Money Ideas

These are the secret words that will increase your sales conversion overnight. No matter what you sell... These 7 words really work!

(1) Make use of the word "Fast" or "Quick" in your ad.

We all want quick results, fast delivery, quick customer services, fast shipping, etc. Why is that? The reason is simple -- "Time Is Money!"

The faster your service or result in using your product is, the more satisfied will be your customers.

For example: "Our Product Delivers Quick Results!" or "Fast Delivery For All Customers."

(2) Make use of the word "Guarantee" in your ad.

This is a proven word that every marketer should use. It is THAT important for this reason -- "Assurance"!

You must assure your potential customers that they are not risking anything in buying your product. This gives you more credibility and you'll experience a boost in sales conversion.

The classic examples are: "Here Is My Iron-Clad 90 Day Money Back Guarantee!" or "My 365-Day 100% Risk-Free Money Back Guarantee!"

(3) Make use of the word "Limited" in your ad.

The word "Limited" provoke a sense of uniqueness, rarity and also a sense of urgency in your potential customer's mind.

One thing you should always remember: "The SCARECER is your product, the MORE valuable will it be in the eyes of your potential customers."

Examples are: "For A Limited Time Only, You'll Receive..." or "This Offer Is Limited To The Next 19 Orders Only!"

(4) Make use of the word "Easy" or "Simple" in your ad.

I'm a lazy person, aren't you? :o) I like it when it gets easy. It's human nature. So, take advantage of this weakness!

Use phrases like: "This Is The Easiest Way To Lose 15 Pounds In 3 Days!" or "How A Simple Exercise Improve My Memory In One Day!"

(5) Make use of the word "Testimonial" in your ad.

Why should I believe you? Does your product really work? I want proof... believable proof... specific proof from happy customers!!!!

Here are simple examples of how to include this word in your ad: "Skeptical? Check Out The Hundreds Of Testimonials Of Happy Customers We Received To Date!" or "Here Are Unsolicited Testimonials Of People Who Have Been Using Our Products..."

(6) Make use of the word "Free" in your ad.

This is, without doubt, the most popular word in marketing. But, over the time, it has lost some of its appeal because many marketers have been misusing it SO frequently.

But the good news is that the word "Free" still works if you know how to use it!

Examples are: "Get A FREE 5 Day Mini-Course On How To Save YOUR Marriage Today!" or "Order Today And Receive 5 Super Exclusive Bonuses Worth A $97 Value FREE!"

(7) Make use of the word "Secret" in your ad.

Yes! You read it right. The word "secret" can dramatically boost the response of your ad. This is an amazing word. It provokes a powerful sense of curiosity in the reader's mind.

Common examples are: "Discover The Jealousy Guarded Secrets Of..." or "Here Are The Secrets To..."

Before I pen off this article, I would like you to always remember one thing when writing an ad copy...

-- People buy with their emotions NOT with their mind.

Make sure that you include some emotional words in your advertisement. Use words like: love, security, freedom, fun, satisfaction, etc., and also use words that provoke fear like: scams, mistakes, dangerous, etc.

Headlines are the most important part of a print ad.

In fact, David Ogilvy, famous ad man and author of Confessions of an Advertising Man, has said that four out of five people only read headlines. Nothing more.

And if people DO choose to read the rest of the ad, they make that decision based on the headline.

That's a big job to put on the shoulders for what amounts to a few words.

But before you start despairing over your headline-writing skills, take heart. There are several "headline types" that have proven to sell products and services over and over again. Below are four of the most powerful and the easiest to implement.

1. How to. Everyone loves a how to headline. How To Quit Smoking in 30 Days Or Your Money Back. How to Write a Novel in 30 Days. How to Lose Weight Fast.

Why do these headlines work so well? Because they promise a solution to your customers' problems. Why else do so many nonfiction books have how to in the title? If the how to is addressing a need, you feel almost compelled to pick the book up and look at it. Or, in the case of marketing materials or articles, this same natural curiosity can entice you to keep reading to discover the answer.

Keep in mind the better the benefit, the more likely you'll catch your customers' attention. (The benefits in the above headlines are quitting smoking, writing a novel in a month and losing weight. All of these can be powerful benefits.)

2. Question. These headlines ask a question (obviously). If you want this headline type to work, it better ask a question that your customers want an answer to. Are you spending too much on your car insurance? Will your marriage fail? Will you know what to do if you're in an accident?

Whatever you do, don't ask a question that only your business cares about. Something like: Do you know what our company has been up to lately? Again, focus on the benefit for the customer.

3. Top ten reasons. Okay, it doesn't have to be ten reasons or even the top reasons. But just as everyone loves how to headlines, they also love top ten reasons.

Four headlines that work. Five ways to fix a broken toilet. Seven warning signs that your house may be making you sick.

Again, the customers see the benefits immediately. Plus, they know exactly what they're getting -- so many reasons for something.

4. Testimonial. This headline uses your customers' words to sell your products or services. This works because people see proof up front that your product or service does what it's supposed to do. If used correctly (meaning people believe it really is a testimonial from a real customer and not something fabricated) then this can be a very effective strategy.

If you choose this headline, put it in quotes so it's obvious it's a testimonial. And use the customers' words as much as you can to make it sound authentic. Whenever possible, get permission from your customer to use his/her name. You may even want to consider adding a photo as well.

(For more headline and copywriting tips, see Robert Bly's book The Copywriter's Handbook.)

Creativity Exercises -- Write those headlines

Get a stack of paper, find a couple of pens (I'm partial to gel colored pens) and let's start brainstorming.

Start by making a list of all the benefits of your product, service or business. (Benefits, not features. Benefits are what your customers will get out of your product.)

Put that sheet of paper aside. Now pick a headline type and write it on top of the paper. For instance, Question headlines. Underneath start writing as many different types of question headlines you can think of. They don't have to be pretty, they just have to be a question.

Come up with at least 50 of them. Don't let your brain or pen stop until you do. No matter how painful. If you get stuck, go back and look at your benefits list and pick a different benefit.

I practically guarantee by the time you reach headline number 50, you'll have written at the very least one pretty darn good headline. You might have even uncovered a brilliant one.

Try this same exercise with all the headline types and see what new ad concepts you uncover.

