This morning was rough.  I have been sick and last night for the life of me I couldn’t fall asleep.  I finally got to sleep around 3:30 a.m. and I was woken up early.  I could go on and on because things didn’t get better after that.  One thing I did realize is that I have been absent on this blog AGAIN!!  I am really having a hard time finding some balance in my life.

Today I wanted to share one of my newer favorite Christmas songs.  This is Faith Hill singing Where are You Christmas.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmGSHZYZ74c

I hope you are enjoying this holiday season with your family and friends.  Don’t get too caught up in the busyness! Take a chance to sit down and listen to beautiful music like Where Are You Christmas!

Life has happened again. Of course no one can stop that from happening!  I have been super sick for the last two weeks almost.  So sick I was in bed sick for several days!  I guess it is that time of year.  We also have had visitors at our house.  My mom was here for over a month and my sister came for a week.

While they were here my husband and I got to take advantage of babysitters and we went to Vegas to celebrate our 10th anniversary!!  We had so much fun.  It was a very short trip but it was nice to get away.  There has also been some tragedy in our neighborhood.  My four year old daughters best friend’s little sister was run over by a truck and died.  She was only eighteen months old.  Not only that her mother was the one to do it.  It was absolutely an accident but we have all hurt so much for the family and miss the little girl so much!!

So that is my up and down news.  I wanted to share this with you so you know I am still here. Next week I will get back to the tips on making money working from home.  Until then have a great weekend.  We are having some fabulous fall weather this weekend and I hope to get out and enjoy it by taking a long walk!!

Until next week…

I know you are looking for tips and a little magic to help you in avoiding procrastination.  Well guess what it isn’t!  Sorry to disappoint you. The reason for this post is I recently read a great post by Susanne Myers on overcoming procrastination.  It really got me thinking.  I have really struggled with this.

Can you procrastinate with four kids?

Absolutely!  As you know I have four kids ages 9 down to 2 (in two weeks).  Often I have found my time is not my own!  I am cleaning, feeding, changing, laundering, others!!  My husband is a great help but…I like to have time to myself and I must admit working is not always what I want to do when I get that time. So…I procrastinate!  I put it off until later.  Sometimes later never comes.

Does that sound familiar to you?

Today I started my day by making a really long to do list (I am writing this on Oct 11th).  It is now 7pm the kids are watching a Disney channel show online,  my fabulous husband is on the floor clipping coupons, my mother (who has been visiting for a few weeks) is on the couch reading a book.  Here I am with my laptop writing a blog post.  Out of sixteen things on my list I have finished ten things.  Not to bad.  This has been a good day.  Some days I cross off only two to three things off my huge list!

How do I stop avoiding procrastination?

You have to find moments and use them. Since it is quiet right now I have decided to write this post.  If you haven’t read the book Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy you must.  The whole concept is do what you want to do first thing.  Get it over with and out of the way.  I have learned recently (I should have learned it sooner ) that if I don’t get up and exercise right away I will not do it or I will not do as much as I would like!  I dread it!!  I can’t stand it!!  I don’t want to do it!  I feel like a little kid and want to throw a tantrum, stomp my feet and yell “I WILL NOT GO!!!”  That is not pretty coming from a 34 year old mother of four!!  But guess what?  If I get up and put on my workout clothes and go out  walking right away.  I love it! It is the best part of the day.  I enjoy listening to a book on my ipod and a whole hour of quite!

Today I Ate the Frog!

Last week I did great I exercised. I canned 30 quarts of peaches.  I picked raspberries at the raspberry patch and then made eight pints of raspberry jam.  I did some videos for some blog posts.  What I didn’t do last week was write!  I didn’t write but one blog post!  This was not good!  I had done most of the work already but just couldn’t sit down and write!  So today the first thing I did, (even before exercising) was write three blog posts!!  It felt great.  I was done with the “hardest” part of my day, early!  Now here I am writing a random blog post, one that I didn’t plan.

Best ways of avoiding procrastination.

It is very simple and I think Nike said it best “Just Do it!”.  Just eat that frog.  Do the hard things first.  It really makes you feel great!

