Work From Home

Mike Filsaime and 21st Century Megatrends

2011-02-04T07:02:00.000-05:00

Mike Filsaime has always impressed me as a hardworking kind of guy. The results he has achieved have been nothing short of remarkable and if you've been into internet marketing for any time at all, you've probably run across at least one or two of his products.

What I like about this post from him is that he has identified a 21st Century Megatrend that most people have hardly begun to grasp - I can sum it all up in an oversimplified statement of fact - "Offer pushbutton-easy online solutions that really help people build income and they will flock to your products" - Sounds so simple. It is - but the builders of these 'buttons' as Mike points out must work harder than ever or be more organized and prepared than ever before. Try This: BVD - to Sell New and Used Items

Mike has described how the big money will be made in the 21st century below: It's an interesting read and a brilliant insight that deserves your attention.

As posted by Mike Filsaime on MikeFilsaime.com

I am going to tell you a SAD but TRUE lesson.
A lesson, that if you follow, will allow you to increase your income in ways you never would have believed possible. Please note, I am NOT selling you anything. There is no link to go buy anything. Not now, or later. And this is not a set up to buy anything in the future.

I am simply sharing what I have learned and what has allowed me to make millions of dollars online. (If you have no idea of that, that is OK, you may have been invited to this article. You can go to theHistoryOfMikeFilsaime.com to see how I built my business or you can do a Google search on “Mike Filsaime”.)

O.K. So let me explain to you my Million Dollar Secret.
Real quick… First what I want to make make clear, is that I am talking to anyone in the service related business. And what I mean by that is, you are selling (or promoting as an affiliate) a product or service that will help solve someone’s problem, cure their pain, answer their question, or give them the pleasure that they are seeking.

(I am not relating to people that are doing some type of arbitrage by getting traffic and making money by clicks made off their sites while sending the customer somewhere else.)

So why the title: “Fish, Poles, Boxes, and Buttons… WTC?” What is the connection between Fish, Poles, Boxes, and Buttons?

Well, I am sure you have heard the biblical story that teaches the lesson of:
“Give a man a fish, feed him for a day… If you teach him to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

Now, while that is noble, and true. The fact (the very very SAD fact) is that MOST people do not want to learn how to fish. Most people do not want to LEARN how to do anything.

So what does that mean? Does that mean that people really just want the fish?

YES!

But they do not just want the fish, but they want it cooked, served right out of the oven, with a great white wine, butter and lemon on to baste it, and some nice rice and vegetables on the side.

And… They want it in a nice environment, and they want pay someone to do it right for them!

That… my dear friend, is the million dollar secret. But I can not just leave it there. Please allow me to explain more of what I mean.

Progression…

Fish: Teach “How to” Catch Fish - 10% of market, high refund rate.
Pole: Sell The Pole - 20% of market, medium refund rate
Box: Give Him The Fish - 30% of market, Low Refund Rate
Button: Prepare the Fish Dinner - 50% of market, Pays a Premium, keeps coming back, and virtually no refund rate.

So we spoke about Fish and Pole…What do I mean by “BOX”?

Well, a “Box” is almost there. And a good place to sell products and services. It is better than teaching how to fish, or selling tools to help you fish. The Box means “Business in a box” or “Solution in a Box” - But it still requires the person to do a little bit of work.

So does that mean the best business to be in is selling “Buttons”?

YES!! You want to be in the business of selling buttons. People want to push buttons and get results. You want PUSH BUTTON NICHE results.

Look at the BUTTONS that sell every day on TV!

* The Diet Patch - Place a patch on your arm, lose weight
* The Diet Pill - Eat what you want, and still lose weight
* The Roomba, cleans your house while you sleep
* The Rotisserie Gold - Set It and Forget it -
* Magic Cream to Remove Wrinkles
* Re grow hair while you sleep
* Whiten Your Teeth in 2 minutes per day

You know, I was talking with John Reese recently, and he made a statement that was just incredible. I will refer to it as “THE FIRST CLASS OPTION” -

What that means is, if there is a service, there are ALWAYS people willing to pay more, to get better, faster, premium service. Look at airlines for example. People pay 10x the price to get in line faster and get off the plane first (to meet everyone at baggage claim at the same time) as well as a nice seat and better dining.

If you go to amusement parks like Disney, you will now notice they sell Premium PASS tickets, that means you pay an extra $20, and you can go on the express line and not have to wait on 45 minute lines to get on a ride while they just walk you right to the front.

We live in a FED-EX world. People want it NOW and they are willing to pay a premium to get it faster. (Just look at a Amazon check out.) - We can have it mailed for FREE with their super saver, or we can pay $24.95 to have it tomorrow. Many people pay more for shipping than they do for a book, just so they can have it NOW, and not have to wait.

SIDE NOTE: Not only are you losing money if you do not offer a premium price and better service. (That is correct, there are people that WANT to pay more to be a VIP or Platinum member. Just look at the VIP up-selll you see for dinners when we buy a seminar ticket.)

If you go to a Tony Robbins Event, he has Platinum Members in the front row. Then they have Premium tickets in the first 5 rows. These people pay $800 more than the average price. (Just like we see at sporting events. Better seats, premium price. And people are willing to pay. People pay up to $1 Million per year for luxury suites at ball parks and stadiums.)

WORSE: If you do not offer a premium service, people may not even use your product. They may only deal with people that will take more of their money to treat them better. I have many friends that will not fly Southwest Airlines because they have no “First Class” seating!

Fact: There is an expression in the sales business. “Low Gross, High Grief…. and High Gross, Low Grief.” What that means is more often than not, the people that pay your more money are better clients. Those that penny pinch (more often than not) will be high grief. (You are better dealing with 10 people paying $1000 than 100 people paying $100.)

In fact, there is a little known secret in the insurance industry. If you ever wondered why they run your credit history (in the USA) when you go to pay for car insurance, you may be surprised what the reason is. They do not need to know your credit because they are not lending money. You pay first, then get a policy. If you do not pay, they just cancel you on the spot… SO WHY THE CREDIT CHECK?

The insurance companies have found that people with low credit scores generally have low cash flow. People with better credit unusually have better cash flow. The bottom line is, people with better cash flow are LESS likely to make a claim for an small fender-bender than people with poor cash flow (usually poor credit.) - The end result is, people with good credit usually avoid making a claim and pay for the $2000 repair themselves because they know that making a claim can raise their rates on all 3 cars, or they maybe even be dropped from auto and home all together. Poor cash flow people tend to place every little claim with the insurance company and therefore are not the ideal clients for a profit seeking private insurance company. So THAT is why an insurance company will not carry someone with a low credit score.

Bottom line is, you want to deal with PREMIUM customers.

Heck, if you give me the option, I will pay more, just because I want to be better than average. I will admit, I love to walk on a plane before everyone else and go faster through security while people give me that look like “I have been here for 45 minutes!”

So I hope you are starting to see a picture here.

You want to offer premium services for people. You want to SELL BUTTONS. And buttons sell at a PREMIUM.

Lets look at Adsense as a niche. What can you do.

Teach “How To” FISH - You can write an ebook to teach people how to make money with Adsense. This may establish you as an expert. Sales will be not bad, and refunds will be higher than the following.

Pole (Make Fishing Easier) - You can create a software that makes it easy for people to make a site and place Adsense on it. Typically, I have found that software can outsell “HOW TO” almost 3 to one at double the price.

“BOX” (Give the FISH) - You can make site templates, that is like a business in a box, All they have to do is load them up, do a little work, and they can start making money, - Very low refund rate. (They rarely say, this is too hard. They know what they are getting.)

Button (Prepare the FISH) - You can build the sites yourself, then get them making money. And then you can sell this PUSH BUTTON “Turn Key” business for a premium and it will fly off the shelves and they will love you, pay you top dollar, beg you for more, and almost never refund.

And guess what, you can teach them to fish when they buy the BUTTON. You make that part of the FREE BONUS?

Are you starting to see the picture?

If you look at the example above, you can follow Joel Comm’s Adsense business model trough the first three. After Joel Comm learned himself how to make money with Adsense, he wrote an ebook and started a coaching program (TEACHING). He then followed with software. (POLE)

They both made him a pretty penny. But when he went to the “BOX” method, he sold 10 x more in a total of 7 days, then he did with both previous models in 2 years! And guess what… people lined up to pay him AGAIN, and the yet AGAIN when he came out with new “BOX” templates the 2nd and 3rd time!

Recently, I worked on a project in the same market. It took me and Ray (my partner on the project) almost 1 year to make the “Button”, and we sold-out the project in 7 hours!

We sold over 1000 sites, and made over $100,000 in just 7 hours and had to put SOLD OUT on the page. If I hade 10,000 sites, I could have sold them all and made $1 Million dollars. -

And the refund rate is near ZERO, and even though I stated: “once they are gone, they are gone”, I still have people coming to my help desk begging me, YES BEGGING ME, to build more sites for them and they will pay DOUBLE the asking price. - The price, $749 and they FLEW OFF THE SHELVES! -

1 EMAIL - 7 Hours - NO JV PARTNERS - No Pre-launch - ZERO BUZZ

CONTRAST: A much superior product I sold 2 months ago, was called me “The7FigureCode.com” - This product sold for $497 (almost half of the pre-made sites) and quite frankly, is one of the best products you can buy today on building a business online. (Google Reviews to see)

Now, we did very well with these. Yet we needed a huge pre launch campaign and paid huge commissions to affiliates and had to rock the world for 7 days to do so.

But I am sad to report, the refund rate on this product was higher than I wanted. I was hoping for 3% (Because it is so good.) It was more than double that. It was 8.2% - That’s right, over 200 people shipped the course back to us. While I was heart broken, it was a simple reason…

REASON: The Course Was Teaching People “How To” Fish.

We would get calls stating. “I want to return it.” We asked why? “I did not even open the box, I just do not have time to learn.”

or… “I opened the box, and felt overwhelmed.”

or… “I skimmed thru the pages, I already know it all.” (Yet, I have not made any money online, and this is a DVD course, and the ‘pages’ were only transcripts of the quality DVD’s to use as a way to take better notes.)

or… “Now What?” We said, watch DVD1, then 2, then 3, and go thru the course. - The person said: “I do not want to go thru the course, I already saw everyone speak. I just want to know what to do to make money.”

Now do not get me wrong, I am very proud of my teachings and I made a lot of money from the course but better yet, many many hundreds of people will go onto great success from what they learned.

“Don’t show me the recipe, just give me the pie.”

But what I realized, is the main reason these people asked for refunds is simple, they just do not want to take the time to learn, or they do not see learning as fun. They do not want to learn how to fish, they just want the fish!

And not just the fish, they want it cooked and served with fine wine.

The bottom line is, when you can offer someone the total solution, they will line up to pay a premium. Of course, we always want to provide top quality value and exceed expectations.

And a quick side note as well. If you provide a service, that has an easy way to track a high ROI (Return On Investment), you now have the Golden Goose.

i.e. If you have a service that provides traffic to a website or something like that, people will line up to pay you as much money as they can muster, for as much traffic as you can deliver, just so long as what they spend with you can give them more in returns than they are spending. (Look at Google Adwords.)