Considerable effort is required to get customers for your products. You design killer web pages, work hard for high search engine rankings (or pay for them), submit classified ads, etc. but still do not manage to sell enough. This is where the concept of back-end sales is useful.

Most marketers are successful because they apply back-end selling into their marketing efforts. Back-end selling is when you sell other products or services to your existing customers after they have purchased an initial product.

It is always easier to sell products or services to your existing customers because you have developed a relationship with them when you sold your first product or service to them. You will find it less expensive to sell to old customers as compared to selling to new customers.

Your conversion ratio will be dramatically higher with existing customers. Every time you continue selling back-end products or services to existing customers, you will be building a life-long relationship. You should continually bring out new back-end products or services to sell to existing customers.

Many businesses sell their front-end products (initial products) at almost zero profit in order to generate back-end profits. These businesses do not care even if they lose money on the front-end products or services; they want the back-end profits.

How do you make backend sales? There are several ways. When you order a product from a mail-order company, they'll send you a catalog along with your order, or put you on a mailing list and send you new catalogs from time to time. They might also send you a sales letter for another product. This may be related to the first product in some way. Many companies implement such a strategy.

To implement this technique on the web, you can put the sales pitch for your backend item in the email to the customer to confirm their order. If you have an online catalog, you could include a link to it, or even include a coupon or special offer "for all valued customers".

For a faster response, you should put the backend offer on the "Thank You" page that is generated by a credit-card sale. The customer just bought something from you and has a credit card in his or her hot little hand! Why not ask for another purchase while they are in the mood to buy. In case you do not sell more than one product or service, affiliate programs might come in handy. This way you can back sell products promoted by your affiliate programs as well.

Back-end selling can also be integrated with "Up-Selling" wherein you introduce more expensive products or services to your existing customers in similar ways as those mentioned above. This will almost instantly raise your sales and profits.

The opportunities for getting free advertising for your product or services are limited only by your own imagination and energies. There are so many proven ways of promoting your objectives without cost that it literally boggles the mind just to think of listing them.

One way is to write an article relative to your particular expertise and submit it to all the publications and media dealing in the dissemination of related information. In other words, become your own publicity and sales promotions writer. Get the word out; establish yourself as an expert in your field, and "tag-along" everything you write with a quick note listing your address for a catalog, dealership opportunity, or more information.

Another really good way is by becoming a guest on as many of the radio and television talk shows or interview type programs as possible. Actually, this is much easier to bring about than most people realize. Write a letter to the producer of these programs, then follow up an in-person visit or telephone call. Your initial contact should emphasize that your product or service would be of interest to the listeners or viewers of the program--perhaps even saving them time and money.

Other ways of getting free or very inexpensive exposure include the posting of advertising circulars on all free bulletin boards in your area, especially the coin-operated laundries, grocery stores, and beauty and barber shops. Don't discount the idea of handing out circulars to all the shoppers in busy shopping centers and malls, especially on weekend. You can also enlist the aid of the middle school students in your area to had out circulars door-to-door.

Some of the more routine methods include having a promotional ad relative to your product or service printed on the front or back of your envelopes at the time you have them printed with your return address. Be sure to check all the publications that carry the kind of advertising you need. Many mail order publications just getting started offer unusually low rates to first-time advertisers; a free-of-charge insertion of your ad when you pay for an order to
run three issues or more; or special seasonal ad space at greatly reduced rates.

There are a number of publications that will give you Per Inquiry (PI) space--arrangement where all orders come in to the publication, they take a commission from each order, and then forward the orders on to you for fulfillment. Many publications will give you a contract for space. In this arrangement you send them your ad, and they hold it until they have unsold space, and then at a price that's always one third or less the regular price for the space need, insert your ad. Along these lines, be sure to check in with the suburban neighborhood newspapers.

If you send out or publish any kind of catalog or ad sheet, get in touch will all the other publishers and inquire about the possibilities of exchange advertising. They run your ad in their publication in exchange for your running an ad for them of comparable size in yours.

Finally, there's nothing in the world that beats the low cost and tremendous exposure you get when you advertise a free offer. Simply run an ad offering a free report of interest to most people--- a simple one page report with a "tag-line" inviting the readers to send money for more information, with a full page advertisement for your book or other product on the backside.

Ask for a self-addressed stamped envelope, and depending on the appeal for your report and circulation of the publication in which your ad appears, you could easily be inundated with responses!

The trick here, of course, is to convert all these responses, or a large percentage of them, into sales. This is done via the "tag-line," which issues an invitation to the reader to send for more information, and the full page ad on the back of the report, and other offers you include with the complete package you send back to them.

As mentioned at the beginning of this report, it's just a matter of unleashing your imagination. Do that, and you have a powerful force working for you that can help you reach your goals.

Having a home based business is great - you can set your own hours, work in your pajamas, and be there for your children and your family at any time. So, when it comes down to it, advertising your home based business the affordable way is an absolute must, because you normally have a small budget, to start with.

You have to be able to draw people in, and you need customers in order to have your website work. You have to have traffic to, whatever site you have, for your home business, and this is important to do, no matter what type of home business you have.

However, not a lot of people that start up a home based businesses are wealthy to start with, and you might find that you don`t really have a budget for advertising. But if you have just started your home based business you might look for an affordable way to advertise, to keep your budget. It is very important to set up a budget, when you start a business online or offline, and to keep the budget.

There are many ways to get lots of advertising but it must be affordable for you. There are things that you can do with limited funds, to make sure that you are getting the customers that you need. First of all, you have to be sure that you are putting up advertising in the correct place.

Are you having a business from home that caters to just your area, such as a hair salon or a photography businesses? If so, then your advertising should be in print, because you don`t need the whole world to see it.

If you are localized, don`t bother spending your money on internet advertising, just do print advertising with your website on it. This is the best way to advertise, and you can always do this affordable by finding a cheap place to have posters and business cards made up.

Advertising your home based business the affordable way could also be fun, because you get in touch with a lot of people when you hang up posters at your local supermarket.

Some of the best advertising in the world is FREE. The best place for your business to be positioned is to be the business on the tips of the tongues of the people asked to make the referral. Tell Your Friends, Family & Everyone You Can About Your new business. It`s called word of mouth. You can do it in person, with a personal letter, a phone call or with an Email.

When your friend is asked to make a referral, they will recommend you. When people ask your friends for a referral and your friend mentions your business, that is passive referral networking.

