Salmon Fish: What Lessons Can We Take?

Sure you know the salmon or at least heard about the salmon. For those of you who do not know about salmon, I will try to describe to you briefly about the life cycle, and for those of you who already know and have any additional information about the salmon, with a happy heart, I will accept it and you can add comments on columns in this article, agree?

I started out OK, salmon fish is fish that comes from the North America region. Salmon life cycle has a long and dangerous. The young fish hatch and breed in the river water is cool, clear and fresh. After growing larger, flock or large salmon is also called Shoal, moving toward the downstream direction to the sea. When the salmon are salt water, skin becomes like a sparkler silk.

Well, some years later, adult salmon return to the river where they first hatch, so that female fish can lay eggs. Exactly how salmon can find the way back is still a mystery. Fish that migrate this must swim against the flow of water. They jump high out of the water, the water flow through a strong and climbing waterfalls. A big salmon that is able to jump up to 3 meters in the business for the flow of water above the swift river and waterfalls. Many salmon die in the journey. Fish that successfully reached the upstream is very weak, and few are able to return to sea after laying. And so forth.

What lessons can we take from the salmon life cycle this? Salmon after sea wander far to be able to return to their habitat to the headwaters bother even with swimming against the flow of rivers and water falls, even though the risk is death. This provides lessons for us, man, that after us over the years wrestle with the transitory life of this world to find the treasure and joy, then selayaknyalah we realize we will return, that is to Dzat the Most Perfect, the Creator of Hosts. Although, we have to sacrifice and leave all that we have to go back to Him. (yw)

Is Affiliate Marketing Any Good? Not If You Forget These 3 Key Elements by Matthew Lord

Affiliate marketing can be a great business if you know how to do it the right way. Just like almost anything is else their is a right way to do it, and a very wrong way to do it. I have been doing this successfully for awhile, and I want to share with you 3 tips that can really make the process much easier. Is affiliate marketing any good? My answer is yes if you follow these tips.

1. Before you do anything else you must find a good product to promote. You can sign up to be an affiliate with amazon, because you can then promote thousands of products to thousands of people. The income potential with this method is enormous, which is why I recommend Amazon to all affiliate marketing newbies.

2. Many people ask if affiliate marketing is any good because they may have failed themselves. Rest assured affiliate marketing is a great business model, but you must be willing to work at it. If you think that you can create an affiliate link and the money will just come rolling in then you are sadly mistaken. If you want it to pay you like a business you need to treat it like a business.

3. You must market your affiliate products. Many people sign up to promote affiliate products, but have no idea how to actually sell them. I suggest that you try a variety of marketing methods such as article marketing, SEO, and eBay classified ads. These methods can really give you the kind of traffic to your affiliate link that you need to make sales.

When someone asks me is affiliate marketing any good, I often reply if you are willing to put in the effort to make it a success then you can succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

See The Exact Methods I Use To Rake In Massive Amounts of Cash From eBay Classified Ads.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_Lord

Internet Marketing - Joint Ventures, Share the Wealth by Mathieu Delaborde

The Internet marketing world is the perfect venue for joint ventures as the number of websites continues to expand. Instead of viewing your competition as a liability you can turn their customer base into one that buys from you as well. The old phrase "if you cannot beat them, join them" has never been more true than in the Internet marketing business. To maximize the income potential of the Internet it definitely pays to join in with other sites as an unified sales force, even though you may sell similar products.

One of the first things that go through most people's heads when you talk about sharing your business with another one online is "but if I share my customer base with the competition surely it will decrease my sales". If in fact if you put your joint venture together properly both of you will stand to make even more money than you could by remaining by yourselves.

By joining forces you can offer complimentary services to your customers which all but guarantees that both customer bases will visit either site before shopping elsewhere. With joint venture marketing you are saying to your customers "I am sorry I do not carry that but I know that X does". This is an automatic referral that tells your customer that you recommend this other site as the one with the best product.

It works even better if you can come to an agreement with your partner that insures that you each get a share of the profits from referred sales. Thus instead of both of you working for a small share of the money to be made online you can be sharing a much larger piece of the pie. If this works for well for two sites imagine how it could work if several of you got together and formed a collective joint venture. The possibilities are endless especially with the amount of shopping that is done through the Internet today.

Another form of joint venture Internet marketing would be connecting an Ezine with your product. Here you would have to locate one or more Ezines that specialize in the type of product that you want to sell. You could then offer them a share of the profits for allowing you to advertise on their website, this can also works both ways. In other words if you have a website you can look for companies that will pay you to host their advertisements in return for a share of their profits.

Joint venture marketing can be the perfect way to get more traffic to all those involved and drive the total profits up. By working together you will actually draw in more business than you ever could by working against one another.

If you need money now, like I mean in the next hour, try what I did. I am making more money now than in my old business and you can too, read the amazing, true story, in the link below. When I joined I was skeptical for just ten seconds before I realized what this was. I was smiling from ear to ear and you will too.

Imagine doubling your money every week with no or little risk! To discover a verified list of Million Dollar Corporations offering you their products at 75% commission to you. Click the link below to learn HOW you will begin compounding your capital towards your first Million Dollars at the easy corporate money program.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mathieu_Delaborde

What Makes the Best Affiliate Marketing Programs So Much Better Than the Rest? by Kathleen Tremblay

What are the earmarks of a good affiliate marketing system? What sets the best affiliate marketing programs apart from the rest? This article attempts to outline two important things to consider when deciding on which affiliate marketing opportunity to join.

If you have been looking for an internet home based business, it is likely that you have stumbled upon affiliate marketing opportunities - and also affiliate marketing systems, which may provide marketing strategies along with the product.

Some individuals prefer to simply sign up, and market on their own - perhaps using standard print advertising or direct mail. These individuals may or may not have prior experience in marketing, or they may feel confident that they can navigate the marketing waters without much help or mentoring.

Others, however, feel a little "lost at sea" when contemplating not only where and how to begin marketing their new opportunity, but what methods of marketing might be effective to begin with. Perhaps this describes you.

This is where the best affiliate marketing programs come in. Let's look at what the best affiliate marketing systems and programs have in common. These are things that give the new affiliate marketer a leg up. Perhaps they will help you.

Aversion to Prospecting: It is no secret that many individuals who are looking for a way to earn money from home are seeking a 100% internet home based business because they have an aversion to prospecting. People who join an affiliate marketing opportunity want to share the product, service or even the entire opportunity with others, but the idea of actually speaking to a recruit or a sales prospect stops them in their tracks. Fear of prospecting is very real. How many individuals give up on their dream of a home based business for this very reason? Anyone who has ever been in this position, raise your hand. Ahh. I thought so! You are not alone.

Some of the best affiliate marketing programs teach online methods of marketing where you can draw others to you and your website without speaking a word in person to your sales prospect or recruit.

But there's something even better these days.

Some of these affiliate marketing systems have an option where you can "outsource" the follow up calls to your prospects once they opt in to receive your program information. This is good news to those for whom the thought of talking on the phone is downright scary. Perhaps, in time, their confidence will build, and they will feel comfortable calling their prospects; however, if this is not that time, then an affiliate marketing system that offers assistance in following up with sales prospects or recruits is a very valuable tool to have in the belt.

If you know that you have a qualified individual in your corner, ready to help you close your sales, then you can stop worrying about that potentially scary part of the job, and concentrate on what's most important: getting people to your website.

There's one more very valuable thing about having that prospect follow up service: You can honestly tell your prospects, if they have an aversion to talking to prospects themselves, that closing the sale really IS easily duplicated - and you can tell them that they were, in fact, products of the same system that they could be using. This, in its own right, is an excellent benefit that adds enormous value to the program or system.

Internet Marketing Blog: Web copywriting is not limited to writing for your website's home page. In most affiliate marketing programs, the websites you will use are already in place, so providing fresh website content is not where you will be concerning yourself. In today's market, if an affiliate marketing program or system is worth its salt, it will offer an internet marketing blog for you to develop. You will likely find tutorials or trainings that repeatedly tell you how important it is to participate in business blogging every day if possible.

It is imperative that you consistently - very consistently - provide fresh content on your affiliate marketing blog. And it's equally important that you promote it. The importance of this cannot be understated. Any affiliate marketing program that tells you differently is one that you might want to avoid.

While the best affiliate marketing programs are still going to teach advertising techniques such as email marketing, banner ads, pay per click, etc., they will also be emphasizing the importance of your internet marketing blog. There is no way around it today. Blogging is important, so you might as well embrace it!

So, there we have two important things to consider in today's ever-changing internet and affiliate marketing strategies. Keep them in mind as you move forward into your home based business, and seek out the best affiliate marketing program you can find.

