Common Sense - The Missing Link in Online Business

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I like to think that my approach to business is 1 part experience, 1 part research and 2 parts common sense. I know my business; that’s my experience. I read as much as I possibly can to strike a balance in my efforts between tried and true and newer methods of business planning and marketing. But to me, the most important, and often lacking in my opinion, is the common sense part of running any business, especially online.

I do not claim to be an expert in SEO or SEM or any of those acronym concepts. In fact, I’m not sure who legitimately can claim to be. In my observation, the rules to those theories seem to change daily if not more often. However, like most online entrepreneurs, I do try and pick up as much as I can from all sources in trying to market and run my business.

In working on both my own business and my client’s, I have found that too often I can get too focused on the technical aspects of my website and business. We are constantly inundated with tips, tricks and techniques for getting more traffic and finding new leads. Please don’t think I’m discounting any of those or disparaging those giving advice. On the contrary, I think it is necessary to take in as much information as possible in determining your own strategies. The problem, in my eyes, lies in getting too involved in these “new” concepts and losing sight or doubt your innate sense of how to do things.

I am not suggesting any hot new modes of marketing, nor am I guaranteeing any way of making thousands of dollars a week! I am merely suggesting that before, during and after implementing any new techniques, you always take a look at your website and all your materials from your customer’s point of view. Better yet, have someone else take a look.

Make sure that you have designed your site and written your copy in a way that is accessible to both ends of the spectrum: the techies and the technically challenged alike. In a perfect world, each visitor to your site would be very computer and internet savvy. Unfortunately, we all know it is not a perfect world. You must make your site as user-friendly as possible.

I spent a lot of time designing my website. I put a lot of thought into what I wanted to say, how I wanted to say it and how I wanted it to function. Those are all important things to consider and steps that must not be skipped. However, shortly after launching the site I discovered what I could improve.

The first thing I did when I uploaded the site was to inform all my friends and family. I knew within two days that I needed to make things a whole lot simpler! I had not taken into account that I have grown up in the internet age and things that I take for granted like knowing how to navigate a site via a site map or navigation bar are not second nature to everyone. I got the best feedback from my 91 year old grandfather who really wanted to see the whole site and know what it was all about. He tries so hard to keep up with the technology, but using the internet is not his cup of tea.

After speaking with him and a few other relatives, I sat down and took a hard look at my site. I went through and made two ways to get to every single page. I tried to simplify things as much as possible. I didn’t change the copy because I had made a point to write copy that was inviting to potential clients from any background. I used my keywords as much as I felt comfortable doing without sounding like a broken record.

Albert Einstein once said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.” In our excitement to boost our search engine rankings and generate traffic, I think it’s important to remember those words. The more people who can use your site and hear your message; the more customers you will have!

14 Tips For Writing An Effective Online Survey

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Developing a useful, well-written online survey that extracts the information you need from your users can be a challenge. In this article, I will review 14 tips for creating a useful online survey.

1) Write a brief, concise survey. Start with a mental framework that focuses on only what is essential to know. Ask questions only if the answers will give you the data you need and can use. If a question is not important enough to include in your report on the survey’s findings, then remove the question. Try to envision each question as its own specific theory that you are testing.

In addition, research has shown that people skim and skip on the web because it is difficult to read lots of heavily condensed text on a computer screen. Most users do not want to scroll through a long page of text, so your online survey completion rate will be higher if the survey is short and succinct.

2) Try to begin the survey with interesting questions. Interesting questions will inspire the respondent to keep reading and complete the survey.

3) Develop questions with answers in the proper format for your purposes. For example, if you believe your students need more time to complete the questions in your lesson, ask, “How long did it take you to complete the unit and accompanying questions?” with various time intervals as possible answers. This is better than asking, “Do you need more time to finish the unit and accompanying questions?” with yes or no as possible responses.

4) Plan ahead of time how you and your company will analyze the information before you send out the final version of the survey. This may affect your questions and format when you realize that the statistical analysis you need to perform cannot be done with these particular question results.

5) Use the simplest language possible and respect the respondent’s dignity when constructing questions. Your survey respondents will undoubtedly come from many different groups, and more often than not, are less expert in the field than you are.

6) Use neutral language. The online survey is being developed to find out what your audience thinks and is not a forum for you to air your perceptions or opinions.