Active referral networking is when you can get your friends go directly to their friends and say "Hey, I have a friend who just started a business. If you are in need of what he offers or you know someone who will need his services, would you please give my friend a call or make the referral to his business?"

If you can get even a portion of the people in your own circle of influence to actively refer your business, then you have built the foundation to build an advertising campaign even more effective than the average local television advertising campaign.

However if you are running a home based business that is on the internet, this means that you want the whole world to have access to it. In this case, you could also put up flyers in your home town at the local merchant and supermarket.

You can find many free online blogs, that will let you post a link to your site, and there are many places that you can get your name out there. The fact remains that you just have to do it - you have to spend several days surfing the web and getting your name out there in whatever way that you can.

Running a home based business offline or online is the same ,when It comes to advertising the affordable way. The point is that you must always remember to advertise or your business will die slowly because no one know where to find you.

You've probably heard the old saying - I know that half of my advertising dollars are wasted, if I only knew which half! Although it's not possible to know all the factors that go into effective advertising, there are a few elements that are crucial to an ad campaign that is profitable. If you strive to achieve as many of the following 7 factors as possible, you can be confident that you'll have a winning campaign.

1) Choose an appropriate medium to convey your message. This is so obvious, but you'd be amazed at how many people don't use common sense when buying media. If you're trying to reach a 14 year old, don't buy an ad in the daily paper - buy the radio station that plays hip hop music! Try to target your advertising as much as possible. Think about the person you're trying to reach with your message. The more you know about that person, the easier this will be.

If you're selling clothing to working women, buying TV is probably not a good idea. They're probably so busy doing household chores and taking kids to various activities, they probably don't have time to watch much TV. But billboards and radio are great because she's probably on the road a lot and those media fit for that audience.

2) Don't believe that everyone uses media the way you or your spouse does. Just because you don't like a certain program on TV doesn't mean that your potential customer doesn't like it - they may be big fans and never miss an episode.

Don't assume that everyone reads the newspaper because everyone you know does. Ask for information about the medium's audience - let your rep show you exactly who is watching/reading/listening/driving by/surfing their medium.

3) Don't judge the price of the ad by the dollar amount alone. Just because an ad is expensive doesn't mean it isn't a good buy - and the opposite is true also. If an ad is cheap, but no one reads or sees it, it's worthless to you. If an ad is reaching tens of thousands of people for $1,000, it might be a good buy if those are the people who are in the market for your product.

Try to gauge the real value of an ad by the cost per thousand or cost per rating point (for TV, radio & cable). If you're not familiar with those terms, ask your ad rep - they will be happy to fill you in. (And if they aren't, find a new rep.)

4) Develop a relationship with your customers and prospects. This is another thing that should be obvious, but very few companies actually do this. Proctor and Gamble has found that this is what makes them money. And it makes sense. If people trust your brand and feel that they know your company, they're far more likely to buy your products. This is actually easier to do as a smaller business than a large one - and many local businesses have done this for years.

It may be schmaltzy, but when the local furniture store owner is on camera for all his TV commercials, people develop a relationship of sorts with him or her. They feel like they know that business. Anytime you can link a personality - even if it's not a celebrity - to a business, that makes that business stand out. This is an important element that there's not nearly enough room to cover - so think this one through for your business and come up with ways (and they can be very simple) to develop a relationship with your customers and prospects. An email newsletter is a simple, cheap and very effective way to do this, by the way.

5) Have a hook. Give people something that makes them remember you. Big companies spend millions on this - and for a good reason - it sells stuff. Whatever you do, don't say "for the best in service and quality" - no one will believe you! If you want to convey that message, have one of your customers give a testimonial on camera - have them describe how you provided them with great service and quality. Give details.

A hook needs to be simple, memorable and if possible, fun or heartwarming. The Taco Bell Chihuahua is a good example - the Pillsbury Doughboy is another one. Do something different and let people know about it. Give them a reason to choose your company over your competitors.

6) Be relevant. Talk to your prospects in your advertising - let them know that you feel their pain and are going to help them make it go away. If you're talking about something they can't relate to, they'll ignore you. There are way too many advertising messages in the world today - and people have learned to tune them out unless they click with something that is important to them. You know how this works - you do the same thing.

If you're sick of how your car is nickel & dimming you lately, you suddenly are much more aware of ads for cars. Find out why people buy your product and talk about how you will give that to them. It's really pretty simple - but an overwhelming majority of businesses totally miss this.

7) Make sure you know what you're trying to get your prospect to do. Do you want them to come to your store and buy a specific product? Or do you want them to call your business to get an estimate on a project so your sales person can close the sale in person? The more specific you are in your call to action (please make sure to include one!), the more likely your audience will do what you want them to do.

All of the elements that go into your advertising - the media, the creative, the copywriting, the call to action - create a synergistic result. The more focused you are with any of those elements, the better your results will be. It's always crucial to measure your ad results. Determine what you want to achieve and include devices that will allow you to determine whether or not you achieved your goal. Then you can tweak results from there.

Everyone knows that marketing a home business is one of the trickiest things about having one. You have to be sure that you are doing it correctly, because no matter what your business is, chances are good that there are a lot of people who have home businesses that are going to be able to compete with yours. Because the Internet is open to everyone all over the world, you are going to find that it often comes down to people choosing the business that markets themselves the best.

Make Your Mark

So, how can you make your mark on the world and be sure that you are noticed? First of all, you have to have something that no one else does. Chances are good that other people have your same idea, unless you have come up with something that no one has ever heard of before. So, this means that there has to be something about your business that is unique, whether it is in your web site, the way that you do business, or the product that you are offering. You have to be sure that you can easily say that you have something no one else can offer, and that when you say this, you can actually mean it. If you can do this, you are going to be on the right track.

Market, Market, Market

Another thing that you have to be sure to do is to market yourself. No matter what you are doing, there is a place somewhere that is going to be able to market you. You have to rely on yourself and do your own research, and figure out where you can best market yourself. If you are just starting out, a good thing to do would be to search online for your product or service, and see what comes up. See what your competition is, and then figure out what they are doing to market themselves. Then, see where you can get your name out there and how you can make yourself known in the world where you want to be.

