How Can I Make Money Online?

November 30th, 2009 - 

Do you want to make money online? Not sure where to make a start? Perhaps you have a product which you could sell online, or perhaps you have skills which you can trade for money in the online marketplace.

Many people’s first experience of making money online involves buying and selling through online auction sites. These offer a good opportunity to learn the art of online business, but take a cut of your money. A better way to make money online, if you can generate enough online publicity to support it, is through your own website. This means you can offer your product or service directly to the public or to other online businesses. All the money you make online this way will go directly to your business.

Another way to make money online is through an agency which can sell your product or service for you. This can be a good option if you want to concentrate on production rather than on online promotion and sales, so you can make money without having to worry about it. Depending on your area of expertise, there are many agencies dedicated to helping you make money online. How can you access them? Through an online search or by using online employment databases.

Whichever way you choose to make money online, what really matters is the quality of your product or service and how you present yourself online. You will make more money if you are confident in your skills and can give a good impression online. Take the time to get to know the online environment in which you hope to make money. In this way you can determine the level of online demand for your product or service. Soon you’ll be able to make money online as if you’d been doing it all your life!

How Can I ‘Really’ Make Money Online?

November 29th, 2009 - 

This is the age old question. Funny to think that anything about the internet could be ‘age old’ but here it is.

Ever since there was an internet for us all to use, people have been trying to profit from it. Many people have succeed, many are still trying.

There are plenty of scams out there promising you instant riches for only $137. The seller of this scam will show you proof that his method works by revealing his bank account. Of course this works for him, he’s selling the scam. His bank account is not proof that his ideas will make you rich. It is only proof that he is willing to cheat you out of your money. Why wouldn’t he be rich, he is collecting $137 a pop to tell his story.

What is his story? Probably something like, create an ebook, market it and watch the money grow. He will tell you that in order for you to create your ebook, you will need his $97 ebook software program. To market your ebook, you will have to buy his $197 marketing plan. It’s as simple as that. Wow, are you rich yet. No, but he sure is!

This is very much like the old mail order scams about stuffing envelopes. How many people fell for that trick? How does that scam work? Well you pay someone $24.95 for their informative booklet on mail order profits. When you get the booklet, you find out that in order for you to make money in mail order, you have to get people to send you $24.95 for your informative booklet on mail order profits. Sound familiar?

The only difference between that old scam and the new internet scams is the price. The idea is the same, it just costs you a lot more to get ripped off online.

So is there really any way for an honest person to make a legitimate income online?

Yes there is!

It won’t be overnight and it won’t be effortless. It takes time and work to build a business anywhere. Why would the internet be any different? If anyone tries to tell you different they are lying to you. They are just trying to get you to buy their informative booklet, translated = ebook.

If you want to build a business, you will have to be willing to work, research and be patient. Nothing happens instantly and no one is going to hand you the silver tablet with all the answers.

There is a lot of writing that goes into an online business. You have to write website content. You have to write a newsletter or ezine. You have to write articles. If you hate to write, you are looking into the wrong business.

Yes, you will find people who will sell you the special program that will allow you to get rich without any writing. The problem is, how did you find out about that program? The seller wrote a sales letter. Hmm… sounds like writing to me. And remember what we already talked about? There is no super software that will make you rich overnight. If someone were to create such a program, do you think you would be able to buy it for one hundred and thirty seven dollars? Hardly.

Let’s stay on track here.

To build an online business, you will have to own a website. To create this website, you will have to research a topic and write about it. You will have to buy a domain name, (this is cheap and you only pay once a year). You will need to find a good hosting company to host your site. This can be pretty inexpensive if you look around. This is a monthly expense that you will have to be able to afford before you even consider building a website.

Once you have your site built and online, your next job will be to let the world know you are there. This is the biggest job there is. It is a never ending task. No one will even know your site exists if you don’t work on promoting it. Many people will try to sell you information on marketing too. There is plenty of free information out there all you have to do is look for it.

Finally, once you have your site up and running, you have people coming to your site, you will need a product or products to sell or what was the point? The easiest way to get products is through affiliate programs. These programs will allow you to sell someone else’s product and make commission off your sales. You don’t have to stock anything, you don’t have to collect money and you don’t have to deal with shipping.