7) Relax your grammar a bit so your questions do not sound too formal. For instance, the word “who” is often acceptable when “whom” is technically correct.

8) Be sure to ask only one question at a time and put them in a logical order. Questions like “If you scored less than 70% on the test and you have taken the test another time previous to this, what do you think would help you receive an 80% or above the next time you take the test?” will be difficult for respondents to answer and even more challenging for you to interpret.

9) Avoid double negatives, difficult concepts, and specific recall questions. Respondents are easily perplexed when trying to interpret the meaning of a question that uses double negatives. Respondents can also become quickly overwhelmed and lose detail of events or circumstances that are farther back in time. Most importantly, if the survey is too complex and/or difficult to fill out, respondents won’t complete it!

10) Try to use more closed-ended questions, with no more than one or two open-ended questions. Respondents usually have a better understanding of closed-ended questions because they are more straightforward and offer responses they can choose from.

Open-ended questions require a written response. An excessive number of open-ended questions can wear down the respondent and reduce the quality of the answers they provide.

11) Scaled response questions should have answers that are at balanced, comparable intervals. For example, offering choices of excellent, very good, good, and terrible would cause you to miss important information in between the values of good and terrible.

12) Whenever possible, responses should be developed as discrete amounts instead of general statements of quantities, with specific options from which to choose. It’s better to ask, “How many times a month do you go to the movies?” “0”, “1 to 3 times a month”, “3 to 5 times a month or more”, instead of “How often do you go to movies?” “almost never”, “one and a while”, “I am there at least once a week”, etc.

13) Name your survey and write a brief introduction. Providing a survey name and a brief introduction are good ways to give your respondents some background and a frame of reference. It also prepares them for what is to come.

14) Craft a well-written subject line for the email you send with the survey to capture your respondents’ attention.

While not exhaustive, the points listed above are enough to get you started in the right direction. In summary, a well-written online survey has higher completion rates and is an effective method for gathering information.

How To Make Money With Online Surveys

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If you’re got some spare time and you’d like to make some money without much work, online surveys are just the thing for you. With a computer and a little advice, you’ll be all set to make some extra cash for you and your family.

Be realistic

You first have to realize that when you take online surveys, you won’t be paid thousands of dollars. In fact, the people that do take online surveys regularly will usually say that the best way to make more money is to take more surveys.

You’ll need to sign up for a few different online survey sites in order to have a constant stream of surveys to complete.

Watching out for scams

When you do see ads to take online surveys that supposedly pay thousands of dollars, you can be certain that these aren’t legitimate claims.

In order to make money with online surveys, you will need to file your information with reputable companies. These are easy to find by looking for the company information to see if they give you ways to contact them. Those companies that seem to be hiding from you usually have a reason.

And if the company tells you that you need to pay money in order to make money, then go to another web site. You shouldn’t have to pay to earn extra money.

Market research

One of the best ways to make some extra money or earn some free products is to participate in market research surveys. These tend to come from the big name companies that want to know what their customers think. You’ll answer questions about their products and give suggestions about ways that they could improve.

In many cases, you can be rewarded with free products or cash payments.

Focus groups

Another way to make money online is to become a part of a focus group. This is an invitation from a company to set with other customers and discuss a particular product or service. You can also do these online in the form of chat rooms and message boards.

You are usually compensated for the time or the amount of information that you give to the company about the product.

Following the rules

The most simple advice for making money for doing online surveys is to make sure that you’re completing the surveys in their entirety as well as giving your correct contact information.

What many people don’t realize is that you may need to confirm your email address before you will receive new surveys to do. Check your email after you first register with an online survey web site to see if there are any other steps that you need to follow.

And check your junk email box too, as this important email may have landed in there.

Online surveys are a great way to make a little extra money when you have a little extra time on your hands. And you don’t have to get dressed up to do it.

Make Money Online Now!

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What are you waiting for? Haven't you realized that the future is in the internet arena whether is be online marketing or simply working for companies that are based and hire online employees. If you don't do it now you may always regret it because sooner or later you will be force to make the switch but you won't be in the driver's seat any longer.