So what can you do with this information I outlined here?

You can go through your business and decide if you are teaching how to fish or are you selling poles, boxes, or buttons.

If you are not selling buttons, rethink what you can do in your business to sell BUTTONS and and watch your profits soar as people line up to throw premium prices as you and beg you for more and more. They will be the best customers you ever had.

Better yet, see if you can create a Golden Goose service for your customers. If you ask your customers the right questions, they will tell you what they want.

It all starts by asking yourself the right questions.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Please leave a comment to share your thoughts with the other reads and to reflect on what this will do for your business. If you dig it, then digg it!

Thanks,

Mike Filsaime

Look Ma, an eBook Generator!

2007-06-01T22:43:00.000-04:00

Generator Software’s eBook Generator

************************************
Quick Description
************************************
eBook Generator is a very useful piece of software created by Armand Morin’s company Generator Software. The software not only walks you through the steps to creating your very own eBook, but it compiles everything for you in a very professional finished product.

************************************
What I Like:
************************************
This product has been at the top of its category for years and it’s easy to understand why. The layout and structure of this software make creating your eBook a snap. It’s great for anyone looking to create a smart and professional eBook complete with your own graphics (you can customize the whole thing). In addition, you can save your layout as “templates” so that you don’t have to start from scratch the second time around.

Features like internet linking, password protection, eBook search as well as the having the ability to add multimedia files within the eBook, offer free trials, restrict access to certain areas of the eBook and so many others make eBook Generator the leader when it comes to eBook creation.

It also has an amazing security feature which virtually eliminates the chance of someone stealing your eBook as well as a full tracking system so that you can see when and how often your customers are reading your material.

************************************
Things To Watch For:
************************************
One thing to watch for is the format that it uses after creating your eBook. It turns your ebook into an EXE file which is harder to send through email. However, with all the additional features that are available because it is in a EXE file, eBook Generator becomes a no brainer. My recommendation is to simply create a download page for your customers to retrieve your eBook instead of sending the eBook through email.

************************************
Conclusion:
************************************
If you are looking for a way to compile your information into an eBook format then eBook Generator should be at the top of your list. Dollar for dollar, this is by far the best product on the market and the one thing that I like about all Generator Software products is they have a full-time support staff. So if you have questions, you can always get answers.

For more information on this product check out this link

Adsense Real Estate Sites

2007-01-20T00:12:00.000-05:00

I visited this site upon recommendation from a friend and I was very impressed to say the least. I've heard of Virtual Real Estate (VRE) and how people are making tons of money developing it but I don't have the time or skills to do it myself. AdsenseRealEstate has solved my problems, they actually build Unique Content Sites for each and every member, every month! The best part is you get to decide the Niche. The memberships are limited so get in early! Click the link below to visit the site and get information. Read the letter in the link slowly and carefully - everything that is written is absolutely true: Check it out right now.
http://adsenserealestate.com/are/?are=190

What You Must Understand About Network Marketing Scams

2007-01-14T08:36:00.000-05:00

What You Must Understand About Network Marketing Scams

If you have surfed on the internet for any appreciable amount of time, then you might have come across some ads that are definitely eye-catching. They carry phrases such as “Make Thousands of Dollars Working From Home!” or “Earn $5000 for Fifteen Minutes A Day!” These ads, to say the least, are enticing to most of us, who are always looking for ways to improve the condition of our lives.

Unfortunately enough, it is often this desire to improve our financial condition that leads us into all the wrong ventures. When greed comes into play, rationality is often lost, and thus at any point in history there have always been people who have been tricked out of their hard-earned money.

Understanding the Nature of Network Marketing Scams

Network marketing is, by its nature, very susceptible to manipulation by unscrupulous individuals and organizations. After all, the majorities of people who enter into these types of ventures are generally inexperienced and know little about the nature of business. Often, they are simply answering an ad that they chanced upon in a newspaper, on TV, or on the internet.

Most people have an abundance of common sense in them, but when it comes to money –
especially the prospect of making tons of it – most people simply lose much of their natural cautiousness. Even if what a network marketer says is almost too good to be true, there is always something in us that wants to know for sure. After all, we reason, this could be the opportunity that finally makes me rich.

Most network marketing scams present themselves as being simple and easy. In fact, this is a major selling point for most scams. Many people work very hard on their day jobs, spending their time and energy on the pressing tasks of the day. And yet they often find that even after all their hard work, they still are not where they want to be financially.

Enter the network marketer, who promises everyone that they can make tons of money by doing very minimal work. With their limited time and energy already being expended to the limit, they want to believe that there is a better way. After all, it might be the key to finally changing their life.

Being Cautious: The Cardinal Rule In Business

Warren Buffett, the famed investor, likes to quip that “you can’t do good business with bad people.” This is an adage that everyone must keep in mind. No matter who you business with, be absolutely sure that you are dealing with someone of integrity. Don’t simply look for intelligence and ambition, but for good moral character. If your erstwhile business partner has two of the aforementioned traits but not the third, you are literally asking to be swindled.

Expect to Have to work To Earn Money:

Yes folks, a sacrifice needs to be made. A little sweat needs to be expended. A little money needs to be spent for helpful online tools. Advertising needs to be done. You have to be willing to take on a little risk. No risk = no gain. If you operate your life with underlying fear - fear of being ripped off, fear of losing money, fear of avoiding all the isolated bad things you watch on tv, then you really shouldn't try a home-based business - online or off.

On the other hand, if you are paralyzed by what you read and find yourself unwilling to take action upon what you learn, you too should not try your hand at online business. Knowledge is worthless until you couple it with action.

Those are the rules of the business game. There's no way around the rules. The universe rewards those who follow the rules above and know their consequences. Nothing is free. That's the only thing that can be called free - 'nothing'. Everything else take action.

Network Marketing
Network Marketing Scams
rules of the business game

Top Ten SEO Strategies For Website Owners

2006-10-25T13:49:00.000-04:00

SEO Strategies

So you have a website and you want to monetize it with affiliate programs or your own products. After you get the site built or uploaded to your domain server as the case may be, you need to get listed by the major search engines. The article below was written and compiled by Scott Hendison and offers excellent advice for anyone with a website that they know how to edit and save.

How hard is it to get noticed and listed by the major search engines?

These are what I believe to be the top 10 most important things (not necessarily in order) that you need, in order to get your website found in the search engines.

There are many other factors as well, but if you follow these guidelines, you'll stand a much better chance, and you'll be off to a good start.

1. Title Meta Tag
The title tag is what displays as the headline in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). It's also what displays in the top blue band of Internet Explorer when your site is displayed.

Your title tag of your website should be easy to read and designed to bring in traffic. By that, I mean that your main keyword phrase should be used toward the beginning of the tag. True there are websites being found now that do not use the phrase in the title, but the vast majority still do as of this writing.

Don't make the mistake of putting your company name first, unless you are already a household name, like Nascar or HBO. People are likely searching for what you have to offer, not your name.

Your title tag should be written with a capital letter starting the tag, and followed by all lowercase letters, unless you're using proper nouns. Some people prefer to capitalize every word, too.

2. Description Meta Tag
The description tag is the paragraph that people will see when your page comes up in the search results.

Your description tag should be captivating and designed to attract business. It should be easy to read, and compel the reader to act right now and follow your link. Without a description tag, search engines will frequently display the first text on your page. Is yours appropriate as a description of the page?

A proper description tag is what people will see below your title. You should make proper use of punctuation, and with readability, use your subject and geographical references.

3. Keywords Meta Tag
The importance of Meta keyword tags fluctuates from month to month among different search engines. There is a debate in the SEO community as to whether or not they help at all on certain search engines. In fact, in the summer of 2004 it appeared as if they were losing importance altogether.

However, you'll NEVER be penalized on any search engines for using relevant targeted keywords in moderation, and they can only help you with most, especially Yahoo.

Avoid stuffing your keyword metatags with too many keywords. Just use relevant tags that apply directly to the content of that particular page, and don't overdo it.

4. Alt Tags
The small yellow box that comes up when your mouse cursor is placed over an image is called the ALT tag. Every relevant image should have an alt tag with your key words or phrases mentioned in the tag.

A proper ALT tag goes after the file name, and before the Align indicator. * - The ALT tag is no longer being considered for ranking purposes by some search engines. That said, it still cannot HURT you, and will still help you with some engines. My recommendation is to continue to use them, but be sure to avoid keyword stuffing. Besides, who nows when the pendulum will swing back the other way?

5. Header Tags
The text of each page is given more weight by the search engines if you make use of header tags and then use descriptive body text below those headers. Bullet points work well too. It is not enough to merely BOLD or enlarge your text headlines.

6. Link Text
Search engine spiders cannot follow image links. In addition to having image links or buttons on your web pages, you should have text links at the bottom or elsewhere. The text that the user sees when looking at the link is called the link text. A link that displays products does not carry as much weight to the search engines as a link called oregon widgets. Link text is very important, and is actually one of the most frequently overlooked aspects of web design that I've seen.

7. Site Map
Using a site map not only makes it easy for your users to see the entire structure of your website, but it also makes it easier for the search engines to spider your site. When the search engine spiders come to visit, they will follow all of the text links from your main index page. If one of those links is to a site map, then the spiders will go right to the sitemap, and consequently visit every page you have text linked to from that site map. On the site map page, try to have a sentence or two describing each page, and not just a page of links.

8. Relevant Inbound Links
By relevant, I mean similar industry or subject related sites. Right now, no single strategy can get your site ranked higher faster than being linked to by dozens of other relevant websites. It used to be that the quantity of incoming links mattered most, but today, it's much better to have three highly relevant links to you from other popular related websites than 30 links from unrelated low ranked sites. If there are other businesses in your industry that you can trade links with, it will help your site enormously. Link to others, and have them link to you. It's proven, and it works. To see who's linking to you, in Google type the following...
links: yourdomain.com

9. Your Content
Not to be forgotten of course, is the actual content of your webpage. It must be relevant helpful information that people want to read. These days, each webpage should be laser focused on one specific product or subject, in order to rank highly for that search phrase. The days of writing one webpage to appeal to dozens of search terms are long gone. Ideally, each page should have between 400 to 650 words on it. Too few, and the search engines won't consider it to be relevant enough. Too many words and the search engine spiders may have a hard time determining the actual subject or focus of the page.

Use your keywords or phrases often, and use them at the beginning of your paragraphs wherever possible. Don't overuse them and make the page sound phony, but don't write a page about a certain subject, and not mention that subject repeatedly either. Reading it out loud to yourself is a great way to judge how natural your text sounds.

Concentrate on writing quality pages that actually appeal to the human reader. Write pages that provide the reader with exactly what they are looking for; that is, information about the exact search phrase they've entered.

10. Avoid Cheating
With all of these tidbits of information, it's tempting to think that you can stuff 100 keywords into your title, or create a page with the phrase oregon widget company being used 100 times in headers, text links, ALT tags, bullet points etc. but that cannot help you. In fact, it can penalize you, and get your website banned from certain search engines.

