Here is another post I made at Link Referral. I apologize for not posting more often, but I find it's best to only post when I have something useful to say to my readers, rather than use a bunch of filler just to look active to the search engines, like other people do. I want to stress that I made this specific blog to help other newbie marketers out there and NOT to impress search engines! Now, on to the post...
I've read many stories of success and failure on both ends, from people doing very well for themselves online while others are failing miserably.The biggest reason most people fail online is the lack of a good teacher. Being successful online involves a LOT of learning and many people get buried in all the dizzying amounts of information they read everywhere.
If you participant in an affiliate program or MLM of any kind, then one of the most important keys to your success is your upline sponsor and, unfortunately, if you have one who just doesn't care about you then it can be that much harder to get ahead. When you read all those marketing newsletters, many of them mention the concept of "duplication". For an affiliate program to work it must be something your downline can duplicate to acheive success. This is extremely important.
If you are someone's sponsor and they are in your downline, then it should be your duty to help prevent them from failing. If you are successful, then you need to teach them HOW you made the program work for you. After all, if they do well, then you do well too. Problem is that most people just get sign ups and then abandon their downline with no contact or tips for duplicating their success. This is a recipe for failure.
On the other hand, if you are part of a downline yourself and have just signed up to an affiliate program, you should stay in contact with your personal sponsor and they should contact you to explain how they became a success and teach you the tricks to making money. If your sponsor never offers to help you then you should find another affiliate program that cares more for their downline.
For example, one of the programs I use is EyeEarn. I know you've seen their ads everywhere, but I'm sure you've also seen proof around that it DOES work. If you sign up under someone else and they have no interest in helping, you then you are left to sink or swim based on your own ability to survive in the online marketing jungle. But, if you sign up under me, I personally see to it that you have the tools you need to acheive success, which includes ideas I've personally come up with that no one else is using and, if you've read my posts here, you know I have some great original ideas. Using these ideas I get 5 times more sign ups per month than even the testimonial on the Eye Earn sign up page!
This is true for any affiliate program I promote in that I respond personally to any questions anyone in my downline has. Your success is my success, so I obviously have a personal interest in making sure you do well in whatever program you choose. Too many new marketers forget that fundamental principle of people helping people helping people, as your downline helps their downline etc. Let's all make sure everyone does well and no one gets left behind!
Showing posts with label affiliate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label affiliate. Show all posts
Monday, June 23, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Be Exceptional!
I got asked on the weekend what it takes to succeed online and, while there are many variables, it really comes down to the individual person more than the program they choose. It's possible to make a couple dollars off pretty much anything if you are a real "go-getter". However, the problem is that most people just get lazy online and never make anything because they don't have what it takes to succeed.
Don't take offense to what I'm saying! I'm not saying YOU are lazy, but just that many people online ARE lazy. They don't have a boss watching over them at home and they lack the self discipline it takes to succeed online. To make money online you really have to pull yourself up and above everyone else. You can't just take an affiliate gateway site or throw up a splash page and expect to sit back waiting for the sales to roll in. You'll be waiting a LONG time!
My advice would be to work hard at success and set yourself apart from everyone else. Don't just follow the herd and do what they do. To truly succeed you have to BE EXCEPTIONAL! That's the online reality. If you work at it then the payoff will eventually be worth the effort. I promise...
Don't take offense to what I'm saying! I'm not saying YOU are lazy, but just that many people online ARE lazy. They don't have a boss watching over them at home and they lack the self discipline it takes to succeed online. To make money online you really have to pull yourself up and above everyone else. You can't just take an affiliate gateway site or throw up a splash page and expect to sit back waiting for the sales to roll in. You'll be waiting a LONG time!
My advice would be to work hard at success and set yourself apart from everyone else. Don't just follow the herd and do what they do. To truly succeed you have to BE EXCEPTIONAL! That's the online reality. If you work at it then the payoff will eventually be worth the effort. I promise...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Unique Website Domain Names Work Best!
My tip for today is something amazingly simple, yet overlooked by the average online affiliate marketer. I know many of you reading this are making money, or trying to make money, by promoting some product or another for a company by using their affiliate link address, which is usually quite long and unappealing. I've seen some REALLY long and cumbersome URL names out there being promoted!