PS. Go buy the book Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy! It is a short book and you will not regret it!

photo credit: Danielle Scot

I know you have been anticipating my next tip to make money working from home!   Before we get started on that one lets review what we have covered!  First we covered making money selling your stuff including PLR and other treasures from home!  Then we talked about selling other peoples stuff.   I hope that you have used at least one of these tips to get money in your pocket right now.  If not, hold on I still have more to share with you!  Here is the next tip:

Make Money Working From Home Tip 5:

There are so many people out there trying to sell off there websites.  If you have a little money to invest, then go to eBay, Site Point, DN Forum and  Digital Point to see their website offerings. There you’ll regularly find “under monetized” sites – those are sites with good content, decent traffic, but little if any profits.

Here is what you do next snap up these under-performing websites, tweak them to make them more profitable, and then resell them. You can resell them on the same list of sites mentioned above.

If you don’t have enough money to buy a website or two, that is no problem! Instead go ahead and buy a domain at Go Daddy, this will cost less than $10. Then purchase hosting from Hostgator also less than $10. You can use coupon code: WordPress and get the first month for $.01. Once you have set up hosting then install a WordPress blog script, load it with niche content and resell it.It only takes a few hours to create, and you can be in profit just a few days later.

Check back next week to find some other Make Money Working From Home tips!

PS. If you are not familiar with how WordPress works, I would recommend going through Kelly McCausey’s WordPress Orientation.  I have been through it and it is very helpful for newbies!

Rosalind Gardner was the one to introduce me to internet affiliate marketing through her book the Super Affiliate Handbook.  Rosalind has been recording a video at the beginning of each year predicting what the year would be like for internet affiliate marketing.  I though it would be fun to see what has happened so far in 2010 and see how correct she is.  Watch the video below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9fPkbcsUvU

Rosalind makes some great predictions.  Let me tell you what I think.  I have always been a fan of frugality.  If you know me personally I have used coupons to buy things for year.  I carry a coupon binder to the store and last week I even got about fifteen items for FREE!  Yes for FREE!  I am one of those people that hold up the grocery story line with a stack of coupons. Rosalind was completely correct when she discussed saving money.  Right now a lot of people are looking for coupon codes on the internet, they are looking for ways to be frugal and a lot of it is out of necessity!

She also mentions social media and video marketing!  Within this year I have noticed a huge increase of companies offering coupons, sample and free full sized products if you become a fan of theirs on Facebook!  Big companies are really using social media to benefit them.  I have also noticed if I have any kind of bad experience with a company and mention it on Twitter, I get a message from the company asking what they can do to help!  Rosalind is right on the mark!

Video marketing has become huge.  The very few courses I have paid for this year have been on video marketing.  It is a way to not only bring traffic to a website but it is a way to get noticed.  This week I finished reading the book Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk.  He got noticed because of his video marketing on Wine Library TV!  I believe videos make things personal for people.  In a world of electronics we want to be able to see you and know we can trust you!

Lastly, Rosalind tells us about Forrester’s report that they predict that affiliate marketing will experience double digit growth!  Companies will also be putting more money into affiliate programs.  That is fantastic for us as affiliate marketers!  So what do we need to take advantage of this?  What do  you think?  I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter!

Until Next time!

Remember back in January when I told you about the 52 week Amazon Lens Challenge?  Right after I wrote this I went to NAMS 3 and I honestly have not done any Squidoo lenses since.  Even though I have not continued I have made money on the lenses I have.  Yay, right?!  Well yes and no.  I need to get back on the bandwagon!  Why am I telling you this?  I want you to learn from my mistake.  If you are making money somewhere then continue doing what you are doing and get better at it!

So what is Squidoo?

Squidoo is really where you can create a mini-website for free!  You can enjoy the benefits of making money and not have to spend money!  I am all for that.  The thing about Squidoo is that  you can create a Squidoo lens (your mini-website) on anything you would like.  So for my purpose I want to create genealogy Squidoo lenses!  I can create Squidoo lenses on software, books, how-to, etc.

Why use Squidoo?