Copyright (c) 2009 Kathleen Tremblay

Kathy Tremblay's entrepreneurial spirit stems from years of living and working outside anyone's definition of a box: from a Colorado guest ranch, cycling New Zealand, and working in Antarctica. The 9-5 life never suited her. Visit Kathy's blog for internet marketing tips and inspirational articles - and be sure to claim the Free Report that introduces you to the same proven marketing system strategies she uses => Click Here for Your Free Report

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathleen_Tremblay

You Have the Power to Earn Extra Cash by RJ Bai

Don't feel you are helpless, don't feel held down by this economy. You have the power to make extra cash. The Internet business is just a vehicle you can use to make money, but you are the engine that makes it run.

It might be a little bit tougher than it was a few years ago to make money, but it is still very possible to do. The other factor you must consider is preparation. This is the perfect time to lay the foundation for a business. Start by making a goal, make it $500.00 a month then readjust from there. As a beginner you will learn certain basics about the set ups of traffic, pre-sales pages, and the sales pages. As a affiliate apprentice you will be guided through each step. Master each step before moving to the next.

You control your time and money, very little money is needed to start. You learn and earn, just 2 hours a day will have you in business after 4-5 days. With a billion people using the Internet you can see why the future is ahead of you. Jobs will never go away, and this type of business can begin as extra cash, supplemental income.

You can work from home, make your own hours, learn skills that you can't be fired from, and have the potential of unlimited growth. This has been and will continue to be the American dream. Why is there room for you? Because you bring your own unique qualities, experiences, and tastes to the market place. You don't need a million people to be your customers, you need just a few to start. One associate I know just started a year ago and has a list of 10,000 people.

So you see the right time to start is Now. Treat adversity, bad times as an opportunity to prepare, not a time of despair.

Go to the Income Edge, find out how to Begin a Internet Affiliate Business. Start making extra cash, Learn and Earn, and maybe even fire your Boss one day.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=RJ_Bai

Discover How to Make Money Online As an Affiliate by Afoot Newheug

Everyone has had their success and failure online. But the ones who succeed are the ones who continued and did not stop. In the face of losing they continued telling themselves that this one will be the big one and they kept on going.

In order to make money online, you first have to change your mind set about making money. Most people start their online business with the attitude that they will "just try this online thing out" and if it doesn't succeed, oh well. I move on.

If you are going to start your online business with that mind set then you won't get very far. And the reason why you will not get far is that the first time you hit failure, you will quit. And it's inevitable that you will hit failure.

Learn The Rules Of Online Business

Online business is very frustrating when you are starting out for the first time. You don't understand what the author of the last ebook you bought is talking about. He lost you on the first chapter. But it takes perseverance and a "I can do it" attitude to make a success of making money online.

Everyone has had their success and failure online. But the ones who succeed are the ones who continued and did not stop. In the face of losing they continued telling themselves that this one will be the big one and they kept on going.

One of the biggest reasons why most people fail to make money online is simple because they don't know how to be persistence in the eyes of failure. And you might think of it as failure but what it really is, is a learning curve that you must overcome and master.

Learning something for the first time is always frustrating but you must persevere. Can you imagine if when you had started driving if you had given up because you were afraid of those big trucks on the road? Or if you just could not drive on the highway and you decided to quit?

Do Not Quit Your Online Business

Your internet adventure is like that. You must decide that you want to make it online and believe that you can do it. And as you get into those patches where you feel like you have failed tell yourself that this is just part of the learning process and keep going.

The moment that you decide that you will make money online, that's the moment that you universe will open up and give you a helping hand. But you have to have that bull dog, tenacious attitude that you will not quit.

And as you forge ahead with that attitude, things will begin to become clearer and clearer until you wake up one day and realize that you have reached your goal and now it's time to set yet another goal.

Yes, it's true that only 5% of people make money online. But nowhere did it say that you cannot become a part of that 5%. All you need to take you to the 5% side is just confidence in yourself and the right tools.

PPC Classroom 2.0 will be launching their product on February 24th and you should consider taking a look at all the FREE stuff that they are offering. This product will change the way how you look at PPC and help you to clear your mind fog and start making money online.

Get Your FREE copy of limited edition of how to make money online with PPC Classroom 2.0. To claim your free copy just decide that you want to Make Money Online and then put in your email address so they'll know where to sent it to. It's that simple!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Afoot_Newheug

How to Make Money Online With PPC Classroom 2.0 by Afoot Newheug

Many affiliates have been hearing about PPC Classroom 2.0 which will be doing a re-launch on February 24th and wondering if this product will really be any different from the rest.

Affiliates are so accustom to hearing about the newest product every week that they have just started to ignore the hype. After all if all these products are supposed to be making everyone money online, then why are so many affiliates still struggling to make money online?

This is a very good question. But the truth of the matter is, as affiliates that are trying to make money online you must understand that you have to always have to remain focus on what you are trying to accomplish. Give you an example to illustrate the point...

If you are trying to build your understanding of PPC and someone comes along with the best selling product on list building, then you should ignore that offer completely. If you are trying to learn PPC, then the only products that you should be interested in is understanding PPC.

By practicing this method, you will remain focus on your goals. Affiliates are there to sell but you don't always have to buy what they are selling if you don't feel that is the direction that you want to go in right now.

But the problem for most affiliates just starting out is that they don't really have a goal. Today they are list building, tomorrow they are learning PPC, the next day they are doing SEO, and the day after that they are trying to understand niches, and yet the next day they are learning about how to set up a membership site, and then someone comes along and tell them about EBay and Amazon and they go running after that too.

You see how much lack of focus is in the method of trying to make money. All of those paths do lead to making money online. But what is your path to trying to make money online?

Today take out your pen and paper and decide what is your path to making money online-will it be that you need to learn PPC and apply it to Clickbank to making money online? If that is your path write it down. And as you do, the next offer that comes along, look at your sheet and then decide if this falls into your focus.

How can you make money online with PPC Classroom 2.0?

PPC Classroom 2.0 will take you by the hand and show you how to find a niche, how to market to the niche using PPC, how to develop a successful PPC campaign, how to scale your campaign once it becomes successful and how to increase that profit so that you get even greater profit.

If you choose to get this product, you will soon discover that you'll not need another product. They have made it easy and comprehensive that once you start using the system, you will realize that you can make money will all the tools that they provide.

This product is not about hype, it's about real results from the students who have gone through the course and have had amazing results.

And right now they are giving away a FREE ebook teaching affiliates how to gain focus and start making money online.

Decide if you want to keep doing the same thing that you have been doing with the same results or if you want something different. If you seriously want to change then you must decide that you want to Make Money Online and get the FREE ebook. To claim your copy, just fill in your email address so they'll know where to send it to, it's that simple. You can change your life today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Afoot_Newheug

Are There Many Advantages to Affiliate Marketing

Would you like to use a marketing strategy that can pretty much help all types of e-commerce businesses? Would you like a strategy that essentially is risk free for your business but has huge upside potential if you use it correctly? If this type of strategy appeals to you, then affiliate marketing is a strategy that you may want to look into.

So what is the strategy?

1. As an online merchant you will find affiliate marketing highly advantageous due to the fact that it presents a win win situatyon. It has little to no risk both for the merchant and the affiliate.
2. The great part is the affiliate, the person who sells your product or service earns a type of commission or fixed amount based on the number of sales the affiliate brings to the merchant.
3. The affiliate marketer has many channels to market your product. They can use traffic exchanges, teleseminars, forums, autoresponders or via signature files in their emails. Of course the sky is the limit as there are many more ways to market.
4. They can also use the widely known pay per click strategy that Google, yahoo and may other sites offer. Here the affiliate marketer has to be more diligence as money is being put out first in order to make money. The rising price of an AdWord can be good or bad depending on whether sales are being made.

Now what is the benefit to you the merchant?

1. The merchant continues on businesses usual and has no cost worries in terms of the affiliate who markets his or her product or service. The merchant's job is to make the product and advertising materials available.
2. The merchants involvement is based on how involved they want to get in the setup of the affiliates business. The promotion may be a long one or h=short which will determine how much extra work is required. The work comes in supplying the materials like banners, emails and other promotional materials.
3. From a sales persons perspective, the merchant just secured a force of unpaid salespeople, who became instantly commissioned and are now incented to work. It is not uncommon to see an affiliate set up their entire business model based on the merchants business.
4. What else is really great for the merchant is there is no lost of control as you the merchant setup the parameters of the sale and decide on the incentive payment schemes.

So as you can see it is a very inexpensive to set up an affiliate program. You are just adding on additional online promotional materials to your existing products.

For the affiliate marketer, it is a quick way for them to get into business. They get your material and instantly they can start marketing right away.

