STEP BY STEP

This is a free Step by Step Guide on how to start and promote Your Own Online Business.

 introduction

As I have no way of knowing what type of Home Business you want to start Online it is difficult to give a step by step instruction on How to Start Your Home Business Online.

There are thousands of opportunities to join programs as an affiliate, promoted everywhere on the internet. Some are genuine and some are not.

There are MLM's [multi level marketing], JV's [joint ventures] paid to surf programs, paid survey's, viral marketing schemes, etc. etc.

Perhaps you have already joined such a program?

* Or perhaps you are making sandals at home which you want to market Online.
* Or maybe you have a corner store which you would like to advertise locally Online.     
* Or accommodation that you want to advertise worldwide Online.

The  common denominator here is that you are going to promote whatever you are doing ONLINE.

I am not some millionaire Guru that's going to tell you that if you do exactly what I do you'll make millions in your first couple of years. As a matter of fact I still see myself as a newbie in this industry. However I strongly believe that I have some useful information, gained from my own struggles to make a living Online. I am a person that believes in big dreams, however I also know that dreaming won't build my business. I have to act, to make my dreams a reality. Going into action on the recommendation of some hyped up promise can send you bankrupt and disillusioned in a hurry.

I wrote an article in the "Any Ideas" Newsletter 15th January 2006 that points out the importance of having Your Own Website
regardless of what type of business venture you undertake ONLINE. I think it pertinent to place it here as well.

The Sins of omission

Firstly I want to clarify that this article is not about the many scam propositions that plague our inboxes everyday. "The sin of Omission" is committed by genuine affiliate programs, joint venture programs and MLM programs, etc.

By genuine I mean programs were people who are prepared to work have the potential to make mega bucks through companies with good products, service and support.

As a complete newbie about three years ago I decided that I would expend my maximum effort to make an income online. I was prepared to learn and commit whatever time was necessary to make an income from home on my computer.

I steered away from programs that sounded too good to be true. I did my due diligence on companies before I joined them and only joined companies that promised to train me every step of the way. Even so, I got scammed a couple of times or the companies went bust, at best I made a few dollars. During this time I subscribed to newsletters, bought e-books and researched the internet for hours on the subject of internet marketing. Still I could not get close to making an income online even though I followed instructions to the letter. However, I learned a lot in the process.

Following are a few important things I learned along the way:

Below is a graph of Promotional tools that companies give you to promote their products for x$'s yearly membership fee.

TRUTH

SINS OF OMISSION

What they tell you is included in their membership fee.

What They Don't Tell You.

These websites are not even indexed with the search engines Nobody will ever find them on the internet. You have no webmaster permissions attached to these websites therefore you can not input any code or do anything to optimize them. Instead you have to pay to advertise them or send people to your site by giving them the URL of the webpage you want them to view. You can however make very good use of these sites if you have YOUR OWN WEBSITE and you link to these marketing websites from your own site. Great shame that nobody tells you this upfront.

The people you are emailing belong to  safe lists. To mail to a safe list you have to agree to receive their mail in return. You are told to open a separate email account to enable you to receive all this extra mail. Nobody can read all this mail and usually it gets deleted or goes into a bulk folder. Safe lists worked quite well for a short time years ago but now are a waste of time and effort.

This really means that they guarantee 100 people will sign up free to your program if you agree to sign up to100 free programs.

Nobody ever gets to see your add. You are told that if you upgrade to paid advertising you'll have more success - that's NOT free advertising.

Usually you need to click on 2 - 5 websites to get someone else to click on your website once. The people who are clicking on your website are doing it for the same reason that you are doing it. They want traffic to come to their site. They are not interested in what you have to offer. The company that runs the program is making money from people who pay for clicks.

Not online.

Expect to wait 72hrs for a reply if you ever get a reply.

Big deal you can get these e-books for free anywhere on the internet. Usually full of links asking you to spend big $'ss on XYZ products. Just another form of advertising. There are a lot of good e-books - expect to pay for the ones that are worth reading.

I could go on and on with this list however I am personally convinced that if you are serious about establishing a  business on the Internet you must have your own website. By all means if you do not have your own product to promote become an affiliate or joint venture with someone but do it via YOUR OWN WEBSITE.

