hearing from those succeeding with making even a small, regular income. I am looking for something to do from home. I don't really know where to start except I do know a little about affiliate marketing. I would just like to hang around and see what others are up to and how it is going for them. The main reason for starting something from home is, I am finishing up some business courses and plan to spend the summer RVing. I figure I can make a little extra (besides my main, caregiving job) plus, I want to put some of my newly or at least "refreshed" biz skills to work so I don't lose them. I don't have any specific questions at the moment but will after I get a chance to explore the forums.
The majority here have their own websites or blogs as a base for their home business. You can do affiliate marketing without your own site using free and paid advertising. Having your own website(s) allows you freedom to promote whatever you want. It also lets you build a following not available when using only affiliate links. Most affiliate sales build customer lists for the owners instead of for you. You could blog from your RV or cell phone and promote whatever. There is an audience for just about any niche that motivates you. Do what you love and find a way to make it pay.
thank you for the info. I want to have my own website and I don't think I will go Affiliate Mkting. I am just thinking at this point but if I am going to do this, I would like to work with something along the lines of writing. Plus I am way into photography so anywhere I travel I will have an opportunity to shoot lots of pics. I want to have fun with it rather than be stressed about deadlines etc. I am blessed because I will have my basic income, this will just be more of a hobby that makes a little extra money. thanks again
Welcome to the forum. The one thing a lot of successful internet marketers use are affiliate programs. But if I were you, I would not work with any program out there. To be really successful, I would suggest that you work with affiliate programs that can pay you both residual income and an income from the efforts of others. The only affiliate programs that help you do that are multi level affiliate programs on the internet. The bad thing about regular one time commission affiliate programs is that they pay you once and that's it. There are a lot of people out there that are in this business and are still struggling after years. That is because they worked and still work with the wrong programs. I know because I have done this myself.
I shoot about 300 per day, 1 in a 100 might be worth sharing or selling. Check out other posts on this forum about selling photos on-line. You don't have to be great if you can find the right markets. That's what I meant by doing what you love and make it pay. Don't compare yourself to Ansel Adams, Picasso sells too. It's not my main income but it is a steady income stream. And I am far from a pro, equipment or talent wise.
A lot of us make money online in different ways. I've always focused on totally free money making opportunities myself. Just2EZ is right. A lot of us do create our own sites and blogs.
I wanted to thank you all for your answers/recommends etc. I had a heavy workload this week at school so couldn't get on here much. I am registering for my "final" Spring classes in two days and I will make a separate post as it has a bit different subject matter. Thank you again and hope to get to know you all better Denise
Yes, I don't think I want to try to sell my photos. I just don't think they are good enough to be honest. I just do that for fun. I just figured it will help in "dolling" up my site denise
The more I go back to this reply EZ, the more I am drawn to that way of going about this. What I love isn't really a money-maker I don't think. First, I love learning about God but for a "trade" I guess it would be nutrition/fitness. I could talk all day about that (or write, lol). I also like fashions/outfit coordinating for older gals like myself. So much is geared toward younger folks clothing. So I have been thinking about Affiliate Marketing in the clothing area. I am just not into wasting any time at my age. I guess the SBI paints a pretty picture of getting it "all in one" and up and running much sooner then going it alone. Also, Affiliate Marketing I would not have to worry about shipping, storing product etc. It's just a hard call. I am thinking and praying a bunch because I would like to have a website in place by June when school is done. I hope to be going RVing for the Summer, and, do my biz as well, whatever it ends up being denise
It is important to build a list when creating an online business. Whether you are doing affiliate marketing, creating your own products, etc... give something of value away at a squeeze page in exchange for someones name and email address. This is a good and proven way to build your list. Once you have a list you can send them out helpful material to build a rapport with them. Be good to your list and they will be good to you. Don't always try and sell them. Help them! Create Value! You can make money from your list by sending them affiliate products or products of your own related to what they signed up for. Just image if you had a list of 800 people and you send them out a product worth $27 and only 5% (40 people) purchased it. Well, that's $1,080 in sales off just one product. (Your list is managed by an autoresponder so this makes it easier to handle a lot of people) If you want to learn about autoresponders then check out AWeber. I think they have a great product, priced well, and provide great customer support. I'm sure you can see the potential. Now, this business model isn't something your going to make a quick buck with. It takes time and hard work. You need to learn the necessary skills and put the time in to building your business. Hope this helps. If you have any questions please let me know. I would be happen to help. To Your Ultimate Success, Kevin