So what are the advantages to having the ability to make money online? Well there are several. For one there is increased ability to automate and therefore be working even while, you are sleeping. You also don't have to work in the typical and uncomfortable work environment. You can work when you want and this includes more flexibility to take that needed vacation whenever. You can work where you want--at home, at the library, in the coffee shop, at your cottage, or on your Caribbean cruise. You can also wear what you want, I prefer sweat pants and a T-shirt you might like your bath robe.

Other huge advantages to a "make money online" type of job are that you don't have to worry about product whether is be storage, distribution, tech support, you name it. You are most often earning commissions for selling other people's products. You also aren't limited by geography in your market. You can sell to people in Indonesia just as easily (other than maybe language barrier) as to your neighbor. The internet allows you more potential diversity of income than your typical jobe does as well. If one source of income dries up you will typically have 2 or 3 or 4 other sources to fallback on while you repair or replace the first.

So this sounds good right? So what are you waiting for? Oh...you think that the initial risk of quitting your job to make money online is too high? Well then don't quit your job! You can easily maintain both a normal job and an internet income at the same time and you will find very soon that you have nothing to fear. What about startup costs? Well depending on how you start some (data entry, surveys, etc.) have very little assuming you already have a decent computer and connection to the internet. Other cheap options include ebay and other online auction sites. So please don't wait, now is your chance to beat the mad rush and at the pace that makes you comfortable.

Online Coupon-The Benefits

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Consumers that love to save a few dollars also adore using online coupons. In fact, consumers that frequently take advantage of online coupons already know the benefits that are afforded to them through the use of online coupons. Yet, do you realize the benefits that accompany the use of online coupons? If you are not in the practice of using online coupons, you probably don’t know what outrageous savings you are missing out on!

First, you can save anywhere from five to fifty percent off of many purchases when you use online coupons. Although the savings afforded to you will vary from one retailer to the next, there are virtually hundreds of big-named retailers offering online coupons that provide consumers like you with huge savings on products and services. If you are not taking advantage of such savings then you are truly losing out on significant savings—savings that can be accumulated and stored away for life’s little emergencies or money that can be spend on things that you really enjoy doing in your free time.

With online coupons you don’t have to wait for the savings to come to you. Although the local newspapers and your favorite magazines often have excellent coupons that you can use toward products and services, you often have to wait for such resources to be distributed before you can actually get your hands on the great savings they have to offer. Conversely, online coupons and the websites that offer them, provide you with immediate access to hundreds of dollars worth of savings, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. All you have to do is visit a website offering online coupons—immediately you will be astounded by the opportunities afforded to you with online savings.

Likewise, when you wait around for newspaper advertisements and magazines to provide you with coupons, such resources are limited in the type of coupons they offer and how many coupons they offer for products or services. For instance, if you receive a local newspaper with coupon inserts, you will find perhaps 20 or 30 coupons for food, toys, household cleaners and the like. However, you may not find coupons for the products you really favor and this can be a disappointment. Alternatively, when you visit a website offering online coupons you can search for your favorite retailers, and in some cases, you can search for your favorite name brands and immediately be provided with huge savings on your favorite products. Further, the coupons offered online are hardly limited in their diversity; you can find hundreds of coupons for an assortment of products and services.

Another benefit that you may be missing out on if you are not taking advantage of online coupons is the fact that websites offering online coupons have a tendency to lead you to retailers you may have not been aware of before. Using the Internet to shop opens up new doors to every shopper, because you are no longer restricted to simply shop in your local area. Instead, you can easily access hundreds of stores all over the nation and order your products from various retailers’ websites. Have your products shipped directly to your home and save money by using online coupons in the process. Moreover, in using online coupons and shopping online, you are saving money on travel costs—you can shop from home and find exactly what you need without having to shop from one store to the next scouring the shelves to find what you are looking for.

Along with the benefit of diversified shopping, you can also find out where all the best bargains are and comparatively shop on the Internet when you are using the Internet and online coupons. Many websites offering online coupons will frequently afford you the opportunity to view side by side comparisons of the offers that retailers are currently offering. A listing of retailers with each offer is supplied to website visitors and it only takes a few moments to identify the best deals available. What does this mean to the consumer looking to save money? It means that consumers can reap the most savings each and every time they shop online and use the Internet because they can choose the best deals whenever they shop.