To address this issue of long addresses (I couldn't resist the pun!) there are MANY places that have sprung up all over the net offering to "cloak" your URL or make it shorter. Horror stories of Clickbank commissions being stolen by other affiliates have created cloaking as the method of choice for many affiliates to protect their sales potential.
I, however, would suggest you consider a MUCH better alternative. For less then 20 bucks you can have your very own domain name that can be forwarded and masked (cloaked) to your affiliate website address. This address becomes YOURS and, being unique, is much more search engine friendly than competing with many similar affiliate URL's. Plus, when you own a domain name you get your own professional looking email address with it as well.
Yes, you could use a popular free service like Tinyurl to cloak your long link name, but I urge you to see the reality of that. There are tinyurl links all over the net now, to the point where you are competing with others with similar tinyurl names just as much as you would with the original affiliate url. A tinyurl or similar service url will never be found on its own unless you pay to list it through your keywords on a service like Adwords on Google.
I want to mention a tip here too, since there is much debate over the "proper" way to do URL forwarding or redirection so as not to be penalized by Google. The fact is that it's really a case by case basis, depending on your situation. You should "mask" your forwarded domain if you really don't want surfers to know the destination, as your own domain will stay in the address bar that way. However, keep in mind that your masked keywords used will be ignored by Google and, recently, Google (yet again) changed its algorithm so that it will even remove your domain from the search listings if it appears to be a phishing attempt, so be careful!
If you don't want to cloak or hide your affiliate link, but you just want an easier to remember name then use forwarding without masking the URL, but make sure to pick the "301" permanent redirect option or the search engines will ignore you again, or all sorts of other problems can arise down the road. This works great if you're on a free host as well, since you can just forward your professional sounding domain name to their subdomain or sub-directory URL they give you when you sign up.
The flexibility of having your own domain name and its benefits are enormous. It makes you stand out from the crowd, showing you are unique, which will increase your SALES dramatically. URL forwarding is very easy to set up through your domain registrar, so don't be scared off by thinking it's a difficult task. Look at it this way...which domain name do YOU think a potential buyer to your product would be more likely to click on, your own address at http://www.youruniquesiteaddress.com/ (for example) or an affiliate id at some place that sounds like www.affiliatetrackersalessite.com/id-3576901/saleshop??
My own address here at http://www.adegreeofsuccess.com/ is just forwarded to Blogspot.com, as A Degree Of Success is simply easier to remember and more to the point than http://adegreeofsuccess.blogspot.com/ , don't you agree? Getting your own domain name is a VERY worthwhile low cost investment, which you'll get back quickly with increased sales!
Click the link to increase your sales and make more money today by getting your own domain name now! You'll be glad you did!
To address this issue of long addresses (I couldn't resist the pun!) there are MANY places that have sprung up all over the net offering to "cloak" your URL or make it shorter. Horror stories of Clickbank commissions being stolen by other affiliates have created cloaking as the method of choice for many affiliates to protect their sales potential.
I, however, would suggest you consider a MUCH better alternative. For less then 20 bucks you can have your very own domain name that can be forwarded and masked (cloaked) to your affiliate website address. This address becomes YOURS and, being unique, is much more search engine friendly than competing with many similar affiliate URL's. Plus, when you own a domain name you get your own professional looking email address with it as well.
Yes, you could use a popular free service like Tinyurl to cloak your long link name, but I urge you to see the reality of that. There are tinyurl links all over the net now, to the point where you are competing with others with similar tinyurl names just as much as you would with the original affiliate url. A tinyurl or similar service url will never be found on its own unless you pay to list it through your keywords on a service like Adwords on Google.
I want to mention a tip here too, since there is much debate over the "proper" way to do URL forwarding or redirection so as not to be penalized by Google. The fact is that it's really a case by case basis, depending on your situation. You should "mask" your forwarded domain if you really don't want surfers to know the destination, as your own domain will stay in the address bar that way. However, keep in mind that your masked keywords used will be ignored by Google and, recently, Google (yet again) changed its algorithm so that it will even remove your domain from the search listings if it appears to be a phishing attempt, so be careful!