There are many good companies out there that offer nice commissions on their products. It really doesn’t matter what you decide to create your website about. You will find someone selling something that will compliment your site.

So, back to the original question. How can I ‘really’ make money online? The answer is by working at it. Put your pie in the sky dreams away and start writing.

Why Aren’t You Using Freebies to Get More Customers?

November 29th, 2009 - 

Don’t you just love a freebie? I know I do.

I’ve been in two situations recently as a customer, when I received an unexpected freebie. After ordering my usual bagel and coffee at the Bagel Bar,
the girl behind counter offered me a free bottle of mineral water. I was about to ask for a glass of water anyway, so this came as a welcome surprise.

A few days later found me buying a steak at the meat counter in my local supermarket. I was having a chat with the guy behind the counter about the fact that there didn’t seem to be too much meat for so much money.

He obviously took pity on my miserable face when he said – “Tell you what sir, why don’t you have this other steak for the same price” and he slapped another one on top!

So what’s the customer service lesson here? The lesson is that most customers, love a freebie and if they receive one from a supplier it builds a positive
relationship.

As customers, we’re more likely to return and do business with people who give us freebies and we’re more likely to tell other people about our positive experience.

I once read a story article about a restaurant owner who would occasionally give people a free meal. When a group of diners or a family asked for the bill he would spontaneously announce that on this occasion they were his guests and they didn’t have to pay for their meal.

Can you imagine how these people felt – what they said to friends and work colleagues the next day? That free meal probably cost the restaurant owner a lot less that advertising in the local newspaper and it also brought in a lot more new customers.

The Law of Reciprocity states that – “If you give someone something or do something for them – they will want to repay you – to give you something.”

Why don’t you think of some little unexpected freebie you can offer your customers that’ll encourage them to return and also tell others about their positive experience. And while we’re at it – why not try the same thing with
members of your staff. Even your personal relationships – a small unexpected gift or an act of kindness can do wonders for any relationship.

Believe me, once you start to do this, you’ll have many more satisfied customers, happy staff and appreciative friends.

How An Insurance Company Makes Money

November 26th, 2009 - 

I worked in the insurance industry for 16 years and saw first hand how profitable an insurance company can be. I will not attempt to go into the nitty gritty details but I will give you a pretty good idea in the form of an overview, how profitable a venture an insurance company can be.

Insurance is a form of risk management. It is purchased to avoid the possibility of a large , potential future loss. To compensate the insurance company for taking on this potential future payout, the insured pays the insurance company a certain sum of money known as the premium. In return for the payment of the premium the insured receives a written document, known as the insurance policy, that lays out what events are being insured and what the payment to the policyholder would be if that event actually occurred.

The insurance company collects the premiums of a large group of insureds to cover the few losses they would have to pay out for.They use historical data to figure the probability of losses and then charge premiums to cover them while building in a profit for themselves.

For example,let’s say there were 100 houses each worth $100,000 in a particular area. They would have a total value of $10,000,000. According to the history of that neighborhood, two houses are expected to burn down during any one year. Without insurance all 100 homeowners would have to keep $100,000 in the bank to cover the possibility of the house burning and needing to rebuild it. With insurance, each homeowner would only need to pay $2,000 into an insurance pool to pay for rebuilding the two houses that are expected to burn down.

2 houses burn x $100,000 = $200,000 for rebuilding the houses $200,000 divided by the 100 homeowners = $2,000 premium

That $2,000 premium will then have to be increased somewhat to add a profit margin for the insurance company.

In addition to the built in profit that the insurance company adds in to each premium it takes in, the company would also be subject to the actual experience of the insured group. If it takes in more money in premiums than it paid out in claims then it receives what is known as an underwriting profit. And, on the other hand if it pays out more than it has taken in then it has an underwriting loss.

One way of looking at how well an insurance company is doing is to look at their loss ratio. The loss ratio is calculated by taking the losses they had to pay out and add to that the expenses they incurred to actual pay out the
claims and divide that sum by the premiums taken in. A ratio of less than 100% shows a profit and a ratio greater than 100% indicates a loss.

In many cases if an insurance company’s ratio is greater than 100% they can still be profitable. That is because there is usually a period of time between taking in premiums and paying out claims. During that period of time the company can invest the money taken in and they can earn a profit from that investment to offset any underwriting loss and could actually end up with a net profit. For example, if the insurance company pays out 15% more in claims and expenses than premiums it took in, but made a 25% profit from its investments, then it would have received a 10% profit.