However you should be able to see that this is a win, win and it is a highly efficient way to grow your market and build other people into your business. Now you just have to attract the affiliates to you.

Would you like to know a way attract people to you and your affiliate products. If gaining additional traffic in an automated manner appeals to you, then click Automated Attraction Marketing to gain free access to this very profitable attraction marketing solution.

Greg Burrus http://www.techoss.com mission has always been to help people in business succeed through the use of automated internet technology solutions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gregory_Burrus

How to Make Some Extra Money in Festive Season

We always look forward to make some extra money in various seasons. Lid of ideas for those who are in affiliate business must have already opened. If you are selling products, you just have to combine it with various seasons or festival to boost of your sales.

Those who are new to affiliate marketing can also make some quick money by selling seasonal goods. Various seasonal goods such as greeting cards, flowers, crackers etc are available just for the season. You can take advantage of the festivity and start selling goods online.

Greetings could be sold on any of the festivals such as Christmas, father's day, mother's day etc. If you make your own greeting cards at home, you can sell it online, or take order for customized greeting cards. Some people love handmade cards. And some prefer customized ones.

For valentine's day romantic gift items could also be sold online. If you are already selling some product such as dvds and books, you can create some special offers for this purpose. You can also make a gift package which could contain dvds of romantic movies and songs or books. It demands little ideas to create such offers.

For Halloween, people can sell Halloween costumes, home made chocolates and gift items for kids.

People who are not into affiliate marketing can promote such seasonal products online through blogs, free websites or article directories like hubpages. They can add content related to the festival or the products and can post an affiliate link for the products and earn some quick money.

Internet Marketing Strategies - How to Choose a Profitable Affiliate Program

Just so you know, we're going to be challenging conventional wisdom in this article. Conventional wisdom says when deciding on a business strategy you should pick something you know, a hobby perhaps. And that's fine if your hobby is popular. By popular I mean there are a lot of people with the same interest and they spend a lot of money on the hobby. Take fishing for example. It's extremely popular and people spend billions of dollars on fishing every year.

Now take bottle cap collecting. Not so popular, right? Not many people into it, right? Not many people spending money on bottle cap collecting, right? See where this is going?

Affiliate marketing is the same. There are literally thousands of products out there you can promote. I recently came upon a Website promoting a 'Learn Swahili' language course. You can be sure that marketer isn't getting rich.

So what's the point? If you want to make it big with affiliate marketing you're going to have to cast your line where the multitudes swim. People want easy answers to hard questions and they want them now. The smart affiliate program promoter will recognize this and use it to build a successful affiliate business.

There Are Only Three Things People Want

This might seem weird but it's true. People want three things from life. Those are:

· Love

· Money

· Health

Now I'll admit those are fairly broad categories so let's break them down a bit. Take health for example. Diet and exercise products fall under this category. Hair restoration, acne cures, and stop smoking programs all fall under the health heading, to name just a few.

Ever notice how frantic some people are to solve such problems? When you've found that niche, you've found a winner. And the same goes for love and money. In today's society people want what they want and they want it now! Find the products they desperately want and deliver the information.

Lots of affiliate marketing experts warn us to stay out of crowded, competitive niches because it's hard to get a foothold where the competition is so stiff. And to that I have only one word: baloney!

The more competition you find in your chosen field, the more money there will be to be made there. But how do you compete when so many others are battling for their own piece of the action? It's simple. Create or co-opt a plan and stick to it.

What does it take to compete in a hot niche? Once again, it takes a plan that includes these three items:

· A smart looking Website or Blog designed to deliver prospects to your affiliate partner's sales page.

· Excellent content for that site or blog

· Targeted traffic

The first item, a Website or blog is easy to acquire. You don't have to spend a fortune to put up an attractive mini site or blog. If you're the resourceful type you can have this work done for very small money. I can direct you to a fellow that can design a very nice mini site for under $50.

The second and third items are very closely related because if you can generate excellent content for your site, targeted traffic is virtually guaranteed. Let's talk a little about great content because I know so many people are missing the point on this one.

Lots of Internet marketers believe that excellent content is copy loaded with the hot keywords and phrases. And to a certain degree, that's true. So they write articles and other copy loaded with the just the right keywords and keyword density and post this material to the Web. And sure enough, in time they end up with great page positions on the top search engines. I know this is true because I see their copy all the time.

So why aren't they successful? Because they're writing for crawlers and bots rather than for people. Every time I do a search I run across articles and other material with great page rank. The only problem is, it's mostly junk. So much of this stuff is so awkward it's impossible to even read it. And if no one is reading it, it's not going to generate any traffic regardless of its position. And the solution to this is simple, write first for people and then for software.

We've looked at a method for choosing extremely profitable affiliate products. We've also briefly touched upon the key elements for promoting these products no matter how competitive the niche might be. Here's a bold statement: If you can follow simple instructions, you can be successful with affiliate marketing. All it takes is a workable plan and the drive to take action. Good luck!

Affiliate Marketing - How to Build Income by Using Affiliate Programs

With the economy in the turmoil it is in these days, many people are looking for an alternative form of income. They are wanting income that is one that can be made with the use their personal computer and preferably a passive income. One way that has become a popular and an excellent way to make money is marketing other people's materials on the internet by using affiliate programs.

There are businesses that are setting up programs in which someone like you and me can promote their products or services on their own websites or blogs or in email promotions. In exchange for the advertising, they will pay you a commission for each sale that gets generated from the promotion that appears on your site. The sales that you generate are tracked by a unique number that is set up with your ID number and makes it efficient and easy to track how much you sell each month. The percentages will be different with each vendor. How they pay and how often they pay will vary as well. Some vendors will use a website such as Clickbank or Commission Junction to take care of the sales tracking and payment made to the one promoting. This is called your Affiliate Link. Some vendors will set up an affiliate program of their own through shopping carts or some kind of e-commerce they are using if that is available in their setup.

One way to promote when an affiliate link you can not use plain affiliate link in your writing is to purchase a domain name and forward your domain name to your affiliate link. This adds more ways to recommend the product or service that you are promoting for an affiliate commission. You can then recommend your own products or products of other people easier in articles that you may be writing. You can even used the forward domain name in your blog post also.

Using affiliate programs is an easy way to share products and services that you have purchased, used and recommend. You can also promote products that were recommended to you by other people who have purchased them and been satisfied by their results they receive. Sharing with others in a variety of ways is a great way help each other grow and prosper.

Residual Income Businesses - Successfully Build Them in 4 Ways

You can create residual income businesses by doing a lot of upfront work and then reaping the rewards with monthly autopilot income. This concept, also known as passive income, is one that you should definitely incorporate into your life.

A popular way nowadays to create residual income businesses is through affiliate marketing. Very often, people do not think about affiliate marketing as a residual income source.

Here are 4 methods that you can use to build residual income businesses by incorporating affiliate marketing.

1. The first method takes advantage of 2 tier affiliate programs. These programs will pay you for every sale that you make and, additionally, you get a commission for every sale made from the affiliates who you recruit.

The best way to build residual income businesses from the 2 tier method is to create a downline of super affiliates underneath you. Over time, once you gain many of these super affiliates in your downline, your business will run automatically with very little attention required on your behalf.

2. Keep developing websites that earn monthly autopilot income. There are many successful marketers who earn a large monthly income on websites that they never even look at anymore. These are affiliate residual income businesses in which they spent a lot of upfront work to set them up and they now just reap the rewards.

An excellent strategy to incorporate here is to pick many niches in which to do your affiliate marketing. In this way, you can earn money selling several different types of products.

3. Get involved in a few programs that have a membership fee. These programs, of which there are many, will bill you on a monthly basis.

In these types of programs, you will get paid a commission every month when the affiliates in your downline are billed. Over time, this can really add up to a large monthly income.

One way to vary this theme is to sell products that people need to continue using on a regular basis. One of the best examples of this is website hosting. An affiliate here will need to keep paying every month if they want to keep their website running.

4. Develop your own products and get other affiliates to sell them for you. An example of this would be to write an ebook and sell it through Clickbank. As you make new monthly sales on this product, you can work on developing new products.

This is 4 methods that you can use to build residual income businesses using affiliate marketing. Although there is much work involved upfront in developing a residual income, you will find that it is more than worth the effort.

How to Quit Your Day Job With My 3 Step Secret Affiliate Formula!

Do you want to live the life of your dream and finally quit your day job promoting other people's product online?

If you are brand new to affiliate marketing (or if you are not full time yet), let me show you how ordinary people just like you manage to go full time online.

Are you ready to take your share of the billions of dollars distributed every single year to affiliates all over the world?

Here is how to do it. It may seem complicated at first, but I guarantee that it's easy when you have the right information and the proper guidance.

