Return to
AHBBO Archives
A Home-Based Business Online
_______________________________________________________________
Practical home business ideas, opportunities
and solutions for the work-from-home
entrepreneur
Issue 152 : September 30, 2002
Sent to 13,629 Opt-In Subscribers
Editor: Elena Fawkner
Publisher: Fawkner Publishing
http://www.ahbbo.com
Contact By Email
_______________________________________________________________
ATTENTION: You're receiving this ezine because you, or
someone using your email address, subscribed. There is no
other way of being added to this list.
To unsubscribe from AHBBO, just send a blank email to
mailto:leave-ahbbo@zip.netatlantic.com - be sure to use
the email address you are subscribed with - %%emailaddr%%.
If you're an AOL user, the unsubscribe link above may not be
clickable for you. In this case, just send a blank email to
leave-ahbbo@zip.netatlantic.com.
Please note you WILL NOT be unsubscribed from AHBBO
by replying to this email.
The AHBBO subscriber list is NOT made available to other
companies or individuals. I value every subscriber and
respect your privacy.
_______________________________________________________________
This Week's Sponsor
_______________________________________________________________
VeriTax. America's Premiere Home Business. Not an MLM - No
Competition. 37 Million businesses - Need and Want our
services. If you are looking for a vehicle to take you where
you really want to be in life, then - Get the Facts!
http://ads.websponsors.com/?u=46934&o=3276
_______________________________________________________________
IN THIS ISSUE
_______________________________________________________________
1. Welcome and Update from Elena
2. Home Business Idea of the Week
3. Feature Article - Making Money With Affiliate Programs
4. Surveys and Trends
5. Success Quote of the Week
6. Advertise with AHBBO
7. Subscription Management
8. Caveat Emptor
9. Contact Information
_______________________________________________________________
1. Welcome from Elena
_______________________________________________________________
Hello again and a warm welcome to all the new subscribers
who have joined us since the last issue.
This week's article is about affiliate programs (also known
as associate programs). For the unitiated, they're a way
of generating revenue by promoting someone else's product
or service. Often you're provided with a website to which
you're instructed to drive traffic. Easier said than done
and there's a much more effective way. "Making Money
With Affiliate Programs" shows you how. It's at segment 3.
As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this
week's issue.
Remember, AHBBO is for YOU! If you have comments or
suggestions for topics you would like to see addressed, or
would just like to share your experiences with other
subscribers, I want to hear from you. Please send
comments, questions and stories to Contact By Email .
_______________________________________________________________
2. Home Business Idea of the Week - Furniture Refurbishing
and Refinishing
_______________________________________________________________
If you have a garage or work building and are willing to learn a
craft, upholstering, re-upholstering and/or furniture refinishing
would make an excellent home business. The investment is
comparatively small and there is always a market for these skills
and the products they yield.
If you do not already know how to upholster or refinish wood,
the first priority is to learn how. If you are experienced, you
can begin with small projects and work your way up to the
more complex and better paying jobs. Otherwise, there are
schools, courses and hundreds of books covering every possible
aspect of furniture upholstery and refinishing.
During your preparation, you may decide to specialize --modern,
antiques or just chairs and sofas for example. When you are
ready for customers, have a sign made and place an ad that
announces your services (be specific). Put signs on your car or
truck too, so people can see them when you pick up or deliver
furniture.
When you bring in jobs that are badly in need of repair, take
"before" pictures of them -- to compare with "after" pictures
when they are finished.
Post the best of these in a photo album to show prospective
customers and for possible future use in ads or brochures (you
may need well contrasting black and white photos for these.)
Arrange your album with good examples of each major type of
work that you do and include a short (no more than 3 line) title
and explanation for each. This way, if you are busy, customers
can browse through them while waiting.
These pictures will not only show what fine work you do-- they
will also suggest other jobs to the customer. Use a good camera
for these pictures (hire a photographer if necessary), so the
pictures will accomplish their mission.
-----
This is just one of over 130 ideas from the new "Practical
Home Business Ideas From AHBBO" e-book. Find out more at
http://www.ahbbo.com/ideasbook.html .