So, as can be seen there is more than one way to skin the profitability cat for an insurance company to make money. Two key factors in that regard are how well they can predict their payouts and how well they can invest the money they take in.

0% APR Credit Card Benefits

November 24th, 2009 - 

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You will see many lenders these days offering 0% APR credit cards. If you are thinking of applying for a 0% APR credit card, it is well worth taking the time to research and compare all the offers and benefits available. Although many company’s offer 0% interest credit cards, in most cases it is for an introductory period only. You should take the time to compare the agreements and conditions carefully, as these vary considerably from lender to lender. It’s also important that you take into consideration the permanent rates that the lender charges. While 0% interest credit cards may look tempting, it’s no use entering into an agreement if you struggle to make payments because the permanent rate is too high.

The benefits of a 0% APR credit card may seem obvious, you don’t pay any interest! But many of the 0% interest cards also offer other benefits. Some come with reward schemes like rebates, others with cash back offers. The reward scheme applies to your purchases, where the lender may give you a percentage of cash back for every dollar you spend. They may also have a reward scheme where you can accumulate points depending on how much you spend. These points can then be exchanged for merchandise which the companies offer to their customers. While the points on offer are strictly in favor of the card company, you can still save on the retail purchase price of these goods, which is a benefit.

If you are currently paying interest on your current card or cards, why not think about changing to a 0% APR credit card? If you have a few cards the monthly payments can soon become a considerable sum. You can save yourself money by changing to one of the 0% interest cards. Just think, instead of paying out maybe $100 or so a month in interest, you could be paying out a lot less while reducing the amount you owe.

Most banks or credit card companies will allow you to transfer the outstanding balance you have on your current card to one of their 0% interest credit cards. That means you could consolidate all your outstanding balances on your current cards by transferring them to your new 0% APR credit cards. Some lenders may have a limit on the total money you are allowed to transfer. It’s important that you read the terms of the offer and understand them fully before committing yourself to an agreement. You don’t want to be penalized by any fees you may have to pay if transferring a balance.

The new lender you have transferred your balance to, may have a time limit on their 0% interest credit cards. If you want to keep your payments low, or keep reducing your balance then you should think about changing your card or transferring the balance before the 0% APR credit cards offer runs out. It is worth checking your agreement at this stage just to make sure you will not incur a fee for transferring your balance to another card.

If you’ve done your homework and chosen the correct card in the first place, this shouldn’t be a problem. You should start to look for your new 0% APR credit cards, or card, a month or so before your offer terminates. This will give you time to apply and be able to transfer your balance as soon as your 0% interest credit cards offer ends.

There is an important fact about a 0% APR credit card that most people overlook. Most agreements state you must make ALL your 0% APR credit card payments on time. If you make a late payment on your 0% interest credit cards then the offer becomes invalid immediately.

How Alan’s Website Could Easily Make More Money

November 24th, 2009 - 

My Australian friend, Alan, recently got in touch for advice on how to make more money from his recently set up website. Alan is into natural health treatments, so his simplehealthmaintenance.com website is one that offers natural solutions to health problems.

Alan asked for my advice as to how to monetize this new site, knowing that I have had success with Google Adsense.

First off, Alan needs to consider whether sales are his primary objective. If so, the addition of Adsense to the site, whilst bringing in extra income, might reduce potential sales.

Adding Adsense to his site would be a quick & easy way to make money. I suggested a horizontal Adsense link, just below the main navigation bar which runs across his index or home page. This would look natural and looks like part of the website navigation.

Also, the addition of a Google skyscraper unit on the right of his page would add value to the site, and also increase his income, but without detracting from his primary objective of sales.

Now, Alan is an expert on health, but not so good at search engine optimization. His heading for the page of Simple health treatments by non-invasive electronic acupuncture may explain what the page is about, but it isn’t going to get him hordes of traffic from the search engines – no-one is looking for either simple health treatments or non-invasive electronic acupuncture! Zoom along to Overture and check out their keyword selector tool in the resource centre if you want to see just what it is that people are searching for.