As an example, I went from scratch, with zero Internet knowledge to being full time online and working only a few hours per week.

A. Mindset

First, as an affiliate, you need to develop a strong mindset and think that you are going to succeed. This is absolutely crucial to your Internet success.

B. Mentoring

Do not do like all the other struggling affiliates. They try to guess everything themselves, and the nature of the Internet is such that once they found what works, it's almost not as effective as it was in the first place.

C. Taking action

Once you learn something that works for your business, implement it quickly instead of just thinking about it.

Now that you know the fundamentals, here is my secret affiliate formula that helped me to earn thousands upon thousands online:

1. Create your Squeeze Page

2. Drive traffic to your squeeze page with one of these three methods:

a. Article marketing
b. Pay per click
c. Forum marketing

3. Promote the affiliate program to your subscribers, along with killer content that help them solve their
problem.

Affiliate Marketing Tips - Promoting Great Products With Lousy Sales Pages

Probably one of the most frustrating things you can run into as an affiliate marketer is a great product with a lousy sales page. What do you do? You know you could sell the product well if only the sales page was better. Well, there are a few things that you CAN do. This article is going to offer some suggestions for making the most out of these less than ideal situations.

Probably the easiest thing to do, and this works great for me, is to write a review of the product and in the review, mention that the sales page looks like garbage. Even tear it to shreds if you want. But make it crystal clear that the product itself is top notch. That kind of honesty will usually go a long way in converting a prospect who might not normally buy to a paying customer. It isn't the ideal solution, as they still have to get through that horrible sales page, but if you warn them in advance, you've got a good shot at making the sale.

Another thing you can do is ask the product creator if they'll allow you to make your own sales page for the product. Be honest and up front with them. Tell them that you feel the sales page is lacking and that you could make more sales if you had a better one to send people to. All the creator has to do is send you the pay link that you can then enter into the page itself. The reason I say to ask permission and not just make your own sales page is because the creator may not want another sales page out there representing their product...no matter how much "better" it might be.

There is no reason to let a poor sales page get in the way of you making sales. If you feel you can improve on the one that's out there, do it. Maybe you can even give the product creator some suggestions on how to improve his sales page, if you feel you have the answers. If the changes bring them more sales, I'm sure they'll thank you for it.

Clickbank Reaper Review - A Top Notch System That You Need

The Clickbank Reaper system is one of the many internet and affiliate marketing products that has been unveiled in 2009. While many of the products being released promise a mass of wealth and tons of hype, the Clickbank Reaper system is different. The biggest difference between it when compared to the other internet marketing products is the simple fact that this system actually does live up to its hype, in addition to producing excellent results.

The Clickbank Reaper system is comprised of a collection of different tactics, tricks, and other secrets that show you exactly how to not only dominate your niche market, but "milk" it for nearly everything. You'll learn the exact, step-by-step methods to niche and Clickbank domination. And, it's a perfect system, regardless of your experience. Even if you're a downright beginner, this system will help you generate an income that you can be proud of, each and every week with Clickbank.

If you're thinking about investing any kind of money into a product similar to the Clickbank Reaper, I would suggest that you hold off until you find out what Clickbank reaper is really all about. The only reason I say this, is for the simple fact that all of the other products out there just don't live up to their hype. And we all know that's what sells a product, is the hype alone.

With the Clickbank Reaper system, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Imagine eliminating those zeros on your Clickbank account, to seeing cash come sweeping through day in and day out. This system can make those "dreams" finally become a reality!

How to Use Social Networking Sites For Affiliate Marketing Success

Social networking sites have become a major online fad with both young people and professionals alike. These sites are also commonly referred to as Web 2.0 sites and are mainly used to socialize over the internet. Various forms of social networking sites include; forums, blogs, discussion boards, bookmarking sites and the ever popular Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. These social networking sites have members who are all interested one common thing - socializing.

Social sites have mushroomed in the recent years which now offer users a variety of new utilities. The most popular sites provide features like picture upload, broadcast messages, comments, video or audio upload, status updates, etc. There are also other social networking sites that help members to conduct discussions on various issues through their discussion boards. In addition, there are some sites like Squidoo that allows their users to make a quick buck in the form of affiliate revenues.

For the affiliate marketer, social networking sites are a great platform for gaining and maintaining new relationships. Although, the majority of affiliate marketers today are unaware that these sites can be utilized for generating new sales and building their sub-affiliate database - the successful affiliate marketer who is aware, generates a comfortable living offering affiliate products via social networking sites.

Before you decide to use social sites for generating affiliate revenue, or conduct affiliate marketing work, you must do your due diligence and read the site's terms and conditions for membership. Since different sites have different terms and conditions, it is very important that you are fully aware of them before conducting activities like affiliate marketing. For example, there are social networking sites that allow you to add a direct link to the program or product, whereas there are some who don't even allow you to link to your personal website or blog. There are even sites that won't allow you to send links via messages, for sites that are directly or indirectly linked with a product sale.

There is also the option of joining forums and discussion boards, where instead of directly pasting your sales pitch, you can join the discussions and provide good, relevant content and feedback and then try to slowly push in your passive sales pitch. For instance your signature can contain elements that can give a little idea about the products or the services that you are marketing. So, as the number of posts increase, the more your advertisement can possibly be viewed.

Here are 6 Tips for Social Affiliate Marketing Success

1. Sign Up. Become a member of social sites that you know other affiliate marketers might use. Don't overlook any of them until you've given them each a chance.
2. Don't Sell. Don't push your product or service on to new 'friends' of these sites. Provide the information subtly and see who bites first and then make the sale. These sites are about socializing and networking, fill your pipeline first before you saturate your community with your product solution.
3. Link, Link, Link. Add your affiliate link or website link everywhere you are allowed. All these sites have places for you to add your bio, other information and on topics that interest you.
4. Socialize. Just don't sign up and hope people will find you. You have to find people and engage them with a fun, positive attitude and by providing relevant content that your friends may find valuable.
5. Be Consistent. Be active on these sites daily. Don't work hard one day and then skip the next two. Stay active, stay seen.
6. Become Popular. These social networking sites are simply an information popularity contest - who's got more and who's got better. People buy from people they know and trust -- become that person.

Social networking sites are an excellent arena for meeting new people and making new sales. They can provide a huge boost in income if used in a prudent manner.

Make Money Through Viral Internet Marketing Without Spending a Dime

Viral marketing has become an established way of doing business. It really is possible to learn this type of business without spending a dime! But you need to accept two basic premises. First, forget about the ways people conducted business ten or twenty years ago. You need to study and accept that things have changed. Second, prepare to invest lots of your time in building up your business. The services of a coach can help you become clear on your goals and carry you through to your decisions.

The first thing you have to do is choose a product that will sell from a dealer that is reliable. Explore your vendors. Your job is to decide what products interest you; be very specific about what you like. You can't fake enthusiasm! Do checks on possible vendors. Are they dependable? What have other customers have said about them? If you read negative feedback about a vendor or a product, then look elsewhere. If it seems to good to be true, then it probably is! A coach will guide you through the right choices.

Next, you need to learn all about search engine optimization, also known as SEO techniques. When someone types your product into their search engine, will your product be one of the first ones to come up? Until you get some experience under your belt, you will not reach the top of Google™ or Yahoo® search lists even if you study adword sites for backlink ideas. An effective coach can explain this topic to you in its entirety until you know it forward and backward.

A coach will take you by the hand and show you how to do it all yourself. There are mentors who will tell you about how to access resources that most people don't even know about! If you are serious about becoming a successful affiliate marketer and sending your business viral, you need someone who will provide you with lists of ideas, someone who can tell you what's really important and what you can bypass. A private club for coaching can cost as little as a tenth of the fee charged by an ad campaign service. And, you get the satisfaction of assimilating lots of information so that you, yourself, become an expert!

You should search for a coach who offers video tutorials or written lessons, possibly an RSS feed, and email communication. There are so many ways to target consumers! Social networking websites, blogs, article marketing, sponsored ads, pay-per-click, and software marketing are just a few of them. A coach can show you how to take an old idea and make it new again.

Another often-ignored area involves competitors keywords and conversion rates. Most people don't realize the importance of watching competitors. You can bet your competitors are watching YOU, and you need to be the one who's most knowledgeable about bids for keywords, page rankings, and AdSense campaigns. Who will teach you this? The coach!

You can spend tons of money buying books to figure all this stuff out. You can spend tons of money hiring so-called experts to do it for you. Or you can put your time into it, and for just a fraction of the other costs, you can access step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish all these things for yourself. Which way do you choose?

How to Create a Second Income and Avoid Being Scammed in Affiliate Marketing

If you are retrenched, and you have only $100 left in your possession to leverage into a business that can generate a lifetime of profits, what online business will you choose?