Clearly the benefits derived from using online coupons are numerous and if you are not using online coupons you may want to start. The savings you can reap are more than worth a few minutes of your time. Moreover, you can open yourself to a diversified shopping experience and find all of the products and services you need by accessing a website with online coupons. What are you waiting for? Don’t you think it’s time you starting saving money on all of the items you frequently shop for

Making Fast Money Online

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When starting the journey of making money online try and be as active as possible 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 persevere and don't get discouraged. It is all right to fail as long as you learn from it and 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 a product 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 that 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 negatives. You can gain great and loyal customers online with some positive feedback.

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 grandmother seem to have an online business doesn’t mean their business is successful. The ones 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,and focus all their efforts on their business. 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 link up with the best feedback companies and you will be laughing all the way to the bank.

Do You Have the Winning Mindset to Earn Money Online Successfully

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Many have asked me what the key to earning money online successfully is. This is not an easy question to answer in terms of what you can do to earn money online. There are a thousand and one ways to earn money online successfully but are they really the keys to success? Unfortunately, the methods to earn money online are less significant than the mindset behind it.

What really differentiates the winning online marketers from the losing is very much not what they do but what drives them in their actions. Anyone can try and experiment with a myriad of ways to earn money online but ultimately without a winning mindset, they will never succeed.

Then what are the qualities of a winning mindset to earn money online successfully? Well, the following are considered the key pillars of a winning mindset.

1. Desire.
The fuel to succeed online is pretty much fired by what you want to gain in the end. What do you want to achieve in the end? Is it financial freedom? Or do you to want to have more time to spend with your family? Maybe you don’t want to be very rich; you just want to earn a little extra income to lift the financial burden of the family. Or maybe you hate your job and you hate your boss and you hope to one day “fire” him and be your own boss. Whatever the reason may be, you must have a strong desire to earn money online successfully, because this is what determines your motivation and is the main source of your strength. So know what you want to achieve in the end and let this be the fuel of your success.

2. Focus
There are truckloads of ways to earn money online. You can be an affiliate marketer and sell other people’s products. You can join an online MLM business opportunity and build your income from there. You can even offer your own services or products to others for a price. But whichever method you choose, it all comes down to focusing your efforts.

From the moment you step into the world of earning money online, you expose yourself to a myriad of business opportunities. They come fast and hard and they never seem to stop. Every day, there can be a new business opportunity to earn money online that seems like the “next big thing”. And you will be tempted to “jump in before it is too late”. But the sad truth is, business opportunities will never run out, but the amount of time we have will. Each of us only has 24 hours a day and we can only do so much. What you need to earn money online successfully is not to jump in on the “next big thing” but to focus on “this big thing”. You do not need so many “big things”, you only need one. So focus your efforts on what you set your sight on and give it your best. You will not regret it.

3. Patience
Many people who first begin to try to earn money online believe that they can do it fast and easy. They think that if they try something that promises them that they will earn money online successfully, they can do it in a few days to a few weeks. And if they do not succeed, the method is wrong and they give up. Sadly, this is not how it works. It is true that there are plenty of scams out there that only want to cheat you of your hard-earned cash. However, most of the time, the reason for failure is simply the lack of patience. Gathering knowledge and applying it is a necessity to earn money online. All these take time and nothing comes without it. Be patient with what you believe in and your efforts will be rewarded.

4. Willingness to take massive action and commit consistently
Finally, armed with a flaming desire to succeed, laser targeted focus on your objective and a rock-solid patience to carry it to the end, you still need the last crucial ingredient to success. You need to take HUGE MASSIVE action and be willing to commit consistently. Your mindset alone cannot win the battle for you. You must be willing to put in your biggest effort to make it a success and commit to doing it consistently, because only with MASSIVE action can you achieve MASSIVE results.

Now, take some time to review what you have done up till now. Do you have a burning desire to succeed? Have you been focusing your efforts and resisting the temptation to join whatever new opportunity that comes along? Have you been patient enough to continue what you are doing and promise yourself never to give up? And finally, are you taking MASSIVE action to turn your dream into a reality? If your answer is a resounding “YES”, then there is no doubt that you will be able to earn money online successfully.

How To Improve Online Get Paid To Survey Models For More Profits!

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As somebody who has spent the last 2 years doing online surveys, I have come to notice a few things wrong with most of the current online survey models. The behavior of my affiliates and visitors to my online survey review website (http://www.extra-income-ideas.com/paid-to-survey.html) also gives me unique perspective in the industry.