I suggested to Alan that he look at which words which people were searching for. Although he is happy to buy traffic for the site, using the pay per click engines (e.g. Adwords & Overture). This makes it easy to get a top search engine ranking for particular words or phrases (known as keywords) but can prove an expensive way of getting traffic.

Improving his natural search engine rankings, so that people found his site when typing in the keywords, would reduce Alan’s costs and increase his profit margins considerably.

This is relatively easy to do, and in fact I ran this for Alan myself using Wordtracker. This is a handy piece of software which allows you to look at the supply and demand of particular keywords and spot gaps in the market, also known as niches.

In this case, just one of the keywords which came up as in high demand but low supply was pain management with acupuncture. Alan would do well to either use these keywords as part of his homepage or to create a new page with this title and heading, together with suitable webcopy.

By putting these keywords at the beginning and end of a new page of copy, very soon this will start to get ranked well by the search engines and receive visitors who arrive for free!

One other easy suggestion for Alan to implement, since he is also a writer, is to write a couple of articles on the subject of natural healing and acupuncture and to submit them to a few of the Article Directories, such as Ezine Articles and iSnare. This is a effective and natural way to get traffic to your site with minimum effort.

Watch out for your profit margins Alan – they’ll be going way up – just as you implement these few simple changes!

For our free course on making money with your own home based internet business,
visit How to set up your own online business.

This article was submitted by Jen Carter, the creator of the How to Earn a Million Dollars website.

How affordable websites can make you money

November 22nd, 2009 - 
  • Do you have a website that doesn’t bring you any business?
  • Are you worried about investing more money in a website that isn’t performing?

Well here is some good news: affordable websites can make you money!

There’s a myth circulating that you have to invest a fortune to make money through the web. Of course the likes of Amazon and eBay have thrown cash at their websites and are reaping the rewards, but I’m not talking about companies of that size. Budget websites can also generate income with the right approach.

The great thing about doing business online is that you can keep your overheads low. No need for expensive shop fronts, offices, printed brochures or a large workforce. Ideal for the small business without endless capital resources.

It is perfectly possible to do business via the web and make a tidy profit using a modest website on a small budget, providing you follow some basic rules regarding content and structure, and concentrate on converting visitors into sales.

I read a fascinating article last week, by Michael L. McGrath of MLM Celtic Enterprises, which successfully articulated some similar ideas that I have been talking to my clients about recently:

“Every web site has a Most Desired Response, that which the the site owner wants the visitor to do while visiting, and that MDR needs to be identified. The site’s design and content need to be crafted tightly and well around the MDR, identify it with absolute clarity, and remove all obstacles that might prevent a visitor from the response.”

That – in a nutshell – is the key to a successful, profitable website, and it need not cost the earth!

It’s amazing how many start-ups fail to grasp this idea, and then complain that their website fails to bring them any business. Imagine that. If you follow a few basic rules, you can produce websites that actually bring you business.

Concentrate on the following:

  • identifying your Most Desired Response
  • identifying your target audience
  • structuring your site and preparing content, based on your MDR and your target audience.

Identify your site’s Most Desired Response

Rather than thinking about how you would like your site to perform, think about how you would like your customers to behave. There’s a subtle but crucial difference.

More often than not, your MDR will be a visitor buying your product or service. By the way, if you want to take online credit/debit card transactions, you can use PayPal, which is quick and easy to set up. All you need is a bank account to get started.

But your Most Desired Response doesn’t have to involve an online transaction. Very often an MDR will be making a phone call, making contact via email, or simply registering personal or business details.

Be sure of your target audience

Successful small businesses identify and corner niche markets, rather than attempt to take on the world! This is doubly important for online marketing, because you will want to avoid competitive keywords when preparing your content for the search engines.

Structure your site and prepare your content

Once you have established your MDR and identified your Target Market, you can begin to structure your site. The structure and content of your site should serve exclusively to trigger the Most Desired Response from your Target Market. Anything which does not fulfill this criterion is superfluous and should be discarded. Be ruthless about this. Avoid building in gimmicks to your

site, which only serve to distract your visitors from the MDR.

I recommend drawing a flow chart which maps your visitors’ journey beginning with the keywords they enter into Google, and tracking their movement through your site to the holy grail – the Most Desired Response.