Need To Create A Second Income

If you are thinking this is a hypothetical question that does not affect you, pause and think again! We are in dire economic times, and businesses are downsizing and unemployment and retrenchment rates are rising by the day. Anyone who is in employment is a candidate for retrenchment when the company downsizes or restructures or is hit by a sudden bankruptcy order. Already, we have seen big institutions and banks which have been the towering giants of commerce and industry in the past, moving into liquidation and bankruptcy as the sub-prime mortgage crisis continues to deepen.

It is time to become wiser and to start to create multiple sources of income to buttress against retrenchment and to create personal wealth by online marketing.

Why is online marketing preferred?

Online marketing allows you to work from home, at your convenience and that means lower capital outlay, especially if you are marketing some in-demand products for others for a commission. You need not own any product, or spend time to create any product and thus avoid spending your resources and capital developing products for sale. Secondly, online marketing activities can be closely monitored and carried out according to a defined successful marketing system. There are many successful affiliate marketers who have developed very profitable marketing systems comprising tactics such as developing mailing lists of clients, interactive and auto-updating websites with autoresponders, providing incentives and one-time-offers to reap the backend sales and establishing discussion groups and forums to enable recurrent and referral sales. Such proven techniques can quickly bring in sales and huge commissions.

Avoid Being Scammed In Affiliate Marketing

The snag is that there are far too many affiliate marketing programs that claim to teach you all the techniques to become successful. Such affiliate marketing know-how can be purchased online from zero cost or free to thousands of dollars for the high-end seminars and boot camps. So how can you start off on the right note? How do you avoid being scammed right off the bat even before you start off in affiliate marketing?

The answer lies in word of mouth and referral by more experienced marketers who have gone through a similar route. You can learn from their hard earned experience because many internet marketers have gone through the mill. Many have spent thousands of dollars and years of trying out program after program to try to succeed at online marketing until they have finally succeeded. Consulting them or reading credible professional reviews would be a wise way to start off with. The top training programs allow you to learn specific affiliate marketing techniques while giving you opportunities to earn commissions by promoting the same programs.

Take Massive Action For Success

Once you have discovered the best program for your needs, the next step is to take action. Without the fear that your program is a dubious one, you can take concerted effort to make your mark in affiliate marketing and be a tremendous success into the future. I know of many internet marketers who started off with almost zero knowledge about affiliate marketing and very little capital, who are now making thousands of dollars monthly in affiliate marketing just because they took massive action.. The key is to begin to work on your objective and to take immediate action. By following a proven plan of action from an established system, your path to success is smoother than trying to find your way by trial and error.

Affiliate Programs and the Capital Crunch

Taking the plunge into affiliate revenue sharing programs might make perfect sense in a depressed economy. Very little risk couple with excellent growth potential may allow this to be your starting point in business.

In most cases you will not be penalized for lack of sales. You are simply presenting information for your site visitors to consider. The originating site you are affiliated with only pays you based on sales from unique visitors from your site to theirs. They only stand to gain from an affiliation with you. Even if you never sell anything the company you work with will still not lose money from working with you.

This idea might work well for you considering the relative simplicity of becoming an affiliate. Instructions are generally easy to follow and once your site is set up you may not need to do much to maintain its ongoing presence.

You will need to pay attention to standard Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices that can assist in putting together a site that will get noticed more quickly by search engines and, by default, users. This can be the hardest part because you are seeking to establish trust. You want to be viewed as authoritative. This can only happen when others begin placing their trust in your site. This is a process that can take time.

An affiliate program can be managed in your spare time and can provide respectable residuals. This may allow you to give yourself a raise in an economy that has proven to be anything but generous.

I've always been a firm believer in giving yourself a raise. Instead of being frustrated over budget cuts and salary freezes you can use an affiliate revenue program to claim a personal raise. You don't have to be completely at the mercy of your employer. You may even discover at some point that you'd rather be your own boss. When that happens your experience in working with affiliate programs may prove beneficial in establishing something that is completely your own.

There are companies that provide individual affiliate agreements and there are also affiliate clearinghouses. These mega sites allow you to mix and match the programs you want to be affiliated with.

You may also be able to mix and match affiliates providing a wider and complimentary selection for your site visitors. The benefit for consumers is a larger online store and the benefit for you is a greater potential for sales.

Perhaps the greatest calling card for affiliate programs has to be the ability to derive an income without being responsible for product fulfillment. This allows you to work on other ideas while the affiliate programs continue to make impressions on visitors and create sales that provide you with a commission.

It can't hurt you to investigate what possibilities exist for affiliate programs that either fit your own personal interests or allow you to consider programs you can identify with in some other way. The development of a website can be managed through web builder technology at a low price while providing the greatest opportunity for personal wealth creation in a depressed economy.

Make Money Writing - Affiliate Marketing For Cash

One of the easiest ways to make money writing is by affiliate marketing. Once you've set up a campaign for a product you're promoting, the cash flow will continue, so you can focus on additional products. Over time, you'll promote many products: this means that your income keeps rising.

What's Affiliate Marketing?

When you're affiliate marketing, you're promoting others' products and services online, for a commission. Commissions on products can vary, from just a dollar or two, to hundreds of dollars. It's an easy way to get started making money online, because you don't even need a Web site.

Important: although you can get started affiliate marketing very easily, the more you treat it as a business, the more money you will make. For example, the "bum marketing" craze is popular because you can indeed start your out just by writing articles to promote your affiliate products.

However, when you use strategies like bum marketing, you're not building a business, so as soon as possible, get your own sites and blogs, and promote your affiliate products that way. Over time, as traffic to your online properties increases, you'll make more money from each property.

Here are two ways to make money writing about affiliate products.

1. Make Money by Writing Reviews

The easiest way to sell an affiliate product is by writing a review of it. People considering buying the product like to read reviews before making a buying decision.

Your reviews should be genuine, so aim to promote only those products you've used. It's difficult to promote products you've never used, and if your reviews are too cookie-cutter, you won't make sales.

2. Promote Your Products With Blogs

It's very easy to create a blog, you can create one in minutes to promote a product. Add your reviews and other writing about your products to your blog, and over time, as the links to your blog increase, you'll get an increase in traffic, and in sales.

Succeed in Affiliate Marketing - Do You Have What it Takes?

If you could use any method online to make money what would it be? This sounds like a good business model to me: no product creation, no designing sales pages, no dealing with customers, and no processing refunds. What is this business you may ask? Well this is the business of affiliate marketing! To succeed in affiliate marketing their are certain things that are essential, and if you can do these things you can succeed.

1. You need to pick a great product to promote. There are hundreds of companies out there who are looking for affiliates to generate sales. The key to having success with affiliate marketing is promote products that provide value to people. A great product is the first step to succeed in affiliate marketing.

2. In addition to product selection you must market these products. Often times many people sign up for affiliate links and think that money will just start pouring into their bank accounts. While it would be great if this were true, it is just not likely to happen. You must have a good marketing plan in place to ensure your success.

3. Do not get caught up promoting too many products. If you stretch yourself too thin then you are really going to sacrifice results. Affiliate marketing takes dedication, and you are better off concentrating on just a few methods in order to generate sales. One of my person favorites is article marketing, and it has produced amazing results for me.

To succeed in affiliate marketing you should take the business seriously. If you treat it like a business then it will pay you like one!

Affiliate Marketing Strategies - My 3 Step Easy to Follow Action Plan

There are many affiliate marketing strategies on the internet that promise to make you the next millionaire. Well, I am going to go against the norm and not promise you that. Here I am going to show you a simple method that if followed correctly for a few weeks should start to generate about one or two sales per day with Clickbank. Once you are doing this you can then move on to more complex methods.

1. First off you need to pick out three Clickbank products that have nothing to do with making money online. I know many people say there is a lot of money in selling these products, and there is for advanced marketers. What people do not realize is that there is much more money in promoting products outside of the internet marketing niche. A few ideas are poker, dating, and the foreign language niche just to name a few.

2. After you do this you are going to create a simple blog using blogger for each product that you are trying to sell. These blogs can be very simple giving a brief description of the product you are selling. It is important not to sell too hard on your blogs, because these basically just serve as a way to redirect people to your affiliate link from the article directories. Of course if you want you can purchase a cheap domain name and redirect straight from the article directories.

3 The third step is to write keyword rich articles related to the products you are promoting. The ideal format is to have your main keyword in the title, and have three or four keywords spaced out through the entire article.

This method works wonders for affiliate marketing, and if you write a few dozen quality articles you should start seeing a few sales on a weekly basis.

Online Affiliate Marketing - Beginners, Did You Make These Mistakes?