Squidoo is a great way to build links to your site.  This is the first thing Squidoo is really good for.  The next is search engine ranking!  When you use Squidoo as a mini-website you will get the benefit of Squidoo’s high ranking in Google.  You can build a brand and reputation off of your Squidoo lenses.  One of the best advantages of Squidoo is it is so quick!  You can get a lens up and going in an hour or less!  You will also be supplementing your income with affiliate marketing on your Squidoo lenses.

If you haven’t opened an account with Squidoo go do it now!

PS. If you haven’t used Squidoo ever or need a guide as to how you should build a lens I would recommend Tiffany Dow’s ebook Social Networking on Squidoo!

Do you want to have your own business?  If so, what will you do for a business?  Most people that want to start a business start out with one of two objectives.

• The first is creating business out of their passion.  They already have a passion and possibly an idea of how to make a business out of it.  This is one of the best ways to start a business.
• The second is that they want to have a business but don’t know what their passion is.

Creating Business Out of Your Passion

This is the best way I believe to start a business.  Some success stories you may hear are about people who just happened upon a business when they were following their passion!  I have always envied people like this because I have always been a “Jack of all trades master of none.”

Starting a Business Not Knowing Your Passion

I have fallen into this category!  Over the last several year I have tried many things.  I have been successful twice at eBay.  The last time I ran eBay business I was a power seller!  But that didn’t work for me because I didn’t enjoy it!  I have run a health and wellness business out of my home but it was taking so much time away from my family.  I was successful at that and I still receive a check every month from that company.  So last year I decided to start a business online.  I knew It would be a journey because I didn’t know what my passion was.  So I started a few things. It seems that all of these roads have led me back to a niche which is my true passion!

Have You Been Ignoring Your Passion?

I have been ignoring my passion for many years now.  It all started when I was 8 years old.  I was given genealogy from my parents to copy so that I could use it for my own purposes later in life.  Well a few years after that genealogy software came out and I started inputting all my genealogy!  As I got older I started doing a little research.  The first time I discovered family members I didn’t know existed, I was hooked! There was a rush or a high that was so exciting.  I felt connected.  Like I belonged in this world!

Over many years there have been months that I worked on my genealogy non-stop.  Then I would get burnt out and not work on it at all.  So I have had my ups and downs.  The one constant is I have always wanted to be a Professional Genealogist.  This has always been a constant but I have often let that dream fade away because of one obstacle or another.  At the beginning of this year something inside started to stir.  I discovered I have been letting the sleeping giant sleep too long and now he doesn’t want to go away! I found my niche, my passion and what I love to do!  This is something I could live, eat and breath doing.

Last week I attended the National Genealogical Society annual conference.  I actual attended two genealogy conferences.  As I sat learning for six days from 8am-6pm each day I realized how I loved this.  This was not work to me at all.  I was excited everyday to go to the classes and I was more excited each night to go use the things I had learned!  The obstacles that were in my way for so many years have kind of faded away as I realize others are making a living doing this.  It is possible!  I also realized I am not alone.

I Found My Passion

Now that I have found my passion.  I am deciding on how I can use what I have learned over the last several years to implement a different business.  I want to work online as a Professional Genealogist.  In the next few weeks as I process all that I know, I will share with you what exactly I have decided to do with the knowledge I have.

It has taken a long time for me to find it but I am so grateful for a niche that I am truly passionate about!  This is something I will never want to stop doing.  It is something that I could do all day long and no realize the day has gone by!  As I was at that conference I also realized that I had finally come home and I wondered why I have been away for so long!

What is your passion?  Have you found it yet?  If you haven’t don’t stop looking you will find it!

Best,

PS. Check out my new website on genealogy at Start Your Family History.
photo credit: Yvonne R Thompson

I have been in Spring Cleaning mode here.  Up until yesterday we enjoyed seventy degree weather for a few weeks.  It was wonderful!  I have basically reorganized and purged most of my home!  This week my husband and started a Square Foot Garden.  SFG is container gardening.  We have not yet planted anything because it  is too cold still.  The day after my husband build the box and put in the soil it snowed!!  As I was thinking about the seeds we are going to plant and the harvest we will receive in several weeks, I started thinking about business!