_______________________________________________________________
Does Your Online Business Need A Kick In The Butt?
Tired of hype, cons and schemes? Our free newsletter shows you:
* How to build a large, targeted opt-in list quickly.
* How to drive very targeted traffic to your site for less money.
* How to boost your sales conversion and online profits.
Send a blank email: mailto:subscribe-ef@5starmarketingtips.com
_______________________________________________________________
3. Feature Article: Making Money With Affiliate Programs
_______________________________________________________________
© 2002 Elena Fawkner
Affiliate programs are a great way to generate income if you
don't have a product of your own to promote yet. You know
that already. But it's NOT, despite what you've heard, just a
simple matter of signing up for this or that affiliate program
and placing free and paid classified ads all over the place to
generate traffic to the website they give you or to get people
to click on your autoresponder link. There's more to it than
that. Much more.
When I started out in this business in May 1999, I signed up
for Cookie Cutter. Like many of you I thought that I could
simply absorb the information provided and then resell it to
others. I followed all the advice about advertising in other
people's ezines and all of that. I looked forward to some very
round numbers. Well, I got one alright. A big fat ZERO. And
that's how it stayed until I realized the truth. That if I was going
to make any money in this business I had to start from scratch.
In saying that, I don't want to take anything away from Cookie
Cutter. It was a marvellous product in terms of what it
could teach you in a very short period of time if you were,
like me, starting from ground zero. (Its merits as a business
opportunity were debatable but that's another story.)
In this article, I tell you what worked for me. It's nothing earth-
shattering or particularly profound. It's simply reality and
common sense. Here's what you need to do to make any
significant income from promoting other people's products.
YOU NEED A WEBSITE
Sorry, but yes, you do. A lot of people pushing their affiliate
program will tell you, if you ask the question "Do I need my
own website?", "No, you get this beautiful 25 page website
for free!" Great. How are you going to get people to visit it?
And how are you going to get people to visit YOUR
YouBeaut.com website in preference to everyone else's
YouBeaut.com website (all 50,000 of them)?
Well, let me tell you, the time, effort and expense you
would have to spend would be MUCH better invested in
your OWN unique and interesting website that will attract
traffic simply because it is unique and interesting.
That said, you pick your affiliate programs to fit in with and
complement your website. Not the other way around. You do
NOT create your website to fit in with and complement your
affiliate programs. So, start with what you know, what interests
you, what you're passionate about. THAT should be the subject
matter of your website. Then, and only then, should you start
researching which affiliate programs out there fit in with the
website you have created. More about that later.
YOU NEED AN EZINE
You should support your website by publishing an ezine at
least on a monthly basis but preferably weekly. Why? A few
reasons:
First, it reminds your readers that your site exists (assuming
they signed up at your site in the first place) and hopefully
prompts them to visit again.
Second, you develop a targeted mailing list of subscribers
interested in the subject matter of your ezine and subscribers
that you can direct mail to (judiciously, of course).
Third, you can accept paid advertising in your ezine once it
hits 1000 subscribers or so and fourth, you can use it to
advertise your affiliate programs.
In addition, assuming you take your ezine publishing duties
seriously and it's not a mere regurgitation of other people's
articles without any purpose other than to keep your name in
front of an audience (and an ever-decreasing one it will be if that's
all you do), you can use it to develop your reputation as an
expert in your field by making the original articles you write for
your ezine available to a wider audience by submitting them to
other ezine publishers. Believe me, there's no shortage of ezine
publishers out there who rely exclusively on other people's work!
Establishing your own website and ezine takes serious time
and work. You can't build either in a weekend. It will take you
several weeks of effort to get it into good enough shape to take
it public (and even then you won't be satisfied but you have to
start at some point). And it will take several more weeks of
time and effort publicizing the fact that your website and ezine
exist and to start seeing some traffic trickling in.
SELECTING AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
Once you have an established website and ezine, you can start
using them to promote your affiliate programs in a serious way.
You can, of course, start promoting affiliate programs from day
one, it's just that you won't see any results until you reach what
I think of as the "established" stage. By this I mean you have
a few hundred subscribers to your ezine and maybe a hundred
unique daily visitors to your website. These numbers are on the
very low end and your sales will reflect that but you'll at least be
on your way by this point.