Online affiliate marketing attracts beginners like magnetic. You probably have the perception that you can easily make truckloads of affiliate marketing income.

If only it is really that easy. Yet I can't blame you for thinking this way. There are simply too much hype online. Everyday you hear someone telling saying it is easy to make money online, but you're not having the result you want. It's frustrating, isn't it?

I'm sure if you have some marketing experience under your belt, you can related to what I said. And if you're totally new, this article will be your short cut to make decent affiliate marketing income online.

In my opinion, and you need to offer the most suitable product to your visitors.

Honestly speaking, setting up a site is the easiest part of an online affiliate marketing business. After that, the nightmare begins. You need to have a strategy for driving traffic to your site. You also need to know how to convert your visitors to buyers. The last statement is really what truly matters, isn't it?

Lack of Advertising

An online affiliate marketing business is no different from a traditional brick and mortar business. You need to advertise. Pay per click and ezine advertisements are relatively cheaper than running newspaper or magazines advertisements. By far, these are 2 of the best ways to bring your product in front of thousands if not millions of searchers globally.

Confusing Your Visitors

You task as an affiliate marketer is to educate your visitors. Think about why people come online. It's basically to search for information. Yet I see so many web sites with more advertisement banners than useful information. If you do that, you're confusing your visitors. They will wonder what your site is about and leave almost immediately. That's not what you want. You want your visitors to stay long enough to read your content, and in the process, monetize them.

So you should make your site stick by providing your visitors with valuable content. As the saying goes: The more you tell, the more you sell. That's exactly what you should do. However, you can provide good content together with advertising banners. The best way to use monetize your visitors is to put up banners related to the content you write about.

Promoting too Many Products

Beginners are almost always overwhelmed by the number of products they can market. They end up signing for many, but rarely spend enough time promoting any.

To be clearer, if you send your visitors to a page full of products you are affiliated to, you are not likely convert them to buyers. The reason is simple. You are confusing them.

If visitors are confused with too many choices, they will not buy. My advice is to give them only one recommendation. And that should be the best one.

As a new affiliate marketer, you are doomed to fail in this business unless your put in effort to learn affiliate marketing. Staying away from these 3 mistakes is only the beginning. You need to see the big picture. At the same time, you also need to have detailed step by step instructions that to show you how to make good online affiliate marketing income.

Affiliate Marketing Can Build Investment Income

In the current state of the economy, finding outside methods to building money can be a priority for you. You may have lost the amount you have been investing, but you know that the market right now is in a prime location for you. It may struggle for a few more months, but some of the most secure stocks are still highly affordable. How can you build up enough income to get back into investing again? Why not consider affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is not a scam and it most definitely is not a difficult process. You can learn it, especially if you know your way around the S & P 500. The goal of affiliate marketing is to help businesses to sell their products and services by giving them the tool of online advertising. Since the Internet is full of people who want to make a purchase, it is exceptionally important to keep in mind that these are all potential buyers for these companies. Your job is to simply market to them. You get them to come to your website or blog, you encourage them to make a purchase and they head off to the company's website (through your link) to make a purchase. In return, you get a cut of the sale, just like any other commission system works.

If you are struggling with the current economy and want to get some extra income coming your way, one way to do so is through affiliate marketing. The money you make can help you to reinvest or do whatever you need to do.

When I first started my coaching/consulting business, there was really only one way to network - face to face. Since then, we have seen the explosion of Web 2.0 and Social Networking. Social Media has taken the world by storm. What a fabulous and exciting playground for those of us who genuinely like networking and connecting with people. Now, the world is our proverbial oyster, and we have no geographic limits whatsoever!

As I've engaged in Blogging,Tweeting, Facebook-ing, and answering the question, "what are you doing," I've had occasion to hearken back to my earliest days of networking, back when I was learning the ropes, figuring out the protocol. And, it occurs to me that the "rules" for Web 2.0 networking are not really any different than for old fashioned networking. In no particular order, this are my top tips for social Networkers.

1) Be interesting - Develop a sharp, snappy response to the dreaded question - so, tell me, what do you do? Now, tell me, in less than 5 second what you do ... for me. Great! Now use that on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and all your other favorite social networking sites. Twitter allows you 160 characters to do this - I challenge you to do it in less.

2) Be interested - It is not about you! Or, in the immortal words of JFK, the United States' 35th president, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." This is really the Golden Rule in any kind of networking. So ask questions and be curious about the people you meet online.

3) Be involved - Don't just join, get involved. Remember those people who would join the Chamber of Commerce, never attend a single event, and then complain endlessly that they weren't getting any results. Well, man up! Life isn't a spectator sport, and neither is networking. If you join a local organization, please volunteer to serve on a committee. And, if you post a profile on LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook, et al, please join and participate in some of the interest groups. No one is going to know how talented and delightful you are if you spend your time in the corner.

4) Be valuable - once you've joined those groups, be sure to answer questions and offer your wisdom and expertise - freely and generously! The founder of BNI, Ivan Meisner, coined the phrase Givers Gain. Embrace it and live it. If you don't know what I mean, buy a couple of Meisner's books; and while you are at it, get "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi. I believe that there is a big karmic circle in the networking universe that rewards those who give. Answer questions, offer resources, be valuable.

5) Be specific - If you need some help or an introduction or whatever, please do not be vague. One of the biggest mistakes I see people making, in person and online, is being coy about what they want. If you want an introduction to a particular person, please tell us that, and tell us why. Of course, I am assuming that you have already practiced the abovementioned rules religiously and have thereby earned the right to ask for help.

6) Be visible - Please, post a real picture of you, not a picture of your goldfish or your avatar! Networking is about building relationships. How do you expect me to get to know you if I do not know what you look like?

7) Be transparent - Get to know people. In the days of face-to-face networking, it was common to meet for a cup of tea or coffee, or lunch. This allowed us to get to know a little about the other person as a person, not just a business contact. It is no different online. Give me a little insight into who you are, what your interests are, what makes you unique and special. Most people who know me know that I am a closet foodie, that I battled a brain tumor and won, and that I love my husband dearly. Now, tell me something about you.

The sheer speed in which social networking sites are growing is absolutely incredible, for the past three years we have seen an explosion in online networking sites, making it reminiscent of the 1990s internet bubble era. It is obvious that the more and more people come online, the more and more the internet is becoming a huge connection hub.

By all means that is absolutely how the internet should be and was intended to be, the internet was created to share masses of information and now it's easier than ever before.

We have seen huge growth in sites such as Facebook and MySpace, but the latest online trend is twitter. Twitter is basically a micro blogging site whereas you can post up to 140 characters so that whoever is following you can see your updates, obviously the more followers you have the more your message will be heard.

Although twitter has steadily been growing since its launch it is only recently that it has really had enormous amounts of full media exposure. There are a huge amount of celebrities taking advantage of the service and it has had a lot of airtime as of late.

So that begs one question, will Twitter be entering the showbiz industry? The simple answer is yes, what Twitter is doing is bringing famous icons a lot closer to ordinary people. A regular user can signup and send a famous figure a tweet and in no time the star will read this and personally end up replying to you.

Twitter also has a great API whereas you can create fully functioning applications. We all watch and vote on talent shows which are broadcast on TV, so what is there to say that in a few years' time people will not have the opportunity to vote on talent shows via twitter. The site takes advantage of SMS messages so it would work out incredibly cheaper to text into twitter than it would texting in to a premium line.

The micro blogging site has a great future ahead of itself and although the site consists of only micro blogging, I believe that the API access was the best thing for them to do because with the sheer volume of useful third party applications the site can grow indefinitely. Putting the time into your tweets will make you build up a great follow ship that can be a great tool indeed.

Social networking is a great tool in the world of marketing. Among the social networking sites, Twitter is the new Face Book when it comes to gaining business contacts. Actually it works even better than that. The beauty of Twitter is in it's simplicity. It is not all bogged down with details. No fancy web designs, no personal categories if interests etc. It works because it is broken down to the basics. There are a number of ways in which to use Twitter to accomplish your goals.

First, you need to personalize your space. If you don't change your background and post a picture of yourself, other people will think you are not really using Twitter, but simply trying it out. There are certain people that won't even follow you if you don't have a picture. Make it personal, get your feet wet and have fun.

Second, you need to think about who you want to follow. When your are thinking of people to follow, you can search names of interesting people. You may want to follow these people and listen to what they have to say. There is another group you must follow. These are people that are following your competition. If you compete with people that have an identity in Twitter, and those people have followers, You need to get hold of those followers! They will start seeing updates from you and you just may be more appealing to them.