There is one common denominator to all successful internet marketers they all have their own website.

Get a presence on the World Wide Web where real people can see you and potentially you’ll have millions of customers coming to your business whatever that business might be.

The thought of having to build their own site scares a lot of people, that is probably the main reason for the "Sin of Omission". Building and optimising a site is not so difficult. I believe that anyone that can follow simple instructions can build and optimise their own site given the right information. I also firmly believe that if you are not prepared to build your own site or have it built for you that you will not succeed in Internet marketing. 

The site you are on right now is the first site I've ever built and it is currently listed in 2nd place out of approximately 160,000,000 sites competing for the same search terms. Amazon.com is in 1st place. I have written an e-book "How To Start A Home Business Online" which will give you all the information and tools that I used to build and optimize this site.

Whether you use my book or source your own information my message to you to kick off a successful 2007 Online is, if you are not already the  webmaster of YOUR OWN WEBSITE then make it your first priority this year to become one, or hire one.

UPDATE 2010 We now have a free online study . Go to the Kimbro's Study after reading this page.

Starting Your Home Business Online

When you think about Starting a home based business Online, what do you think of first? Which aspects of making a choice on where to start are important, which are essential, and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge.

"Where is all the help I'm supposed to get. I have been buying ezine and classified ad builders and signing up for Echecks and Virtual credit cards. In the meantime I have no business and no ads set up. When does all this happen? Let's go here. I spent all day on this. I'm running out of time."

I kid you not, this is the sum total of an actual email that hit my inbox this week. Not only did I not know this person from Adam, this was the first and only email I had ever received from her and to this day, I have no idea what she's talking about. Presumably, she signed up for one of the affiliate programs I promote from my site and was asking, in her own inimitable style, for my help. Although I am always ready and willing to help anyone I can, this is most definitely NOT the way to go about asking for it.

The attitude displayed in this person's email to me (and she is by no means an isolated example) exemplifies why so many people fail to make a success of their online businesses. Leaving aside the utter rudeness of the approach, notice the impatience, the expectation to be up and running in a day, the HURRY, the apparent belief that real world principles such as courtesy and good manners don't apply online (they do). Think this person is going to last the distance? What kinds of tactics do you think she is capable of resorting to in pursuit of the almighty dollar?

So, let's take a realistic look at affiliate programs, what they can and can't do for your business and how to maximize your chances of creating a successful, long-term business with them.

WHAT IS AN AFFILIATE PROGRAM?

An affiliate program (also known as a reseller, associate, referral or partnership program) is essentially a revenue-sharing arrangement whereby you, the affiliate, receive payment from the owner of a product or service that you promote on their behalf.

Affiliate programs are an excellent way for the new internet entrepreneur to start an online business.

TYPES OF AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

There are various types of affiliate programs.

The most simple involves you, the affiliate, placing a banner ad, graphic or text link at your site which is linked to the site of the business you are promoting. This link is coded with your unique affiliate ID so that the site visitor is recorded at the target site as having originated from your site, thereby allowing you to be credited with the sale.

Payment is generally a fixed percentage of the sale value (commission) or "pay per click", where the affiliate is paid a certain amount for every time a site visitor clicks on the link at the affiliate's site, whether or not a sale is made.

The more sophisticated affiliate programs are multi-tier and allow the affiliate to earn commissions not only on the traffic they directly refer to the target site but also a proportion of sales generated by their sub-affiliates.

BENEFITS OF AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

The greatest benefit of affiliate programs is that when you are just starting out in your own online business you don't have to worry about creating your own product or service. You just promote someone else's and get a share of the revenue pie for your efforts.

You also don't have to concern yourself with warehousing, transport or logistics headaches. All of this is handled by the business whose products/services you are promoting. All you need concentrate on is driving traffic to that business's website. This means that a high proportion of your revenue is profit.

The owner of the product/service is also responsible for collecting payment, customer service and the myriad other details that come up on a day to day basis in running the business.

DISADVANTAGES OF AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

The main and obvious disadvantage of affiliate programs is that it is the owner of the product/service who earns the lion's share of the profit on the sale.

You're working on commission. You will NEVER earn by way of affiliate program commissions as much as you can earn by way of profits from producing and selling your own product/service.