Thanks Kevin, this was so interesting, the list thing. So you aren't talking about offering them something free to sign-up (fill in their email etc) or are you? Got a little confused. Do you mean send out a message to the list to purchase something either I wrote or some other product? I would like to learn more. Is AWeber something that will help me get a website/blog started? Thank you again, Denise
Hey Denise! Welcome to the forum. If you're into writing, you should definitely give Empower Network a try. Have a wonderful day, Matthias
Hi Denise, Yes, I am talking about offering something for free to get people to sign up. This can be an affiliate product or a product of your own. Find a niche that you know about, like, have a passion for, etc... (make sure your niche has a large enough audience though. Do some keyword research, check forums in that niche to see what people are asking/talking about, google your niche, etc...) Then you can find somethings of value (stuff you create or stuff others have created that you have the rights to give away) to give away in exchange for peoples names and email addresses. Some of the most popular things people give away are eReports, video courses, etc... Just make sure it is something of quality and related to your niche. You give away this stuff in exchange for someones name and email address. Once they do this your auto-responder will automatically add them to your list. You offer the gift(s) at what is called a Squeeze Page. The whole point of a Squeeze page is to get people's names and email address. This is not a fancy website or anything like that. Many people add to much content to their squeeze pages. You just want to say enough to get the message across and you can add a video if you like explaining the products and all the benefits. I like video marketing and find it very powerful. I am currently converting many of my emails that I send my list to video messages. Video helps with conversion ratios in my opinion. I created my squeeze page in WordPress. It's easy to use and it's free. Within Wordpress you choose what is called a theme for your website. You can choose free or paid themes. There are themes to help build a squeeze page like Optimize Press. (I can go more into this if you have any questions.) You need to get hosting though and that's not free. I use what is called a double-Optin method where once someone signs up to my squeeze page they are greeted with a thank you page asking them to go to their email where I have sent them a message. Don't worry, the autoresponder (Aweber) does all this for you. You just need to set it up one time. After the person goes to their email they will open the email I just sent them and click on a link to confirm it was them that opted in. Now, some people use this method and others use what is called a single opt-in where they don't need to go to their email to confirm. I like the double opt-in because while you don't get as many subscribers as a single opt-in you build a list of more quality, less chance of a spam complaint, and depending on your autoresponder company they will charge you more money for a larger list to manage. So you want to make sure your list is of quality. Once someone clicks the confirmation link then they will get a download page to access the free gift. Aweber is an autoresponder company. There are different companies besides Aweber but I find that Aweber is great company and I like them. I think they provide the best service for the money. I'm sure everyone has their own opinion though. Inside Aweber you set up what is called a "follow up" messages. These messages are emails you preset to send out to any one who signs up. You could have months and months worth of emails ready to go. Aweber will send them out as you desire. Aweber also has unsubscribe links at the bottom of every email which is good so that way anyone can unsubscribe if they want to which helps lower the chance of any spam complaints. With an autoresponder company it is easy to manage lists of thousands of people. You can also send out broadcast messages which are one time messages to your list. It's basically up to you and how you want to set everything up. I would suggest calling Aweber and asking them any questions you have. They are very helpful. Now, I want to make one thing clear. I am talking about an autoresponder company. Please don't get confused with the autoresponder settings in many email clients. These just respond when your out of town or busy. I am talking about using an actually company who's focus is on helping you manage your list and to grow your list. Some things I would like to point out are... Always provide value, constantly ask to see if anyone on your list needs help, send them free products, tips, advice, etc... Always look to help. Don't always try to make money from your list and don't treat them like an ATM machine. By looking out for them and helping them you will build trust and a good rapport. Now, as you do this you can send out products for sale related to the niche they signed up for. The larger and more loyal your list the more money you will make. This business model does take time and won't happen over night but it will set you up for the long run. This is a method to creating a successful online business built to last. I hope I was able to answer your questions. If you have any more please let me know, To your ultimate success, Kevin