Third, make sure you update frequently. People like to hear from you. You can post URL links of sites you think are interesting, sayings or quotes that mean something or just say "Hi I'm here and this is what I'm doing". Don't go gung ho telling everybody about what your selling or try to get them to buy something. This is a place to build your credibility, and respect from others. Be honest, talk to them like you would anybody else.

Fourth, don't be angry when someone un-follows you. This happens. You will do it too. Often, there are people you run into (in life or otherwise) with whom you become unsatisfied after getting to know them. Let them go. There is no need to be mean or make a scene, just unceremoniously un-follow them.

Fifth, keep the followers and the followed numbers about equal. If you are following many more people than are following you, it appears that you are spamming. This is not good. Also, when the people following you greatly outnumber the people you follow, it looks as though you don't care and may be perceived as indifferent.

Use these tips and see if they don't help you make more business contacts over the long haul. I wish you success in your business ventures

I hear a lot about social networking sites these days. It can get very overwhelming just figuring out where to spend your time, how much time to spend, and how to use the sites for business networking as opposed to personal networking. Let me chime in on the sites I use most and why.

LinkedIn - LinkedIn.com

I believe LinkedIn, in my opinion, is the most formal of the social networking sites. Basically, you post your profile on the site, and invite people to join your network. There is a standard email you can send to people you know, which you can personalize. If the person you ask to join your network accepts, he or she becomes one of your "connections." You then have access to any of their "connections." The only caveat is that in order to network with the people listed in their "connections,' you need to ask the person you originally connected with to introduce you. If all goes well and this third person agrees, you can then network with this person, and possibly be connected to he or she as well.

There are various groups set up on LinkedIn, such as e-Biz and the International Association of Solopreneurs. The purpose of these groups is to share and have discussions. If you are so inclined, you can even start your own group.

I find that LinkedIn is great if you are looking for a job in the corporate world, or trying to find someone you either went to school with or worked with in the past. Other than that, I personally don't find much more value in it, except for networking within the various groups.

Twitter - Twitter.com

This site is by far the easiest to use, since there is not much to it. Its main purpose is for you to answer the question "What are you doing?" in 140 characters or less. If you are new to social networking, this might be the best place for you to start.

Once you set up your account, let others know what you are up to by answering the question. Then you can find people to "follow," who in turn can then "follow" you. This is a fun way to keep up-to-date with your friends, but what about your business contacts? Well, you can share links, send them direct messages, and share quick tidbits about your business.

When you set up your profile on Twitter, it appears in a small box on the right-hand side of the screen. What others will see when they go to your profile:

• Name
• Location
• Web
• Bio

Make sure to highlight your business in your short bio, if you are trying to attract business networking partners instead of personal! While I like the quick, no-nonsense approach to networking on this site, my all-time favorite is Facebook.

Facebook - Facebook.com

Facebook is loaded with bells and whistles, and you can post just about anything on your profile. Among other things, you can:

• share links
• post videos
• post events
• post photos
• join groups
• find friends and business colleages
• add applications (personal or business-related, based on your interests)
• link to your Twitter, Facebook and other accounts

There is so much to do in Facebook, I sometimes get overwhelmed. But it's so much fun keeping up with what my friends and clients are up to! I find this is a great place to catch up, and usually spend fifteen minutes or more a day on the site. If someone posts about something I want to comment about, I can put a comment right underneath it. I can write on my friends' walls, and wish them a Happy Birthday when their special day comes along. I can even add a signup box to my profile, so that people who find me can sign up for my ezine if they're interested.

All of these sites are free to join, and I encourage you to join at least one if you are serious about networking online. It's the wave of the future. There is so much to share online these days, so why not get involved by jumping on the bandwagon?

Not long ago I was asked by a young man about what he should be thinking about as he started his career in the business world. We talked about a lot of things, but more than anything I emphasized the need to network with his professional contemporaries. I recommended he join some industry groups, attend conferences, and basically start to interact with different people in his industry. But I tend to believe young people shy away from such personal interaction and instead prefer the anonymity of the various social networking facilities on the Internet, like Facebook, MySpace, and others. Most young people are familiar with these facilities from High School and College and use them to send messages, flirt, spread humor, rumors and spam, and harass people. You need not accurately identify yourself with such facilities, which means you can cause a great deal of trouble for others if you are so inclined.

There are also several social networking tools for professionals, such as LinkedIn, Plaxo, PerfectBusiness, ZoomInfo, and many others. They may not have the same robust facilities as found in Facebook and MySpace, nor the popularity, but they tend to attract the more serious minded person interested in their career and profession. People tend to more clearly identify themselves as well and, as such, there is less shenanigans associated with them. Nonetheless, anyone can register as a user and create false identities if they want to and abuse the system. Thanks to the cloak of anonymity as provided by the Internet, clods tend to disrupt the harmony of such Internet groups, thereby diminishing their usefulness. As an aside, I find it interesting that people will say things on the Internet they would never dare say to you face-to-face, which is why I no longer engage anyone on the Internet who doesn't properly identify themselves. No, I don't want to hear from anyone with a bogus handle for a name, particularly those based on some medieval nonsense. Like I said, clods.

These Internet services may be nice for sending messages and disseminating news, or for bringing people of common interests together, but they are certainly not a substitute for eye contact, a handshake, and the spoken word; they are most definitely not a substitute for personal interaction. As I have mentioned for quite some time, due to our heightened emphasis on technology I believe we are seeing a decline in the socialization skills of our young people. Instead of meeting and interacting with others, they are more inclined to hide behind a keyboard which I consider rather unfortunate. It's difficult, if not impossible, to get to know someone's interests, ethics, integrity, knowledge, and personal background by computer. To this end, I discussed with my young friend such things as how to properly do an introduction, how to make light conversation, how to develop contacts, how to dress for industry functions, even table manners and how to socially drink at such functions. Basically, I encouraged him to brush up on his people skills, not his computer skills.

Was bumming around like I have a lot of time on my hands...like DUH?! In today's dull economy, I imagine I am the only few people left on the planet that dare bum around on the Internet. But I do. Bum around, I mean. And I bummed into something interesting.

Some internet marketing gurus were reflecting on the emergence and dominance of sites like Twitter and Facebook. Facebook, I'll home in on this one, the 'status update' feature is one of the most used features in the cyberworld today. The status update, if you're not 'updated' about this feature on Facebook, is a tool whereby you can announce, brag, boast, inform all your friends (and site visitors via a Facebook Badge placed on your blog or website) about what you're doing. This is instantaneous. The moment it changes, everyone knows. If you're giving birth, everyone knows. If you're having a fight with your in-laws, everyone knows. If you're having trouble moving your bowels, ah well....everyone knows as well. That is....if you want them to know.

It's really curious how something as simple as a 'status update' can rock the internet marketing realm - but I digress. The status update feature is just ONE OF THE MANY TOOLS on Facebook but....it's the core of another website....yes, Twitter.

I've been asked before.... 'So! What's the difference between Twitter and FaceBook?' and my answer is this....wait for it. One fine day, Twitter is going to die. D.I.E. No, don't crucify me because I am not the only one who thinks so! Just because I wrote this doesn't mean that I want Twitter to die...hold your horses. Twitter is another way of disseminating information to a group of people with whom you've befriended and have chosen to include in your circle of friends. Facebook's 'status update' feature works the same way.

I am not going to beat around the bush and find technical terms to make your jaw drop. I am going to lay it down for you as it is. Here's why people make use of their status update and I am going to divide it into a two-tier thing.

One, socializing. (duh!! That's the social in social media marketing) You're supposed to make friends and connect with one another through this sites so, if you're going to sign up for an account and do nothing with it....just imagine who would be interested....yeah, probably no one. So, assuming you're keen to make yourself stand out and then, perhaps, subtly introduce your business or profession to the people out there, you have do 'something' and changing your 'status update' status is as easy as a couple of taps and a click! Tell me you don't know how to do that and I'll say I'm a guy!

Two, networking for business purposes. This is the second edge to the double-edged sword. The more you connect with people, the more curious people get about you, they go your profile, check you out and realize what you do for a living. The foundation has been laid when the chance arises.

So, what's the deal with Twitter dying, right? Well, in my personal opinion, Facebook's got the whole package going and the transparency is there. One look and you know someone's become a fan of someone/thing. The transparency is what makes social networking work so well!

And the golden question to making your mark on social networking sites like Facebook would be....how do I do it? I think I would answer you this way....you don't.

Well, not in-your-face, anyway because people on these social networking websites hate that unless they've outwardly asked for it. I'll give you an example of how one 'markets' oneself using the Facebook 'status update' feature.

"I have a new client" - Yes, I am good enough to get myself a new client.

"I think I've just mastered the art of SEO" - Let me help you with your SEO

"I am so excited about my new product" - Wanna take a look at it?

