5 Simple Techniques to Work at Home Forever

By MoneyMan | August 12, 2007

If you’ve spent any time online, you will already know that there are lots of scams out there! You might have even begun to doubt that there are any work-at-home positions available for serious jobseekers. If this sounds like you, you aren’t alone!

Believe me, there are real home based jobs, but what most of the work at home sites omit in their information packages is that it takes work to get work. Finding a telecommuting job can be a full time job in itself, but if you don’t have all the facts, you will be spinning your wheels trying to get somewhere or you will probably give up within a few weeks. That would be a shame, because there aren’t enough high quality telecommuters as it is!

Look, I know you’re skeptical. So was I, a few short years ago. That was before I started implementing some very unique strategies that allowed me to generate so much work from my small home office, that I needed to hire extra staff just to keep up with it all!

The strategies I used are actually very simple, and you can duplicate these ideas to become a very successful telecommuter. In fact, I want you to copy my techniques, even if it means I create my own competition! Why? Because every time a new person starts to work from home more successfully and efficiently, that means one more employer is happy with the concept of hiring homeworkers! That means everyone gets more jobs, and more opportunities to do what we all love to do…working at home in our pyjamas!

So, let’s cover the top 5 simple techniques you can use to work at home forever, shall we?

  1. Never pay for any job! There is never a good reason to pay for work, and I am amazed at how many jobseekers waste precious time and money chasing after schemes that will never pay. It wastes a lot of time you could better spend targeting your jobsearch to legitimate and valid work.
  2. Get your materials ready! You are going to need to be ready before you start looking for work. You will need a specialized telecommuter’s resume, an excellent cover letter template, and an online portfolio that showcases samples of your work. Without these things in place ahead of time, you will not be ready for rapid response when an employer needs to see your stuff.
  3. Make sure you have all the equipment and software you’re going to need! Depending on your skill set, you’re probably going to need special software and equipment to do your job right. Don’t expect an employer to pay for these things. A prospective employer is more likely to hire the next person who is properly equipped, rather than hire you if you expect the employer to pay for what you need to do your job.
  4. Know what you do for a living! This is an absolute necessity if you want to work from home. You may think that you want to do “typing at home”, but if that’s all you can think of, then you’re wasting time. Think about how your typing skills will be useful to your employer, come up with creative applications of that skill, set up samples to show what your service looks like, and plan ahead on how much you will charge for that service. Be willing to tell prospective employers exactly what you do and how much you charge for it.
  5. Change your strategy! Instead of looking for jobs that have already been posted online, and have already been taken, look for companies that are well suited for your talents. Create your own work by contacting companies that have not yet posted jobs online, and eliminate the competition. But, make sure you know exactly what service you plan to offer that company, and why it is useful to them. Don’t bother contacting companies by sending vague resumes. That technique never works! Contact targeted companies with specific services in mind, and let them know you are open to alternate suggestions.

These techniques work extremely well, and using them allowed me to build my home based service company from scratch, without spending a dime on advertising. I was broke when I started working from home, and I didn’t have a computer. Using these techniques, I was able to slowly build my business and develop a client base that has consistently earned me more money than if I was working onsite. You can do it too!

Topics: Starting a Business | No Comments »

6 Steps On How To Install Confidence Into Your Clients

By MoneyMan | August 11, 2007

What methods can we use to install confidence into your clients ?

  1. Give abundant value in everything you sell.If you want to build up a reputation that will lead to a successful internet business you can’t afford to outsmart your client by giving him less value then he’s paying for. Whether you are selling goods or services, give excellent value.
  2. Know your business.If those with whom you deal sense that you know your business they will have faith in your business judgement.
  3. Tell the truth.Show your clients they can depend on you. The most important qualities in a businessman are honesty, sincerity and unaffectedness. Everyone with whom you deal should know that any time you tell him something, he can depend on it.
  4. Do such a good job that people will want to recommend you.You have to convince the client that you are honest, sincere and capable of being of service to their friends. Each time you demonstrate these qualities in your business dealings, you make it easier to get profitable referrals.
  5. Have your own standard of ethics and live up to it.No one can really advise yu correctly on an ethical question, since each of us has his own, highly personal standards. But whatever those standards are, if you follow them, you will eventually be respected for them. Personaly I follow the Golden Rule : “Put yourself in the other fellow’s shoes.” Only when you follow the Golden Rule can you really hold the confidence of those with whom you deal.
  6. Pay all your bills promptly.Establish a credit rathing and keep it good. If someone wants to know whether or not he can trust you in a business deal, he may consult a company that tabulates and keeps credit ratings.