Scott Hendison is an internet consultant that specializes in search engine optimization and internet marketing. He has written over 100 articles that are available on his website. He has also developed a tutorial area for beginning search engine optimization, at 'SEO101'.

If you're interested in getting as many as 15,000 visitors to your website per day, click here

SEO Strategies

5 Business Ideas at Home for Pet Lovers

2006-10-03T21:05:00.000-04:00

business ideas, pet lovers
copyright 2006 by Bruce Santucci

Do you love pets? Why not start a business related to your pet skills? Thousands of people from all over the world have started pet based businesses. And out of these people, many of them work at their pet business full-time. If this is something that interests you, the first thing you will need to do is choose your niche you want to specialize in. There are many options available, and by finding the right one you will be on the fast track to success in no time at all.

Below are five home business ideas that pet lovers should consider. Of course this is just a start, but these five are among the most popular:

1. A pet sitting service will allow you stay in touch with pets and make money at the same time. People are always looking for a way to have their pets cared for while they are on vacation or on a business trip. A pet sitting service is a great option for these people. And if you are the only service in your area you may be able to garner a lot of business right off the bat.

2. Being a dog walker is a solid home business idea for pet lovers. You will probably not make a full-time living at this job, but you can definitely make a bit of money as your client base expands. For one reason or another, people do not have the time to walk their dogs. If you can offer this service at an affordable rate you can get a lot of regular clients. Start in your neighborhood.

3. Pet photography is becoming very popular. If you have the digital photo equipment and skills to start a pet photography business you can make a very good living. There's a growing demand. Offering this service in a well populated area can be quite profitable. Low-cost ads in local papers and pet gazettes do well.

4. Make pet related crafts. Pet Crafts and toys are selling great in today’s day and age, and can be anything that you can imagine. Believe it or not selling pet crafts can turn into a profitable full-time business. Give it time to grow and start small.

5. A lot of owners do not have the skills or patience to train their dog. For this reason pet trainers are always in demand. If you can train animals, Offering this service at a good rate will allow you to place yourself at the top of the industry.

Even though these are only five pet related business ideas, there are many others that are doable. With a bit of research you will find a home business idea that you can incorporate into your love of pets.

Till next time,

Bruce Santucci
www.affiliatecrews.com/dotcomology

Bruce runs several successful small businesses from his home in Melbourne, FL.
For help or advice, you can reach him by emailing support@affiliatecrews.com

business ideas, pet lovers

Automate Your Home Business and Golf More Often

2006-08-02T16:20:00.000-04:00

Copyright 2006 by Bruce Santucci

This really has nothing to do with golf even though PAS (properly done) will automate things for you in such a way that all it would take is 9 minutes of your time per day (maybe) to check on the system's results on your behalf.

I discovered the following press release about the Prosperity Automated System (PAS) just recently along with its contact info.
Contact: Sandi Newmark, Director of Public Relations
PTGTV/New Line Media Solutions
(800) 597-1186

PTGTV names founder of Prosperity Automated System ™
to show’s Advisory Board --System offers proven
success with a home-based business--

July 11, 2006, Deerfield Beach, FL – PTGTV is pleased to announce the selection of Bill Osterhout, founder & CEO, the Prosperity Network, Inc., to the advisory boards of its highly acclaimed TV shows, Pulse on America, Business & Beyond and Today’s Family. The appointment was announced today by Doug Scott, president and CEO of PTGTV.

PTGTV is known for its innovative, educational television shows that air on national cable networks as well as regional ones. Osterhout will serve as an advisor on feature ideas and companies to be presented, as well as on top business trends and market happenings.

The Prosperity Network, based in Citrus Heights, CA, offers a home-based business that promises no selling or marketing because the company does it all. Through a combination of advanced technology and professional follow-up conducted by an in-house Team Leader staff, all the prospecting, presenting and personal contact is done for you. The Prosperity System will market six products or services for a member as well as the system itself. This develops up to seven unique income streams that build simultaneously. NO phone calls are required; it takes only nine minutes a week to check one’s figures!

This is a 12-year-old debt-free company that has automated and refined everything that can cause 90% of home businesses to fail. According to Osterhout, “Identifying the ‘points of failure’ for the 90% who fail in their business efforts was the easy part. It took several years and millions of dollars to find the answers. But now anyone can ‘manage’ their online business by spending only minutes a week and virtually be assured of success!”

The company provides free access to its private website, a video and a free report
simply by signing up for information. .
Click here for details

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci lives in Central Florida and operates a home business with multiple streams of income . He is married, home-schools two of his elementary-age children, writes professionally as a researcher, editor and affiliate program reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc and takes a keen interest in topics and new products relevant to the business and personal needs of the private and public domains.

His interests include tennis, basketball, and helping others to become healthier, happier and wealthier. He has researched and qualified the best affiliate programs and home business opportunities and has dedicated his websites to bringing those business opportunities into the light of public awareness.

[PAS home business]

Writing a Home Business Plan

2006-07-22T20:28:00.001-04:00

Writing a Home Business Plan
Copyright © Bruce Santucci

If you're thinking about starting a home based business you're not alone. There are thousands of people all over the world that start their own businesses every year. Out of these people, there is a small group that is very successful, and a large group that never lives up to the potential that they expected.

There are many things that set these two groups apart. But one of the most important things is that all of the successful companies have a well written business plan. If you don't have a business plan to guide you from the start, you'll be spinning your wheels; just ask the people that have tried to go without one in the past.

When you sit down to write up your business plan you are going to be forced to think about the direction of your company. Many people skip this step because it can be very time consuming, and sometimes intimidating. I recommend that you don't skip it.

As your business starts to progress you will need to have a business plan to fall back on; and if you didn't write one in the beginning you may find yourself searching for direction or guidance when things get rough.

The main reason of writing a business plan is to determine the direction of your company, and how you are going to progress from stage to stage. In your business plan you will need to include information on anything that has to do with the success of your business. This can include financial information, accounting practices, a time line for progress, and hiring employees among others.

If you are having a difficult time getting started on your home business plan you are like the majority of other people. If you've never written one of these before it can be very difficult to even get started. The best thing to do if you find yourself in this situation is to find a sample business plan online.

Of course you will not want to copy this plan word for word, but instead you will want to look at the details and how you can incorporate them into your home business. Pay special attention to the sections of the business plan. In other words, if the sample has information on finances, you will want to include this in your home business plan. You may also want to think about asking somebody in your industry for help. This way you can get advice from people that have experience with a company like yours.

A home business plan is essential if you want to be successful. There are rare cases when you can get by without having a business plan, but why take the chance? As your company is expanding you will be glad that you have a well written, quality home business plan to fall back on - especially when you decide you want to borrow money from a bank or from investors.

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci is Senior Reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc, a Research Organization that produces special reports of high importance to the public domain. He also operates a successful online home business with several streams of income. BVD
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Choosing the Best Small Home Based Business Opportunity

2006-07-17T21:34:00.002-04:00

Choosing the Best Small Home Based Business Opportunity
Copyright © Bruce Santucci

When you are looking for a small home based business opportunity you should choose your opportunity carefully. There are many scams out there on the Internet that can cause you to lose a lot of money. Most of these scams involve experts that claim you can become rich. However, as most know there is no such thing as a get rich quick scheme that actually works. Even the best home based business opportunity you can get is going to require some work on your part. However, with some work you can succeed with a small home based business.

Therefore, the first thing you need to look into when choosing your home based business opportunity is whether it is right for you. If you are looking into a multi-level marketing job then you should be prepared to spend a lot of time on the phone. If you want to work for a pay per click affiliate program then you need to be ready to do keyword research and invest a lot of money before you can make any return.

So when you choose your home based business opportunity you should make your choice carefully and make sure it is something you want to get involved with.

The next thing you should consider is what costs will be involved with running your particular business opportunity. Look into the startup costs. Most of the time starting an online business can be relatively inexpensive when compared to offline businesses. However, this doesn’t mean that an online business is free to start.

Consider whether you need to build your own website. If a website is required, but you don’t know how to do it, then the cost of having one made can be very expensive.

Next, consider how much advertising you will have to do for your business. Will you be alone in your advertising endeavors? Consider what tools are required to run your business and investigate this area carefully and closely.

You should always do at least some research into the business opportunity. Most of the Internet businesses have reviews available online that allows you to check out the opportunity. Never take what is said on the sale page at face value. While many of the opportunities are real, they may not live up to their promises of big money returns.

Once you have found a good small home based business opportunity then you need to stick to it. You may be tempted to give up if you don’t see progress right away, but always remember that the more you work at your business the more it will grow. You may not see immediate results but as long as you put in some effort, you will eventually see results. No kidding!

Does all of this sound familiar? I've covered much of it in my previous posts in more detail but repetition of important ideas is crucial to learning and that is one of my purposes in this blog.

Choose wisely.

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci lives in Central Florida and operates a home business with multiple streams of income . He is married, home-schools two of his elementary-age children, writes professionally as a researcher, editor and affiliate program reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc and takes a keen interest in topics and new products relevant to the business and personal needs of the private and public domains.

His interests include tennis, basketball, and helping others to become healthier, happier and wealthier. He has researched and qualified the best affiliate programs and home business opportunities and has dedicated to bringing those business opportunities to his readers. BVD

The Best Network Marketing Sales Process

2006-07-05T20:55:00.002-04:00

The Best Network Marketing Sales Process
Copyright © Bruce Santucci

For those of you trying to earn a living in a network marketing organization that doesn't provide you with an automatic recruiting system, your success will depend a lot on your sales skills. This article will help you to close more sales and build your network marketing organization much faster than normal.

Have you ever tried to lure a squirrel or any animal closer to you by throwing out a trail of food? If you put too much food up front, the squirrel gets too full and never follows the rest of the trail of food that leads in the direction you wanted it to go.

Why? Because he's full and now that he is full, he goes his merry way.

The lesson: Don't give too much information about your business right up front. And just because someone responds to your advertisement, don't think they are ready for you to spill the whole can of beans on them. You must resist the urge! Follow the steps below, and you will find yourself closing more and more people into your organization.

Words to the wise.....

Tease 'em!

You captured the attention of your prospect via your teaser ad by highlighting some dynamic features and benefits of your company, products or business model. Your objective at this point is NOT to give them the whole enchilada. Remember the squirrel? You don't want the prospect overwhelmed at this point.

You have hit some of the power points of your company, the benefits and the reasons why prospects might want to take a serious look at it. When your prospects fill out a form on your website (that you hopefully have)that captures names and email addresses and perhaps a telephone number, they know that your opportunity is a home-based business. It is network marketing and it requires a serious commitment.

When your prospect fills out the form to receive more information, they have given you their first and last name, their email address and phone number for you to contact them. This is a valuable lead that tells you they are interested enough for you to call them.

Determine Your Prospect's Needs!

Now that they have filled out the form, they want more details about the WHO, WHAT & HOW of your opportunity. Your next objective is to call them as soon as possible and find out what their needs are.