When preparing your content, you will need to bear two things in mind. Firstly, it has to comply with the MDR. Avoid superfluous waffle, and make sure everything you say is leading your visitor towards that all important conversion. Secondly, you will need to make sure that your content attracts your target audience to the site in the first place – via the search engines. Start by identifying the right keywords – or more accurately keyphrases – and then ensure that they feature in your content.

In the online world, niche markets take on an even more important role, when you come to choose keywords. The big boys will have the generic keywords sewn up already, and those keywords won’t bring you targeted traffic anyway. If you can concentrate on a specialist or localised market so
much the better. You will stand a far better chance of driving targeted traffic to your site and generating hot leads. Of course you need to make sure that your keywords are not so specialised that none of your potential customers are using them. It’s a fine balancing act. Nichebot offers a useful tool for working out the most productive keywords.

So you see, none of this is going to cost you the earth. A great deal of thinking and research (I never said it was easy!), but not a great deal of money. Quite the reverse: if you follow the rules, you will soon be making money.

Google Adsense: How Much Money You Can Make and URL

November 21st, 2009 - 

Google Adsense: How Much Money You Can Make and URL Channels Explanation

How Much Money Can I Make With Google Adsense?

How much do you want to make? How hard do you want to work? And how much time do you want to spend working the Google Adsense program?

These are the questions you must ask yourself in order to answer that question.

Look at it this way: how many business opportunities come your way where the only requirement is hard work and the time it takes to work hard? Not many. Almost any business venture requires some kind of start-up money.

If your total earnings is showing 0.00 after a week, not to worry. Keep reading and learning and working. If however, youre still showing 0.00 after a month, it may be time to implement some of those optimization tips youll find on the Google Adsense Support Site. Play around with the placement of the ads on your site. Consider changing the colors. Look again at the content. Is it interesting?

As with any other business, with the Google Adsense program, the sky is the limit. Work hard. Work smart. Have fun. After all, youre the boss.

What Are URL Channels and How to Organize Them in Google Adsense

URL Channels allow you to view detailed information about the performance of your Adsense for Content pages.

Suppose you have a blog at writingup.com and you also have a blog at bloggerparty.com. It might be interesting and profitable to track which one is getting more clicks. Log in to your Adsense account and click on Adsense for Content. Scroll down until you see Channels and click on manage channels. You may need to scroll up when the next page loads. Under Manage URL Channels you would type writingup.com and click on Create New Channel. You will immediately see writingup.com in the Active URL Channels dialogue box Now type in bloggerparty.com in the same channel text box and again click on Create New Channel. You now have two channels and you will be able to track your progress on each channel. You can view channel reports from the Advanced Report page under the Reports tab. Choose Adsense for Content, choose the date range and then select the Channels Data radio button. Choose any number of active channels by holding down the CTRL key. Next click on Display Report. Its as easy as that.

0% Apr Credit Card Coping With Your Finances

November 21st, 2009 - 

Credit cards are a big responsibility. When they are used improperly, they can disrupt your future financial solvency and cause you other cash flow problems. The more you know about credit, the more likely you will use this powerful tool wisely.

Nevertheless, credit card users nowadays are making a giant leap from the typical shopping experience to a cashless shopping extravaganza. It is very easy to get in over your head with credit cards.

With the endless shopping convenience that credit cards can bring, more and more people are encouraged to get credit cards and use them to the maximum amount of the credit line.

However, many people are reluctant to explore other credit card choices. That is why, in spite of the credit card’s popularity, credit card companies have had to incorporate enticing promotional tools that will hook customers interest to apply for a credit card.

Among the many credit card offers dominating the industry today, 0% annual percentage rate (0% APR) is the most common. Many credit card users see this as enough of an incentive to make the switch to another credit card.

By definition, an annual percentage rate refers to interest rates that are paid on purchases. The APR is expressed in a standard format to allow comparison between credit cards. These interest rates are reimbursement to the issuer of accrued expenses, in order to make the loan to the borrower and other fees required. As you might imagine, there must also be some profit for the issuer as well.

Normally, 0% APR is provided during an introductory period by credit card issuers. After that time , any balance on the card would accrue interest until the debt is paid off.

The Concept

In an average credit card, annual percentage rate charges range from 6 percent to as much as 30%. Understandably, people would prefer credit cards with lower annual percentage rates (APRs).