Another thing that you have to do is to get creative about how you market yourself. This could even be the thing that sets you apart from all the rest. If you can be sure that you really know what you are doing, you might be able to find your way to the top of something, and you might be able to be more of a success than you ever thought it would be possible for you to be. Get out there and market yourself, in the best way possible, and see if you can bring yourself to the forefront.

The following ad was a very successful pay-per-click ad on Google in 2004 for a $500 training seminar.

"(Company name) Reps. Come see how I got 79 sign ups in 90 days without 'calling' anyone."

Here is what that ad really says: "I am an expert. I got 79 sign ups in 90 days. I can help you. This is EASY and FAST. I did it without calling anyone. You do not know how to do this. I can show you how and make your life easier. Let me ease your pain and help you sponsor more reps."

But here is the real kicker: these guys are charging $500-$1,000 to get access to this information, and people are just throwing money at them left and right. The only problem with their system is that it is NOT automated. It is a sales job, and takes too much time away from building their primary program.

You are probably struggling to get your prospects to hand over $100-$300 to get started in your business, yet these guys are making a fortune promoting a "how to" course that will show people how to build the floundering business you sold them in the first place!

Why? Because you are only providing a part of the solution the prospect is looking for when you are promoting your business with your current sales tools. You are leaving out the blue prints/system, so they are going somewhere else to buy that, and as you can see, people are willing to pay big bucks for it, VERY MAGNETIC!

Now we will look at the typical ad you see put out there by people who do not understand the psychology behind marketing yet. This is a real ad I pulled from Google: Breaking News (Company), Fastest Growing Team In (Company), Questions? Feel free to call me. www.(xxxxxxxx).com

What the ad really says: "Another company is launching. We have the best team. Call me."

What the average network marketer who reads that ad will think: "Another company is launching. Big deal I have already joined three start-ups in the past, and I am still broke. "Fastest growing team?" That is what we had last time. My team did not grow fast.

Call you with questions? Why so you can pitch me on your "big deal company." No, thanks, I already have one." Did it appeal in any way to the triggers people respond to? Nope! You have to think very carefully about the ads you write because you will get EXACTLY what you ask for!

Do you want to attract the bottom feeders looking for "quick and easy," or do you want to attract leaders who know there will be an investment of time, money, and effort involved.

These next few ads promote weakness and attract LAZY people. You will get a high response rate, but you are deceiving yourself.

"5x9 Matrix With Massive Spillover! Join Today for Only $20! We Do All the Selling For You!"

"New Company Launch! We Build One Leg for You! Grab Your Position Now!"

This next ad is SOOOOO BAD that I truly hope this person stumbles across my book. Use the "so what" rule and see what it reveals.

"MLM Business Opportunity, New Business with Great Products Dare to venture on a New Frontier."

And then there was: "Want a Marketing Miracle? Plug into Turnkey Global Marketing For Instant & Long-Lasting Success!

Instant and long-lasting? Right. This is the kind of junk you DO NOT want to advertise IF you want to attract real long-term leaders.

The next ad is a GOOD AD and variations of it have been used for two-three years now. The headline sorts people and grabs the type you want to hear from. Line two states a massive benefit/solves a problem.

The offer of the ad is a generic report. Lots of value. Provides the SOLUTION to a painful problem: Not enough reps.

"Attn: Hardworking Network Marketers. Add 20-30 People Per Week. 5 MLM Secrets Free Report."

People know if they are hardworkers or not, so only the people that know you have to work hard to be succcesful will contact you. The numbers in the ad are also very realistic and achievable. On top of that, the person realizes they will probably learn something beneficial from the free secrets and therefore they will be willing to contact you or go to your website.

It is my hope that, if you are not satisfied with your advertising results, you learned something very valuable about how to magnetically attract people to you through your advertising. Good Luck!

Do you wake up every morning and find yourself struggling to promote your home business? Are you getting little or no results from all your advertising efforts? If this sounds like you let me land you a hand, and help you learn some free and easy ways to promote your business.

Not many people know how well free advertising really works. They hear the word free and the first thing that pops into their mind is cheap, and it wont work. Well that isnt really all that true. Ive made a good amount of profits with my business just by using completely free traffic. Sure some of it will be useless junk, but that doesnt mean its all going to be junk.

So where are the hot free advertising places, and how can you use them to your advantage? My number favorite free advertising method is simply placing a link in my signature on message boards. I spend about twenty minutes a day just talking on message boards. While I get a lot of great information I also respond to a lot of people, and every time I leave a reply message you can see my signature link. Believe it or not this really does work. You will be amazed how many people see your link.

Another good little trick I like to do is have my signature in my e-mails. This is a great method to use when you e-mail people. Leave a simple signature so every time you e-mail someone they have a link back to your website. What I do is I will reply back to those nasty spam and bulk e-mails. Why? Because it sends it to someone, and you never know what will happen.

One other technique I use to generate free traffic is traffic swarm. For the little time and effort I put into traffic swarm it pays off in a huge way. Traffic Swarm is easy to setup, and anyone can create an account in just a few short minutes.

Everyday all you have to do is surf traffic swarm for about twenty minutes and build up about one hundred credits and your good to go for the day. Out of those credits you will usually get a good ten or so visits to your site per day. Depending on what your ad says you might even get more.

These are some fun, easy, and free ways to draw traffic to any website you might own. Always remember free traffic is better then no traffic.

Get Rich Quick Scams Revealed
Read this article before you consider paying for a "get rich quick" program.
From: Make MONEY
Everybody would love to make lots of money quickly, working from home, and only doing a few hours of work per week. I've spent the past two years trying to find a great way of doing this. Only over the course of the past few months have I found any "get rich quick" programs worth buying. I've been trying to make money online for a long time. I had a few small websites, but they never made much more than a few hundred per month. It was easy money and didn't require much work on my part, but I knew there were people out there doing better than I was and I knew I could do as well as them.
Now, I've seen a lot of "get rich quick" programs. Most of these people make claims about earning $2000/day with Google or something similarly insane. Almost all of these people are complete liars. Even if they were making $2000/day with Google AdSense, it'd be because they had high- traffic websites with a lot of quality content. I'd know, because in one whole month, I never even made half of what they promised I'd make daily with their programs. Maybe you've already been scammed by one of these fraudsters. Anyway, I finally got sick of what was being offered.
I decided I'd look through the all of the "get rich quick" programs I could find and see if there were any that were actually legitimate. I found that there were owners selling their programs for well over $100, but the information in them could be found almost anywhere online for free. Additionally, they all contained out-of-date information, had no e-mail support, no money back guarantees, and broken links in the downloads section.
In conclusion, almost all of the programs I found were completely useless. The owners knew it, but they couldn't care less about their customers since they didn't offer refund policies! Amazingly, while looking through all of the programs, I actually did find a few legitimate programs. They were run by ordinary people like you and me, and they had found some great methods of making money from their home by doing very little work.
I spent some time working with those programs, and my income is now ten times what it used to be. These programs provided a large amount of great information on how to make extra money on your computer doing very little work. Numerous customers had provided great feedback and reviews for their products. Many of them have started to make money just days after buying!
Their programs have excellent prices, and the authors have a group of paid staff who are dedicating to helping you or providing assistance if you need any. I must say I was amazed! If you do decide to purchase any of the programs listed below, I recommend you join quickly. Most of the owners tell me they are getting an overwhelming number of sales and plan on raising prices in the near future, so order while prices are still low!
To Your Online Success,