What kinds of seeds are you planting?

As you know with any plant there has to be a growing period.  You have to nourish that seed.  You need to protect that plant.  Then harvest at the right time!  So what seeds are you planting.  In other words what do you want to harvest?  When I was at NAMS in January Mark Hendricks talked about how you need to have the end in mind.  This is the same idea! Do you want to build a list?  Have an increase in traffic?  Or do you just want an increase in income?

What will you do to nourish that seed?

So the seed has been planted in your mind as to what you would like  to harvest, now what?  It is time to go to work.  With a garden you have to consistently weed and water.  So how do you nourish your seed?  To build a list you need to get the word out, provide an incentive and maybe do a Telesummit or guest blogging.  To increase traffic do link building, guest blogging, consistent blogging on your blog, maybe some pay-per-click or advertising some other way.

The nourishing of this seed needs to be consistent.  This will be every day work or at least several times a week work.  It will be work where sometimes you get really dirty.  This is essentially the work you will do to make the harvest all worth while.  If you forget to water for a week your work will be a loss, so don’t let things slide!

When will the harvest come?

Now is confession time for me!  This is where I often fall short with my business.  I get impatient!  If you know anything about gardening you know that each one of the vegetables, flowers or whatever it is you are harvesting has their own time frame.  For instances squash takes about eight weeks from the time you plant to the time the vegetable is mature.  Broccoli on the other hand takes sixteen weeks to mature.

This is the same for business.  We don’t know when the business will be ready to harvest.  What I do know is that we need to have patience.  I also know that there will be signs of growth they let you know the health of your business.  With a plant we will start to see sprouting very soon after planting.  This is the same with your business, you will start to see people joining your list or coming to your website.  If you don’t see this kind of sprouting then you change what you are doing.  If you have too many things going on then you may be choking out your plant just as weeds do with a plant!  This is the time to get those weeds out.

So the question is: What Seeds Are You Planting in Your Business This Spring?

Decide on your objective.  When you do this make sure the market wants what you have.  Our family doesn’t like squash so it would be pointless to grow squash because it wouldn’t get eaten! Next make a plan, how are you going to get that seed to grown?  Then plant or in other words take action!  Nourish by working your plan consistently.  While nourishing you will need to watch for growth and adjust accordingly.  Sometimes you will need help when you don’t see the growth.  There are business experts everywhere.  You can join a mastermind group that will help you with the adjustments you will need to make in your business!  As you see growth you will know the harvest will happened.  So if you are looking for an increased income, a larger list or more visitors to your site you be enjoying this harvest!

You Reap What You Sow!

Haven’t we all heard that you reap what you sow.  It is true if we sow procrastination we will reap delayed dreams. If you sow a consistent, focused, hard work you will reap a stable business. 
A few finally things to remember.  Be patient with yourself and your business!  This is all about growth!  Be consistent with your plan. Always remember what your objective is.

If you plant an apple tree you will not have to do as much work for consistent harvests.  Just as an affiliate marketing business.  Once you get that website harvesting to the level you want you will not have to give that website the same amount of attention.  You will need to continue to build links and change bad links.  You will also need to email your list once a week.  So a few hours a week is all your will need to maintain that harvest!

So with all these things in mind go out and build your business by planting, nourishing and harvesting!

Off to plant,

photo credit: EraPhernalia Vintage

photo credit: kusine

photo credit: A writer afoot

Last week I shared with you some changes I made to my business.  I was trimming the business fat.  It feels great to be rid of the extras and I have to admit there was a little bit of a mourning period for me.  I had to let those other websites go and it wasn’t easy!  Now that I have some focus I have realized I am dealing with other issues.

How to Take Action?

I have not been doing much with all the extra time I have now.  I have just been making plans, plans and more plans but no action!  Let me tell why (be prepared for an excuse).  This is what I do.  You may do this to.  I plan too much in my day and have to rush from one thing to another.  Yes, I do get things done but after doing that day in and day out.  I feel strained, stressed and emotional!  After feeling this way I trimmed the fat!