A lot of people fail at this point by trying to follow up on their leads strictly by email. Remember, the more senses you can involve in the sales process, the better your chances are of making a successful sale.

Your prospect has only used two of his senses at this point; sight & touch (or feel). He has read the teaser ad with his eyes and used his fingers to click on the link in the teaser ad. Now it is time for his hearing to get involved. You might wonder how you can involve the senses of taste and smell in the sales process. Keep reading. It's coming.

First, discover your prospect's needs by asking him questions. You can't very well recommend or suggest something to someone when you don't even know whether or not they need what it is you're selling, can you? You can't assume your prospect needs what you are selling. So ask pertinent questions before you launch into some long-winded presentation.

People don't buy from strangers. They buy from friends. Don't make a presentation on your opportunity at this point even if your prospect starts asking you questions. Stay in the driver's seat and let your prospect know that you have a definite direction you want to take.

Ask questions like,

"Are you working right now?"
"What kind of work do you do?"
"Are you working full time or part time?"
"Are you looking for something to replace what you are doing, or are you looking for something to supplement what you are making right now?"
"What kind of money are you looking to make every month?"
"Do you see yourself 5 years from now, working the same JOB you are at right now?"
What you want your prospect to tell you is that they are tired of what they are doing. You want him to tell you with his own lips is that he is sick and tired of his JOB and that he wants more out of life than what he is getting. When you can get him to say that, then you are ready to take him to the next step.
Qualify Your Prospect!

Keep in mind that you do not want to sell your prospect on signing up at this point. He has not yet performed his "due diligence". You need to peak his INTEREST enough to want to go to the next step. This is where you learn a 30 second presentation that only highlights the power points of your business.

After finding out what your prospect's needs are, you want to see if he is really serious about changing his financial circumstances. Hit him right between the eyes with a two by four with the most powerful elements of your opportunity. Here is an example of how that two by four might sound like!

30 Second Power Presentation
"Well let me tell you a little bit about the company, Mr. Prospect. We are a 5 year old company ready to open up our 3rd country, one of the worlds largest markets. Our CEO was a self-made millionaire before he formed XYZ company and teamed up with 3 of the biggest players in the industry.
"We are experiencing phenomenal growth with our online systems and tools that are putting some people into a 5 figure income within a matter of a few months. We're looking for a few strong individuals who have the desire and enthusiasm to reach these same levels with our team of marketing professionals. Does this sound like something you'd like to find out more about?"

Now that may not be the exact information that describes your company. But you should get the drift at this point. All you are essentially doing is rephrasing what the teaser has already said. Only this time, instead of your prospect reading it, he is hearing it from someone whose voice brings out power and enthusiasm that conveys the fact that this is a rare opportunity that requires his utmost attention.
When your prospect answers your question, "YES," you will want to direct him to take the next step in order for you to determine his level of interest. This is where you want to point him to a recorded overview of your opportunity - preferably a 3 minute "Sizzle Call".

Keep in mind that the way you act is very important at this point. You must stay in the driver's seat and maintain control of the conversation and the direction of the entire process. You are qualifying your prospect. Don't be afraid to let him know it.

What you will tell your prospect next is,

"What I would like you to do, Mr Prospect, is call this (800# or some number)". Do you have a pen? Dial (800) 555-5555. You will hear a brief 3 minute overview (or however long your recording is) of the business. If you like what you hear and you want to take this to the next step, give me a call back. My phone number is 555-555-5555. Can you make the call right now?"

That is a very important question. You want him to make a commitment to you - one of the first of many along the way. Let him know that you will be expecting his call right after he listens to the recording. You will determine his level of interest by whether or not he calls you right back or when he said he would.

Remember, your opportunity is not for everyone. You want to qualify the ones you are going to be working with. Let them know you don't want just anyone on your team and that you are going to have to take them through a series of steps in order to determine whether or not there is a match for both of you. Any good prospect will respect you for it.

Take Your Prospect to a Higher Level!

Now that you have him on the phone, and his taste buds are watering for the steak (your opportunity), you still have to make it sizzle until you know he is ready for it. This is the time to take it away just a little bit. Most people make a very big mistake at this point and TRY TOO HARD TO SELL THE PROSPECT!

We have 4 out of 5 senses involved now and we are getting close to a very volatile situation where your prospect could be literally wanting to reach through the phone and past your tonsils to yank the information right out of your mouth. The overwhelming need to find out HOW they could be making a 5 figure monthly income should have them following you through each and every step.

Don't spill the beans just yet!

When your prospect calls you back, he will want to ask you some questions. Keep him drooling by telling him that instead of hearing it from you, that you would like to set up a conference call or three-way with one of the leaders in the company who has been extremely successful in the business. This is where you will set up an "appointment" with him to talk with someone with clout.

This make him feel important and lets him know that he is going to get accurate information right from the horse's mouth (so to speak). Here is what you tell him...

"Listen, Mr. Prospect, instead of my answering your questions, I'd like to set up a three-way call with you, myself and one of the leaders in the company who has made a lot of money in the business. He will be able to more accurately answer your questions and will want to ask you some questions as well (remember, you are still qualifying your prospect)."
"Which time would be best for you, 3:30 pm EDT or 10:30 pm EDT?"

What ever you do, don't ask, "Would you like to get on a conference call and hear more about it?" You want to maintain a professional demeanor or "posture" through out the process.

Stay in the driver's seat and let your prospect know that you are taking him through a process that is required if you are going to determine whether or not there is going to be a match between you, him and the company.

The Crowning Act!

Before you hang up with your prospect, be sure he has some more tools to work with. Once he has made an "appointment" with you to get on a conference call or 3-way with your sponsor, tell him,

"In the mean time, Mr. Prospect, what I'd like you to do is go to this web site and read all about our company and the business opportunity. You'll get a number of your questions answered and will have a few more you'll want to ask when we hook up on the call later today (or whenever you were going to get back together)."

Give him your company web site, the Fax on Demand and any other material he can read up on so he has a grasp of the business and the opportunity before you get him on a 3-way with your sponsor or the next conference call. If he makes the "appointment" you set to get on the conference call, you will (or should) close him 90% of the time.

The Close!

If your sponsor, or conference call host has given a compelling presentation of the opportunity and sufficiently answered your prospects questions, it is time for you to close your prospect right then and there.

He has looked at the web site, the FOD and listened to a dynamic presentation by a professional in your organization.

I have found that the best way to close your prospect at this point is by asking a question to which the answer is usually going to be, "Yes!" Then I am prepared with a choice close.

For instance, after 3-way calling my prospect on to a conference call, I would say something like,

"So what do you think about everything you've seen so far? Is it something you think you could get excited about?

After the prospect answers "Yes," my question would be,

"Great! Which way would you like to get started? Do you want to sign up online or should we just call into the company and you can get your ID# right away?"

Or, I might just say,
"Which way do you want to pay for your distributorship? By check or credit card?"
Whatever 'either/or' question you pose, timing is critical. As soon as your prospect begins to give you buying signals, you want to start closing him right away.

Closing Tips - Sell the SIZZLE!

When you are pouring on the spices while the steak is sizzling, you are always asking your prospect questions to which the answer is always yes. You want to ask leading questions, open-ended questions, and questions that get the prospect to imagine themselves as though they are already a distributor.

Here is the secret to acquiring the "posture" you need in order to maintain control and stay in the driver's seat throughout the entire process with your prospect. Listen closely and never forget it!

SPEAK IN TERMS AS THOUGH IT ALREADY EXISTS AND IT WILL BE SO!

...or said a little differently,

SPEAK IT INTO EXISTENCE!

How does this work?

You simply put a magic word into your presentation to custom fit to anyone you are talking to. For instance, your prospect asks you, "How does a distributor become a Platinum?"

Instead of speaking in the third person vernacular to your prospect, PUT HIM INTO THE PICTURE SO HE CAN SEE HIMSELF DOING IT!
"Well, Jim, how *YOU* become a Platinum is by..." Get the picture?

SPEAK IN TERMS AS THOUGH IT ALREADY EXISTS AND IT WILL BE SO!

Most people, even so-called great sales people, will say something like "Here is how a distributor becomes a Platinum. *THEY* do this and *THEY* do that and blah, blah, blah..." Boring, boring, boring. What a turn-off!

Do you think for a minute that your prospect is getting any help seeing himself as a Platinum Executive as long as you keep talking about someone else called "THEY"?

If you will put *YOU* into the every part of your presentation, and SPEAK IN TERMS AS THOUGH HE IS ALREADY AN XYZ DISTRIBUTOR, then 9 out of 10 times he will literally become an XYZ DISTRIBUTOR (providing of course you have sufficiently given him all of the benefits of becoming one).

Remember, you are not selling anything. You are helping your prospect find all the morsels of information that lead to the logical conclusion that it is him that belongs in the picture you have been painting of a successful distributor with your company.

While you are using this Secret ask questions like, "What attracts you most toward this kind of business?" or "So, how do you see yourself in this business?" or "How many people can you think of who you would approach to join your organization?" or "Can you think of 4 people who would make strong Executives on your front line?" Put your prospect in the picture.

These are what we call "Trial Closes". For every "Yes" or affirmative answer you get to your question, the closer you are to when your prospect is going to ask you, "So what do we do next?" or "Where do we go from here?" In case you didn't know it, this means he is ready to fill out the paper work!

You would be amazed at how many people don't realize what a buying signal is, and when asked this question will ask the prospect, "So you want to sign up?" in utter amazement. Of course he wants to sign up!

You have put him into the picture you have been painting by telling *HIM* what *HE* is going to be doing and how *HE* would be conducting business and how many times people will be calling *HIM*.

You'll be tickled pink to know that when you do this several times, your prospect will begin using first person vernacular also. His questions will start out like, "So how often do we get paid?" or "Would I be working the local market or internationally?

That's the biggest buying signal in the world! Recognize it and capitalize on it. When you hear things like this you need to start thinking about getting on the phone and 3-way calling your new distributor into the company to sign up. And all because you did one very simple thing.

You put a little 3 letter word (You) in your presentation of the business opportunity and built it all around your prospect.

YOU SPOKE IT INTO EXISTENCE!

Before your prospect gives you the ultimate buying signal, there will always be several other more subtle buying signals he will give in the form of questions like, "What kind of lead generating systems do you have?"

What he is asking is, "How would [I] get prospects to present this opportunity to when [I] come on board?" If this is what you hear instead of the more subtle form above then you will answer the question with the word "You" in the sentence. "We have several co-op ad campaigns you can participate in that are exclusive to our group. You will always have leads to work with as a part of our team."

Or, if you have painted the picture with him in it, he might say, "Do you have leads for us to work?" Now that's not a subtle buying signal. That's a blatant buying signal.

Be assured that this will happen 9 out of 10 times if all other components of an exciting and informative presentation are there.

IN SUMMARY

You've just reviewed the 4 logical steps of any network marketing sale:

ATTENTION
INTEREST
DESIRE
CLOSE

If you will take every single one of your prospects through this process you will find them taking the steak right out of your hands. After all, it is *YOU* who has made him want it so much by painting *HIM* in the picture.

