Thursday, August 31, 2006

How Should a Newbie Start?

Someone who is completely new to internet marketing has the big question - How will I make money on the internet? It's all rather confusing and overwhelming.
When you do a Google search on "Make money from home" or "Make money on the internet" you get so many results. As a beginner it's pretty hard to separate the wheat from the chaff (did I spell that right?). You get all these offers where you pay $47 and you get a list of the best make-money programs around, including how to get government grants, how to make money answering surveys, data entry from home etc. DON'T INVEST (THROW OUT)THE MONEY. I didn't. I just kept plugging along, reading and reading and reading.

I subscribed to all kinds of free newsletters as well. I started to get lots of email. Some of it more worthwhile and some of it less. But these emails helped introduce me to other opportunities I hadn't known about. And slowly, slowly I gained knowledge of the internet and its inherent opportunities.

After going through alot of material, I was convinced that I wanted to purchase
Holly Mann's Terrific Book because she impressed me as a person with alot of integrity who could really help a newcomer out. Also her book is CHEAP!!!
As I continued shopping around I went back and purchased her book about which I did a review in a previous post. This book provided just the start that I needed, as a newbie without a website.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

The perks of working from home

Every morning I wake up and I do a little happy dance.
Why?
Because I don't have to rush to get ready and get into my car with a cup of coffee for a one hour and fifteen minute commute to work.

Because I don't have to spend my day initiating phone calls to customers.

Because I don't have to drive all over the place visiting customers and kissing up.

Because I don't have to go to a sales meeting with my colleagues once a week (gag) and listen to the boring details of all their deals in the pipeline.

Because I no longer have a boss breathing down my neck for me to finish my QUOTA (gag again) for this week/month/quarter/year.

Because I'm home to make lunch for my children and serve it to them while listening to their stories about what second/third grade is like.

Because I work from home.
That's it. No links for you today. Just a little happy dance...

Monday, August 28, 2006

Blogging

Blogging, it seems is the way to go.
In my travels on the net, I have found alot of gurus that say that there is money to be made from blogging.
Gee, I always thought that a blog was just an online journal for people who like to let it all hang out!!
Turns out that blogging is turning into an industry of its own. There is a whole art to blogging and all kinds or rules which determine whether it will be a successful blog and a lucrative one!
There are countless free books and videos available on the subject, as well as paid programs.
The prevailing opinion is that if you have a website you can significantly increase your traffic if you add a blog to your website.
I read somewhere that well known marketer Guy Kawasaki had slow traffic at his site for a while and when he started to blog his traffic exploded! Here is his link, by the way. His blog is infomative and very entertaining. He used to be the CTO at Apple, if I recall correctly.
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/

Now, if you want to get started blogging, DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED. Just go straight to Blogger.com and start one up. Don't agonize about what you are going to write in your first post. The only thing you do have to decide is what your blog will be about. Once you have a topic and have chosen a good name (which in itself is an art, if you want the search engines to find you), you just start to write. It's a great way to get your feet wet.

Here is a really good checklist for the new (or experienced) blogger:
http://www.squidoo.com/blogstarter/

Someone told me that my posts look too long and squished together. So, maybe it's a good idea to spread everything out a bit and leave spaces between paragraphs. Not a good idea to turn people off before they've had a chance to read...

It's important to post fairly often. I hear that Google loves blogs. But maybe that's because Google loves fresh content and that's what blogs are all about. It's good to get people to comment because that's a way of adding fresh content to your blog without lifting a finger!

Don't forget to go to www.pingomatic.com and ping your blog after each new post. This will send your updates to search engines web-wide.

All in all, blogging is good for business. So, keep blogging... (or start blogging, if you haven't already :-)

Till next time...