This could be a daunting task for credit card companies that are not well established to keep up with the competition. Hence, they try to find another way of offering the same promotions, but with a new or different twist.

This is when 0% annual percentage rate comes in.

Credit cards with 0% annual percentage rates are the most popular. However, one should clearly remember that 0% annual percentage rate does not last forever. In most cases, this offer lasts only for about 6 months. This is known as the introductory period.

Credit cards with 0% APR work best for people who transfer their current balances on other credit cards to the new credit card. Through debt consolidation, 0% annual percentage rate works for the borrower by cutting back monthly interest expense. It can also save time for the borrower by making only one payment per month. The best approach would be to try to pay the balance by the end of the introductory period.

Statistical reports show that most of the charges that consumers pay are focused on interest rate charges alone. The average interest rate that the credit card owner pays is 18.9%. Keep in mind that late charges can be charged if a payment is received by the credit card company even one day late. This late fee can increase your expense, and ruin an otherwise good payment plan.

Hence, with 0% APR, consumers can definitely cut back on their expenses, and use more of their dollars toward paying off their debts.

So before you grab that dazzling offer of 0% APR on a given credit card, try to consider some factors first.

1. Research

If you have heard about 0% APR credit cards but do not exactly know how it works, it is best that you learn more about it through research.

Learn more about annual percentage rates and how 0% APR credit cards work. Through research, you would be able to know that they only work for 6 months and after that period, you can no longer enjoy this offer.

2. Read the fine print

Indeed, 0% APR credit cards can give you more advantages than you can imagine. Just remember to read the fine print. Many credit card owners are blind-sided by expenses and fees after 0% APR has expired. Most of the time this is because they have not read the fine print. The only way to compare credit card offers is to read every part of the offer, and understand it thoroughly. It you don’t understand the terms or instructions, call the company and get clarification.

0% APR credit cards can be lifesaving packages; they can greatly reduce your credit card expenses. However, they do not necessarily provide you a lifetime advantage. You must make a plan to pay off the debt, and stick to that plan, if you want to successfully use 0% APR credit cards.

Every-one wants to start their own home business. But what

November 18th, 2009 - 

Every-one wants to start their own home business. But what if I told you 99% of websites claiming to show you how to make money from home are scams!!!

If you are planning to start your own home business you have to realize that making money from home is not as easy as most websites say it is. There are skills and discipline that needs to be acquired to be successful. Now I bet you have been looking at sites that state you can start making money within 15 minutes or start earning thousands of dollars a day all on auto pilot.

Well it can actually can be achieved but only if you know what your doing. Nine times out of ten most people havent got a clue about making money online or how its done. Believe me most websites are just after your money and will keep everything that really works all to them selfs, this way they can keep telling you you need this and then you need that and basically, they just keep sucking money out of you.

Well if its aright with you I would like to give you an inside look of some of the skills that you will need to run a successful home business.

Skill 1- Research
Now if you have happen to buy some sort of e-book that tells you find something your passionate about or enjoy doing Big mistake more than likely there will be millions of other people selling that product or service.

As I said you will need skills to find hot markets that have very little competition. So you will need to learn how to research and find those hot little markets in the form of keywords.

Skill 2- Link building

Then comes getting traffic visitors to your website another very important skill you must have. Without traffic you will fail terribly. There are quiet a few ways to get traffic to your site but I think the best traffic is from the search engines. But you will definitely need link building skills to get your site in the top ten rankings.

Skill 3- copy writing

But even if you get heaps of traffic its useless unless you can convert customers into buyers. Now you need to master how to write a sales copy or pre-sell a product or service. This skill is very important and without this all your hard work will be in vain. Personally it took me 8 months before I made a single sale. I knew nothing about making money online, so like I said it is not that easy as most websites make out. So next time your on a Make big money online website thats telling you You can quit your job tomorrow, take a closer look and see if they mention anything about teaching you real long term skills. Because honestly without them you are going to fail period.

Ok I hope this information helps you out a bit there are lots of things to learn when it comes to making money online these are just a few skills you will need and there are plenty more. To explain them here would take me days but look to find out more just use your search engine and type in these keywords
1. How to research hot markets.
2.Link building
3.Copy writing

Bye for now and good luck!!