Topics: Starting a Business | No Comments »

5 Proven Ways To Make Your Biz Op Simply Irresistible

By MoneyMan | August 10, 2007

At the dawn of the Internet, business opportunities were a new idea. People flocked to biz op sites in hopes of striking it rich online. However, as scam artists and thieves got hold of the idea, the term “Biz Op” became equal with the term “con artist.”

As Web surfers learn to tell the difference between hype and reality, they are looking for solid business opportunities that can give them what they need to succeed. Other biz ops are being overlooked.

So how do you structure your biz op so that it stands a chance of being noticed? How do you convince people you have something truly valuable to share? There are 5 proven ways.

1. Make Your Program Free To Join - One trait of those seeking business opportunities online is that they have little to no startup money. They also want to “try” your program before making a commitment. For these reasons, you need to offer a “free-to-join” program.

Give people a chance to see for themselves that your program is valid, and can indeed bring in the results you promise.

2. Don’t Hide Anything - Most people have realized that they have to ask, “What’s in the fine print?” From those awful “Business in a Box” deals (where they promise the sun, moon, and stars and deliver none of it unless you pay thousands of dollars), we learned to stand by the phrase “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”

Don’t hide anything from your prospects. Tell the truth. Outline exactly what their free membership offers, what they’ll have to pay for, what legitimate results they can expect, and how much the whole setup will cost.

When people feel they’ve been taken advantage of, they tend to become bitter and spiteful. Not only are they likely to tell everyone they know about how they were scammed, but they might even go so far as to notify the authorities.

3. Prove You Want Them To Succeed - Any business opportunity will “say” they want their signups to succeed. But very few of them actually prove it. Give your signups more than the other guy gives.

You might consider offering counselors or mentors to help them during the first few months. Perhaps you can open a discussion board or forum where newbies can chat with the old pros. Go above and beyond to show you will stand behind your signups.

4. Offer Support - In addition to proving you want your signups to succeed, give them the support they need. Sending a periodic newsletter with helpful information is a good idea. Forwarding articles or information you found on the ‘Net is another way to be helpful.

Create a “new signup” package that goes out immediately. Fill it with everything you can think of to help your people succeed… testimonials, best practices, resources, dos and don’ts, advice from others, your own email address so they can contact you. You get the idea. After all, when they succeed, YOU succeed.

5. Encourage Comments - As new people go through your system, they are likely to have ideas on what works and what doesn’t. Listen and always encourage comments and ideas! Not only will encouraging comments help your new recruits feel like part of the team, it can also offer you exceptional insights into how to grow and improve your biz op.

People are tired of scams. They want “real” business opportunities that actually work. If you structure your biz op so that its primary focus is helping new signups to succeed, you will grow your reputation, your scope of business, your territory, and your profits.

Topics: Marketing and Advertising | No Comments »

6 Reasons Why A Website Is Crucial To Your Business

By MoneyMan | August 9, 2007

Since I’m a web designer, I have a tendency to think everyone understands that having a website is important. Every once in a while, I have to remind myself that some people just haven’t heard yet!

Why is having a website such a big deal? Here are 6 reasons:

  1. A website increases your credibility.Your website has a powerful impact on a potential customer’s confidence in you. A professional design, well-written copy, helpful product information, and good contact info can tremendously increase trust in your company. It lets people know you’re knowledgeable and up-to-date. If you take the time to develop a good-quality site with helpful information, visitors will have no choice but to be impressed.
  2. A website makes your company visible anytime, anywhere.As of April 2002, there are roughly 165.8 million people online in the US alone. Some of them are looking for your products and services. With a website, you open yourself up to a world of opportunity in reaching people who might not otherwise find you. With the click of a mouse, anyone can get to your company’s website 24/7.
  3. A website makes it easy for people to refer new customers to you.For many businesses, referrals are a crucial source of new customers. Having a website makes it easy to encourage referrals, because customers can simply send friends and business contacts to your site. Website addresses are easier to remember than phone numbers. Plus, giving people multiple ways of contacting you makes it more likely that they will do so.
  4. A website is a powerful sales tool.Selling your products through an online store is often a killer way to expand your business. You have a perpetual, easily-accessed storefront–one that costs a fraction of a brick and mortar store and can reach many more people. Effective sales copy can do an incredible job of hooking visitors on your products and compelling them to click that “buy” button.