Once you reach the "established" stage, you need to be very
selective about the affiliate programs you choose because you
are only going to select a very few of them and they need to be
good performers. Some internet marketing so-called experts
will tell you to pick one or two programs and market them
exclusively for big returns. That's good advice on one level -
it keeps you focused, and that's important - but on the other hand
you're at the mercy of the owner of the affiliate program. If they
go out of business so do you.
So, pick a small handful of programs to promote but make sure
they complement each other (so that someone who is interested
in one program is likely to be equally interested in the others).
It should be obvious but it bears stating - don't pick programs
that have no relevance to the subject matter of your site! Your
chances of selling to your website visitors are much higher if
what you sell is closely related to the subject matter of your
site. It was the subject matter of your site that attracted them in
the first place. They are already a qualified prospect if what you
sell from your site is relevant to that subject matter.
COMMISSION STRUCTURES
If you have a mega traffic site, then you can make up for in
volume what a particular program's commission structure
may lack in terms of straight dollars.
But if you have a lower traffic site, then you need to make sure
your traffic is very targeted, but go for higher commission
programs.
In other words, if you're a mega traffic site, by all means sign
up with Amazon.com and make maybe three bucks a sale.
If you make a hundred sales this week you've got three
hundred bucks you didn't have before. But if you're a lower
traffic site, focus on making just three sales a week of a
product that pays a hundred bucks a pop and you're even with
your mega traffic brethren in the commission stakes.
Contrary to what many believe, it is no harder to sell a $247
product than it is to sell a $50 product. Don't prejudge your
audience. Make sure you offer programs that are relevant to
their interests (and which you're proud to promote - that should
go without saying but just in case ...) and the mere fact that
you're bringing targeted buyers and highly relevant products
together will do the rest, statistically speaking. Never, never
forget - making money in an online business is a numbers game,
pure and simple. Generate enough traffic and you'll generate
sales. But if you generate traffic that doesn't match your product
line, forget about it.
MISCELLANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS
To finish off, here are a few miscellaneous considerations to take
into account when selecting your affiliate programs.
=> How Long Do the Cookies Last?
Only go for programs that will credit you with the sale even
if the customer doesn't buy on the first visit. In most cases,
90% of your sales will come from the follow-up messages sent
by the owner of the program once you give them the lead.
You've heard that it takes an average of seven exposures to
a message before a prospect will buy, right? Well, what happens
to your commissions if you only get paid for direct sales (i.e.
where the customer buys on the first visit following a direct link
from your site)? Right. You get maybe 10% of the commissions
you would have earned from the program if the customer was
tagged as yours for a period of time (and preferably for life).
Always read the terms and conditions of the affiliate program
carefully before investing your time and effort. If it says
anything like "if customer later makes a purchase on a repeat
visit that does not originate from your link, you will not qualify
for a commission on such sale" keep looking.
Some programs will place a cookie on the customer's hard disk
for 45 days or so which means that if that customer returns in
three weeks to eventually make a purchase, that customer will
be identified as "yours" and you will get the commission. Some
programs even offer "lifetime customers", that is, the customer is
yours for life even if they come back in three years time and buy
a completely different product.
=> Stats Reporting
Look for real-time reporting of statistics including hits and sales.
Then check to make sure that the hits the affiliate program
records are in line with your own stats tracking. This is easy
to do. I use Roibot to track all clicks I'm interested in
monitoring whether it's a program I'm promoting or whether I'm
just interested in how many people click on a particular link to
an article, for example. (To check out the Roibot suite of
marketing tools, click this (Roibot) link:
http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R5469_roibot ).
=> Frequency (and Amount) of Payments
Some programs will only pay once you accumulate a certain
amount of commission dollars. That's OK ... it keeps admin
costs down and therefore makes more of the profit available
for payment of generous commissions ... but if it's
disproportionately high compared to the amount of the base
commission, consider another program.
If it takes you a year to accumulate $50 in commissions, ask
yourself how likely is it that this particular company will still be
around in one year? Even if you have no concerns on that
score, if it's taking you a year to accumulate $50 worth of
commissions, this is not a program that's giving a particularly
good return on your investment of time and effort. Look for
something more productive.