If you don't want to cloak or hide your affiliate link, but you just want an easier to remember name then use forwarding without masking the URL, but make sure to pick the "301" permanent redirect option or the search engines will ignore you again, or all sorts of other problems can arise down the road. This works great if you're on a free host as well, since you can just forward your professional sounding domain name to their subdomain or sub-directory URL they give you when you sign up.
The flexibility of having your own domain name and its benefits are enormous. It makes you stand out from the crowd, showing you are unique, which will increase your SALES dramatically. URL forwarding is very easy to set up through your domain registrar, so don't be scared off by thinking it's a difficult task. Look at it this way...which domain name do YOU think a potential buyer to your product would be more likely to click on, your own address at http://www.youruniquesiteaddress.com/ (for example) or an affiliate id at some place that sounds like www.affiliatetrackersalessite.com/id-3576901/saleshop??
My own address here at http://www.adegreeofsuccess.com/ is just forwarded to Blogspot.com, as A Degree Of Success is simply easier to remember and more to the point than http://adegreeofsuccess.blogspot.com/ , don't you agree? Getting your own domain name is a VERY worthwhile low cost investment, which you'll get back quickly with increased sales!
Click the link to increase your sales and make more money today by getting your own domain name now! You'll be glad you did!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Asmodeus' Work From Home Story
It's perhaps a bit late in this blog to be giving you my life story, but I thought this was a good time to tell you a few things about me, if for no other reason than to give you a bit of inspiration to carry on when things get difficult. My friends and regular readers will notice gaps of time in my blog and that is due to the fact that I have an intestinal illness which prevents me from doing anything at all on some days. I get very severe pain and can't even move much on bad days, much less sitting up in front of a computer to update my blog.
However, the part that I'd like to focus on is how working from home has basically saved me from a life of poverty. I had a good job in an office as a supervisor and was doing quite well for myself, I thought, until my illness took it all away from me and prevented full time work as a possibility. I tried several crappy part time jobs, working when I could to try to make ends meet, until I came to the realization that I could NEVER get ahead that way. I'd always be poor, just living day to day.
So, I set my goal to work for myself at home, where I could be comfortable, and do what I could to be successful as my own boss. It was a struggle at first, as it will be for anyone starting off (never believe the hype that you can get rich overnight!), but I fought against all the obstacles that came my way. I've always believed that an obstacle is just a good challenge to find a solution. Those who only see the obstacle without looking for the solution are the ones destined for failure. ALWAYS look at an obstacle as another step in getting ahead once you overcome it, and you WILL overcome it if you choose to work at it!
I tried many different ideas at home. I sold satellite dishes, programs and many different MLM schemes (anyone remember "Project 21"?), but they either didn't work or made very little. Since I didn't want to live my life on a meagre disability pension, I continued on, determined to succeed.
I already had a university degree, so I tried to use my education background to my advantage at home in perfecting techniques that worked. My university training was in logic and solutions, so that helped quite a bit! I got into being a degree broker for various small colleges and universities, and that worked great for me. I recommend being a Degree Broker to anyone who realizes the importance of a good education.
Then I became a Mystery Shopper and I have a lot of fun with that one. I get free food, gas, groceries etc. and, because of this, many of my basic expenses are already covered! I worked my way up the ranks over the years and now am a full fledged service evaluator for my entire region. I plan to write a more detailed post on this topic in the future as there are MANY scams out there related to mystery shopping and I intend to expose those for you.
Among many things I have on the go now, my latest project is running the new EyeEarn Community Network and, so far it's the easiest affiliate program I've ever been involved in. What could be simpler than wearing a shirt or driving a car with a website logo on it? No cold calling or bugging your friends or really pushing it on anyone. People see the website address as you do your daily routine and they join if they want to! You can Join EyeEarn for free and see for yourself!
There are "gurus" out there who will tell you to focus on just one thing to be successful, but you'll notice that the "one thing" always happens to be the program they are promoting. My advice to you is the exact opposite. Try a few different things and see what works for you, after giving each one an honest shot of hard work. If you put all your time into just one thing, as they tell you, and it doesn't work for you, then you've wasted valuable time that could have been used on something else! Always keep your options open.
Even if you only make a bit of money off each idea, then you are creating multiple income streams that, put together, will make you a nice income. That's what I do with my affiliate programs, mystery shopping and my Ebay store and, trust me, it works! I believe almost anyone can be successful if they want to be.