Now I have all this time to think!  I have realized so many things I have not be doing in my home, business and family.  It has been eye opening and sad at the same time.  I want to do a lot in my life and I am not doing it.  I am really at a breaking point.  I have planned a lot and not taking action…Why?  No real reason!  I could analyze it but I don’t want to.  The bottom line is I am just not taking action!

Take Action Now

If you want to go on vacation it takes planning, right? Planning is only the first step.  If you are really wanting to go somewhere you have to take action.  The next steps are save up money, reserve a hotel, rental and buy plane tickets.  There is not much more than that except to get on that plane or get in that car to get there!  If you miss any of these steps you won’t have a successful vacation.

Take Business Action

This is the same with your business!  Planning is important.  You need to know where you are going, how to get there.  But don’t stop there.  Take action.  Blog every day or several times a week.  Build links going to your product pages.  Advertise your service.  Do article marketing.  Participate in social media.  Whatever it is that will make your business successful do it!  This is what I am doing.  Each day I have a list of things I need to do to become successful with my genealogy website, to help you Start Your Family History.  I have to create brand.  This week I will be setting up a blog on my new website Family History Queen (it is not live yet).  I will be branding myself the Family History Queen!  Also I am also going to a genealogy conference at the end of the month.  I just joined the National Genealogical Society last night and will be taking their home study course. I will being blogging and marketing my free e-course that will create a following.

I Have a Lot of Plans…

But if I don’t take action I will not get anywhere I want to go.  Above there is a picture of a turtle.  Just like the story of the tortoise and the hare, keep taking steps every day and you will get to your goals and achieve your dreams!  I challenge you to think about what you can do to take action in your business!  Have you been putting something off for a long time?  Have you been wanting to write and ebook?  Do you want start a membership website?  Take action today!

Gotta go get something done!

photo credit: denn

Today in Lynn Terry’s Elite brainstorming hour she gave elite members a secret! She will be closing membership to the elite forum.  As I have talked about several times, this has been the best investment I have been in my business! If you have ever thought about joining the elite group NOW is the time!

What is the benefit of the elite brainstorming group?

-A forum that is available to get one on one feedback and help from other elite members and Lynn Terry!  This is a very very active forum.

-Free downloads of all the webinars of the past.

-Free downloads of e-books, interviews and anything Lynn feels would benefit us!

-Opportunity for joint ventures.

-Find accountability partners (this is where I found Angie)!

-So much more!!

Those are just some of the benefits of joining the elite brainstorming/masterminding group! I believe that Lynn will be closing the membership tomorrow or Saturday!  So I can’t stress enough if you want to join, join now!

What have I gained from this mastermind group?

When I joined last July I had been working my business for three months on a daily basis and had not made a dime! I now am consistently making affiliate commissions each and every month!  I also found my fabulous accountability partner Angie Newton.  Angie and I are now working on a joint venture project.  One of the best things I have gained since joining the elite group is whenever I have questions or issues I can go to the private forum and get responses very quickly!

If you are in need of a brainstorming, masterminding group then you go join Lynn Terry’s Elite group!

Go do it now!!

Last week I was a bit absent from the blog.  This is because I was trimming the fat off of my business!  I know that sounds funny but it is what I was doing.  I have been spreading myself way too thin on everything I have been doing.  I guess that comes with being a mother, okay, maybe not.  Maybe it comes from being a type A personality!  Where ever it comes from I did it!

Too many blogs!

Up until last week I had four blogs and probably about ten websites.  I still do have all of them but I am not going to actively blog and update these sites!  I am finally doing what I really love!  I started a website on genealogy/family history.  It is called Start Your Family History.  This is where my main focus will lie!  Genealogy has been my passion for a very long time and I want to focus on helping others get started!  It can be quite overwhelming to figure out things on your own.

So in addition to affiliate marketing I am going to become an information product developer!  I am going to be selling the content that I create.  I have a long way to go on this project but it will happen!  I am really excited about this!

Focus your business!