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci lives in Central Florida and operates a home business with multiple streams of income . He is married, home-schools two of his elementary-age children, writes professionally as a researcher, editor and affiliate program reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc and takes a keen interest in topics and new products relevant to the business and personal needs of the private and public domains.

His interests include tennis, basketball, and helping others to become healthier, happier and wealthier. BVD

Stupid Selling Mistakes (7 of Them) You Must Avoid

2006-06-30T16:38:00.002-04:00

Stupid Selling Mistakes (7 of Them) You Must Avoid
Copyright © Bruce Santucci

Seven of the most common mistakes that people make when selling are:
1. Not planning and preparing
Very few salespeople prepare marketing plans and then follow-through on them. I can’t tell you how crucial it is when the home business entrepreneur puts on his or her salesman hat.

Network marketers often go into a sales call without the benefit of a prepared script and without having conducted some background research on their prospect – a sure recipe for disastrous ego-smashing “no’s”.

You need to ask yourself what the objective of your call is. Have you gathered all of the information and materials that you need during the call? Have you anticipated what the customer may ask you? By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail. The selling elite have planned and properly prepared before every sales call.

2. No rapport
This is simple – no rapport = no sales. You have to smile when you’re talking on the phone. Add a little electricity to your tone of voice. Add some inflection with every phone call and every personal visit.

Why? – because people will begin to trust you more and let down their guard a little. Most importantly, they’ll open their wallets for someone they like a little. Rapport goes even deeper though.

Serious sellers often mimic certain characteristics of their prospects after they have the proper background info on them. Former President Bill Clinton is a perfect example. When giving a policy talk in the deep south, he would affect a slight drawl and southern accent to his voice – ever so subtly but enough to get his listeners to believe him.

In Washington DC on the other hand, he would speak crisply and clearly and pointedly. Clinton always knew who he was addressing.

Utilising the technology of Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a very powerful way to do this. This approach is far more effective (and genuine) than pretending to be interested in what the customer is interested in.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that rapport is something that you "do" to another person. True rapport emerges from the interaction between the salesperson and their customer. You have rapport with the customer and they have rapport with you. In this state communication flows easily and the salesperson is able to understand what the customer wants and needs more effectively.

3. Talking more than listening to what is important to the customer
Too many salespeople are focused on themselves and their agenda. You must get your attention where it should be - on the customer and how your product can fill his or her needs.

Your customer could care less about your company and your personal story. Your customer is interested in “what’s in it for them?” Nothing more, nothing less. Forget yourself. Doing less than that is a waste of your time and his or her time.

It is only when you understand what is important to the customer that you are in the position to sell them anything! Attempting to sell before having done this is a waste of time.

4. Talking about your product or service too much
Sorry to be blunt but your customer isn't actually very interested in you or your product or service. What they are interested in is what your product or service will do for them.

I’ve seen salespeople spend way too much time talking at the customer about their product or service. A lengthy one way speech about all of the features of your product or service usually results in a rather bored customer. Telling is not selling. See #3 above.

5. Not knowing how much money the customer has to spend
If you don't know if your customer can afford your product or service, how do you know what your goal will be for that customer?

You need to know how much money the customer has available to solve the customer’s specific problems or challenges.

To close the sale you need to know that your customer needs, wants, and has the funds to buy your product or service. Tackling the subject of money early in the call will help you to separate the real buyers from the tire-kickers.

A sales is not a sale until the money is in your bank account! Make sure you understand what the corporate customer's departmental budget is and the non-corporate person’s financial situation.

Once you know this, it may be much easier for you to find a way for the customer to be able to afford what you have.

6. Not asking for the sale early enough or often enough
If you aren't closing frequently then you aren't selling - you are having a conversation. Research shows that it usually takes 4 to 6 closing attempts or ‘tags’ to finally close a sale and that the customer expects the salesperson to ask for the order.

No kidding. So learn various ways of asking for the prospect’s business.
Don’t start rapping on about your product hoping that the customer will suddenly beg you to stop so he can buy your product or service. Doesn’t happen; Never will.

("Does this make sense so far?"), Watch the body language as the prospect responds. You’ll get constant feedback about the customer's readiness to proceed. You can then move up to test closing ("If you were going to install this where would you site it?") before moving onto the final close ("Shall we get the paperwork done then?") and signing up the order.

You must be a strong closer if you want to prosper in today's competitive world. If you walk out of the sale without having closed you may find out that your competitor didn't make the same mistake.

7. Not staying in touch after the sale
Remember this: ‘out of sight, out of mind’ . How true this is. Salespeople not doing what they said they were going to do was one of two factors identified by extensive research as being the most important contributors to customer satisfaction.

If every salesperson took more time to stay in touch with their customers, repeat sales and referrals would soar. If you always ensure you follow up you will get very happy customers.

A happy and satisfied customer is almost impossible for your competitors to sell to.
On the other hand an unhappy customer is very easy to sell to. Make it hard for your competitors - follow up!

The commercial world may be getting more and more challenging. However, far too many salespeople are making basic errors that are costing them business. Make sure that you aren't one of them.

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci lives in Central Florida and operates a home business with multiple streams of income . He is married, home-schools two of his elementary-age children, writes professionally as a researcher, editor and affiliate program reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc His interests include tennis, basketball, and helping others to become healthier, happier and wealthier. BVD

5 Important Article Writing Tips

2006-06-28T18:04:00.000-04:00

5 Important Article Writing Tips
Copyright © Bruce Santucci
So Now That You Know, What Are You Going To Do About It?

Writing articles is one of the best ways of building up your reputation and your online business at the same time. Think of the benefits: you get unlimited exposure, at no cost!

A well-written article will probably get you listed on numerous websites as well as in several ezines.

You will be known as someone who knows what they are talking about. That alone will bring more than your fair share of visitors and subscribers.

People will begin coming to you when they need information, products or advice. In my opinion, it's one of the best ways of establishing your online presence.

Writing articles is easier than you think. You don't have to be a professional writer to produce an effective article. Follow these writing 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 that are
informative. Don't bother trying to impress people with your huge vocabulary.

2. Advertise in your resource box, not the article.
Your article shouldn't be a cover for an ad. Your personal info should be placed
in the resource box at the end of your article. You will have the most success if
your goal is to only get people to sign up for your newsletter. Be sure to give
away something like a free report/ecourse in your resource box.

3. Make yourself available if someone wants to get in touch with you.
Always make it easy for anyone to contact you about your articles or products
etc.
4. Write with the idea of including basic, real, useful information as well as
resources to go along with the info. When writing your article, list truly useful
resources that your readers can use along with the information you give them.
Doing this will give people a reason to want to stay in touch with you or your
website.
5. Write from the heart! Don't be afraid to let your personality shine through in
your writing. People will trust you more and you will also make them more
comfortable. Write as if you were talking to a friend and let the real you shine
through.

The simple fact is that you and almost anyone with a command of the English language can write articles. Build your reputation and your home business by making an effort. You may be surprised by the amount of traffic you begin attracting to your website.

If on the other hand, you decide that you just can't do it or you just don't have time to do it, I recommend that you get already-written articles. Many are free and will fit nicely with your newsletter or ezine. Try infogemsonline.

You can either submit articles that you've written for others to use or you can borrow articles and use them for your newsletters and ezines. Just remember to keep the resource boxes and copyrights in place. Give credit where credit is due.

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci lives in Central Florida and operates a home business with multiple streams of income . He is married, home-schools two of his elementary-age children, writes professionally as a researcher, editor and affiliate program reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc and takes a keen interest in topics and new products relevant to the business and personal needs of the private and public domains.

His interests include tennis, basketball, and helping others to become healthier, happier and wealthier. He has researched and qualified the best affiliate programs and home business opportunities and has dedicated his websites to bringing those business opportunities into the light of public awareness.

[home business]

Article Writing For Your Home Business

2006-06-27T12:46:00.000-04:00

Article Writing For Your Home Business
Copyright © Bruce Santucci
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

Article writing may be the best and most efficient way to get traffic to your home business website. How are your writing skills? Do you know the fundamentals of good article writing?

What are the basic elements required for writing top-notch articles, reports and other written material?

When you know all the elements, you can produce page after page of written articles that will stand out from the crowd and help you and your business partners achieve their goals.

If you are writing for someone else, your goal is to produce clear, concise sales letters that will make money for you or your clients.

Anyone can learn to write sales letters if he or she has personal knowledge of the subject matter or knows how to thoroughly research the subject, or both.

The list of topics you choose to write about is endless. Formatting and submitting your articles to directories is very easy and simple.

Before you begin writing your articles, you need to have a good command of the proper use of words, punctuation and grammar.

Your written material should sound as if you are talking to someone in person. Write your articles in a clear, factual, concise style. Keep in mind the type of audience you are writing for and confine your writing to words the reader will relate to and understand. Short words and paragraphs are better than long ones.

Outline your thoughts before you write about your topic. This will help you produce better articles. If you're not good at outlining your ideas, keep in mind that many writers simply start writing and record their thoughts as they are typing.

Also keep in mind that your articles will need to spark enough interest in your readers to make them want to visit one of your home business websites. This is where your traffic comes in. Search engines often direct searchers to articles that relate to their inquiries.

And this is the primary reason why you should always submit your articles to busy article directories. I mean directories that receive traffic like infogemsonline.com. There are many directories where you may purchase articles for your use as well if you don't feel up to the task of writing your own.

Since article submission is free, it is a traffic generating engine that you should never ignore. Articles live long after you publish them and you may find that you get traffic from an article you may have written years ago.

If you've chosen a niche topic to write about and submit, you may find that anyone who is interested in that niche topic will read your article and get inspired to visit a niche website that you've set up.

The ultimate goal in article writing is to give the reader information and/or entertainment.

Some popular topics for your article writing consideration may be showing others how to start up or expand a new home business, give instructions on how to produce arts and crafts, how to choose and prepare for a new career, how to improve your financial situation, enjoy life more, how to save money, how to solve personal crises, or how to attain success in relationships with others.

The best written material is thoroughly researched, factual, to the point, authoritative and interesting to the reader. Whether you are writing articles for someone else or for yourself, choose your subject matter wisely.

The nice thing about writing for yourself is that you can choose a subject that you already know something about. When you write for someone else you may learn something new.

Writing articles for your home business is an excellent way to establish name credibility and gain free exposure for your home business. By writing articles and freely distributing them, you can generate excellent free traffic to your website at no cost to you.

Start writing today for your home business and experience the power of article writing.

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci lives and operates a home business in Central Florida. He is married, home-schools two of his elementary-age children and writes professionally as a researcher, editor and affiliate program reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc about topics and new products relevant to the business and personal needs of the Private and Public domains. His interests include tennis, basketball, and helping others to become healthier, happier and wealthier. Click here for your own article submission website directory.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To find the best proven home based business ideas and opportunities.