Sunday, August 27, 2006

An Interesting Way to Earn Money

Here's a really neat idea my friend Lenore turned into reality.
She has been living in a place called "The Five Towns" on Long Island for over 40 years (Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodmere, Inwood and Hewlett). All the shopkeepers there know her personally. She approached almost all (or maybe all) of them and offered them advertising on her web site. She put up a really nice website called http://www.thefivetowns.com and has a complete guide to all the shops and services in The Five Towns there. It doesn't hurt that it's a relatively upscale neighborhood. In order to put together this site she had to do alot of leg work. She went from store to store with her laptop and showed the storekeepers a preliminary design of her site. They all knew her (for years) and therefore trusted her. She advertises for them on her site. They're happy with the increase in patronage and she's happy with the increase in $$$$. There is alot of other information available on the site that interests community members and visitors - listings of real estate, houses of worship and services.
She advertises her site (very cleverly) in the local supermarket circulars.
Smart Cookie, my friend Lenore.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Internet Addiction

What is it with this internet stuff that I am so addicted to it?
I do not have set hours yet that I have decided to dedicate to working on the net. So, I go to the computer whenever I have a chance - in the morning when I wake up, after the kids go out, at night after the kids are in bed etc. Why am I so drawn to it though?
Used to be my work was an hour's commute from home. I went to work, stayed all day and came home to my family. Now, my work and my family are in the same place and the temptation to work more and more is overpowering!!! I'll just get one more thing done. Just add in one more link etc. It's really never-ending.
Ok, I know that I am very much a "people" person. I usually enjoyed going out on sales calls. I loved developing relationships with my customers and (some of) my co-workers. I am very good at communicating. I guess I have found that these communicating skills that I have work very well for me on the net. I mean, that's what internet marketing is made up of - talking on forums, on a blog, on a site etc. Lots of emailing back and forth. So, it's right up my alley. But it's so darn addictive!! One thing is clear to me, and that is that it would be a really good idea to set up specific hours for work on the computer. Otherwise, it can easily take over my life. And then my kids won't really appreciate having given up the company car etc. just to have their mother holed up in her room in front of the computer screen!!!
Oh well, at least I enjoy my work.....

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Holly Mann's Thank You Rich Jerk Book

Today, I would like to do a product review for Holly Mann's e-book Breakthrough Money Making Secrets Revealed!, otherwise know as "Thank you Rich Jerk".

The Rich Jerk is an internet marketer who has made big money on the internet. His website is www.Therichjerk.com and it's fairly obnoxious. He is crude, nasty and, well, obnoxious. But this is his shtick and his trademark. He wrote a book on how to make money on the internet called The Rich Jerk

Is it necessary to spend $49.95 on the Rich Jerk's e-book? You can buy it if you want. But there is another book out there which can help you make big money on the internet for a much smaller investment.

Beginner-Friendly
Holly Mann, a 24 year old army veteran, mother and entrepreneur has authored an excellent e-book Breakthrough Money Making Secrets Revealed! on getting started on the internet. Her book covers a lot of material that every internet marketer has to learn sooner or later. There is no marketing fluff in this book, like I've seen elsewhere. The book is only 43 pages long but it is loaded with information. Holly teaches the newcomer how to get started with no money and no website! I can honestly say that she really opened my (inexperienced and naieve) eyes to simple but powerful techniques. She is a smart cookie, which is obvious from the name she gave her site and book, which brings the search engine to her site whenever someone searches on "Rich Jerk".

She describes how to continue, once you've made some money and can invest in a website and other tools. She describes her experiences and tells how she increased her earnings big time on the internet. She covers website design, adsense, mailing lists, dropshipping, search engine optimization and teaches the reader how to build online presence. Some stuff is not covered in depth enough for my tastes and some stuff is a bit too detailed, but maybe my lack of experience prevents me from appreciating all the details. It doesn't really matter. I needed the basic information and tools in order to get started in my internet marketing career and Holly's book has certainly given me the foundation to make the big money I plan on making.
Holly has an affiliate program available and an also online member's only area where there is a lively ongoing interchange of ideas by the members.
Another something worth mention is the fact that included in the purchase is a free e-book cover generator. I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet, but some feel that this software alone is worth the money.

Ethics
Regarding purchasing Holly's book as opposed to the Rich Jerk's book – I have not purchased The Rich Jerk's book, but people who have read both say that the Rich Jerk's book has black hat methods (less ethical) described in it and is geared more towards the experienced internet marketer. I can assure you that Holly Mann's book is very honest, ethical and appealing. I am totally uninterested in learning sleazy ways toearn money - on the internet or off! Also, her book is definitely geared toward the marketing newbie.