It is really important to focus your business.  I know I have talked about this before but I am always needing more focus.  So what can you cut out of your business.  If you can’t cut things out can you outsource those jobs to someone else?  What I would challenge you to do is really take a good look at your business!  What can you do to have more success?

Yours,

PS. The catalyst of this change was going through Problogger’s 31 days to building a better blog.  It is a great ebook!

photo credit: Micah Sittig

So far we talked about what is affiliate marketing and what are the advantages of affiliate marketing.  Today I want to talk about the pros and cons of affiliate marketing.  There are some of both.

Pros of Affiliate Marketing

1. Very little to no money invested. – This is something that most people are looking for when they start an at-home business.  You do not have to invest money into the business to get started.  That is true if you are starting out by using Squidoo lenses or free blogging platforms such as Blogger or WordPress.com.  A more professional look is to buy a domain name from Godaddy.com and setting up a self-hosted blog on WordPress.org.  Godaddy it will cost you about $10 for a domain name.  If you search Google for a Godaddy coupon code you will be able to purchase a domain for as little as $7.  You can get hosting for a penny the first month at Hostgator.  Hostgator packages start out as low as $7.95/mo!  That is all you need to pay to get started!
2. You can choose products that you love. – The products you choose to promote are limitless.  That being said you should stick with one niche or subject until it becomes profitable.  Lynn Terry’s Elite masterminding group with help you there!
3. It is a repeatable business. -  Once you have become successful in one niche all you have to do is go and repeat what you already did with a new niche.  So the business can be as large or small as  you would like it.
4. You can truly work from home. – You do not have to go anywhere to be an affiliate marketer.  All you need is a computer and and internet connection!  You can even have kids running around you while you do this business!
5. Freedom to walk away. – A lot of businesses you are tied to everyday.  Once you have built your business up to be profitable you will be able to go take a vacation and still earn an income.  That is the life, right?

Cons of Affiliate Marketing

1. The time you must put into the business at the beginning. – In the beginning you will need to spend a lot of time working on webpages, link building, testing and tweaking.  This is not a get rich quick scheme!  It takes time.  I like to think of it as the snow ball effect. The first month you may get up twenty product pages.  The second month you get faster and more efficient so you put up thirty pages.  At the end of the second month you now have fifty product pages out there.  If you continue at the pace of thirty a month you will have three hundred and fifty product pages.  This means it will take time for you to create them as well as get traffic to these sites but the more you create the more passive income you will receive in the future!
2. You must learn a lot about internet marketing. – If you don’t know anything about internet marketing, you will soon become an expert in this field.  You will have to master search engine optimization and link building to get all of your web pages found.  This is something that is absolutely necessary.  This may be a pro for you!
3. You must have patience and persistence. – Okay for some of you that have these characteristics it will not be a con.  But for people like me this is a constant struggle!  You will have to be persistent every day for a long while to see results.  You must be patient while you wait for your income to become a full-time income.  It will come if you learn these skills.

These are the pros and cons of affiliate marketing!  I would love to hear your view on what I missed or what you think may be the pros and cons!  No business is easy but I absolutely believe that affiliate marketing can open up a world you never imagined!  You can have financial and time freedoms!  All the work you do up front is always a means to an end!

Best to you!

PS. To help you get started in affiliate marketing the best book I have found it the Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner.

photo credit: USACE Europe District

I have talked many times about my accountability partner Angie Newton.  We have been partners for quite a while now.  It has been a partnership that has helped me build and advance my business.  While Angie and I were at the NAMS 3 workshop in January, we were approached by several people asking all sorts of questions about accountability partnerships.

The questions about being accountability partners continues.

Since we have returned we still continue to get questions.  Here are some examples: How do you find an accountability partner?  What do you do when you meet?  How often do you meet? There are also many other questions.  During a recent call between Angie and I we discussed these questions and decided to address them by writing a report.

All your questions will be answered!  Now we need you questions!  Please comment in this post and share what you want to know about accountability partners!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcwBTx0TvBg

Now think, think, think!  Also please pass this on to a friend and have them think too!  Now what are you waiting for go leave a comment!