I know for me some of the things wrong with the current online survey model have reduced the number of surveys I currently take. I have no doubt it’s discouraging a lot of the people that came online to take surveys as a way of making extra money.

I believe the current model is causing a lot of attrition in the business. This needs to be reversed if online paid survey companies want to continue to thrive. Making these changes will help reduce the turnover of survey takers.

Below are the things I feel need to be changed:

1. The current model of taking surveys for a chance to win prices should be changed. This model makes online paid to surveys look like a lottery or gamble. It’s frustrating for people looking to make extra income to have to rely on luck to make that income.

A person that signs up for online get paid to surveys to help pay a kid’s karate or piano lesson can not depend on luck to pay the bill. He/She wants to be able to know that at the end of the month, the money will be there to pay the bill.

What happens is that after a few months of taking online paid to survey for a chance to win money or price and not winning anything, they think online paid to survey is a scam. They stop taking the surveys and start looking for other ways to make extra money.

What I recommend is a model that guarantees every survey taker some money or price. If an online survey company is going to give a luck winner out of all survey takers $10000.00, why not use a model that guarantees every survey taker some money or price.

For example, the survey company could use 400 people in the survey and pay every survey taker $25.00. A sample size of 400 people is enough to get the answer you’re looking for in the survey.

Like one internet guru said, “if I find out what 100 people think, I can takeover the world.” So a sample size of 400 people is more than enough to get the information needed.

2. Online paid to survey companies should reduce the number of qualifying surveys. For those new to the business, a qualifying survey is the survey they give you to see if you qualify for a survey they’re conducting.

Even though most online survey companies make you fill out a profile when you register with them, they still send you a qualifying survey. Granted there are surveys that require this, I don’t thin it should be done in each and every survey.

I have a survey company that regularly sends me qualifying survey about buying computer system for the company I work for. They have my profile that shows my background yet they constantly send me this qualifying survey.

The qualifying survey will ask if I’m the CIO of the company I work for. My answer is always No. Then they further ask, are you in charge of buying the computer system where you work. My answer again is always No. Then I get “sorry you do not qualify for this survey.”

After a few times of getting this, it starts getting irritating. I have since started ignoring their surveys. I just feel they’re wasting my time when I could be earning extra income in other ways. I don’t think I’m the only one that feels this way.

It may take a little work initially, but all it takes is a database that has the profile of your registered survey takers. Then when a survey comes up, you run a program that calls the database for people that fit the profile you want. Armed with this information, you’ll then only send the survey invitation to these people. I don’t believe that’s too much to ask.

In the end, all it will take is to send out a newsletter reminding your registered users to update their profile when it changes. They should be reminded that doing this will increase their earning power.

In conclusion, I firmly believe doing the above things will improve the online survey experience. Improvement of this experience, will help the industry to continue to grow.

People Getting Rich Online - Niche Research

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How’s that list coming along? You wll recall in the first part of this series I covered getting a list together of ideas for your site or blog niche. Hopefully you have a good sized list of general categories. The next steps involve narrowing the keywords and then doing some supply and demand research.

There are many keyword tools out there. I like to use Overture’s because it’s free and easy. Keep in mind that the numbers from Overture are usually inflated — sometimes a little sometimes a lot. They fudge the numbers by counting like queries — fly and flies or affiliate and affiliates get counted as the same query. Remember — they make more money convincing their prospective advertisers that a search term is popular.

So plug in one of the general search terms from your list. I’m going to try dogs. Here are the results:

Searches done in February 2006
Count Search Term
1104234 dog
225786 dog breed
183180 dog training basics
152056 dog show
139072 dog breeders
98321 dog name
97021 dog training
91172 dog picture
88480 dog for sale
62657 dog grooming
56907 dog gift

I edited a few like snoop dog out for expediency. I like dog breeds and dog training [basics]. Looks like people are searching for both quite a bit. Now that we have the demand, let’s go over to Google and check the supply.

Type in the exact search term, putting quotes around it so Google searches for exactly what we want. If you put in dog breeds, Google returns 5,59o,000 results. Look in the upper right-hand corner for this number.