As a result, affiliate programs represent a high opportunity cost when you consider what you could earn if you instead channeled the time and energy you spend on promoting affiliate programs into creating and promoting your own product/service.

For this reason, it does not make sound business sense to rely solely on affiliate program income for the longer term growth of your business.

Instead, think of them as a way of dipping your toe in the water when you're first getting started, and a nice little sideline once you've created your own product/service. Do NOT build your business around affiliate programs with the intention this will always be the backbone of your business. You'll be stunting your own growth if you do.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT AFFILIATE PROGRAMS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

So, keeping in mind what affiliate programs can and can't do for your business, let's turn to what you should look for when choosing an affiliate program or programs to promote in your business.

Synergistic Products/Services

First off, and this is a cardinal rule, only promote those programs which will allow you to create synergies with your site. This means selecting programs that naturally complement the subject matter of your site and that will therefore be of interest and relevance to your site visitors. This will ensure your prospects (ie your site visitors) are pre-qualified which will result in a relatively higher conversion ratio (the ratio of visitors to purchases) than would be the case if your traffic is untargeted (which will be the case if you promote unrelated products and services from your site.)

Quality In All Things

Keeping the need for synergy uppermost in mind, look for quality programs first and foremost. The last thing you want to waste your time, money and reputation on is a shoddy product or service. There are just too many quality programs out there to settle for anything less.

Stability of Company

Look for a company that's been around for a while and that's reputable and stable (both financially and in its management). Any reputable company will have full contact details readily available so do your research.

References

Look for testimonials and references from other affiliates. If the company you're interested is not forthcoming when it comes to putting you in touch with other affiliates, move on.

Affiliate Agreement

Look for a professional, considered and detailed affiliate agreement (contract). This shows that the company is serious about its business.

Watch out for exclusivity clauses and other restraints. Some affiliate agreements will require that you not promote competing businesses' products and services. This is not to say you should avoid such agreements. As a general rule, it is your interests not to promote competing programs anyway. Just be aware of what the agreement says on the subject to avoid getting yourself into hot water.

Look also for an agreement that treats spammers harshly. This protects not only the company but other affiliates as well. The last thing you or any other reputable affiliate needs is to have your reputation and the reputation of the product/service you are promoting besmirched by these sorts of tactics.

Now that we've covered those aspects of Marketing, let's turn to some of the other factors that need to be considered.

High Commissions

Promoting someone else's affiliate program necessarily requires that you divert traffic away from your site and towards someone else's. Make sure you're properly compensated with a high commission structure. And be sure to set up your link so that when the visitor clicks on it, a new browser window is opened for the target site. This at least keeps your site in front of the visitor so they can go back to your site once they've finished at the site your link has taken them to.

Lifetime Commissions

Look for affiliate programs that will credit you with not only THIS sale but all other sales the customer may make in the future. Many programs are set up so that the customer is identified as "yours" so that when the customer returns to the target site in three months time, the sale is recorded as having been generated by you.

Residual Commissions

Include programs that offer residual commissions in your portfolio. Good examples are webhosting services, autoresponder services and the like where customers sign up for a continuous service that requires periodic, regular payments. You receive periodic, regular commissions as a result.

Tracking of Commissions

Look for programs that allow you real-time access to your stats so you can keep easy track of your commissions.

Reliability of Payment

When checking with affiliate references, find out what the business's record is on paying out commissions. If they're slow or there appears to be a pattern of problems, keep looking.

Frequency of Payment

Make a note of payment schedules too. Some programs pay weekly, some monthly, some quarterly. Some only pay once you accumulate commissions of a certain amount. None of these arrangements are necessarily good or bad in and of themselves. Just be sure you know what to expect.

Programs that Require Payment Up Front

Two words: MOVE ON!

Affiliate Support

Finally, take a look at what support the business offers its affiliates to make sales. Do they provide resources such as sample ads, banners, logos and the like? Do they provide useful advice about maximizing your sales? A good affiliate program provides affiliates with a LOT of support in these areas.