Bottom Line
Did I feel that the $19.95 I spent on Holly's book was well spent?
Absolutely. The first e-book I had bought was a total scam as I mentioned in a previous post and I felt very cheated and humiliated. Holly's was such a breath of fresh air after that one. I highly recommend Holly Mann's
Breakthrough Money Making Secrets Revealed!

Till next time...

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Pick a Guru

In my travels on the net, I come across something or someone who really stands out that is worth reporting here.
Recently I came across this wonderful site with unbiased reviews of various internet gurus and programs. The site is called www.pickaguru.com and is run by a very objective and sincere gentleman named Roger Zimmerman. He's not a guru and he's not famous but he's doing a real service to us internet newbies (and even oldtimers) by looking at different programs and reveiwing them for us. He doesn't sell anything at all on his site, so I needn't worry that he's saying something nice about a product because he's trying to sell it to me (like so many others do on the web). He gives a nice rundown of what the product offers, who the guru is, what are the positive and negative aspects of the products, if there is a moneyback guarantee and if there are any giveaways or newsletters on the guru's site. Since most of us are constantly browsing around and looking for "get rich" opportunities it's nice that there is someone around who is totally unbiased and who does some of the work for us. At least one can see if it's worth spending the time doing the elementary reading involved. One of my biggest challenges is that I simply don't have enough time to read all the stuff I want to read (newsletters in my inbox, free courses) or watch (free videos on many topics). So, I appreciate the fact that there is someone who has done some of the work for me and is giving me direction.
Do yourselves a favor and pay a visit to Roger's friendly site: www.pickaguru.com.
Send him an email; ask him a question. He will answer you in a timely and friendly manner. He believes that you can get more done with friendliness and cooperation than any other way and he really practices this.
I look forward to hooking up with some other internet experts who are as nice and knowledgeable as Roger.
Till next time...
Dena

Monday, August 21, 2006

Scams - I wanted to make fast money...

Today I want to share with you how I messed up. I thought to myself "I would like to make money on the internet". But, my funds to start off with are very limited. I shopped around alot before I decided to actually purchase something.
So, here I thought I was being so careful and not buying right away. I surfed around; I read this and that. I looked into legitimate sites like Derek Gehl and Corey Rudl's Internet Marketing Center, The Rich Jerk and many more.
I was busy being careful and didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars so I waited...
One fine day I was surfing around and I came across a site which looked like a legit site which gave reviews to different marketing gurus and various online and offline marketing programs. The site looked so real!!! Here is the url if you want to look at it: http://www.alwaysreview.com/internetgurus.htm . Here's a different url with the same junk: http://www.reviewguruonline.com/. There were many pages and on each page there was a review of a different guru or program. At the bottom of the review there was this little box which said something like "Click here to see how I made my money". I was a bit suspicious about why this supposedly objective review advertised a certain program on every page, but somehow, when I read the sales letter that clicking there brought me to, and I saw that I would get an ebook for the measly price of $20 I was tempted. This guy promised to reveal all the inside secrets blah, blah, blah and I guess, the copy was good.
So, I bought it. By the way, the book was written by one Jason Ryan Isaksen. As soon as I started to read it - UH OH. The entire first chapter was devoted to telling me about his lavish lifestyle and how wonderful it is to work from his home. He described his and his wife's fancy clothes and cars but said that they stopped flaunting their money because people would come up to them for handouts. Double UH OH. From within his book he tries to recruit people into the affiliate program that he is with (without explaining too much about it). He also brings you to a site where you can get your own piece of software which becomes yours to sell. The problem is that this is "snoopware" - something you install on your computer to spy on which sites your family members visit. To make a very long story short, I don't think this guy gave me any new or interesting information except to say that content on your site if very important (duh). Then, he said if you really want his secrets you have to purchase one of his courses (I believe costing either $200 or $600 - really).
I felt conned, scammed and humiliated that I actually paid money for this book.
I wrote back to Jason and asked for a refund (I can't remember if he promised one or not, but everyone else does) very respectfully. He didn't even bother answering me.
And more than this, I found a few more "review" sites about gurus etc. which all had a different look but had THE EXACT SAME TEXT as the site I originally found. Boy, did I feel like a dummy. I was also extremely disillusioned to realize that you can't really trust anything that you read on the internet. People can show you proofs of how much money they made, pictures of their luxury houses and cars but you can't really believe any of it.
Recently, I read somewhere that the Rich Jerk encourages his students to make up fake review sites where they promote the product that they are currently selling. Yuck. Some people are willing to make their money in a totally unethical fashion.
Not for me, thank you.
I hope I can save some of you out there $20 and some heartache.
If anyone knows of any similar scams I would be happy to receive information that I can pass on to others!!!
Till next time...
Dena