However, the part that I'd like to focus on is how working from home has basically saved me from a life of poverty. I had a good job in an office as a supervisor and was doing quite well for myself, I thought, until my illness took it all away from me and prevented full time work as a possibility. I tried several crappy part time jobs, working when I could to try to make ends meet, until I came to the realization that I could NEVER get ahead that way. I'd always be poor, just living day to day.
So, I set my goal to work for myself at home, where I could be comfortable, and do what I could to be successful as my own boss. It was a struggle at first, as it will be for anyone starting off (never believe the hype that you can get rich overnight!), but I fought against all the obstacles that came my way. I've always believed that an obstacle is just a good challenge to find a solution. Those who only see the obstacle without looking for the solution are the ones destined for failure. ALWAYS look at an obstacle as another step in getting ahead once you overcome it, and you WILL overcome it if you choose to work at it!
I tried many different ideas at home. I sold satellite dishes, programs and many different MLM schemes (anyone remember "Project 21"?), but they either didn't work or made very little. Since I didn't want to live my life on a meagre disability pension, I continued on, determined to succeed.
I already had a university degree, so I tried to use my education background to my advantage at home in perfecting techniques that worked. My university training was in logic and solutions, so that helped quite a bit! I got into being a degree broker for various small colleges and universities, and that worked great for me. I recommend being a Degree Broker to anyone who realizes the importance of a good education.
Then I became a Mystery Shopper and I have a lot of fun with that one. I get free food, gas, groceries etc. and, because of this, many of my basic expenses are already covered! I worked my way up the ranks over the years and now am a full fledged service evaluator for my entire region. I plan to write a more detailed post on this topic in the future as there are MANY scams out there related to mystery shopping and I intend to expose those for you.
Among many things I have on the go now, my latest project is running the new EyeEarn Community Network and, so far it's the easiest affiliate program I've ever been involved in. What could be simpler than wearing a shirt or driving a car with a website logo on it? No cold calling or bugging your friends or really pushing it on anyone. People see the website address as you do your daily routine and they join if they want to! You can Join EyeEarn for free and see for yourself!
There are "gurus" out there who will tell you to focus on just one thing to be successful, but you'll notice that the "one thing" always happens to be the program they are promoting. My advice to you is the exact opposite. Try a few different things and see what works for you, after giving each one an honest shot of hard work. If you put all your time into just one thing, as they tell you, and it doesn't work for you, then you've wasted valuable time that could have been used on something else! Always keep your options open.
Even if you only make a bit of money off each idea, then you are creating multiple income streams that, put together, will make you a nice income. That's what I do with my affiliate programs, mystery shopping and my Ebay store and, trust me, it works! I believe almost anyone can be successful if they want to be.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Read Between The Lines
I want you to ask questions. LOTS of questions. I want you to THINK first and THEN react. I want you to research and read and learn and prosper. I want you to be a SUCCESS!!
Got your attention? Good! By now I KNOW you've seen 100's or even 1000's of websites shouting at you about how you can get RICH online if you just do what they tell you to do. They make it sound so simple. Just join their free site and you'll be rolling in the dough a day later. Well, I hate to tell you but it ain't gonna happen. They use what we call hype to get your blood pumping and your adrenaline screaming to action in the hope you'll join them, spend some money, and make THEM rich. You won't get rich yourself and, most of the time, THEY aren't rich either. It's the hype talking.
I've always been honest with everyone in saying that, to make ANY money online, requires patience and a LOT of hard work. Those who tell you otherwise are LYING to get you to join under them. For the record, I myself am NOT rich. However, I DO make a living working at home. I've been doing it for 7 years now and I work at home for myself, using the ideas I share with you in this blog. I make a decent income and it's enough that I no longer have to work in the "rat race" for someone else. I also have a nice home up on a high hill by the ocean (see photo at bottom of page taken from my front lawn). I do fine on my own, doing what I do.
I mention all this because some of you are STILL getting sucked in by the hype of those flashy websites. As I surf around forums and click sites I see 1000's of hyped up claims that never amount to anything. There was one today saying I'd make a "cool million" just by reading emails. Wow! If it was really THAT easy I don't think anyone would ever go back to work again! We'd all be millionaires!!
