 100% foolproof. When I explain the various methods, you’ll see why. If you’re looking for a fool proof solution, it doesn’t exist. Having said that, there are things you can do to greatly reduce the risk of having your products stolen.

The first and cheapest way is to regularly change the thank you page URL of each of your products. The reason you want to do that is because people intent on stealing your stuff will search out these URLs and pass them along to others. There is nothing you can do to stop this unless you go to a paid solution. But changing your thank you page URLs will stop a good deal of theft.

The next thing you can do is password protect your PDFs or create executable ebooks that are password protected. There is a problem with this method however. It’s very annoying to your legit customers. Also, there is nothing to stop them from passing along the password to another person.

Another thing you can do is go to a scripts directory online and find one that actually protects your products from being downloaded illegally. The problem with these free scripts is that they usually don’t come with documentation and they do have some serious limitations.

The best solution that I have found is DLGuard. It is without a doubt as close to perfect as anything I have found. It’s not going to stop somebody who bought your product from sending the actual PDF to another person, but as far as somebody accessing your product off your own server, it is virtually close to impossible.

So if you’re looking to protect your products from theft, check out the link in my signature. I promise you, you won’t be sorry. I use DLGuard to deliver all my newer products and am working on getting my older products on the system too. It’s THAT good.

Ramblings Of An IM Junkie – Screwing Up

I admit it. I screwed up. I’m not going to go into the details of my screwup because they are not important. What IS important is what you come away with after reading this article. Because we’re human, we WILL screw it. It’s almost inevitable. However, how you handle your screwups will determine how bad the resulting fallout will be. The key is minimizing the damage and making things right…as best as you can do that. This article, I hope, will give you some helpful tips to do just that.

The first thing you have to do after a screwup, whether it’s one that you recognized on your own or was pointed out to you by another person, is admit your mistake. Don’t try to make excuses for it. Don’t argue with people and tell them they’re wrong. They’re not going to change how they feel about your screwup no matter what you say. Just admit your mistake and apologize for it. And not one of these half hearted apologies either. Really mean it.

The next thing you want to do is make up for the screwup. That means correcting whatever it is you did. Now some things are harder to fix than others, granted. But you have to do what you can to make things right. If it’s a matter of you delivering a shoddy product with typos and other mistakes, take the product back and fix it. And then give new copies to all your customers. You might even want to throw in a bonus with it as well. This will go a long way towards establishing good will with your customers.

Finally, you want to make a note of what you did and see what you can do to prevent it from happening again. If it is shoddy product creation, then simply take more time on it next time. Proof read everything to make sure there are no typos. You may not catch every one, but you should catch most of them, thus making your product one of quality. If your screwup was in how you handled customer service, then make a note of what you did wrong and make sure you don’t do it again.

Your reputation is the most precious thing that you have. It can take years to build it and only seconds to destroy it. Trust me, I am speaking from experience. Yes, I have done some stupid things of which I’m not proud of. They were not done intentionally, but nevertheless, they did affect how people viewed me. So please be accountable to yourself and don’t let your screwups ruin YOUR reputation.

Overcoming Obstacles in Your Online Business

One of the things that drives me absolutely crazy is when people write to me and say, “I can’t do this or that because of… [insert excuse here]” and give me some marketing obstacle that they’re having, whether it be a payment processor they can’t use or a form of advertising that isn’t available or a product that they want to create but the software that they need to create it doesn’t run on their computer or any of about 1000 other excuses. Well, this post is my way of hopefully putting all these excuses and other obstacles to bed once and for all.

Let’s start with payment processing. I understand that there are some countries that do not have access to Clickbank or PayPal. However, those payment processing giants are not the only ones you can use. There are a lot of very high quality payment processors out there that you can use, and I would be that you have access to at least one of them. Just because you can’t use PayPal or Clickbank doesn’t mean that you can’t do business online. So that’s just a really bad excuse.

What about advertising? Just recently, I decided that I wanted to get into the gambling niche because I was taught by a pro gambler many years ago and think I have something to offer to the novice gambler with my own strategies developed over time. Problem is, Adwords doesn’t allow ads for gambling products. Okay, so what? Adwords isn’t the only game in town either. There are a plenty of other advertising platforms that do allow gambling ads. Plus, you have many other forms of promotion like article marketing, video marketing, blogs, social media, SEO, and tons of other things. If you can’t get the word out one way, then get it out another way.

Finally, there is product creation. I know that Macs don’t run a lot of software that internet marketers need to run their businesses. However, there are PC emulators that you can use on a Mac that will work. Granted, it’s not the best solution in the world, but it’s a solution. Plus, there are often Mac versions of the same or similar software that are just as good.

The point I’m making is… It’s easy to make excuses or find obstacles for why you can’t make a living online. Honestly, anybody can make excuses. That’s the easy part and why most people don’t succeed. Those who do become successful are the ones who look at the obstacles in their path and find a way to remove them!