[article submission]

How to Find the Best Home Internet Business

2006-06-26T23:11:00.001-04:00

How to Find the Best Home Internet Business
Copyright © Bruce Santucci

The first and most important rule to remember when you are selecting the best Internet business idea is the one that works for you. Often times the best Internet business idea you can come up with is one that you will have fun doing.

A founder who has enthusiasm will often help a business thrive and survive far beyond other companies in the same field. However, you cannot have enthusiasm to keep your business running if you don’t like your job.

In addition, modern technology and Internet has made it possible and easy for almost anybody to thrive with an Internet based business. As long as you love your idea and you understand it then you will have a thriving business.

The second rule you should remember when selecting the best home internet business is if there is a good marketing system in place. You need to have an advanced plan or idea that will help generate the best possible traffic to your business or subscribers to your email newsletter.

While you run your business, always keep in mind that without traffic you don’t have a business no matter how good your idea is.

When selecting the best home internet business, you should be on the look out for some advantages that only the best internet business opportunities would have.

These advantages may not look very important at first but they will eventually make the difference between spending money from your business opportunity and regularly taking home a six-figure check every month from your business opportunity without ever having to leave the house.

The best of the Internet business opportunities usually have a long and detailed section on affiliate information. Go to this section and check out the details. These details should provide you all the information you need to know about how best to sell the Internet business opportunity.

Having a large affiliate section is important since you won’t make any money off your business without sales. The larger the affiliate section the easier it will be for you to make an income off your home internet business. Some of the best opportunities even have a list of key contacts.

It is also a good idea to go with Internet business opportunities that have a detailed and specific payment policy and preferably one that allows you to be paid for second and even third tier affiliate sales.

This means you are paid for sub affiliates that you introduce to the business program. This way you can earn an income off both your direct sales and those of the ones who have joined the program. This can make a big difference in the size of the paycheck you receive.

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci lives and operates a home business in Central Florida. He is married, home-schools two of his elementary-age children, writes professionally as a researcher, editor and Affiliate Program Reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc about Topics and new products relevant to the business and personal needs of the Private and Public domains. His interests include tennis, basketball, and helping others to become healthier, happier and wealthier. BVD
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Internet Business Directory – Know the Benefits

2006-06-24T22:31:00.000-04:00

Internet Business Directory – Know the Benefits
Copyright © Bruce Santucci
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

An internet business directory offers many benefits to anybody that is smart enough to use one. The fact of the matter is that there are many internet business directories that exist, but people do not use them for one reason of the next.

Many times, the reason that people don’t use these directories is because they have no clue what they have to offer.

An internet business directory is not a very hard concept to understand; in fact, it is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. One of these directories will give you links to resources that may be able to help you out with your business.

At the same time, an internet business directory is also a great place to go if you are simply looking for information. They can be great alternatives to always using a search engine in order to find the information that you are searching for.

When you find an internet business directory that you like, the best thing to do is become comfortable with the site. You will soon find out that most internet directories have all of the links broken down into categories so that you an easily find what you are looking for.

For example, if you are searching for ezines that you can advertise in, you will want to click the corresponding link. This will give you links to ezines that you may want to consider placing an ad in.

Even though an internet business directory is a great way to find information, it can also be a great way to promote your business as well. By getting your link placed in the appropriate category, you will increase your chance of driving traffic to your site.

This is one of the best ways to get people to visit your site, yet it is often overlooked by many website owners.

When you are searching for an internet business directory to list your site with, you will come across two different options. First off, you will find that there are directories that will allow you to list with them for free.

Even though this can be a good idea, these directories do not usually get a lot of traffic. The other type of directory that you will see are ones that will charge you to add your link to their site.

Even though you will have to pay money up front, you will increase your chances of more people seeing your link.

There are many reasons that you should look into using an internet directory. They can help you find information pertaining to your business, but at the same time they can also help to promote your website. An internet business directory is one way to get the best of both worlds.

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci lives and operates a home business in Central Florida. He is married, home-schools two of his elementary-age children, writes professionally as a researcher, editor and Affiliate Program Reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc about Topics and new products relevant to the business and personal needs of the Private and Public domains. His interests include tennis, basketball, and helping others to become healthier, happier and wealthier.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you too can work at home visit:
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

[internet business directory]

Adding Good Content To Your Home Business Website

2006-06-23T14:00:00.000-04:00

Adding Good Content To Your Home Business Website
Copyright © Bruce Santucci - Senior Reviewer BAS & Associates, Inc
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

I found an excellent article from websitepro on the importance of adding good quality content to your website and decided that my readers should know this -
especially if you have an online home business website.

Everyone is looking for good content and articles and of course most serious website owners know that writing articles about topics related to your website niche is one of the best and cheapest ways to get traffic to your site. The other way is to join high traffic business forums and contribute to discussions on a regular basis.

Affiliate products that you are promoting lend themselves easily to content niche article writing.

25 Ways to Add Quality
Content to Your Web Site
. . . Using ideas that cover at least 25 different
industries! By Robin Nobles

We've known for a long time that quality matters to Google. In a post Senior Google Engineer Matt Cutts made to his blog, "quality" was mentioned several times as being important to Google. Quality matters when it comes to content, and it matters when it comes to links.

However, building content and links doesn't have to be painful. Web site owners tend to think of content in a very limited way.

So, let's open up our creative minds and think of all sorts of ways of adding quality content to a Web site.

A few things to remember:

You're only confined by the boundaries you set for yourself and your Web site. Allow yourself to think in a totally different way than you've thought before.

Your Web site content should be written for your buying customers . . . not for you. Your Web site content should not be written for the search engines. The search engines are not your target audience.

Think of the overall picture of your site, as if it were a living, breathing entity. After all, Web sites should continue to grow on a constant basis and never be stale or stagnant.
Let's Get into the Fun Stuff: Quality Content for Your
Target Audience

1. A calendar of events. This is ideal for sites like real estate sites to show upcoming open houses; book stores to promote upcoming book signings or writers' meetings; collectors' sites to show meetings across the country, etc. Be sure to allow visitors to send in their own event to be posted to the calendar.

2. Maps. Consider real estate sites, hunting or fishing sites, camping sites, hotels, or any outdoor recreational sites for maps. Be sure to add content at the bottom of the map that describes the map and outlines its purpose as it relates to your site.

3. Before/after experiences. This is perfect for products or services you're selling where customers can write in and discuss how this particular product or service helped them. These could turn out to be mini articles, or use them as testimonials.

4. Pictures from your customers. You could set up a special place where past customers could post their pictures and journal entries on your site. This is ideal for vacation sites, recreational sites, wedding sites, baby sites, photography studios, etc. How could you use this idea on a Halloween site? On a flower site?

5. Online coloring sheets. Use your imagination here. If you set up some coloring sheets about your vacation property, kids could color those sheets and post them online before their trip in their own special online area. After the trip, their parents could post pictures and a journal of their trip. This is their "Web site" about their trip, all hosted on your site as a perk for booking through your vacation site. What are they going to do with this information? They're going to tell their friends, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Edna, etc. They're going to link to it. You can use this perk as part of your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) when differentiating yourself from your competition. You'll be building one-way links from your past customers, plus visibility for future customers. Win/win situation. You'll think of many ways of adding coloring sheets (or similar creative activities for kids) to your site, if your site is the type that would work for kids.

6. Blogs or forums certainly add fresh content to a site.

7. Articles or new pages of interest to your target audience. Write new content on a regular basis – once or twice a week should be your goal.

8. An expert Q&A on the main page of your site. Get an expert to answer questions, and post one question/answer a week (or a day – whatever you can handle) on the main page of your site. Have past Q&A's in a searchable archive on your site.

9. Product reviews. If your industry has products or software to review, consider writing candid reviews of those products. Publish the reviews on your Web site as well as publish them in a few of the online publications. Readers are always interested in totally candid reviews, where the writer lists the positive as well as the negative aspects of a product. If you have a landscaping business, how could you use this idea? What products do you, as an expert, prefer to use, and why?

10. Short tips. If your product or service lends itself to short tips, write up a series and publish them on your Web site. Send them out in your newsletter. Get your readers to send in tips as they use the product. Offer a discount off additional products if they submit tips.

11. FAQ's. FAQ's are content – content that your target audience wants to know. As you get questions from your readers, add additional Q&A's to your FAQ's to keep them current.

12. How-to guides. People love "how to" guides. If you sell online plumbing parts, why not have a "how to" guide on installing a new toilet? Make it easy on your customers, and they'll come back to you again and again. Create a series of "how to" guides. Be The Toilet Guy on the Net. May not sound too glamorous, but if you're highly visible on the Net and are converting traffic to sales, you can afford to be glamorous OFF the Net!

About The Author
Robin Nobles conducts live SEO workshops in locations across North America. She also teaches online SEO training. Localized SEO training is now being offered through the Search Engine Academy. Sign up for SEO tips of the day at seo-tip@aweber.com. Copyright 2006 Robin Nobles. All rights reserved.

Get the word out: Promoting your home business

2006-06-19T17:39:00.000-04:00

Get the Word Out: Promoting Your Home Business
Copyright © Bruce Santucci - Senior Reviewer BAS & Associates, Inc
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

It’s an exciting adventure that you’re about to begin by being self-employed. It’s time to let everyone know about your soon-to-be successful company by promoting your home business.

While hiring a marketing or public relations firm is an easy option, since you are just starting out, it may be a tool you cannot yet afford. If this is the case, it is up to you to develop different media means to promoting your home business.

The most obvious is starting a Web site. There are many freelances out there who would gladly do this for you for a fee, but this is not really necessary if you have basic computer skills.

Several sites are dedicated to instructing you on a step-by-step procedure on how to create a Web site for promoting your home business. Many provide usage for a price, but there are some out there in which you can use for no cost at all.

This would be a practical option. A free site might not offer all the flourishes of a paid-for one, but as your first priority would be simply promoting your home business, other features, graphics and designs can be added once the money starts rolling in and you have extra cash to spend on creating a stand out site.

Writing a weekly or monthly newsletter or ezine is also a great marketing tool in promoting your home business. Fill the copy with your personal background, services provided and costs involved.

Update your newsletter with savings advertisements, new services offered and comments from pleased customers when promoting your home business through a newsletter.

While posting a link or subscriber option to your web site for the newsletter is a given, additional initiative must be taken as part of promoting your home business.

You might want to have a squeeze page. Obtain e-mail addresses of several companies or individuals who might be interested in using your services.

Shoot for the addresses of actual people rather than sending a letter promoting your home business to a general business site. You are then taking the risk of becoming a deleted spam file.

If your home business is a local one, such as a day care or accounting service, advertise in your local newspapers and trade magazines. Coupons always catch a consumers eye, so including them in your ad would be a key tool in promoting your home business. Offering a 10 percent discount is always a plus.

Also, holding contests with prizes would catch they eye of a newspaper or magazine browser. Consider making the prize a week of free service or a sales item.

Lastly, get some business cards together as part of promoting your home business. You can design and print them using a home computer or pay a professional printer who may have additional design ideas that would capture consumer’s attention.