If you're looking to grow your business, then a BLOG is a great tool to add to your tool chest. In this article we will discuss BLOG basics and how you can use them in your business.

1. What's a BLOG?

What's a BLOG you ask? Well, let me tell you. According to Wikipedia.com:

A blog (short for web log) is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order [newest entries are at the top].

So, its really just an online journal or diary that is written by anyone who wants to tell the world what's on their mind. (Side note: When I say "the world" I really mean it, so be careful what you write.)

Ok, so how can this help you grow your business? Great question. To understand the answer you have to know just a bit about how search engines work.

2. BLOGs and Search Engines

Search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN and all the others use what they call "spiders." Spiders are software programs that "crawl" the internet looking for new content, and rank it based on its contents and its relevance to a certain topic. This is all done by some very complex math, but the important thing you need to know is that if you write often and/or discuss topics that are getting searched online a lot (i.e. topics in the news), the search engines will consider your site "relevant" and if you include "key words" (popular search terms) in your content, that you know your potential customers are searching for, there is a much better chance that they will actually be able to find you.

So to recap, my 3 Principles of BLOGging for Search Engines are:

1)Write Often
2)Write Relevant
3)Write Using Key Words

3. What makes a good BLOG?

This is a rhetorical question. The only thing that really matters is the opinion of the audience you are trying to reach. So here are a few tips that will help you stay on track.

1. Know who you are writing for
a. If your audience is 13 year olds, writing about retiring next year probably isn't going to get you a lot of return visitors

2. Keep it short and to the point
a. 100-300 words is all most people will have the time to read, so keep your articles short and to the point. Over time this will build a great deal of credibility with your readers.

3. Write actionable content
a. "How To" and "Top 10" lists are great. It gives your readers action steps they can take to use your content in their everyday lives. Think about ways to use these to point out how you are different from your competitors.

4. Don't be afraid to tell some of your secrets.
a. People love to hear about how to make something happen, then they love to pay someone else to do it. Let's be honest, even though you just told me how I can edit my html code on my website to make it stick out like neon lights in a search engine, that doesn't mean I want to do it myself. Just give me a way to contact you to hire you. After all, you just showed me that you are the expert.

5. Allow Comments
a. Consider allowing people to post comments about your BLOG. In fact, you should be the first one to post a comment after each blog, pose a question or comment to simply getting a discussion started. If visitors are interacting and writing comments about your BLOG, they are actually adding relevant content that the search engines are going to like.

Well, there you have it, BLOG basics.

Be an active participant in you own business. Do and try more things often to see what works and what doesn't. You might not succeed at first but many times one learns what not to do first. It is all right to fail as long as you learn from it just look at it as feedback. You will need to spend time and money to gain the experience you need. Also be ready to lose your money as well and just call it a lesson learned. A bit of burn will drill the network marketing lessons into your brain for sure.

The rule to any successful business is sell stuff to make money. In order to do this you must have salesmanship and must be able to close a sale. Having plenty of customers is essential to running an effective and profitable business. Winning customers online is great for business but still has its ups and downs. You will be exposed to the whole world and have a huge market place. On the downside the exchange is so impersonal and it is hard to make people feel comfortable and trust anyone. There are several ways to overcome the lack of direct communication on the web. Accentuate the positives to compensate for all the bad. You can gain great and loyal customers online with some positive feedback. Here are five sure fire methods that will keep your customers coming back for more and new ones buying.

There are those individuals who truly believe they can log online and make a business up and be making tons of cash in a week. Let's speak the truth, that isn't how it goes at all. Just because the web is huge and everyone and their grandma seem to have an online business doesn't mean their business is successful. The one that are took much time, money, and hard work to get there and it wasn't overnight. For most good online marketers it took at least a year to get up and running to get successful. They had to budget their time and money well. Don't assume that putting a huge sum of cash into your business will bring you instant rewards. It is too easy for newbies to not bother using multiple strategy methods and get burnt when their business doesn't take off. It is important to spend your time and money on several different approaches to see which ones generate the best hits.

There is a lot of room for growth with this type of business set up. This will be due to continual marketing efforts. The money will be assured to come in at the right time. Just hook up with the best feedback companies and you will be happy all the way to the bank.

Here is the easy way to get rich just by sitting at your computer (in your pajamas nonetheless!) and painlessly filling out surveys! Actually, you will find all that information in the numerous sales letters out there already, so let's skip to the next step... the step about actually doing the work.

Those claims you may have heard about easy riches are pushing it. You need to realize that most surveys that take 15 minutes will pay two dollars. Even if you work your tail off, that comes out to a paltry $8 an hour.

The first step to success with online surveys is to ask yourself why you are doing this. Is it to pick up some spare cash or are you going to pay the bills with this income? (Making this your full-time job could be dangerous.)

Once you know why you are doing this, get organized. It would be a good idea to set-up a new e-mail address (Yahoo or Gmail for example) dedicated to online survey offers. You'll also want to turn off any spam filters to ensure that all the survey offers are getting through to you.

Now you need to sign-up for the surveys. Should you pay $35 for one of those directories? Heck no! Most of those are scams. The best way is to simply go to Google and search for "paid survey." There's your list and you just saved $35!