Thanks,

Continuing in the affiliate marketing series this is a follow up to my post a few days ago – What is Affiliate Marketing? Today we are going to cover some of the advantages of affiliate marketing.  In other words the why?!  I have four kids and every one of them have gone through the “why?” stage.  It always drove me crazy and I often had the desire to say “Just because!”.  Just as with kids it is important to ask and answer Why?!

What are the Advantages of Affiliate Marketing for the companies?

Have you ever wondered about a new Mexican restaurant that you saw a commercial for?  The restaurant looks really good but how much does it cost?  Does the food taste just like Taco Bell or is it good traditional Mexican food? One day you are talking to the neighbor and she mentions that her family went to this restaurant last night.  You are so excited and you ask her all the questions.  It turns out it is a fabulous restaurant and even accommodate children really well!  So the next night you plan to take your family to the restaurant.

In this example the neighbor is not getting paid for her recommendation of the Mexican restaurant but she willingly gives it.  The restaurant benefits from this greatly!  Companies would rather have personal recommendations given they pay the high costs of advertising.  People look at commercials skeptically but when someone you know recommends it you are very likely to use a product or service.  As an encouragement companies will pay people to recommend their stuff! It ends up being a win-win situation.

What are the Advantages of Affiliate Marketing for marketers?

If I like something I am going to tell you about it!  Recently I told my accountability partner Angie Newton about how much I love Quicken Home and Business.  I gave her such a recommendation that she went out and bought it!   Then she said “Why haven’t you written a blog post about it and told others?”  When I told her about Quicken I had no intention of her buying from my affiliate link but she did.  She trusts me that I am not trying to get her to just buy something. I just saw that she needed some organization with her checking account and told her what I use.  Now I am getting paid a commission from Amazon!

Most of us are going to recommend something to someone.  If you see a need and you know of something to help why not give an affiliate link to them.  Honestly people don’t have a problem with this.  So keep recommending things to people that know, like and trust you and if they decide to buy from your link you will get paid.  If not that person still will remember that you cared enough to share something that works for you!

Success,

photo credit: kevinspencer

When it comes to finances I am not a wizard! I even convinced my school counselor in High School that I didn’t need anymore math.  I only took a semester of Geometry and no Algebra.  So when it came time to budgeting and balancing a check book I wasn’t great.  About eight years ago I got a free copy of Quicken with my Turbo Tax.  I downloaded it and found that it would balance everything for me.  I later bought Quicken Home and Business. This helped me keep track of all the business expenses and income that I received as well as my family finances!

Why buy Quicken Home and Business?

Are you wondering why I am sharing this with you?  I am getting to a point.  My accountability partner Angie Newton and I were talking a few weeks ago.  She shared with me how behind she is in balancing her check book.  This was such a burden on her.  As we talked I could feel the weight on her shoulders to get it done.  I told her about Quicken.  These are some of the things I shared with her:

• With Quicken I don’t have to worry about putting in every receipt because it is connected to my Credit Union.  I press a button and Quicken Home and Business will update all the recent transactions.  Then all I need to do is match them up with what I have already recorded.
• I can keep track of when my bills need to be paid.  I also can include all your bills, such as: utilities, cable, internet, mortgage, insurance, etc.  When it is close to the date these are due I will get a reminder within Quicken.  I can even set up a reminder on my desktop.

More features of Quicken Home and Business:

There are other things about Quicken that has been very helpful.  For instance it memorizes the transaction and if you go to record a new transaction it will fill in the entry slot with the memorized information.  This makes things very quick.

This is a feature I have not used really but you can set goals for saving and getting out of debt.  Quicken will track your progress so you can have birds eye view of how you are meeting those goals.  You can also create graphs and reports to see how you are spending your money and where you income is coming from.

The business portion of Quicken helps to keep track of all the expenses you are incurring and income you are receiving!  I have recently started using Quick books for my business and then I very quickly stopped.  For my business the Quicken Home and Business has been able to keep track of everything I need to remember and track.  One last benefit I have seen is that you can import everything from Quicken to Turbo Tax when you do your taxes each year.  This saves loads of time.