Work at Home in a Recession and STILL Create Wealth?

Let’s take our heads out of the sands and admit that times are tough. Though many people are feeling their wallets shrink, there are a number of people who are less affected by a weak economy. Among them are people who work at home and/or run their own online businesses.

Now, not everyone who works from home is going to come out of it wealthy, but there are those who will improve their financial situation.

Right now is actually the perfect time to work at home as it is the current trend. More companies are setting up telecommuting programs for their employees as an effective method to cut overhead expenses. Not only that but, unstable economic conditions encourage people to set up full or part-time home based businesses.

Although there are financial benefits to working at home such the costs saved on buying expensive work clothes, saving on gas (which is through the roof), tax benefits, and more. Working from home in itself won’t get you closer to wealth – you have to be smart about the way you do it.

Many people when they look for a self-employment opportunity approach it with the same attitude and standards as working outside the home. That is, they search for linear working relationships. The problem with linear income is there is a limit on what you can earn.

A classic example of a work at home linear income job is, you sell something to one person, get paid and then look for another person to sell to. By doing this you are putting yourself in the same economic trap that you were originally trying to free yourself from.

Very few people can obtain wealth with a linear income especially if you work at home. Even if you do make a lot of money you have to work longer hours, take on extra responsibility and be prepared for financial liability.

Instead of looking for opportunities where you are paid once for a task you do look for work at home opportunities that allow you to build residual or passive income. In other words find opportunities that continue to pay for a task you did.

Smart people, wealthy people, people who are rarely affected by a weak economy look for opportunities that will generate a recurring, long term income, while they sleep, while they are on vacation, and even when they retire.

These types of incomes do not build themselves overnight. They take a lot of initial effort to set up but require little maintenance after.

Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn passive income and work at home. When looking for affiliate programs look for those that pay life time commissions. Royalties are also a great way to earn recurring income. If writing is a skill of yours there are many websites that pay royalties for your articles.

The financial situation for many is looking bleak. But you can turn it around if you work at home. Because you are making more money and are saving money, your financial situation will greatly improve. Just remember when you are looking for home based opportunities look for those where you work once and get paid over and over again.

Work at Home Phone Actress – Information and Requirements

Are you looking for a job as a work at home phone actress? Or maybe you’re just looking for more information on what exactly is a work at home phone actress? You are definitely not alone! This is a very “hot” job – in more than one way.

What is a work at home phone actress?

The first thing you need to know is that it’s almost a sure bet that you are going to be acting on an adult phone line. Meaning it’s going to be sexual. A “phone actress” is usually just another way of saying – phone sex operator. Don’t think that work at home phone actresses are sitting around on their home phones acting out scenes from the Disney channel. That’s just not what the job entails.

However, if you are looking for an easy way to make money at home and you aren’t shy about talking dirty then maybe a work at home phone actress job is for you.

There are typically no set hours or work schedules. You can work when you want for as long as you want. However, you do usually have to log-in and take a certain number of calls each week to remain active in the system. But this can be just about whenever you want.

You will be paid a certain amount of money per minute. The amount usually depends on how many minutes you are on the phone per call and how many calls you take. You won’t get rich as a phone actress but it is a great way to make money from home part-time or full-time without doing anything but talking on the phone!

If you do become a work at home phone actress, be prepared to talk about some things you have probably never even thought about and never would think about. There is an endless supply of fantasies that people will be calling you to act out. Some of them will flat out disgust you! You will need a very open mind and be a very good actress to succeed at this job because just about anything goes.

You will use an alias and will never have to give personal information about yourself to any caller. Basically you will be acting according to what the caller requests and then you talk your way through it. There will usually be a few minutes of small talk before the caller starts getting dirty and you have to play along to act out his/her fantasy.

That’s about all there is to it!

What are the requirements to be a work at home phone actress?

This will be a little different for every company but some of the typical requirements are:

– Must be at least 18 years old.
– Live in the United States (or the same country the company is located).
– Able to speak clearly and have a clear voice.
– Must have a regular land based phone line.
– Have a home computer and internet access.
– You must be able to take a certain number of calls per week (each company will have its own set number).
– An email address for information to be sent to you.
– Be talkative and have a great personality.
– Able to adapt to any type of call you get.

Where do you find work at home phone actress jobs?

You can find listings in just about any job site or classifieds site, such as: Craigslist, Careerbuilder, Myspace Jobs, Monster, Backpage, Jobs dot com, HotJobs, and many others.  Just do a search for “work at home phone actress” in their database of job listings. You can also do search on Google and quite a few sites will come up that hire phone actresses.

Beware of any company or site that charges you a fee to become a work at home phone actress. There should never be any fees to do this. There should also never be any charges on your phone bill. You should be given a toll free number to log-in from. Stay away from any company that makes you pay to get the job or puts charges on your phone bill.

That’s pretty much all there is to know about work at home phone actresses. Hopefully you found the information you were looking for!