=> How Long Established?
Related to the previous discussion, think twice before investing
too much time and effort on newly established programs. Add
these to your portfolio by all means, but make your staple
programs the tried and trues.
=> What is Their Policy on Spam?
Very few things irritate me more than to receive spam from
someone promoting one of the programs that I promote. Not
because I get into a tizz about spam per se (yes, it's a
nuisance but unlike apparently 98% of the internet population
I actually do have more important things to worry about), but
such tactics bring the program into disrepute because it
suggests that the owner of the program condones spam and if
the owner of the program condones it, how much value does
he or she place on the program? Not much.
So look for programs with strict anti-spam policies.
SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE
Finally, a word about patience. This is a slow and steady wins
the race game as well as a numbers game. Don't spit the
dummy just because you don't make a single sale in your first
month with a new program.
By all means take a closer look at how well the product fits in
with the demographics of your audience (website and ezine) but
if it's a good fit, don't throw in the towel, instead, refine your
marketing approach, tweak your ads, brainstorm for more
creative ways of promoting the program.
Don't write the program off as bad until you're sure it's not
going to work for you. There may be some peculiar demographic
factor common to your group that you're not aware of but until
you've given it a good try, don't assume that's the case.
As a general rule, so long as you're sure that the product is a
good fit, work with it for a year to give it a real chance of
performing for you. The internet landscape is strewn with the
carcasses of would-be successful entrepreneurs whose only
mistake was giving up too soon. Don't be one of them.
------
** Reprinting of this article is welcome! **
This article may be freely reproduced provided that: (1) you
include the following resource box; and (2) you only mail to
a 100% opt-in list.
Here's the resource box to use if reprinting this article:
------
Elena Fawkner is editor of A Home-Based Business Online ...
practical business ideas, opportunities and solutions for the
work-from-home entrepreneur.
http://www.ahbbo.com
_______________________________________________________________
TURN $2.50 A DAY INTO $1,500 or MORE A MONTH.
I didn't know how either until I was introduced to
a business that has a system that works. Now turning
$2.50 a day into $1,500+ to $4,500+ a month is a
snap! A low stress, simple, legal, clean business
THAT WORKS. Details at
http://www.libertyprofit.com/333014438
_______________________________________________________________
4. Surveys and Trends
_______________________________________________________________
© 2002 Ryanna's Hope
The following is an extract from the current issue of Larry
Wack's excellent weekly ezine, "Surveys and Trends". Follow
the link at the end of the segment to subscribe for the full
version.
------------------------------------------------------------
CONSUMER TRENDS TOWARD MESSAGE FILTERING
------------------------------------------------------------
Email volume will continue to explode as person-to-person emails
are joined by rapidly-growing numbers of spam and email alerts
and notifications, according to IDC. In 2006, the total number of
email messages sent daily is expected to exceed 60 billion
worldwide, up from 31 billion in 2002, and slightly more than
half of these messages will be person-to-person emails.
According to IDC, email users will demand greater access to
message filtering technology to quickly distinguish between high
and low priority messages and to delete spam. Additionally, Web
browsers will remain the primary access method for all emailboxes
worldwide through 2006.
------------------------------------------------------------
CONSUMER CONCERNS FOR VIRAL WARFARE!
------------------------------------------------------------
A September 2002 survey from computer security firm Central
Command, Inc. found that average Internet users were concerned
about attack susceptibility, with almost three-quarters (74
percent) of the 66,296 respondents indicating that some form of
cyberwarfare is likely to occur in the near future.
Among the respondents, most were from North America (42 percent),
followed by Europe (27 percent), Australia (14 percent), South
America (10 percent), Asia (5 percent), and Africa (2 percent),
and 67 percent strongly feel that their respective country is not
yet prepared to combat against such a major threat.
The results displayed a significant increase in virus awareness —
a marked improvement from responses a year prior. When asked
about the handling of e-mail attachments from an unknown source,
the results showed that 58 percent of the respondents would
delete the attachment immediately and 41 percent expressed they
practiced extreme caution when viewing any attachment regardless
of the sender. However, 61 percent claimed to have been infected
with a virus at one time or another, and 53 percent were victims
of an intrusion attack.