After my conversation with Angie she decided to buy Quicken Home and Business.  After having the burden of balancing a check book she is done!  Quicken has been my life saver in so many ways.  I don’t forget to pay my bills and I know how much money I need for the upcoming bills.  I always know how much I have to work with and with my husband we can set financial goals for our family and my business!

Success,

PS. Right now if you purchase Quicken Home and Business you can get a great discount on Turbo Tax Home and Business!  Check it out!

PPS. If you just want to start with the beginner Quicken as I did that works too.  There are many different versions to fit your needs!

If you have followed me in my journey to find a business I love you know that I have decided to focus on affiliate marketing. When I talk about it do you ever wonder, what in the heck is affiliate marketing?  Maybe you don’t but I want to help those that don’t get it.

In the last few months I have been talking to people that I know, but don’t know what I do.  When I tell them I work at home doing affiliate marketing I always, back that statement up by asking them if they know what that is.  Most of the time they say “No”.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

By definition from Websters Online Dictionary and affiliate is: “A subordinate or subsidiary associate; a person who is affiliated with another or with an organization.”  This is absolutely true an affiliate is someone who has associated with a retail company or someone selling a product.  Now affiliate marketing is marketing for that company or person.

You become an affiliate by applying to an affiliate program.  You can go to affiliate networks such as Commission Junction, Click bank or Pepper Jam Network. These networks have many companies and products that you can become affiliates for. In other words sell their products and get paid for it.  Each company and program will offer a different percentage of commission for products that are sold through your link. You can also find a company or product you want to be an affiliate for and contact them to see if they have an affiliate program. The Super Affiliate Handbook goes into great detail about this.

How do you market a product or program?

Okay, so you have picked out one product or service and are now their affiliate.  What do you do now? You can market a product or program in many, many different ways.  The key is to have someone to talk to that would be interested in what you have to offer.  A few ways you can promote a product is with a blog, a mailing (e-mail) list, forums, an e-book, all of these things and others!

How in the world do I get paid for affiliate marketing?

When you sign up for an affiliate program you are given your own unique URL or website link.  When you are promoting this product or service to your market you use that link in your blog post, Facebook message, Twitter message, etc.  For example say my niche is Barbie dolls.  I sign up for Mattel as an affiliate.  I have a link that looks like this: http://mattel.com/aid=12349.  Now that number at the end is my member identification or affiliate number.  When I am talking about Barbie dolls on my blog, the Barbie Doll Collector, I would hyper link an image and/or the word Barbie dolls to the my affiliate link: http://mattel.com/aid=12349.

So far, so good right? Now if someone clicks on that link and buys something from Mattel you will get the 4% commission on whatever they buy.  So if they buy a collectors doll for $100 you will get paid $4.

Get the idea?  Now if you have a list of moms who want to work at home or maybe want to have their own blog you can offer them a start up guide that is free and include links to GoDaddy for the domain, Hostgator for hosting, maybe Aweber for a list management system and maybe a mom mastermind forum like Mom Masterminds.

How do you make a lot of money doing this?

Great question!  You create multiple product pages or posts on your blog, reports, e-books, articles, Squidoo lenses.  Cover all of the social media sites with great content free and paid when you do, include your affiliate links.  Make sure you follow the rules on forums and other social media sites when you do this but there are so many things you can do with affiliate links!  At NAMS we talked about strategies for social marketing.  This is a great way to get yourself out there and also an opportunity to share your affiliate links.

I hope this answers the question: what is affiliate marketing. If you have any other questions let me know!  If you want to see someone who has been very successful in affiliate marketing check out this interview of Lynn Terry. This is a PDF transcript of an interview Nicole Dean did of Lynn Terry.  This was my very first introduction to Lynn and as you know I am a huge fan!

Best,

PS. If you are going to take a serious look at doing affiliate marketing as a business make sure you get the Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner.  She gives you a clear picture as to what it is affiliate marketing is and how to be successful!

photo credit: ElizabethHudy

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.

Aristotle

Love is when the other person’s happiness is more important than your own.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.