Ever heard of Sumantra Roy? Probably not. He’s a man who specializes in SEO and particular keyword research. He has invented a formula called the Keyword Effectiveness Index or KEI to measure the potential of a keyword. I use a simpler version of it. Here it is:

KEI = Demand / Supply

That is - Demand divided by Supply. The higher the KEI the better. This gives you a simplified KEI that ranges from 1-10. People compare this to the Richter Scale, meaning that each successive number is exponentially better than the last number.

In our example above, the KEI for dog breed would be .04, which isn’t that great.

Dog Training Basics yields 45,600 results for Google. The KEI would be 4, which is terrific. Hmm…wait a minute. That concludes our lesson. Bye. [Sound of running down the hallway and door slamming]. A little nerd humor there.

Do a few more and see what you come up with. I did dog name and got a KEI of .10, which is lousy. I also tried dog gift, which got me a KEI of .07.

I usually pick up the highest KEI keywords and plug them back into the Overture tool and try it again.

Incidentally, Wordtracker does this all for you. Try it for free and see how easy it is. Just keep in mind that they use different sources for both supply and demand than my example above, but that shouldn’t make too much of a difference.

So now we should have a much smaller list that has some good prospects on it.

The Reasons Why Most People Will Never Find Online Success

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Q: Tim, I have spent the past few months trying so hard to start an ecommerce business. I have read virtually everything you have written. I have listened in on more than one of your teleconferences.

I have clicked and spent and clicked and spent and clicked and spent. I filled the laundry basket and sold on eBay. I became a Clickbank affiliate (I think I am an affiliate of almost the entire Internet).

I know that it's ironic that I want to make money on the Internet considering I have not one drop of technical skill in my body, but I am a single mom: bottom line is my kids NEED me... and I really and truly am relentless when it comes to getting what I want (in other words, what I lack in technical skills I make up for in persistence.)

Please, please, please...just give me one word or sign or anything...that this CAN be done by the little people (such as myself). Otherwise, I will return to my 5am job that exhausts me so much, I can't even tell my children apart anymore (which isn't flattering to a daughter and son who are almost 5 years apart in age!).

This Internet thing is kicking my butt and from what I have studied, you are the "Dr. Phil" of the ecommerce wannabes, successes and everything in between. (Please don't be offended by the comparison with Dr. Phil....I merely use this in the most pop-culture way possible).

I swear, I am ready to sacrifice my PC in the backyard firepit and return to my old typewriter: that is how frustrated I am.

Thanks for letting me vent (must be an estrogen thing).

-- Mary (real name withheld)

A: Hi Mary, The first thing you need to do is close your eyes, take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

(repeat as necessary :o).

First, let me say that I understand your frustration, but it has been my experience that most people in your situation (including yours truly when I was first starting out) create much of their own frustration because they put themselves under too much pressure to succeed quickly. Their situation is not a happy one and they want to change it TODAY. When that doesn't happen, frustration and anger can set in.

Everyone wants to hit home runs the first time at bat. They want big money and they want it fast. When results don't come as quickly as they think they should, they say, "This Internet thing doesn't work and those who claim to make money are scammers!"

I have been an Internet marketer for 3 years now. The first year I did miserably. I lost about $5,000 trying to figure it all out on my own. One day it occurred to me that succeeding would be much easier if I knew what the heck I was doing.

You see, I, like so many others, didn't take the time to educate myself on Internet marketing. I saw others making money online and figured if they could do it, I could, too.

I just found the crowded pool and dove in head first. As you expect, I almost drowned because I had not taken the time to learn how to swim. Heck, I couldn't even float...

So I stopped what I was doing and became a student instead of a practitioner. I discovered that I was making every mistake in the book because I had not taken the time to learn what to do, and more importantly, what not to do.

After losing a ton of cash, time, and sleep, it finally started to make sense.

I remember finally making $100 profit from eBay in one week for sales of my own ebook (CD Money Machine).

I had made hundreds of thousands of dollars in other ventures, but that $100 was the hardest money I had ever made. That's why it meant so much to me. It told me that FINALLY I was doing something right.

I took that $100 and plowed it into more auction listings and just kept repeating the process.

Then I moved beyond eBay to my own website.

Then I started to concentrate on developing more products, creating my own affiliate program, pursuing more joint ventures, expanding my marketing campaigns.