So, what's a poor surfer to do? Read between the lines. Don't be distracted by the hype. THINK about what you are reading and see if it makes sense. A million for reading emails? Nope.
I'll leave you with an example I read 2 days ago of a site run by a self-proclaimed internet success "guru". I don't want to give too much info to identify the site, as I'm not here to slag the marketing hype of others, but I just want you to be aware of what to look for. I was sent a message through Adland of a "great" free eBook on the mistakes others make online. Curious, I read it and this "successful guy" wrote about how well he was doing. He had a pic of him with his fancy car and house. He said that I, too, could be as successful as him. He certained LOOKED successful in the photo and information presented.
However, upon closer inspection, I noticed a pattern. He was claiming to be making that "six figure income" we hear about all the time, yet he was clicking for ad credit on a FREE site. He claimed to be bringing in over $100, 000 a MONTH! Heck, if I was making over 100k a month, I could afford to market myself with a full page spread in Time magazine! I could afford to advertise ANYWHERE I wanted.
Also, he kept saying you need to work hard and focus on just ONE program to get rich. He kept repeating that he only uses ONE program to make over 100k a month. After reading several pages of his eBook, he gave a link to this one program which, of course, was his. Now, I'm not saying we don't all promote our programs, as I do too, but he claimed that one program is all you need, yet had several of his own affiliate links plastered throughout the pages. If he's making 100k from just one program, why is he trying to make a few cents off an affiliate link to someone else's program site? Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Read between the lines...
Got your attention? Good! By now I KNOW you've seen 100's or even 1000's of websites shouting at you about how you can get RICH online if you just do what they tell you to do. They make it sound so simple. Just join their free site and you'll be rolling in the dough a day later. Well, I hate to tell you but it ain't gonna happen. They use what we call hype to get your blood pumping and your adrenaline screaming to action in the hope you'll join them, spend some money, and make THEM rich. You won't get rich yourself and, most of the time, THEY aren't rich either. It's the hype talking.
I've always been honest with everyone in saying that, to make ANY money online, requires patience and a LOT of hard work. Those who tell you otherwise are LYING to get you to join under them. For the record, I myself am NOT rich. However, I DO make a living working at home. I've been doing it for 7 years now and I work at home for myself, using the ideas I share with you in this blog. I make a decent income and it's enough that I no longer have to work in the "rat race" for someone else. I also have a nice home up on a high hill by the ocean (see photo at bottom of page taken from my front lawn). I do fine on my own, doing what I do.
I mention all this because some of you are STILL getting sucked in by the hype of those flashy websites. As I surf around forums and click sites I see 1000's of hyped up claims that never amount to anything. There was one today saying I'd make a "cool million" just by reading emails. Wow! If it was really THAT easy I don't think anyone would ever go back to work again! We'd all be millionaires!!
So, what's a poor surfer to do? Read between the lines. Don't be distracted by the hype. THINK about what you are reading and see if it makes sense. A million for reading emails? Nope.
I'll leave you with an example I read 2 days ago of a site run by a self-proclaimed internet success "guru". I don't want to give too much info to identify the site, as I'm not here to slag the marketing hype of others, but I just want you to be aware of what to look for. I was sent a message through Adland of a "great" free eBook on the mistakes others make online. Curious, I read it and this "successful guy" wrote about how well he was doing. He had a pic of him with his fancy car and house. He said that I, too, could be as successful as him. He certained LOOKED successful in the photo and information presented.
However, upon closer inspection, I noticed a pattern. He was claiming to be making that "six figure income" we hear about all the time, yet he was clicking for ad credit on a FREE site. He claimed to be bringing in over $100, 000 a MONTH! Heck, if I was making over 100k a month, I could afford to market myself with a full page spread in Time magazine! I could afford to advertise ANYWHERE I wanted.
Also, he kept saying you need to work hard and focus on just ONE program to get rich. He kept repeating that he only uses ONE program to make over 100k a month. After reading several pages of his eBook, he gave a link to this one program which, of course, was his. Now, I'm not saying we don't all promote our programs, as I do too, but he claimed that one program is all you need, yet had several of his own affiliate links plastered throughout the pages. If he's making 100k from just one program, why is he trying to make a few cents off an affiliate link to someone else's program site? Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Read between the lines...