    Even if you can’t sell your services directly over the internet, a website is still a powerful asset. It’s a primer that you use to convince visitors of why they need your services. You get them salivating to buy, then invite them to contact you through your site.

  5. A website increases the value of your advertising.Adding your website address to all your advertisments, business cards, and company literature is a great way to draw potential customers to your company. Providing a website gives people a way to act on your message whenever they hear about you or see an ad for your company. Going to a website is easier than writing, visiting a store, or even making a phone call. Customers get the information at their convenience and don’t have to wait for a salesperson to help them. Also, it’s often more comfortable to visit a website, because there is no obligation. Visitors don’t feel pressured.
  6. A website helps you stay in contact with potential customers.There are frequently people who are interested in what you have to offer, but they might not be ready to buy right now. You need to stay in contact with them so that you immediately come to mind when they ARE ready. A website is a great way to facilitate this. You can use your website to collect email addresses from visitors. Then you can periodically send out promotional emails or a newsletter. Staying in contact keeps your company fresh in visitors’ minds.

Well, there you have it–6 ways a website benefits your company and helps you sell more. Do you want to leave this opportunity to your competitors? Surely not! Each day you wait, you’re letting them establish themselves online as THE resource in your field. Stop giving them that advantage!

Topics: Starting a Business | No Comments »

5 Powerful Ways To Get Zero Sales From Your Website

By MoneyMan | August 8, 2007

I want you to imagine a lemon. In your mind’s eye, see its yellow skin. Imagine

cutting it in half with a knife. Now pick up the one lemon half and bring it up to your

mouth and suck on the juices.

Do you notice how sharp the tangy lemon juice could be? Does it make you pucker? Do

you notice how your mouth is watering?

…Good!

Now you realize the power of words!

See, one thing I was good at in the beginning of my online career was not getting any

sales.

Really, I turned it into an art form.

So with that said, I want to share with you my 5 all-time favorite ways of getting

Zero sales from your website:

  1. Headline and Sales LetterI don’t need to have a powerful headline and a compelling sales letter for my

    site. And I definitely don’t need to go to target=new>http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com and learn how to write powerful sales

    letters for free. It’s too much work.

  2. Contact InformationWhy should I have my contact information on the main page of my website. I don’t

    want to build trust by posting my name, address, email, fax and telephone number on my site.

    I want to hide behind the internet and in turn people can then hide their wallets from me.

  3. GuaranteeWhy should I offer a bold gurantee for the products I sell on my website. If

    people don’t like the product then it’s too bad. I really don’t care that it’s been proven

    that the longer your guarantee is, the less returns and complaints you’ll have. What does

    that stuff have to do with me?

  4. Capture Email AddressesI don’t need a web form on my site offering something for fr*e to capture email

    addresses so I can put them through an autoresponder and increase my sales. And I definitely

    don’t want to capture email addresses by using popups and alert boxes. That stuff is not for

    me.

  5. Call To ActionI don’t want to tell people what to do on my website. I don’t want to appear

    pushy. Why should I have a “Click Here To Order Now” link. It’s too much of a hassle. They

    can figure out how to do everything for themselves.

There you have it. Follow this formula like I did in the beginning and you too can get

zero sales from your website!

Now, all five things I just mentioned are the basics. Start with the basics first and

build from there and you should be well on your way to building a profitable website.

And don’t forget the power of words!

Remember that lemon?… Yuck, my mouth is watering again.

Topics: Sales Tips | No Comments »

6 Proven Steps To Internet Marketing Success

By MoneyMan | August 7, 2007

There is a misconception that you can come online set up a web business and be making $1000s within days. Let be put that myth to rest right away. This has not been my experience nor the experience of anyone I have come in contact with through my online endeavours.