When you sign-up for each account, you'll have to fill out a profile. It's important to fill this out completely and honestly so that you get notified about compatible surveys. Depending on your circumstances, you could be bombarded with surveys or just find a couple each week.

Here's the key: Sign-up for as many online survey sites as you can find! Don't expect to get unlimited survey options after signing-up with two or three sites. Again, this is the most crucial step!

Now wait a day or two and see what happens. If you don't get many offers, you might have to rethink any plans of getting rich by doing this!

Here's the second most important step. Check your email often! Take the survey as soon as you see it. It's not uncommon for a survey to fill up within a day. (Remember, there are lots of people out there doing exactly what you are.)

Once you get going, you could easily lose track of what you are doing. The first thing to do is get a PayPal account linked to your survey email address. Some places (like GoZing) will pay by PayPal. Not only is this faster and more convenient than a check, it keeps a record of your earnings in one place.

Another thing is to have a hi-speed internet connection. Quite a few surveys have you watch short videos like movie trailers. Also, use Internet Explorer for your browser. Some survey software is not supported in the Firefox browser.

Now that that is settled, want to make even more money? Try focus groups. These are more personal and involved than the surveys, but the payout is considerably greater.

Well, there's nothing left but to sign-up, get organized, and take surveys. Good luck!

You might have been thinking how some executives and CEOs started their own cover letters? Can you really foresee someone’s possible position and achievement through their cover letters? These might be the questions lingering in the minds of fresh graduates. Well this I can tell you, they just had the proficiency to market themselves appropriately. I have been wondering why most colleges never even spent some time teaching their soon-to-be graduates the capability to write their cover letters? They taught you lots of craps which you might not be able to use entirely as you venture in the professional world. It’s such a shame that they forgot one of the most significant letters in the world that might eventually lead you to your success.

As previously mentioned, cover letters mainly contain a somewhat “self-marketing” of the applicant to his probable employer. Even though you are not applying for a related position you should understand that cover letters function that way. This marketing thingy is what would assist you to be one with them, but from here I'm going to warn you that marketing is way too different from exaggeration. There maybe a thin line but still the two concepts are distinct from one another. Marketing yourself through your cover letter means that you present your capabilities and yourself in such a manner that you would be able to stir up the interest of your employer. This is most probably the area wherein most applicants fail, and this is just where you need to excel. Whereas exaggeration would be equated to mere packs of lies which you can’t really offer the company.

Whether you believe me or not your cover letter is much like a mirror reflecting who you really are. Putting yourself in the shoes of your employer, you don’t want someone imperfect for a position to be hired, and that’s exactly what I am aiming for you to avoid. You don’t need to fool anyone and pretend to be well-informed; you just have to be able to convey clearly your intent for their company and how functional you could possibly be for them.

An effective cover letter for you

It won’t be too much to ask if you’d obligate yourself to make inquiries regarding the background of your potential company. A brief history of their company, the progress or expansion they have made for the past months. Trust me; this would be very useful for you in the long run of your application. Not to mention that the details which you would acquire could also be used for your letter. So how does this help you? Simply, it would give a picture of your awareness and sheer interest with their company.

In addition to your research, it would be better for you to know to whom you’d address your letter. This mere action would display persistence and a sense of professionalism as it demonstrates your willingness to go further just to obtain the job.

Be sure that your cover letter is just an introduction; it need not be an essay to which you narrate your whole life story. Being concise and professional enough as you write your cover letter is very important. You need to mention in the cover letter how you got a hold of the job opening and some highlights of your abilities which are related to the position you are eying for. As you finish your cover letter, make sure to proofread it for errors.

Are you sitting by the phone, twiddling your thumbs, just waiting to get a call about the job you just posted for? Have you been sitting there a really long time? Have your calls gone unreturned? Maybe it’s time to take a closer look at your resume.

Please – no sighing allowed. I know you’ve heard it all before and you’re probably really tired of even looking at your resume. Everything is kind of running together to where you don’t know if your resume is up to par or not. That’s why you need…

An Extra Pair of Eyes

Have a friend, parent, heck, even someone off the street look at your resume. Ask them if it makes them want to know more about you, if it makes them in awe of what you have accomplished. Be sure to pick someone who can be objective and who has some business acumen so you can get a clear and accurate assessment.

Unbeknownst to many job seekers, there are professional resume writing services who offer free resume evaluations. No obligation. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some free consultations out there that aren’t worth your time. However, some really go in-depth and can provide some excellent feedback.

You Have to Dig Deep to Find the Gold

So often times job seekers don’t realize all the important achievements in their career. They feel unworthy of anything that really screams, “Yes, I’m perfect for the job!” so they write modestly in a way that doesn’t showcase the goods.

Big mistake.

Employers are begging job seekers to tell them why they need to interview them. The hiring managers definitely don’t want to waste their time looking for a needle in a haystack. End their frustration and give them what they want:

• A resume that has no fluff and instead is filled with concrete facts and figures
• A title so that the hiring manager knows immediately what job you are applying for
• An executive summary that is about how your needs meet their needs; not about what you want
• Achievements that are quantified whenever possible
• Less about what you did but how you did it and the results that came from it

I’m not going to lie – writing a resume that actually grabs the attention of a hiring manager and provides enough proof to garner an interview is not an easy task. That’s why there are professionals out there who do it for a living. However, if you come armed with the knowledge and some writing skill, you’ve all but ensured yourself an increase in job search satisfaction.

A leading expert in the employment search industry, Heather Eagar is passionate about providing working professionals with current, reliable and effective job search tools and information. Check out reviews of the top resume companies in the industry at http://www.ResumeLines.com

If you're considering a career working in Information Technology - a fancy way of saying "working with computers" - congratulations! I can tell you from personal experience that it's one of the best decisions you'll ever make. I can also tell you from personal experience that it is never too late to begin!

I started my IT career 10 years ago, and it was a tough decision. I was 34 years old, and really knew next to nothing about computers. I decided to attend a technical school to get my career started, and it was the best decision I've ever made. Ten years later, I write eBooks and teach classes dealing with different facets of networking, I’ve earned the most difficult computer certification in the world, and I've never been happier. The same thing can happen for you.

As with any new venture, there are some things you have to watch out for, so I'm going to share my experiences with you in this new series of articles. I'll tell you what worked for me, what didn't work for me, and some tips and tricks on developing a fun, exciting, and financially rewarding career in Information Technology.