Distribute your business cards to individuals and companies, and post them in every store that offers a free advertising billboard.

Promoting your business is perhaps the most important thing you can do for your home business. The way you do it depends alot on the type of home business you are operating or plan to operate.

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci is Senior Reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc, a Research Organization that produces special reports of high importance to the public domain. He also operates a successful online home business.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you too can work at home visit:
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

Home Business Ideas For Kids

2006-06-18T22:24:00.000-04:00

Home Business Ideas For Kids
Copyright © Bruce Santucci - Senior Reviewer BAS & Associates, Inc
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

Ideas for Kids to Make Money – Start your Child Today

If your child is interested in making money, there are many activities that you can turn them onto. Remember, just because they are young does not mean that there are not money making activities that they can take part in.

In fact, there are many tasks that they can complete that adults may find to be boring or not worth their time. Listed below are just a few of the best ideas for kids to make money:

1. Yard work has to be the all time favorite of kids that are looking to make a little bit of extra money. The reason that this can be a great way for kids to make money is because a lot of homeowners hate yardwork.

In addition, there are also a lot of people that are too old to get out in the yard and go to work. When it comes to yard work, there are many activities that kids can complete.

One of the most common is simply cutting grass. This is a relatively easy job for most kids, and by getting a couple of steady customers, kids can earn good money over the course of a year and add to their workskill set.

During the winter months, snow removal is a great way for kids to make money. Again, most people hate doing this so they are more than happy to pay kids a few bucks to shovel their driveway and walk.

2. Washing cars can be very profitable for your child if you teach them how to do it. If they are interested in this opportunity, you can let them wash your car first so that they can get some experience.

After this, the only thing that they will need to do is find some clients. This can be done by talking to relatives, or other people that live in the neighborhood.

3. Pet sitting has become very popular over the past couple of years. Kids all over the country love pets, so when they get the chance to make money by watching them they jump all over it.

4. Kids have been babysitting for many years. This has always been one of the best ways for any child to make a little bit of extra money. They can start out by babysitting for the family, and then branch out to neighbors that have a need of this service.

You will be surprised at how many people have a need for a babysitter. By simply asking around you will be able to garner at a least a couple of jobs for your kid.

5. For more enterprising youngsters, you might suggest that they go to a baker early in the morning and arrange to purchase 25 to 30 donuts every morning before school.

They should set up a small protable stall on wheels just near but not on the school premises where they can sell the donuts and possibly lemonade or a cold drink at a slight markup. School children going to class before or after school would be their target market.

It shouldn't take more than a half hour to sell out the donuts and drinks. In high school, this can even be done from the back of a truck or trunk of a car. It won't take long for word to get around about where to get fresh donuts and drinks.

There are many ways for kids to make money. It is important to teach children at a young age how to handle money and how to achieve streams of passive income. Schools generally do a poor job of educating our children about how to earn money by being resourceful.

Your job will be to teach your child or find a way to educate them about earning money from a home business and all that it entails.

If your child is interested, make sure that you give them a little bit of help to get started. After they get their feet wet you can simply sit back and watch!

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci is Senior Reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc, a Research Organization that produces special reports of high importance to the public domain. He also operates a successful online home business.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you too can work at home visit:
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

The 7 Components of a Perfect Online MLM System

2006-06-17T13:09:00.000-04:00

The 7 Components of a Perfect Omline Network Marketing System!
Copyright © Bruce Santucci - Senior Reviewer BAS & Associates, Inc
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

The overwhelming majority of network marketers or MLM participants fail after 6 months and give up. It's just too hard for most to watch their hard-earned money fade away after buying and cold-calling so-called prospect leads. Good quality leads can cost as much as $500 per week! How frustrating it is to cold call prospects and rarely ever get a sign-up who wants to work the business.

So is it possible to change the overwhelming odds against the average Network Marketer?

The short answer is yes. Develop or find a Perfect Online Network Marketing System!

What I'm about to share with you is an obvious breakthrough that has taken many from spending 4 hours a day - 5 days a week paying upwards of $500 a month for leads and having no success, to spending less than an hour a day actively promoting their business without ever speaking to anyone on the phone!

Not only that, recruits can duplicate the system!

So if you have an interest, pay attention because systems like this work!

Before you join any Multi-level Marketing or Network Marketing organization, make sure the following seven pieces are in place before you join:

1. A Lead capture page (often called a squeeze-page generator) designed specifically for your Network Marketing Company:

This page must contain strong sales copy that tells the prospect why he wants to opt in for more information. The best way to do this is to offer a High Value Free Report in exchange for their contact information.

2. The Free Report you give must be specific to your Network Marketing Company's Opportunity:

It must explain all of the features and benefits of joining your network marketing organization as an independent distributor and must focus on the support and resources available to the new recruit should they choose to purchase a distributorship.

The company's products and compensation plan must be clearly explained here as well. Testimonials should be used as well as online audio and video sales presentations as they are extremely powerful sales conversion tools.

3. You must have a quality follow up email System like GetResponse or Aweber:

Attached to the Free Report there must also be a follow up system of auto-responding emails that continually markets to the lead. Most leads don't act immediately and must see a marketing message at least 7 times before they take action.

The email follow up system must have strongly worded sales copy and should have a system for getting through spam filters.

4. A Continual Feed Back System that uses the Fear of Loss: (CRUCIAL!)

Along with the email follow up system there must be a feedback system that will alert the prospect by email when new prospects join your network marketing organization.

This invokes the fear of loss in your prospects by telling them that if the next prospect in line upgrades to a paid position before they do they will FOREVER lose commission on that prospect.

The prospect needs to see that if they do not taking immediate action there are negative financial consequences. This is an extremely powerful psychological sales conversion tool!

5.Strong Support:

It's one thing to get someone to buy a distributorship, but it's a totally different thing to get them to work the business effectively. There must be an email follow up system once a new distributor signs on to ensure that he receive adequate training on how to market successfully.

The email system will help ensure duplication, but there must also be human support at this point. After a new distributor signs up, they must know that someone else cares about their success. Strong relationships between upline and new distributors are crucial.

6.A Good Product or Service:

In order for this entire marketing process to work, the system must be backed by a strong and ethical network marketing organization that sells a high demand product that people want and would purchase even if there were no compensation plans attached to it.

7.You:

You must be an active part of your business. You must be willing and open to learn new ideas and tactics at all times. You must have a passion for your business and truly believe in the product that you plan to build your organization around.

"You can't just be part of your business your business must to be part of you!"

-Johnny Wimbrey

Conclusion:

I've listed the 7 basic components of a perfect Internet Network Marketing system.

Here is why this system will work for anyone.

This system will involve NO cold calling because the prospect will opt in to request more information specifically about your business before you even talk to them.

Remember, cold calling generic business opportunity leads and hearing lots of NO's and that is what causes most new network marketers to fail, so you want to avoid this at all cost. This is what the system is designed to do!

Let's review:

1.Have your prospects opt- in specifically for more information about your product and business plan. By giving them a detailed report explaining all of the above before even speaking to them, the chances of a successful sales conversion will be greatly increased.

2.The email follow-up and fear of loss systems are crucial and will increase your chances successful sales conversion exponentially.

3.Further, having uniform training and exceptional support are the basics and must be present.

These are the details you need to make it in any MLM business online.

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci is Senior Reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc, a Research Organization that produces special reports of high importance to the public domain. He also operates a successful online home business foucsing on multiple-streams of income.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you too can work at home visit:
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

Surveying the Best Online Auction Sites

2006-06-15T23:56:00.002-04:00

Surveying the Best Online Auction Sites
Copyright © Bruce Santucci - Senior Reviewer BAS & Associates, Inc

What should one look for on a search for the best online auction sites? If that means looking for the best-known auction sites, then one would need to put e-bay at the top of the list. E-bay has achieved a definite notoriety. E-bay obtained its notoriety for a number of reasons.

E-bay is the auction site selling the most items. E-bay also offers the most categories. The items to be auctioned are categorized for the internet user.

The internet user can find a number of specialty sites on e-bay, as well as several regional sites. This combination of specialty and regional sites has helped to make e-bay one of the best online auction sites.

E-bay is said to be the brainchild of an Iranian-American, someone living in southern California. While this writer has no proof of that fact, I do know that Iranians love to bargain.

About ten years ago I arranged for a group of adults and children to play a party game. It involved the auctioning of certain items. The Iranians at that party really enjoyed that game.

eBay is a unique, attractive and well-organized marketplace where millions of people come to shop and sell their wares. For one to succeed in business on eBay, it is essential to have knowledge about what sells for how much and what is the best way to list the items you have for sale.

Another popular online auction site is UBid.com. UBid.com offers the site user access to its “My Page” service. The site user who uses “My Page” can put all of his or her auction activity in one spot. This service has gained favor among those who like to place bids at several auction sites during one single online session.

UBid.com is definitely in the category of “best online auction sites.”
Its main page displays the names of the auction sites that are about to close. This feature is not found at the other auction sites.

It illustrates why a survey of auction sites reveals that UBid.com is judged to be one of the best online auction sites.

Bidz.com has shown itself to be a very different sort of auction site. Unlike the other auction sites, Bidz.com is not after any sellers. While other sites invite sellers to offer items for sale, Bidz.com buys large numbers of items from various close-out deals. Bidz.com then sells those items in reserve auctions.

The popularity of online auction sites will no doubt grow, as those sites become more familiar to the average internet user.

Yahoo Auctions, MSN Auctions and Amazon.com Auctions are already approaching the popularity of the most favored auction sites.

As more internet users sell or buy items on those three sites, then they too will probably earn sufficient status to belong among the best online auction sites.

Perhaps other, newer auction sites will soon make an appearance. Perhaps some future auction site will offer all of the best features from the above-mentioned sites. Such a site would undoubtedly deserve to be called “best.” For that reason, anyone who has an account with the aforementioned websites needs to see the latest and greatest of the auction websites. It's called Big Value Depot BVD and it's a 'whopper' offering all the greatest features of eBay etc and more. It's cheaper too! and it has an affiliate program and it has big plans for the future. The time to catch it is now. It will grow and eventually surpass most of the most popular auction websites.

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci is Senior Reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc, a Research Organization that produces special reports of high importance to the public domain. He also operates a successful online home business.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Make Money Selling on eBay

2006-06-12T21:49:00.000-04:00

Make Money Selling on eBay
Copyright © Bruce Santucci - Senior Reviewer BAS & Associates, Inc
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

Making money through eBay is so easy, so transcendental, and so profitable that it is easy to become hooked on the eBay site . It often turns into an addiction for the home business person looking to earn extra money.

From a pin to a plane, anything saleable or marketable can be sold on eBay. The transactions on eBay are extremely fast and easy. You can be sure you are buying from a reputable seller due to the system’s “scoring system”. This allows those selling on eBay to be rated by previous buyers they have dealt directly with.

The first step that is required to be an eBay seller and to make money is to get registered, which is an easy procedure and can done for free. The second step is of greater significance.