You need to give yourself at least a year to make an online business work and budget your money accordingly. Too many times I see people ploughing a wad of cash into their businesses and again, expecting instant riches.

New marketers also make the mistake of thinking that one marketing strategy will do. Of course some avenues will produce more than others but I have found the best way is to adapt a broad based approach to your online marketing. That means spreading your time and resources over several different methods.

I will attempt to outline in this text everything I feel you need to be doing consistently to make a success of your online business.

Again I MUST point out that you need to persist is this strategy and spend your money wisely. It amazes me the amount of people who drop out after the first month or two. What do they expect, miracles? You wouldn’t ditch an offline business after a month so why would you expect an online enterprise to be any different?

If you fail to plan then you plan to fail.

Bottom line is, targeted visitors = sales. This is definitely a numbers game and obviously the more targeted visitors you send to your website the more money you make. The concept is simple but you need to maintain a healthy focus to ensure that you stick this out for as long as it takes to make a profit, and progress to financial freedom online.

Here are the methods I use to send daily visitors to my sites:

1)Build Your List

It’s true what they say that the money IS in the list. Most successful online marketers have large lists of targeted prospects that they can send their offers to on a regular basis. Anyone new to this business should begin to build this list immediately.

You have to start somewhere and it takes time but it is certainly worth your while to begin now and develop a lasting and trustful relationship with those list members who eventually will feel comfortable in purchasing your recommendations. When trust grows this targeted list will become a virtual money tree and make you cash at will. Some marketers are able to makes $1000s sending an email to their list, which takes little more than a few minutes to write. Can you see the power in this method?

I use a couple of different methods, online forms at all my websites encouraging prospects to add their name and email addresses plus I also purchase many of my addresses from other companies that can send me 1000s of emails for affordable prices. These addresses are spam free and can grow my list a lot quicker than I could ever do from my own websites.

I have set up some tutorials here for companies that will send you targeted visitors:
http://www.pluginprofitstraining.com/listopt.html
http://www.pluginprofitstraining.com/listmedia.html

2)Pay Per Click search engines.

Over the years I have used PPCSEs to send 1000s of visitors to my sites. This is a fast track way to drive traffic to your sites. You can be up and running and getting hits in minutes.

I use http://www.overture.com, http://www.findwhat.com, and http://www.7search.com. These are three of the most popular but there are many others which you can find here:
http://www.payperclicksearchengines.com/

I suggest you use Wordtracker (http://www.workathomebiz.info/wordtracker.html) to accumulate as many TARGETED keywords as you can. The more targeted keywords you collect the more visitors you get.

The idea is to ensure that you are paying less for visitors on a monthly basis than the sales you make.

3)Google Adwords (http://www.google.com/ads/)

Google adwords is similar in principle to PPCSEs in that you pay for your visitors. I suggest you use Wordtracker (http://www.workathomebiz.info/wordtracker.html) to accumlate 1000s of keyword phrases.

4)Article Submissions

Submitting topical articles is one of the most affordable and at the same time effective marketing strategies I know of. For more info and the resources to do this visit here:
http://www.pluginprofitstraining.com/articlesubmissions.html

5)Regular Search Engines

Yahoo, Google, and MSN send me as many visitors per day as any other strategy I use. It is highly recommended that you get started immediately to begin to build the online web presence of your website and thus your search engine rankings.

I have done this mostly through a reciprocal linking campaign which has had a greater effect on my search engine rankings than anything else. I employ the use of Linksmanager (http://www.workathomebiz.info/linksmanager.html) to automate my links campaign for which I pay a monthly fee or you can set up your own links manager at your own site using Kevin Ocasio’s excellent Reciprocal Manager (http://www.freeadvertz.com/recipmanager.html).

For affordable search engine submission software try Web Position Gold (http://www.webpositiongolddownloads.com)

Please note: This is a long term strategy, so it will take at least a few months of persistent action to see any results at all.

6)Forum Posting

One of the greatest things that happened to me in my online career was being appointed moderator at one on the most popular online internet marketing forums. This has opened up more avenues and opportunities than any other strategy. I suggest you visit the popular, high traffic online forums daily and make it a point of sharing your experiences and giving your advice as often as possible. Get yourself seen!