The first decision, and one of the biggest, is to decide what technical school to attend. If you think you can't afford it, think again. Ask yourself this question: Can you afford not to go?

Almost every college and community college offers some kind of technical class, so look into those. For many of us, though, a technical college such as ITT or ECPI is a better bet. These colleges have more of a focus on technology, and can also help with job placement.

What you should beware with some technical schools is an unrealistic emphasis on how much money you're going to make when you graduate. Some schools are fond of mentioning the MCSE Salary Survey, making it sound like you're going to make $65,000 or more in your first IT job. I’m not saying that can’t happen, but it’s not very realistic for your first job. When you visit a school you're thinking of attending, ask to speak to someone in the job placement department and ask them point-blank where they've recently placed graduates and the salaries at which they were hired.

Find out how many of the classes include hands-on labs. This should be close or at 100%. The only real way to learn about software such as Microsoft Server, or any computer hardware, is to really work with it. Just reading about it isn’t enough. Believe it or not, computer hardware and software doesn’t always work the way the books say it will!

You should also ask the school if any of their courses include preparing for computer certification exams. Professional certifications such as the CCNA, Network+, Security+, A+, and MCSE can be a huge boost to your career and your salary. We'll talk more about that in the next installment of this series. In the meantime, stop dreaming about a computer career and start planning on how to make it happen!

By Mark Mcclure

Inquisitive workmates, friends or close relations have most likely asked anyone involved with Personal Development: "What are you doing all this for?"

Perhaps these questions have caused you to pause and reflect for a time? But did you bail out of giving an answer because you couldn't find the words, felt ashamed or just didn't want to go there?

I've been there too. And I remember that some of their generally well-meaning questions made me somewhat ashamed that I even needed to focus on personal development. It was real easy to start looking for what might be really "wrong" with me to have created the PD need in the first place.

Heck, I thought maybe I should just go recycle all those PD books and tapes and CDs. And settle for whatever may come...

Fortunately, I was able to engineer a change of mindset to deal with these self-doubts. And that change became centered on the belief that the best of Personal Development is all about developing the potential of the whole person. It's definitely not about focusing on faults, limitations and lack of ability.

This new mode of thinking became effectively hardwired after I decided to enroll with the International Coach Academy in Winter 2004. I already had a successful IT role in a global financial services corporation and was not looking for a full-time coaching role. Although part-time participation in a mentoring project with other staff was in the early preparation stages.

My self-proclaimed objective throughout the 1.5 years it took me to complete the Certified Professional Coaching program, was to find out how to use my personal development experience in a self-coaching context. During the program I made the following two life empowering discoveries:

1: A realization that "raising awareness" is the secret to becoming more alive and to the very act of living itself...

2: I am able to choose my degree of responsibility for most or all of my actions.

'Never-ending change' is now almost a documented procedure in many global companies! I was therefore not at all alarmed to hear that a major IT outsourcing project was about to get underway!

With the knowledge that outsourcing was about to make an appearance in my world, I decided to concentrate on applying my two discoveries to help coach myself smoothly out of a 20 year employee mind-set and into the new and uncharted waters of Internet business ownership - and all this in under two years! This PD-coaching stuff rocks!

Concurrently with the outsourcing project, I also made it a daily habit of asking myself this question before the start of almost every major task: "What is the point of doing this?" This felt weird but I soon got used to it. What remained tricky was to remember to pose the same question when the task was completed!

Do you want to give it a go? If you do, you might be shocked to realize that you often don't really know why you are doing any one particular task - it just appeared on your to-do list. And once you begin to question your reasons for engaging in probably 80% of the stuff that comes your way - the time for changing the game has probably arrived.

Over time, the answers I got from repeated use of this question helped me to see that I really was able to choose to accept more or less responsibility for some of these tasks and their outcomes. It was (and remains) a very liberating feeling to know that.

My initial successes with self-enquiry made me curious to know even more about what I was not yet aware of concerning personal development and unrealized potential at this middle stage of my life. Though it was clear that I could develop myself further within my existing employee career role (with or without outsourcing scenarios), I wondered what other roles existed beyond my day-to-day conscious awareness of "this is what I expect of myself".

All this pondering concluded with the emergence of a simple but subtly effective self-awareness tool I refer to as "the Bio Map".

The tool has 7 straightforward tasks each requiring only a one-word "answer". Get a pen and some paper if you want to test it out. Here it is:

- Write down your Family name.
- Write down where you were born.
- Write down where you live now.
- Write down your current job title.
- Give one word that recalls a big goal you have already achieved in your life.
- Write down a major goal you really want to achieve.
- Write down the date.

Good job! You just made your first Bio Map! And to finish up, here is the tiebreaker! Take your list of words and write a brief paragraph on what these words mean to you and your life right now.

This marks the beginning of all effective goal creation.

By Robert Steward & Mesia Quartano

Whether you're looking for entry-level hires, tech talent or experienced executives, job fairs are an increasingly important strategy for recruiters seeking employees at all levels. The experts at diversity job board LatPro.com offer the following tips to improve your career fair recruiting results while promoting a positive public image for your company:

-Plan as a Team: Make sure there's no disconnect between those planning the exhibit and the recruiters actually attending the event. All members of an exhibiting company need to work together to ensure that everything runs smoothly and nothing falls through the cracks.

-Ask About Advertising Opportunities: Almost every job fair provides a variety of opportunities to publicize your company, often at no additional cost. You may be able to publish your open positions on the event Web site, include your company logo in printed materials, get listed as an exhibitor in radio or TV ads, or receive additional exposure as an event sponsor.

-Don't Put All your Marketing Materials in One Basket: If you ship your booth, display graphics and all your printed materials together, what will you do if they don't make it to the event on time? At the very least, make sure some marketing materials and brochures travel with you. Then if there's a shipping snag, you won't be empty-handed.

-Stay Until the End of the Event: Make sure your travel plans and other arrangements leave enough time for you to exhibit for the entire job fair. Breaking down your booth early is a distraction to other attendees, and it could cause you to miss top-notch candidates who arrive at the end of the event.

-Be on Time: Get directions to the job fair location in advance and give yourself plenty of extra time for missed turns, elusive parking, event registration, booth set-up and last-minute errands. You should have all your prep work completed before candidates are scheduled to arrive.