Success came to me, BUT ONLY AFTER I stopped doing everything wrong and learned to do a few things right.

Like so many people before me and like so many of you now reading these words, I wasted a year of my life and thousands of dollars because I did not take the time to learn first, then do.

I had unrealistic expectations of myself and the business. I expected big bucks and fast results and when they did not come, I looked for someone other than myself to blame.

It took me taking a step back and reassessing my entire thinking to finally learn how to succeed.

And I succeeded in baby steps, not giant leaps.

There were no home runs.

There were a lot of foul balls and finally base hits.

That's how you succeed.

Here's the bottomline:

There is no such thing as a real get-rich-quick opportunity. If someone tells you that you can start with no money and no experience and make hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight they are lying to you and you are a fool for believing them. Yes, you can make lots of money in a short period of time as an Internet marketer, but you're not going to get rich this week unless you hit the lottery or your rich uncle dies. And you have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than either of those things happening. Be realistic, be smart, be logical. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. An Internet business is no different from a brick and mortar business: both take hard work, dedication, perseverance, and an investment of time and money. Just because your business is "virtual" that does not mean that you don't have to put some time and effort into launching, building, and running it. Yes, there are many things you can do to automate the process, but you have to build the business before expecting it to run on autopilot. You must have patience, realistic expectations, and the ability to keep plugging along even if you are not getting the results you expected at first. The problem with we humans is that we are an impatient species. We expect our grand ideas to play out quickly and effortlessly. We expect things to happen at lightspeed. We are a microwave society: nothing happens fast enough for us. In business, nothing happens quickly. Until you understand that, you will drive yourself to failure every time. You will start ventures and quickly abandon them. You will grow frustrated and you will fail. This is the biggest lesson you can learn here, so read this several times and ask yourself: Is he talking to me? When someone is unhappy with their current situation they are prone to desperation, which leads to unrealistic expectations, which leads to failure, which leads to anger, which leads to a dead end.

I know because I hear from them all the time. I receive emails like:

"Tim I'm broke and in debt and if I don't make $1,000 by Friday they will take my house! Tell me what to do! You are my last hope..."

And...

"Tim, if you don't tell me how to make $500 today my wife is going to leave me. You have to save my marriage..."

These are not made up statements. I am not trying to be funny.

These are actual quotes from emails I've received.And I receive hundreds like this every month.

There is nothing I can say to these people (other than "I'll mail you a check") that will make them feel better about themselves and their situation.

When I reply with the truth, that I am not their salvation and they need to study and work a plan of action, often these same people reply with hate mail.

If I don't tell them what they expect to hear or offer to solve their problems I am the villain. I become the target of their venting. And that's fine. They have to blame someone if they aren't willing to take responsibility for their own lives.

The difference between you and these people, Mary, is you are really trying.

You're learning and practicing and testing and TAKING ACTION.

That puts you in the 1% of people who actually have a chance to make it.

You tell me the things you've done, but you don't tell me anything about your results.

Have any of your efforts paid off, even in small ways?

Large success is built upon a foundation of many small successes.

Have you taken the time to actually learn about Internet marketing, affiliate programs, pay per click, etc.?

It's one thing to signup with a bunch of affiliate programs. It is another thing entirely to know what you should do after you sign up.

Other than listening to me and other so called gurus, what have you done to educate yourself on the Internet marketing business?

What books have you read? What websites have you visited? What forums have you been to?

Education is the first step.

I'll say it again: you must learn to swim before diving in the big pond or you will drown.

No one is going to throw you a life jacket.

No one is even going to notice that you're drowning.

It's sad, but it is entirely true; you are on your own.

Here is my best advice for you: Stop trying to make money until you learn all you can about the Internet marketing industry.

Read books, study the successful marketers, do a Google search for 'Internet marketing forums' and spend time reading what others have posted. You will find people in those forums who have been there, done that. Post questions, ask for advice, join the community. You will find kindred spirits and people more than happy to help you learn and grow.

Finally, if technical ability was a prerequisite for Internet success 99% of the so called big dogs (this pup included) would be back working day jobs.

The key to Internet success is not technical, it is mental.

You can hire someone to write an ebook or hack together programming code for you, but you can't hire someone to do your thinking for you.

Success is about having a plan of action and working it through to the end.