The thing about this method too is that you can have a link pointing to your site in the signature of each post you make. Posting at forums will send daily traffic to your site AND the visitors will be highly targeted.

Here are two high traffic forums that I frequent:
http://www.ablake.net/forum/
http://www.howtocorp.com/forum/

This one isn’t high traffic yet but I will be there to answer your questions:
http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com/forum/

In conclusion:

I have been marketing online since 1998 and have tried 100s of different ways to drive targeted traffic to my websites. The above six strategies work, so I suggest you print them out and make the methods part of your daily marketing plan for the foreseeable future.

If they can work for me then they WILL work for you.

I wish you every success in your efforts.

Topics: Marketing and Advertising | 1 Comment »

5 Powerful Article Writing Tips

By MoneyMan | August 6, 2007

Writing articles is one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful methods of building your reputation and your online business. Not only do you get unlimited exposure, but it is free as well!

If your article is well-written, you will probably get listed on numerous websites as well as in several ezines. This will establish you as someone who knows what they are talking about and will more than likely bring you many visitors and subscribers.

People will start to come to you when they need information or products or advice. This is a great way of establishing your online presence.

Writing articles is not as hard as you may think. You do not have to be a professional writer to produce an effective article. Below are some tips to help you get started.

1. Don’t worry about big fancy words.

People are looking for easy to understand, down-to- earth articles to help them learn. They are not interested in being impressed with encyclopedia language skills.

2. Advertise in your resource box, not the article.

Do not use you article as a big sales letter for a product or program. Give your info in the resource box. I would recommend you just try to get people to sign up for your newsletter or free report/ecourse in your resource box. Save the selling for later.

3. Make yourself accessible if someone wants to get in touch with you.

People want to know that they can get in touch with you if they have questions about your article, website, etc. Always make it easy for them to find you.

4. Provide basic, real, useful information as well as resources to go along with the info.

When writing your article, try to list some useful resources that your readers can utilize along with the information you give them. This will further give people a reason to want to stay in touch with you or your website.

5. Write from the heart!

Do not be afraid to let your personality shine through in your writing. This will make people more apt to trust you and will also make them more comfortable. Write as if you were talking to a friend and let the real you shine through. I think people appreciate this more than trying to sound like something you are not!

Do not let your doubts stop you from writing articles to build your reputation and your business. I did for awhile, but then took the plunge. My first article did surprisingly well and yours can as well! ;-)

Topics: Starting a Business | No Comments »

6 More Free Steps To Making Money Online

By MoneyMan | August 5, 2007

If you read my previous article you will know that the goal of these articles is to teach you ways to get started making money online without having to spend any money.

This is the second in the series and this time we deal with having your own blog. There are endless ways of making money once you have traffic, and your blog will get you traffic. The income we will be looking at today will come from Google Adsense.

There are multiple benefits to having a blog including the low cost (or no cost), the resources that will help you get traffic to your blog and the fact that you can provide your blog as an RSS feed. An RSS feed will allow readers to automatically receive your updates into their RSS reader.

Let’s get started with our 6 steps.

1. Set up your blog. You will need to decide what you are going to blog about. You should decide on a theme and name your blog appropriately.

There are a number of free ways to set up a blog & to have it hosted for free. We will go with Blogger.com for our first blog.

Blogger will allow you to set up a blog for free they will host it for free and they will ping search engines every time you update, meaning you will get spidered & found.

Visit blogger.com & click the button on the front page labelled ‘create your blog now’ then follow the step by step instructions that Blogger provide.

Some key settings you will want to get right are:

  1. ‘Host your blog at Blogger’ = Yes
  2. ‘Add your blog to our listings’ = Yes
  3. ‘Ping Weblogs.com‘ = Yes
  4. ‘Publish Site Feed’ = Yes

2. Write some content. Before we move any further there has to be some information on the site & that means that you have to make some entries. You can write some of these entries yourself & some can be quotes from sites of interest to your reader that you can post using the Google Toolbar.

You can download the Google toolbar for free at toolbar.google.com. The toolbar includes a Blogger button. When you visit a site that has something of interest to your readers you can highlight the appropriate text & click the Blogger button. The content will then be added to your blog along with a link back to the site.