Saturday, February 2, 2008
No Such Thing As Passive Income!
I know you've all seen LOTS of ads screaming at you about the joys of "passive income" and how you can make huge truckloads of money in your sleep, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's all a LIE! They are just trying to scam your lazy side. A big part of why I started this blog was to expose some of the crooks out there, while also showing you how to actually BENEFIT from their schemes. Many of us want something for nothing, or at least to make money with the least amount of work, and that is the weakness that the scammers prey upon.
Truth is, anything you do is going to come at a cost. If you want to be a free member of a site without paying anything, then be prepared to click endless links or read bottomless junk mail until your fingers virtually bleed, in exchange for perhaps a few pennies per hour for your time. Never underestimate the value of your "sweat equity"! Your time is worth MUCH more than a few cents an hour, but you just have to be made aware of that. Working from home seems easy when told you just have to view some ads or emails, but it NEVER pays off in any real income payoff.
There was a time, during the internet boom of a few years ago, when all you had to do was throw up a few banners on a site and then go to bed while the money rolled into your bank account. However, any honest and REAL internet entrepreneur will tell you that those days are LONG GONE! These days, in the so-called "web 2.0" period, a person has to WORK really hard to achieve any degree of success. There have been so many scams out there over the years that now people are more wary of buying anything online unless it's from a trusted online establishment, and your small affiliate page with your smiling picture on it just won't do.
You now have to go WAY beyond that. You have to assure your potential customer that you aren't going to rip them off. You should be comfortable yourself with any affiliate program you associate with and, no matter what they tell you about your "warm market", do not spam your friends. If you are promoting a program you truly believe they might want to look at, then send to them a personal friend email asking how they are doing and just mention the program as an aside as something they should look into. When you send a bulk spammy email to everyone, including your friends, it seems impersonal and they will feel insulted, and you don't want ANY potential customers to feel that way.
Keeping all that in mind, technically you CAN make money while you sleep, but it's not really "passive" after you consider the endless hours you need to put into making it all work. It's the work you do when NOT sleeping that will make you money later on. I DO make a living working from home, but I also work sometimes 18 hour days to make that happen, and you should be prepared to do the same thing if you want to be truly successful.
I participate in and maintain 73 different websites and affiliate programs, and that requires a great deal of effort in terms of time and organization. I don't intend to make an exhaustive list of all the programs I'm involved in here as, truthfully, many aren't worth the effort and I participate mainly as an experiment so I can report on the "good, the bad and the ugly" to you here in my blog. I stick with a program long enough to determine if it's crap or if it's worth pursuing, and then I report on it accordingly. Those programs that make it to this blog are the ones that have been tested to have at least SOME benefit to the average user. That may be in the form of FREE advertising (ie. WebCentreSurf or the like) or in REAL income that can make you a living working from home (ie. Degree Brokering). What you choose to do is up to you, but, as always, I wish you the all the best!
Truth is, anything you do is going to come at a cost. If you want to be a free member of a site without paying anything, then be prepared to click endless links or read bottomless junk mail until your fingers virtually bleed, in exchange for perhaps a few pennies per hour for your time. Never underestimate the value of your "sweat equity"! Your time is worth MUCH more than a few cents an hour, but you just have to be made aware of that. Working from home seems easy when told you just have to view some ads or emails, but it NEVER pays off in any real income payoff.
There was a time, during the internet boom of a few years ago, when all you had to do was throw up a few banners on a site and then go to bed while the money rolled into your bank account. However, any honest and REAL internet entrepreneur will tell you that those days are LONG GONE! These days, in the so-called "web 2.0" period, a person has to WORK really hard to achieve any degree of success. There have been so many scams out there over the years that now people are more wary of buying anything online unless it's from a trusted online establishment, and your small affiliate page with your smiling picture on it just won't do.
You now have to go WAY beyond that. You have to assure your potential customer that you aren't going to rip them off. You should be comfortable yourself with any affiliate program you associate with and, no matter what they tell you about your "warm market", do not spam your friends. If you are promoting a program you truly believe they might want to look at, then send to them a personal friend email asking how they are doing and just mention the program as an aside as something they should look into. When you send a bulk spammy email to everyone, including your friends, it seems impersonal and they will feel insulted, and you don't want ANY potential customers to feel that way.