It is about learning to effectively market your products.

Remember, you can have the greatest product in the world, but if you lack the ability to market it, no one will ever know.

On the other hand, you can have a horrible product, but if you are a master marketer you will sell a ton.

Ever heard of Microsoft?

It's easy to find products to sell. The key lies in having the ability to market them, and that is a skill that must be learned before you do anything else.

Don't give up on your dreams, just slow down.

Stop putting so much pressure on yourself.

If you don't make a million dollars by Friday guess what: life goes on. Your kids will still love you, even if you can't tell them apart.

Set goals in baby steps, not giant leaps.

Think long term success, not short term efforts.

Instead of getting frustrated with yourself, pat yourself on the back and say "Dang girl, you are taking action... You are doing things to give your kids a better life!"

Did that sound like Dr. Phil?

I have more hair, he has more money. :o)

Keep the faith and don't give up.

Tim Knox

How to Feel Comfortable Joining in Online Discussions

Article Body:

There are literally hundreds of thousands of discussion groups online in which people partake every day. Everything from religion to politics to support groups are available on the Internet and you can join any of them. Most discussion groups require you to register, as this helps reduce the number of people who are only looking to start arguments (and there are plenty of them). Some even require authorization from a site administrator and may ask several questions about your intentions in the group. However, many people do register and never actually join in, spending their time lurking until giving up altogether. Feeling comfortable can be difficult, even when you're hiding behind a computer monitor.

Many new members of discussion forums find that the community seems very tight-knit and unwelcoming. Many people have been going to the same discussion forums for several years and have developed close bonds with other members. Some have even become close friends outside of the forum. This can be very intimidating for new members since there are often inside jokes and references to personal details. Joining new discussion groups can be just as stressful as trying to join a new circle of friends.

Making a good first impression is vital when you first join a discussion group. Many members may feel territorial about their online community and feel like they are being intruded upon when new members join. Spend some time looking around and getting a feel for the general atmosphere. If there is a welcome section, make sure your first post is a quick introduction of yourself. You don't need to divulge any personal information, just say hello and perhaps a few short lines on why you have joined.

Also try and avoid joining in on too many controversial topics right away. People may see you as being too aggressive and avoid your posts. Stick to lighter topics and try to stay away from appearing too opinionated. Once you have some posts under your belt other members will stop thinking of you as a newbie and you can be as open as you like.

Many new members of discussion forums leave after posting a few times, feeling that no one cares if they post or not. Give it some time and understand that some of the other members have known each other for years. Be patient and continue posting, and before you know it you'll feel like part of the gang.

The Blessing Of Online Dictionaries

Article Body:

I have a job that requires me to be at the computer all day and quite often using the internet. I love my job (except for having to sit down all day) because I am constantly amazed by the world that the internet opens up to me. I cannot believe how much there is to be learned and explored through the internet. There are literally endless possibilities of pages to search and topics to learn about online. I love that I can be writing about almost anything and do a search for any word or phrase or idea that I'm curious about. Within seconds hundreds of thousands of websites pop up that match the very thing I am curious about. Online dictionaries have become some of my favorite things during this process.

Ever since I was a little kid I have loved dictionaries. I have owned a dictionary since elementary school and I love randomly flipping through the pages to see if I can learn a new word and a new definition. I never imagined that I would have access to as many dictionaries as I wanted when I began working online. I cannot tell you what a great day it was when I discovered the blessing that online dictionaries are for people like me who need words or their definitions fast.

If I have learned one thing about the internet in my years of using it for work, it has been that the internet has the potential to be used for good or for bad. There are countless numbers of websites that contain nothing but useless trash, yet there are another host of websites that contain so much worth while and worthy information. Online dictionaries are some of the noble things contained on the internet that actually have value for people.

The great thing about online dictionaries is that you can look up a word or its meaning almost instantly. You do not need to move away from your computer or stop what you are doing. There is no need to leave your desk and find an old dictionary laying around the house or office. An online dictionary is just a click away.

Another thing I have grown to love about online dictionaries is that they are filled with all of the lastest information and with all the terms of our modern age. Any kind of computer or techonology term is sure to be found in online dictionaries. This is really handy. So the next time you are online and you get curious about a word or a definition, don't fret, just click on to an online dictionary and learn all you
want to know.