"Just came home from a luxury cruise" - I am making truckloads of money...wanna know how I did it?

See? Simple. The message is all hidden behind those words and you don't even have to outwardly spell it out for them....people listen, and if they're a fan of yours or think you're worth your salt, they remember.

So, you see, if I wanted to market myself after writing this article, I'd go right into my Facebook (OK, fine....my Twitter as well) account and change my status update to this - Marsha just finished writing one smashing good article on Facebook status update feature...Twitter will die.

But that was before I discovered that Twitter is smarter than I gave them credit for...I've just discovered TwitBlog...which makes more sense. :-)

We all know that the social media bubble is at its peak, Facebook is one of the most successful social networking sites ever and it has got a vast pool of celebrities using it. Since the sites launch it has grown to become a type of necessity in world culture. Most people that use the site are very active users and they obsessively check there profiles every day as well as browsing their friend's profiles.

Twitter on the other hand is a simple micro blogging site where users can update their status bars and allow their followers to hear their shouts. The site is relatively new, but has recently had a lot of media coverage due to the rise in celebrity stars using the service.

It is rumored that Facebook offered Twitter over five hundred million dollars in Facebook stock for the site, but Twitter turned it down. But could this end up being a serious mistake made at there end?

A lot of people (mainly Facebook users) do not really understand the need for a service such as Twitter, as Facebook has its own status update section. What is more intriguing though, is the news that Facebook have opened up there API for the status bar section. Which is ultimately what in fact made Twitter the site that it currently is. There is currently a lot of talk about Facebook killing Twitter. So let's take a quick glance at the reasons why Twitter may or may not last.

Social networking sites are just like search engines, one of the most important facts is how the site is built. Plenty of social networking sites do not stand the test of time simply because there technologies are not advanced enough.

An example of what I am trying to say is to turn our attention to Google. Google simply revolutionized the search with their technology. This is why over the past decade they have shrugged off any rival search engine and will continue to do so unless someone invents a better way of search. The site cannot be cloned or copied because it is just too advanced.

Ok social networking is not exactly the same, each site offers something different but it's the same core principle, the reason that Facebook will be around for a long time is because it is very hard to duplicate and they have created a solid platform with a great business model in mind.

Twitter on the other hand has none of this, although the site is great for connecting with people in the same niche, it has got nothing to keep a user there. I see twitter as a passing phase in the networking industry. That come this time next year will be saturated with clones. Heck! we are already starting to see the clones popping up left right and centre, simply because the site is too easy to replicate, it just has not got too much thought behind it, one of the main reasons that Digg is losing popularity is because it has just become over saturated with copycats and people are just getting fed up. Have you ever seen a copycat of Google? A search engine that is able to deliver such accurate results? Twitter just saw what other people have done and (Facebook status bar) and increased it a notch, I don't know if Facebook status bar will wipe Twitter out, but Twitter will probably end up picking there own fate, just as a lot of other social sites have such as Digg.

Twitter is a great marketing tool if you want to keep in touch with people on a quick, "in-and-out" basis. It allows you to build connection with your prospects and clients, as well as direct them to your website and blog for more detailed information - as Twitter only allows for a couple sentences each post.

Twitter is a great way to do research on your target audience. Pay attention to what people are tweeting about - what is important to them or causing them problems. You can get educated on what your target audience needs and wants, and then create products and services to help them out. You'll also be able to write targeted blog posts and articles that you know appeal to the people you want to reach.

Okay, in order to reap the benefits of Twitter, you need to start making tweets! Many people when they start using Twitter aren't sure about what to "tweet" about. Below are some ideas on content - remember you want to make it valuable and relevant to your target group or niche....or else it's just more marketing noise.

1. Share links

Twitter about interesting or important information by sharing links to other people's websites and blogs, news stories, cool video, new products - the list of links you could talk about are really endless.

2. Ask questions

This is related to the above point but it also goes further. Ask questions to get a conversation going and to create a sense a connection between you and your prospects and customers. Ask them what they are doing at that moment, or what their opinion is of something, or what they think about a specific topic.

3. Be a resource

Post tips to help people in your niche. Add value to your audience by sharing tips that aren't on your blog or anywhere else. Train people to view you as an important and valuable resource for them.

4. Share your opinion

Let people get to know you or get some notice by posting a contrarian or outrageous opinion. Let your personality shine through and share with people what you feel strongly about.

5. Joint ventures

Give little tweets about other people's services and products that would appeal to your target group. Share links to other people's webpages and show your support and endorsement for your peers.

Whatever the content of your tweets, don't forget that Twitter is a social tool and not just a marketing and traffic-building tool. So pay attention to what people say and contribute in a valuable way - become part of the Twitter community.

It's all about what you can give to people - not take. Keep that in mind when you use Twitter - just like any other marketing tactic. You get out what you put in.

Business owners need to build trust with people in order to have sales. As a business owner you need to figure out ways to do this. There are many ways to make the trust building process easy and successful but one way is to do online networking.

When done properly, online networking will build traffic to your website which could in turn bring in more customers or clients. It's also the best way to build trust with potential customers or clients.

When you do networking online it's different than the way you do it at a live event. There are many different websites for online networking. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are three of the most popular sites right now but there are many more. You can do a search for social networking sites and find a number of other networking sites to use.

First thing you need to do with each of these sites and any others that you decide to use, is to set up a profile. Each one is different, but they are pretty easy to do. Just follow the steps and before long you will be ready to go. They usually will have a frequently asked questions section if you need help.

Now that your profile is up and running, you are ready to start connecting. Here is a brief description for each of the three listed above.

1. Facebook

Facebook is completely different than Twitter. You set up a profile, list your businesses and anything else you have going on. People can leave posts on your wall and so much more. Facebook also has groups that you can join. You will find groups that are specific to types of businesses, types of people, and more.

Facebook is a great way to connect with clients, customers, old friends, family, and others. You network by posting on walls and in groups.

2. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a way to show people what you can do and for others to recommend you to people. Your profile contains your education, current and past positions you have held, links to business and blog sites, people you would recommend, people who would recommend you, and your friends.

LinkedIn is a great place to send potential clients if they are a little wary about using your services or purchasing from you. You can either send them directly to your site through a link or you can have a button listed on your site that will take them to your profile.

LinkedIn also has groups, but these are specifically for networking. You learn, help, and meet new people through these groups. You will find corporate groups, business groups, and type specific groups.

3. Twitter

Twitter is described as the online water cooler. You still set up a profile but rather than joining groups, you write short updates about what you're doing or about your latest product. Twitter only allows message less than 140 characters so it's very easy to write multiple tweets during the day to promote your business and to form relationships with other business owners.

Networking online is almost better than advertising your business in other ways. You will find people that are truly interested in your business and what you offer when you network the proper way. The three sites listed above are business oriented and will help you grow your business through networking.

Social network sites in some cases can be considered the 'duct tape' of the global communications community. What had once hit the internet scene as an online 'location' for the 'younger' generation to communicate socially is now big business.

Combining with the technology of the internet and connecting global online communities, these sites are now recognized for their ability to attract large audiences. The ability to communicate thoughts, ideas, news, or other forms of information within and amongst these various online communities around the world 24/7 couldn't be ignored.

The popularity of these type sites stem from their 'casual' structure which in turn attracted the masses that today are captivated by the many social networks online.
Of course it didn't take long for marketers ranging from 5th Avenue down to small 'mom and pop' entrepreneurs to realize and harness the potential and power of these sites.

Social network marketing has uncorked a completely new mindset and direction for both the mainstream and small-time marketers. The emphasis on relationship marketing is a strong indication of the unilateral shift in this 'internet age' marketing mindset.

The acceptance and embrace of social networks have now spawned sites that cater to an older generation as well as those that focus on working professionals. Whether discussing health issues, current events or business strategies these type sites have revealed an AWESOME POTENTIAL.

Social network marketing today is quickly becoming the online marketing approach of choice due to its ability to develop more personal and long term relations with customers. This relationship marketing really harkens back to 'the day' when a handshake could 'seal' a deal. The value of trust has now been rediscovered on the internet. The irony here is the internet was once considered the MOST impersonal way of communicating since interpersonal contact was minimized due to the technologies involved.

Online marketing seemingly has turned the corner with the increasing use of these type sites as a favorable platform on which to implement many business strategies.

Growing steadily in use, popularity, and sites, social networks are casting a larger shadow on the internet horizon. Both the business and communication potential these sites possess has now been identified.

Whatever your reasons or purpose may be social network sites seem to be the easiest and most effective means to spread the word. From an online marketing perspective, the growth rate and potential customer base these sites offer is undeniable, too tempting to pass up, and by no means should not be ignored!