Keeping all that in mind, technically you CAN make money while you sleep, but it's not really "passive" after you consider the endless hours you need to put into making it all work. It's the work you do when NOT sleeping that will make you money later on. I DO make a living working from home, but I also work sometimes 18 hour days to make that happen, and you should be prepared to do the same thing if you want to be truly successful.
I participate in and maintain 73 different websites and affiliate programs, and that requires a great deal of effort in terms of time and organization. I don't intend to make an exhaustive list of all the programs I'm involved in here as, truthfully, many aren't worth the effort and I participate mainly as an experiment so I can report on the "good, the bad and the ugly" to you here in my blog. I stick with a program long enough to determine if it's crap or if it's worth pursuing, and then I report on it accordingly. Those programs that make it to this blog are the ones that have been tested to have at least SOME benefit to the average user. That may be in the form of FREE advertising (ie. WebCentreSurf or the like) or in REAL income that can make you a living working from home (ie. Degree Brokering). What you choose to do is up to you, but, as always, I wish you the all the best!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Need Traffic? Surf For Credit!
I'm Back! I hope everyone had a great week and many successful ventures.
My post for today is focused on what I call the "surf for credit" type sites, also known as surfing for cash or credit. Very similar to what I mentioned in my Adbux post, but with a couple of important differences. (By the way, Adbux was having some problems with their site hosting and have moved, in case you noticed it was down).
The important differences are that with the surf programs the sites will breeze right by in front of your eyes while you watch, whereas the Adbux type ones you have to specifically click on the ad text to see the full site. The other thing is that, technically, there is no money adding up for you as you surf the credit sites, since you are being "paid" in credits to be used for your own ads. While you CAN make a little money with their affiliate programs, that requires more effort, whereas with Adbux and the like you can start making your few cents on your own right away. The thing they ALL have in common, as far as I'm concerned, is that they shouldn't be thought of as a means to make any amount of riches, but as a cheap means of getting advertising traffic for whatever program you choose that WILL make you rich.
That being said, I'll just give a quick overview of 2 surf credit sites I recommend along with the pros and cons of each. There are MANY sites out there, but 2 of the best to get started are the WebCentreSurf traffic site and the ad traffic exchange at TrafficG. The obvious first difference between these two is that the Webcentre site is more user friendly and easier to start than the TrafficG site. The TrafficG site takes more effort to list your sites and add descriptions while at Webcentre you just copy and paste your site addresses and you're good to go.
Each one features fun symbols to click on for credit as you view the sites. At WebCentre you have to watch each site for 10 seconds and when the timer hits 0 you have to click on a matching symbol or color to confirm your credit. The rapid trivia for bonus points helps keep you paying attention if you start nodding off while surfing! The main stats page is also very user friendly and easily understood. Surf ratio is 40% unless you upgrade. Also, you can only list up to 5 sites as a free member.
TrafficG has a 30 second timer and no trivia games, but there is what they call a "skill card" which you have to click on once in awhile to prove you are still viewing the sites. Their symbols are generally cartoon characters as well. They have a promotional page where you can list all your sites on one page, which I found handy. They also offer a starter page option for your browser. Surf ratio can be 1:1 without upgrading, but only after you surf for awhile. You can list as many sites as you like for free.
To summarize, Webcentresurf is fun, easy and to the point when surfing. TrafficG offers many other features (perhaps too many) for a beginner with only 1 or 2 sites to promote. Your pick depends on what you require from them. My recommendation for listing them here is that they are both FREE services in which you can create ads for your websites and programs and have them seen by 1000's of people looking for what you are selling. Both also have a hit counter telling you how many times your ads/sites were viewed and you can list several on each site. So, what have you got to lose? It's FREE advertising for you! Check them BOTH out NOW!!
My post for today is focused on what I call the "surf for credit" type sites, also known as surfing for cash or credit. Very similar to what I mentioned in my Adbux post, but with a couple of important differences. (By the way, Adbux was having some problems with their site hosting and have moved, in case you noticed it was down).