------
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Subscribe to "Surveys and Trends" with an email to:
mailto:rypublish@sprintmail.com and say 'survey' in the
subject line.
_______________________________________________________________
Unique and Easy Work-At-Home Ideas
Just Discovered -- Secret Little-Known ways people are making
money at home. NO "business opportunities" just lots of do-able
business ideas that you can duplicate!
Click below for free details.
http://www.infowave2000.com/cgi-bin/tra/tracker.cgi?ahbbo
_______________________________________________________________
5. Success Quote of the Week
_______________________________________________________________
Routine is a ground to stand on, a wall to retreat to; we
cannot draw on our boots without bracing ourselves against
it.
-- Henry David Thoreau
_______________________________________________________________
A home business should be fun and exciting- and Joonipers is
all that and more! More items to sell, better price structure for
your customers, and NEW.. YOU can be the first in your area.
Owned and run by women! Visit Joonipers.com today!
http://www.joonipers.com
_______________________________________________________________
Like This Ezine? Click to Recommend-It® to your friends!
http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=866724
_______________________________________________________________
6. Advertise With AHBBO
_______________________________________________________________
Ezine (electronic magazine or newsletter) advertising is
the most cost-effective and targeted form of advertising
online today. This is because the ezine's editor has already
done the hard work of bringing together a large group of
readers highly motivated by the subject-matter of the
ezine itself.
Therefore, assuming you place your ad in an ezine with
a subject matter that fits with what it is you are
marketing, you can be confident of reaching a select
group of highly targeted prospects for your product or
service.
AHBBO offers four different advertising packages:
(1) top sponsor ad placements,
(2) single ad placements,
(3) ad paks (4 ads for the price of 3), and
(4) exclusive mailings.
To learn more about advertising in the AHBBO ezine,
visit http://www.ahbbo.com/advertising.html .
_______________________________________________________________
7. Subscription Management
_______________________________________________________________
Please note: email addresses for ALL returned mails are
automatically deleted from the AHBBO subscriber database.
If you have a free email account and want to continue
receiving this ezine, please make sure you clear out your
mailbox on a regular basis!
To SUBSCRIBE to this Newsletter send a blank email to
mailto:join-ahbbo@zip.netatlantic.com. If you're an AOL user,
the subscribe link above may not be clickable for you. In this
case, just send a blank email to join-ahbbo@zip.netatlantic.com.
To UNSUBSCRIBE from this Newsletter send a blank email to
mailto:leave-ahbbo@zip.netatlantic.com - be sure to
send the email from the address you are subscribed with
- %%emailaddr%%. If you're an AOL user, the unsubscribe
link above may not be clickable for you. In this case, just
send a blank email to leave-ahbbo@zip.netatlantic.com.
To CHANGE your Subscription Address
Please UNSUBSCRIBE following the above instructions
using the email address you are currently subscribed with
- %%emailaddr%% - and then SUBSCRIBE using the
above instructions using your new email address.
If you find this newsletter valuable, please forward it
in its entirety to your friends, family and associates!
_______________________________________________________________
8. Caveat Emptor
_______________________________________________________________
Although all of the information presented in AHBBO is
published in good faith, I accept no responsibility as to the
accuracy or otherwise of the information presented. By making
use of the information contained in AHBBO the reader assumes
all risk that certain information may prove to be incorrect.
**I do not endorse any advertisements unless stated to the
contrary. Your money, your decision, your responsibility.**
All advertisements are accepted in good faith. However,
advertisers are solely responsible for the content and
accuracy of their classified advertisements and I give no
warranties, nor accept any responsibility, in relation to any
classified advertisement appearing in this publication. ALWAYS
carry out your own due diligence! Remember, if it sounds too
good to be true, it probably is.
_______________________________________________________________
9. Contact Information
_______________________________________________________________
Elena Fawkner, Editor
A Home-Based Business Online
Contact By Email
http://www.ahbbo.com
_______________________________________________________________
All Rights Reserved