MAKING MONEY FROM AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

OK, now you know what to look for in an affiliate program. Here's how to maximize your sales of those products and services and, therefore, your commissions:

Get Your Own Website

No ifs, no buts. DON'T rely on the you-beaut self-replicated job the company provides all its affiliates. Link to that site from your main site.

Get Your Own Domain Name

This presents a much more professional image. Many people won't give the time of day to a business that thinks so little of its prospects that the owner won't shell out 10 bucks for a domain name. So mean business and look like it.

Get Traffic To Your Site (Duh!)

As a rough guide, you will need at least 500 targeted unique visitors a day to your site to make reasonable money from affiliate programs. 
To get unique visitors to your site - this is a must have - Free Website Traffic

You Must Have A Site That Will Attract Repeat Visitors

If your website is nothing more than a splash page consisting of little else other than banners for umpteen different affiliate programs, forget it. Your site must be worthy of your visitor's time and interest before you can even begin to think about converting that visitor into a paying customer. So create a real site with real content that will keep them coming back for more.

Personal Testimonials

A personal testimonial will result in more sales than a mere link or advertisement. So take the time and trouble to write a personal endorsement of the product or service you are promoting. And, of course, it goes without saying that in order to write a personal endorsement, you must know that of which you speak. NEVER promote a program you haven't first purchased yourself. If you don't think enough of your program to invest in it, how do you expect to persuade others to?

Promote With Your Signature File

To compose a signature in your email. In  Microsoft Outlook.

Select and click on TOOLS within tools click on OPTIONS in Options click on SIGNATURES.

Compose your signature and save.

To compose a signature in your email. In  Yahoo.

Go to Mail Options

Go to Signature. Compose your signature.

Check Box Add signature to all outgoing mail.

Hit Save

Include a link to your site in the signature of every email you send. / [Too many links may cause your emails to end up in bulk or spam folders] Therefore it is better to just place your website URL Promote your affiliate links from your website not from your email signature.

Promote In Your Own Ezine

Finally, if you're not already publishing your own ezine or newsletter to stay in touch with your site visitors, start. It's a great way to promote not only your site but also the affiliate programs you promote from your site.

MAKING SERIOUS MONEY FROM AFFILIATE PROGRAMS

The only way of making SERIOUS money from affiliate programs is by creating your own product or service and recruiting affiliates to sell for YOU.

The affiliate program phenomenon is one of the Internet's true success stories. It provides a toe-hold for the would-be internet entrepreneur to begin a real, live business of his or her very own. But the real beauty of affiliate programs lies not in what they can do for you, as an affiliate, but what they can do for you, as a recruiter of affiliates for your own program. By all means jump on the bandwagon and start promoting other people's products to get your start. But don't wait too long to start developing your own product line. There is a ready-made sales force numbering in the millions ready and waiting to sell it for you.

Below is a resource that we recommend You send to people who have signed up to the GDI - 7Day Trial without completing their payment information.

 Feel free to copy and paste the message below, insert your own name and contact details and send it to your down lines.

Hello and Congratulations to new GDI - 7 Day Trial Members &  Welcome Aboard!

We see that you signed up for your FREE 7 DAY TRIAL but did not complete the registration with your payment information. You will not be charged 1 penny during your initial 7 day trial period [its only $10 monthly after and you can cancel at any time] but your trial can not be activated [use of your own website, back office will not be accessible until this payment info is Completed and then you can begin to start making Money with GDI.

This is a Worldwide Business and the company accepts payment by Credit card, Debit card

If you are serious about working with an Inc. 500 Company and be on a team of individuals whom are making this happen then we suggest going to your GDI back office [you will find the link in the email that the company sent you] and complete your enrollment for your FREE 7 DAY TRIAL.

Once again welcome to our team and please email or call us with any questions at all. Upon completion of signup your own fully functional marketing website will appear immediately and our team will be in touch with you within 24 hours to begin your personalized training!

Sincerely yours;

[YOUR NAME]

[YOUR PHONE#]

Attn: We do not wan't to Leave anyone Behind! Please take Advantage of this Mega Opportunity!

[YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS]

You will need a PayPal account to collect bonuses from GDI

To sign up securely for your free account with PayPal:

P.S.  If you have already completed Payment and are Up to Date? Pass this info on to your  
                                          new People out of the Country!!!

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