3. Once you have some content eg a weeks worth of blogging with 1 or 2 entries for everyday, you can apply for an adsense account. When you sign in to Blogger you will see an invitation to join Adsense. Use this link and apply for an account.

You can find out all about Adsense on the Adsense page but basically you get Google ads on your site & get paid if your visitor clicks them.

Google will decide what adverts show on your site based on the content it finds within.

You need to be aware that Google will decline your application if your site is not considered to have content. Nobody outside of Google knows the precise rules on this.

Once you have been accepted you can get some javascript from Google to add to you site. Copy this & then log in to Blogger.

Once you have logged into your blog you will see that one of the tabs across the top of the screen is labelled ‘Template’. Click this. You will need to know a little bit of HTML to help find the right location to paste your Google code. But with a little experimentation you will find the right place for you. See the resource box at the end of this article for more help.

I would suggest that the ads need to be seen when the site loads but should not be too obvious or dominate your site.

4. Write some more content. Try and keep your content coming at regular intervals as a number of directories will check on your site at regular intervals & the smarter ones will visit on a schedule based on your update schedule. They will probably determine this in the hours after you first submit to them. Which is what we will do next.

5. Submit your site to Blog & RSS directories. Because you are hosting at Blogger, Weblogs.com will already be notified when you update your blog. (That means that every time you make a new entry they are automatically notified) You will need to manually submit to the various other directories some of which will require a link on your site to theirs.

You can add these links to your template below your Blogger logo. For a list of directories to get you started visit www.themoneyseed.com/rss

6. Keep writing interesting content. Ideally you want people to come back again and again. As with customers its harder to get a new visitor than to keep existing visitors. So make it interesting, in fact make it so interesting that they can’t help but tell all their friends about it also.

As with most free ways to make money this will take time to get going, but if you can build a following you will make money.

Topics: Starting a Business | No Comments »

5 Power Tips To Double Your Sales

By MoneyMan | August 4, 2007

“How Can I Double My Sales?” - that must be the silent prayer of thousands of webmasters.

There are two ways to do it: you can either double your traffic or you can double your conversion rate.

Let’s say you have a conversion rate of 2% (1 sale for every 50 visitors) and you get 100 visitors a day - you’re getting 2 sales a day. You could get 4 sales a day by increasing your traffic to 200 visitors a day.

But you can get the same result - with your existing traffic - by doubling your conversion rate (2 sales for every 50 visitors).

Here are 5 ways to double your conversion rate:

(1) Direct Response: Make sure your website is a ‘Direct Response Website’. A DRW is a site where the only options are to Buy, Bookmark, or Leave. The more options you give your visitor, the less likely they are to buy.

(2) Free E-Books: Include Free E-Books as bonus gifts with your product. This can easily double your sales - especially if the Free E-Books are genuinely useful. Here are some places you can find Free E-Books:

(3) Testimonials: Make sure you have plenty of testimonials on your website. Preferably, they should be from customers who have achieved results from your product (e.g. more traffic, more sales, saved time etc).

(4) Follow Up: You’ve probably heard this over and over again but it’s worth repeating - people have to see you your message about 7 times before they buy. The biggest mistake you can make is to try and sell your product on the first contact alone.

It just doesn’t work, and the statistics bear this out: the 1st contact produces 2% of sales, the 5th to 12th contact produce 80% of sales.

So in your ezine ads and at your website, offer something free in exchange for an email address. And then follow up with sequential (or follow-up) autoresponders.

Here are some sites that offer free follow-up autoresponders:

(5) Backend Sales: It’s no secret that successful businesses make up to 80% of their sales from previous customers. Why? Because people who have bought from you before are much more likely to buy from you again (they know you, they trust you, they were happy with your product).

The hard work in marketing is getting a customer. Once you have a customer, they’ll buy from you over and over again.

Contact your previous customers and let them know about another product that compliments the product or service they bought from you. Experts reckon that the value of ‘a lifetime customer’ lasts about 3 years - make use if it.

If you follow these 5 tips, you may well find that you can double your online sales with the traffic you already have.

Wishing you every success!