-Never Leave Your Booth Unattended: If one recruiter goes to lunch, the other should stay at your exhibit. The same goes for cigarette breaks and trips to the bathroom. You never know when outstanding candidates will visit your booth, and you can't guarantee they'll come back if you're missing in action.

-Greet Candidates When They Approach Your Exhibit: Sounds like common sense, but some recruiters seem to prefer chatting with their booth co-worker instead of welcoming candidates. Remember why you're there and be a good host. When someone visits your booth, introduce yourself, shake the candidate's hand and start a conversation!

-Always Accept Paper Resumes: The biggest complaint from career fair candidates involves recruiters who refuse to take paper resumes and instruct jobseekers to apply online at a company Web site. You should always accept resumes from job fair candidates; just explain that they must also apply online as part your company policy. This courtesy shows candidates that their effort to meet you in person is appreciated.

By Max Anderson

There is much debate surrounding college student credit cards. Some swear up and down that they're a disaster waiting to happen while others vehemently object and insist they are a must-have financial tool for college students. Which side is right?

When deciding whether college student credit cards are good or bad, you need to weigh the facts. These three truths will help you come to your own conclusion.

1. Aggressive Marketing

College student credit cards have gotten a bad rap when it comes to their marketing tactics -- and some would say that it's for good reason. You can't hit a single college campus without coming across at least one application for college student credit cards.

That being said, while the applications are definitely readily available (to put it lightly), no one is forcing college students to sign the application. It's the responsibility of a parent to instruct their children on wise financial decisions.

The credit card companies are marketing their product -- that's what they do. Parents need to do their part and make sure that they instruct their children in the ways of the credit world.

2. They've Got to Grow Up Sometime

Everyone has to grow up sooner or later and college student credit cards can provide some priceless lessons in the world of adult finance. For the first time, college students can be responsible for their own spending and their own monthly bills.

Yes, college student credit cards can provide the potential for disaster (but so can a number of situations that students encounter in college). Just because student credit cards have the potential to be misused, it doesn't mean that they will be. Have some faith in today's college students!

3. Paving the Way

Once a college student graduates, they're going to need some things (a place to live and a car to name a few) and they're going to need credit to get the things they need. If they don't start building their credit history in college, when are they supposed to do it?

If a college student wants to be completely prepared when they graduate, they're going to need to work on building a solid credit history while they're in school. College student credit cards can be the means to that end.

If you know a college student (or are a college student) who has been debating about whether college student credit cards are good or bad, consider the above three facts and remember, it's not college student credit cards themselves that are good or bad -- it is who is using them and how they are being used that make the difference.
For more tips on student credit cards, saving money and avoiding getting taken, check out CreditCardTipsEtc.com, a website that specializes in providing credit card tips, advice and resources. http://www.creditcardtipsetc.com/student_credit_cards/

By Susan J Smith

Mystery shopping (also known as secret shopping, service evaluations, service checks, telephone checks, performance audits, mystery customers, spotters, virtual customers, and anonymous audits) is the practice of using anonymous shoppers to provide customer service feedback.

Many people think mystery shopping is too good to be true or that mystery shopping is a scam. And although there are some suspect web sites on the internet claiming to get you started in mystery shopping, there are over 100 legitimate companies that provide mystery-shopping services to over 1000 business.

Mystery shopping is a fun and rewarding way to make extra money by visiting amusement parks, apartment complexes, automobile dealers, auto repair shops, banks, bars and clubs, bookstores, boutiques, bowling alleys, brokerage houses, car rental agencies, carpet cleaners, casinos, cell phone stores, coffee shops, convenience stores, copy and print shops, credit unions, day care centers, department stores, discount stores, donut shops, dry cleaners, fast food chains, financial services, florists, funeral homes, gas stations, gift shops, grocery stores, hair salons, health care providers, health clubs, home builders, home improvement stores, hospitals, hotels and resorts, Internet retailers, marinas, movie theaters, museums, online merchants, outlet malls, restaurants, RV parks, saving and loan companies, self-storage facilities, shoe stores, specialty retail stores, tourist attractions, travel companies, truck and trailer rental, truck stops, video rental stores, vision care providers and other establishments.

Mystery shoppers visit these businesses acting as normal customers to evaluate the business and the employees who work at these businesses. Once the visit is complete, the mystery shopper completes a report or questionnaire about the visit and details what happened.

Businesses hire mystery shoppers to learn about the type of service its customers are receiving. These businesses want an impartial view of the business and its operations. The businesses want to discover what is good and bad about the products and services their customers are receiving from the point of view of a customer.

The information that mystery shoppers provide to businesses is used to reward good employees, identify training deficiencies, and make stores safer for employees and customers, and much more. Often, companies may base performance evaluations and bonus pay on the results of mystery shoppers.

Customer service by businesses that use mystery shopping is often improved when employees know that they will be mystery shopped. This sentinel effect occurs because employees don’t know when or by whom they will be mystery shopped, so they give every customer excellent service.

Because the business environment today is very competitive, there is a great need for mystery shoppers. Companies face loss of business when they provide poor service or their employees’ actions cause them to be sued or fined by the government. Therefore, more and more companies are turning to mystery shopping as a way to reduce these liabilities.

Almost any adult can become a mystery shopper. Companies need mystery shoppers that look and act like typical customers. So people old and young, married or single, with child or without children, male or female can be mystery shoppers. And mystery shopping companies need people from all of these.

People become mystery shoppers for a variety reasons. Many enjoy doing it because it is fun. Mystery shoppers often get free food and merchandise while making extra money. Others enjoy the flexible hours and the ability to work part-time. All know they are providing an important service to companies by helping them evaluate their customer service.

Getting started in mystery shopping is easy but can be confusing because there are few real resources for people interested in getting started. Many companies who are not mystery shopping companies take advantage of would-be mystery shoppers by providing inaccurate information or by selling lists of mystery shopping companies to them. Mystery shoppers should never have to pay to become a mystery shopper.

If you are interested in becoming a mystery shopper, look for free lists of mystery shopping companies. Also, look for free mystery shopping job boards and e-mail lists.

Then you are on your way to a fun and interesting career in mystery shopping!

Susan Smith is a mystery shopper who has done hundreds of mystery shops. She keeps a list of free mystery shopping jobs and a mystery shopping company list at http://www.LearnAboutMysteryShopping.com