The seller has to make a decision as to what he or she wants to sell. This can become complicated unless one has the tools to determine if the item one is selling is currently selling and if so, how much it is selling for.

The third step becomes more serious because it involves thinking carefully about pricing, keeping in mind the general trend and nature of competition.

The things the seller needs to consider are overhead costs including shipping charges, auction charges, insurance (if any), and last but not least, analyzing the market for the product the seller is selling.

Once the decision-making and policy formulation parts are over, the seller is required to write a vivid description containing all the necessary information regarding the product, product features, price and all the other details - both good and bad about the item for sale.

It is not fair to suppress any material fact regarding any defect in the product, if there are any, nor should the seller write anything unreal about the product.

The seller should also post his item description with clear close-up digital photographs snapped from at least two distinct angles. This informs the bidders visually and helps the seller to sell the product more easily.

Drop shipping is a tool that many dedicated eBay sellers use to make shipping a little easier. A drop shipper is a licensed wholesale supplier who receives an order from the eBay seller and ships it to the seller's customer.

The seller pays the wholesale price of the item. The profit is the difference between the retail price charged to the eBay customer and the wholesale price paid to the drop shipper. The seller must find a reliable low-cost drop shipper in order to ensure their products are getting to the buyers without being damaged or lost.

Here are a couple of links that may help you first get up to speed on eBay quickly and find great wholesale products to resell on eBay. This one is another one of the best wholesale source directories

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci is Senior Reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc, a Research Organization that produces special reports of high importance to the public domain. He also operates a successful online home business.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you too can work at home visit:
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

Are You Building an Opt-in list?

2006-06-07T22:12:00.000-04:00

Are You Building an Opt-in List?
Copyright © Bruce Santucci - Senior Reviewer BAS & Associates, Inc
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

So you have your business up and running, you have a small client base and wish to expand. What do you think would be a good idea at this point? Flyers? Media releases?

No. The answer is much simpler than that. You need to be able to let people know about your product or business so you can begin developing a relationship of trust. This is where Opt in lists come in handy.

The idea behind opt in lists is simple. Whenever someone comes to your site, you place them on an opt-in list with a squeeze-page on your website that prompts them to leave their name and an email address. A properly-done squeeze page is quite effective in building your own personal opt-in list of interested prospects.

The email address then can be used for promotional and business purposes. This is a very efficient and easy to use marketing strategy, and has definitely paid off for some of the biggest online people on the planet.

This e-mail listing is not solely reserved for clients. It can also be used to address employees, investors, suppliers, distributors, resellers, and potential clients.

In this day and age, it is highly unlikely that a company or even a common person does not have access to an e-mail account. With over 1 billion people globally online this year, you can bet just about all of them have an e-mail address.

Permission based marketing is the most effective marketing. If someone feels you are bothering or annoying them by sending them information about your product or service, you are likely to get into some trouble.

Never think that you cannot send e-mail to everyone on your personal opt-in list. It is far cheaper than using the telephone when you are dealing with the long distance charges.

This is easily one of the best marketing tools you'll find for your business. Many people still have no idea about how to generate traffic to their sites and how to do follow ups for further business. With opt in e-mail you will have an easy time keeping control of the business and its products.

The direct e-mail to client route is catching fire, and will most likely take over as the marketing method of choice in the very near future. Without a tool such as opt in list; you cannot reach as many potential clients.

Any method proven to work and show production in a business should always be embraced. Email may not work for you if you don't have compelling and effective sales letters that convert visitors to buyers. You will only learn how effective your email marketing has been by testing your ads relentlessly.

In dissecting the most successful marketers, you will find that the most successful have a great sales letter with a quick subtle squeeze page (designed to get names and email addresses) that signs the visitor up to a compelling and informative series of newsletters or emails that are delivered by a reliable autoresponder like GetResponse fom implix over about a year,combined with a very useful product or service that satisfies a customer need.

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci is Senior Reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc, a Research Organization that produces special reports of high importance to the public domain. He also operates a successful online home business.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you too can work at home visit:
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

*****

Original Web Content is King

2006-06-06T15:28:00.000-04:00

Original Web Content is King
Copyright © Bruce Santucci - Senior Reviewer BAS & Associates, Inc
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

One of the most overlooked and misunderstood portions of web site design and set up is the content. What do you actually fill the pages with, is the most common question today.

Well the answer is rather simple; content and lots of it. One of the biggest problems with content these days is there is not enough original web content for your site.

Why would you have an article that 500 other sites already have on theirs? This will not keep you in the race if you do not have original stuff.

As every good web site designer knows, it is the use of keyword rich content that can make or break your site. These keywords are what are considered a beacon for the page when the keyword is typed into the viewer’s browser.

Not having keywords or very poor ones will not generate traffic to the site, leaving your site in the virtual dust of the competition. This is where creativity comes into play.

You need to keep sharp to stay on top of the competitors and keep your site flooded with traffic. The more traffic you have, the higher the page ranking.

When your page ranking is high, you will have your site up around the top page or pages where most people surf.

Many people for lack of time rarely venture past the first few pages in a search engines listings.

If your site doesn't have a high ranking, chances are you are not going to be seen. There is word of mouth of course but someone actually has to stumble onto the site and view it for it to be noticed.

For this one reason alone, you need to have content that can generate hits. Now there are many sites where you can grab free content for your site. However, the free content you get rarely has any keyword rich value to it and is surely not going to make you money anytime soon.

You need to find the stuff that no one else has in order to be original. Having fresh content that a viewer is actually looking for and has not found everywhere else online is the key to bringing in more business.

This rule is not restricted to merchant based sites or affiliate sites. This goes all the way down the list of possible web site designs.

Many people today write their own content with their keywords in it, to ensure that the indexing is updated regularly. If you do not have any writing skills or have no programs to ensure that the content has not been used before, this could easily be a daunting task.

There are however, many sites dedicated to this very problem. You can go to a site such as Elance and employ a hired gun to do your content development. This is a site where web designers congregate, and you can simply put out ads on what you are looking for.

Then a writer has the option of taking on the task of filling your site with proven content that will sell for you.

Don't be a loser in this critical fresh keyword-based content area of your blog or website. Buy fresh material if you can't write your own. It will probably be the difference between success and failure in your website.

So what are you waiting for? I've posted a link in the right sidebar with quality writers and articles (content) for your website, ezine, newsletters or emails. These guys are good. Very Good.

Till next time....
*****

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci is Senior Reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc, a Research Organization that produces special reports of high importance to the public domain. He also operates a successful online home business.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you too can work at home visit:
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com*****

2006-06-04T20:50:00.000-04:00

Selling Information Online
Copyright © Bruce Santucci - Senior Reviewer BAS & Associates, Inc
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com
We all know that selling a service or information is no different than selling hairbrushes to the masses. Right? Aren't we always told that where there is a product there is a client?

Where there is information there is someone who needs it? No one it seems escapes from these notions. Pretty much all the tools used to sell physical products, are used to deal with information or services too. There are many methods to generate customers for your business, and many different techniques developed to pull money in. I plan to touch on only a couple here.

Rent a coder or Elance are excellent marketplaces for online services. If you're planning to develop a product of your own, these guys are indispensable. You gotta have them.

It's similar to building and designing a house. You can do the designing and brainstorming but when the plans are done, you'll go to a good general homebuilding contractor to execute your plan.

Rent-a-coder and elance have many great script writers and web designers willing and able to do your bidding. They will bid for the work; from there you will choose the best candidate.

A great idea would be to joint venture with another information provider; this will broaden your client reach and allow for more exposure on the web. By offering the potential venture suitor a win- win situation, you are showing them that the service you wish to incorporate with theirs is needed and will be beneficial.

A follow up plan is a very good idea. You will not have a ton of clientele right off the bat. Repeat customers and referrals will keep the business alive until you can generate more sales and a broader client base.

What is most important is providing a quality service or product for the customer. Word of mouth is huge online and offline. Referrals can be a very integral part of your business.

Local chambers of commerce business owners and associates alike will know of the quality and dedication to your craft when you are referred from someone. This in turn will make the company grow, and the client base along with it.

Credibility is a very important issue, and this can easily make or break your new business. You need to develop credibility and maintain it all the way through the business endeavor. Generating traffic to your site and making a profit can be a very tough chore. You will need to learn how to do this.

You want to have everything going for you. People need to feel comfortable with you and your work, in order to want you to serve them. Make them trust you, and you will have a souce of business profits.

Till next time...
*****

About the Author:
Bruce Santucci is Senior Reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc, a Research Organization that produces special reports of high importance to the public domain. He also operates a successful online home business.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you too can work at home visit:
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

2006-06-02T21:11:00.000-04:00

Merchant Accounts for Home Business
Copyright © Bruce Santucci - Senior Reviewer BAS & Associates, Inc
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com

What is a “high-risk” merchant and how do you know whether-or-not you are in the category? If you are a high risk, what can you do to change your status? Some examples of high-risk merchants include:

* Internet or E-commerce
* Telemarketers
* Travel or Cruise companies
* Internet Auctions
* Businesses that offer memberships to join their business.

If you own a high-risk business this is not a reason for immediate denial of a merchant account. There are many alternatives to using merchant accounts. If you own or operate one of the kinds of businesses above, you may face a few more challenges than other types of businesses in acquiring a merchant account.

Other factors that are considered when you apply for a merchant account would be how long your business has been in operation, credit history, and how you made payments with other merchant accounts or with other processors in the past.

This information will help those who are considering your account as to whether-or-not you will make your your payments on time.

If you want a merchant account here are a few tips that may help you:

Take care of your credit report. If you have anything negative or that may be false, clear it up immediately by calling the merchant and your credit card company.

Do not lie or hold back any information on other accounts you may have had. If you had problems in the past, be up front about them. You do not want them to find out something different from what you reported on the application.

You may be offered the account but at a higher rate than what you want. Be willing to accept higher fees if they offer it to you. In this way, you can prove yourself and eventually move to an account with lower fees.

How long you've been in business is important because it provide merchant card providers reassurance that you understand the risks you face and if you know how to prevent fraud and understand the dynamics of managing credit cards.

If you don't have a long business history the merchant operator may not believe you are ready for this type of account.

Of course, your credit report will show your worthiness to be extended credit as they look for how you have repaid loans. Do you pay on time?

Do you have any liens on properties or judgments filed against you? They want to see if you have filed any bankruptcies.

If you have a credit score of 675+ this will work in your favor even if your business is new and if you can prove that you are financially responsible they will look more favorably to offering you a merchant account.

I am a Real Estate Short Sale Specialist in addition to my many other activities. I have found a good system that allows investors and other business owners to get up to $200,000 in business lines of credit.

I've mentioned this system in an earlier post to this blog about raising money for your new home business. Using company money to run your business is essential. It's called cashflow and either you have it or you don't.
*****
About the Author:
Bruce Santucci is Senior Reviewer for BAS & Associates, Inc, a Research Organization that produces special reports of high importance to the public domain. He also operates a successful online home business and works out real estate short sales with national banks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you too can work at home visit:
http://www.AffiliateCrews.com