The important differences are that with the surf programs the sites will breeze right by in front of your eyes while you watch, whereas the Adbux type ones you have to specifically click on the ad text to see the full site. The other thing is that, technically, there is no money adding up for you as you surf the credit sites, since you are being "paid" in credits to be used for your own ads. While you CAN make a little money with their affiliate programs, that requires more effort, whereas with Adbux and the like you can start making your few cents on your own right away. The thing they ALL have in common, as far as I'm concerned, is that they shouldn't be thought of as a means to make any amount of riches, but as a cheap means of getting advertising traffic for whatever program you choose that WILL make you rich.
That being said, I'll just give a quick overview of 2 surf credit sites I recommend along with the pros and cons of each. There are MANY sites out there, but 2 of the best to get started are the WebCentreSurf traffic site and the ad traffic exchange at TrafficG. The obvious first difference between these two is that the Webcentre site is more user friendly and easier to start than the TrafficG site. The TrafficG site takes more effort to list your sites and add descriptions while at Webcentre you just copy and paste your site addresses and you're good to go.
Each one features fun symbols to click on for credit as you view the sites. At WebCentre you have to watch each site for 10 seconds and when the timer hits 0 you have to click on a matching symbol or color to confirm your credit. The rapid trivia for bonus points helps keep you paying attention if you start nodding off while surfing! The main stats page is also very user friendly and easily understood. Surf ratio is 40% unless you upgrade. Also, you can only list up to 5 sites as a free member.
TrafficG has a 30 second timer and no trivia games, but there is what they call a "skill card" which you have to click on once in awhile to prove you are still viewing the sites. Their symbols are generally cartoon characters as well. They have a promotional page where you can list all your sites on one page, which I found handy. They also offer a starter page option for your browser. Surf ratio can be 1:1 without upgrading, but only after you surf for awhile. You can list as many sites as you like for free.
To summarize, Webcentresurf is fun, easy and to the point when surfing. TrafficG offers many other features (perhaps too many) for a beginner with only 1 or 2 sites to promote. Your pick depends on what you require from them. My recommendation for listing them here is that they are both FREE services in which you can create ads for your websites and programs and have them seen by 1000's of people looking for what you are selling. Both also have a hit counter telling you how many times your ads/sites were viewed and you can list several on each site. So, what have you got to lose? It's FREE advertising for you! Check them BOTH out NOW!!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Happy Holidays!! Stand Out From The Crowd!
Hello Again, Friends! I've been away on Holiday and just got back today. I hope everyone had a happy and safe Holiday Season and I wish you all continued success in the New Year.
I have a simple tip for you today that I find most online marketers seem to miss, and that is to just BE YOURSELF. By now you have seen MANY ads for many different products and affiliate services, and the vast majority of them come across as very impersonal. There are lots of superlatives and dollar signs all over their pages, but not much straightforward sincerity. What they lack most is PERSONALITY. I understand that they have a product to sell, but even when I go to a "bricks and mortar" store I prefer the quaint little shop around the corner to the big impersonal box store. Keep that in mind when advertising your affiliate programs as well. Don't overuse the "cookie cutter" approach too much. While that can be handy to get started when you don't know a lot about online marketing, eventually you need to get attention by standing out from the crowd. There are MILLIONS of marketing sites out there, so do anything you can to pull yourself apart from that crowd, or your affiliate program and site will get buried in the marketing hype heap!
As always, best of luck to you and all the best in the New Year!
I have a simple tip for you today that I find most online marketers seem to miss, and that is to just BE YOURSELF. By now you have seen MANY ads for many different products and affiliate services, and the vast majority of them come across as very impersonal. There are lots of superlatives and dollar signs all over their pages, but not much straightforward sincerity. What they lack most is PERSONALITY. I understand that they have a product to sell, but even when I go to a "bricks and mortar" store I prefer the quaint little shop around the corner to the big impersonal box store. Keep that in mind when advertising your affiliate programs as well. Don't overuse the "cookie cutter" approach too much. While that can be handy to get started when you don't know a lot about online marketing, eventually you need to get attention by standing out from the crowd. There are MILLIONS of marketing sites out there, so do anything you can to pull yourself apart from that crowd, or your affiliate program and site will get buried in the marketing hype heap!
As always, best of luck to you and all the best in the New Year!
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