Sunday, August 20, 2006

More on Surveys

I would like to clarify something about surveys.
There are those scams which request that you pay $35 or so to get a list of surveys. I never paid money for that. I did find many survey sites on my own which did not cost money to register for. The problem is that I spent alot of time filling out surveys to complete my profile and it was really a waste of time. I received ONE survey in my email in the last few months and it wasn't a paying one either. I think it was from NPDOR and they said they would enter my name in some weekly sweepstakes. Thanks alot. Apparently, this whole survey business is a matter of demographics. It helps to live in the right place and be the right gender. So, I'm the right gender but I don't live in the right place. I imagine that's why I don't get any real surveys to do. Just lots of dinky offers for various products which I don't need and which are meant for people inside the U.S. (which I am not).
That about sums up everything I have to say about surveys. Thumbs down.
Dena

Getting Started

How did I get the idea of trying to make money on the net?
A few months ago I ran into a friend of mine in the supermarket late at night. She is an "herb lady". She is a registered midwife who treats people with chinese herbs. I always thought that this is how she was making a living. Well, She told me that she is currently only working one day a week with the herbs. For the rest of the time she is making her living by building websites and advertising with google on the web. I was blown away as I had no idea you could do this stuff. Please don't laugh at my naievete. I really had no concept of what was going on on the internet. Neither do most of the thousands of people who work in the hi tech company where I was employed. Shocking but true. Anyway, my friend pulled a Google check out of her pocketbook and showed it to me. Wow. It wasn't high but the whole concept blew me away.

As a result of this conversation with her, I started to surf the web late at night, after the kids were in bed and before the next day's work. I encountered many websites with all kinds of offers. The first ones I encountered were survey sites and data entry sites. I suppose it's because they do heavy duty advertising. What I saw was that none of these sites were giving anything away for free. They usually wanted about $50 in order to send me their "program". This was after hyping it up and trying to get me to see that I would be getting stuff worth much more than $50. I didn't spend any money although I was tempted. Thank goodness for that. I subsequently found out that most of these sites were scams.
Then, I started to find sites run by various internet marketing "gurus". These are people who supposedly have made lots of money on the internet and have been doing this for years.
Almost all of these sites into which I surfed offered something for free in exchange for me giving them my first name and email address. So, I dutifully entered the information into alot of sites. I got all kinds of freebie downloads as a result (e-books, videos, short courses etc.). Now, I am also on the mailing lists of all these gurus and they all send me emails either every day or every few days.
Unfortunately, I found a link to Treasure Trouper someplace and went in there and looked around. It's a site where you get money from them in exchange for filling out your information on certain "offers". I put my email address in some of these offers. It basically got me nowhere, but now I am getting so much "spam" email because they gave my email away to other companies. Now my inbox is loaded with "free" lawnmower offers, digital cameras, insurance offers etc. AUGH!!!!! Don't make the mistake I made.
More of my experiences next time...
Dena
A Good Beginner's Guide

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Hello World

Hello World.
That was the the output of the first "C" program (and probably the last) that I wrote in 1981. Well, alot of water has gone under the bridge since I first wrote that program.
I spent the last 25 working for software companies, selling enterprise software and raking in millions of dollars for the companies which employed me. Very little of this money was actually seen by Yours Truly.
As of July 31, 2006 I have sold my last piece of software, heard the word "quota" for the last time, returned my company car, laptop and phone and retired home to be with my 5 children and make my own work hours (and rules!!!)
I have spent the last 3 months doing alot of research on the internet, looking for ways to earn money.
I intend to share with you my experience, trials and tribulations on my journey to becoming a real internet entrepeneur.
Till next time...
Dena