My Online Business Adventure

This weekend I had a marvellous Skype call with an affiliate marketing expert in Central America (isn’t Skype wonderful?  Here I am, in a little village in Warwickshire, talking to someone in Chicago, just like he was sitting across the desk from me - all for free!)

Anyway - I digress.

Let me explain.  I am a member of the PIPS Power Group, which is a support service for anyone who is a member of the Plug-In-Profit Site (PIPS).  It’s run by six highly successful PIPS members, who generously give their time to help us mere mortals achieve financial freedom with our businesses and give us lots of affiliate marketing advice.

Because I am short of time lately (building my life coaching business and training to present coaching programs in schools), I was worried about how to market my home business effectively with only a couple of hours to spare.

So I decided to take advantage of the free half hour consultation that is given by some of the mentors, and I spent a very nice 45 minutes talking to Jeff Casmer, who gave me some very positive and focused advice:  to focus my time on article writing and blogging, as these are the most effective ways of increasing backlinks and building traffic.

Now, you might think I could have got this advice anywhere - but the point is that sometimes we need to have specific, one-to-one mentoring, otherwise we can get swamped by the opinions of different people and end up in square one.  Jeff also gave me some detailed instructions on the most effective use of keywords for my articles.

I now feel focused and re-enthused.  I know what I need to do each day and each week, and that I will be making the best use of my time.

The point I am trying to make, is that anyone who is working on an online home based business really should have a mentor and some kind of support.  Where are you going to find yours?

If you happen to have a sponsor who is very successful, you could use them if they are willing to help.  Otherwise, you can search the forums for experienced affiliate marketers and ask if they would be prepared to mentor you.

Of course, if you are a member of PIPS, then you can join the PIPSPowerGroup and get the best mentoring on the web (in my opinion!).

Finding affiliate marketing advice doesn’t have to be difficult.   There are plenty of people who are very happy to help you achieve what they have already achieved.  After all, that’s what this business is all about: helping others to achieve success.

Anyone setting up an online home business will need to learn internet marketing. For the person who is new to marketing online, it can at first appear to be an overwhelming and difficult area to understand.

Many people sign up for affiliate marketing sites because they see a way of earning some money quickly and easily. Unfortunately, unless they know how to market an online business, or have very good training, the system will not work for them. This is usually because of a misconception about how quickly it is possible to make a profit, and because they do not understand the basics of internet marketing. 

Read more of this article here

Ros Bott

Achieve Financial Freedom Online

Professional Coaching for Your Change of Career

I remember my first few weeks of my new affiliate marketing business.  I was so excited I could hardly sleep, and I could hardly bear anything that took me away from the computer for a few moments.  At the same time, there was so much information coming at me from various training programs, emails and well-meaning sponsors, I also felt completely overwhelmed.  As an affiliate newbie it is very easy to slip into information overload and spend so much time leaping from one piece of information to another that you are not actually getting anything done.

If this sounds like you, then don’t worry - you are certainly not alone!  There is a lot to learn when you start out, and it’s very difficult to know where to start.   You feel that you want to do everything at once; you start one thing, and then think you should be doing something else…

If your affiliate company has a training program (and if it’s a legitimate one it certainly should have) then make sure you read it step-by-step.

If you have joined several affiliate companies, you might be tempted to try and follow every training program - and end up horribly confused!  The best thing to do is to start off with one piece of training from one program.  Take the program you like best of all and do the first thing that they suggest - and do it until you feel confident with it.

Once you’ve mastered this one thing, go on to the next thing.  And so on.

This may feel slow - but believe me, you will be making far more progress than if you jump from one thing to the other and try to learn everything at once.

You will hear it said many times in this industry that this is a marathon, not a sprint.  Take your time; there is no rush.  Your business will build in time - and you need to give it time.

Be selective about the newsletters you sign up to - will you really have time to read them all?  Pick one or two that you feel will really help you and forget the rest.

So if you are an overwhelmed affiliate newbie, slow down, breathe, relax and enjoy.  Just make sure you do something every day that will progress your business.

The rest will follow.

Ros Bott

Achieve Financial Freedom Online

Professional Career & Home Business Coaching

People looking for an affiliate program to start or add to their home business may have come across SFI (Strong Future International), and be tempted to join.  It’s free to join, it’s very popular and it’s been going a long time.  But does this make it the best online opportunity, or is an SFI home business just another affiliate program that will sit around and provide you with nothing?

Of course, how much you earn from an affiliate program is up to you.  If you do nothing, you will receive nothing.  Like any other program, you need to actively promote it and give it time to build before you give up on it.  And of course, it’s much easier to do this if you like the program in the first place.

So, what’s to like about SFI?  What makes it so popular and why would you want to join?

Well, the first thing of course is that it’s free to start with.  Of course, you will receive higher commissions and benefits once you upgrade to Executive Affiliate status - and this does not necessarily mean spending money (although this is the easiest option).  You can become an EA by selling a certain number of products.  Alternatively, you can buy SFI products yourself or take out a membership to the IAHBE  (International Association of Home Business Entrepreneurs).  This will cost around $30 per month.

Many people wait until they have a few affiliates before they become EA.  That’s up to you.   Of course, you won’t earn any money until your affiliates upgrade to EA status themselves, but being an EA sets an example to those in your downline and you will earn double the commissions as an EA.

The next best thing about SFI is that there is so much training available on the site, including an online forum and many different ways of earning money.  You can choose to concentrate solely on promoting the business opportunity, or you can sell SFI’s many products, including cleaning products, pet products, magazines, toiletries, technical services and much more - or you can do both!

SFI also provide innovative ways of earning more sales through their merchance programs and the EyeEarn program.  To become a member of EyeEarn you pay a one-time fee of $20, put a sticker on your car, wear a t-shirt - and you will receive a share of affiliates who join up via the world-wide advertising.  This means a steady stream of affiliates every month as long as you remain a member.

What I like about SFI is that they are always coming up with new ideas and new ways of earning money.

So, what are the downsides, if any?

Well, everything has its downside, and if SFI has any it is in the fact that there are so many options available it can be quite overwhelming when you first join.  But there are some good “Getting Started” pages for the beginner, and if you devote a little time to finding your way around the site, this shouldn’t be a problem.

The other downside is that although it is relatively easy to quickly build a downline (due to the fact that it’s free to join), only a minority of these will become EAs and earn you money - so it can take a little while before your income reaches the kind of levels you are seeking.  The trick is to welcome your affiliates warmly, look after them, don’t pressurise them into upgrading, and make sure you answer any of their questions honestly.   It’s a numbers game - the more affiliates you have, the more chances there are of having more EAs, so you just need to keep going with it.  In time, it can provide you with a very nice income.

So, is it the best online opportunity?  The honest answer is, I don’t know - but then I don’t believe there is such a thing.  I know that I like it.  But whatever program you choose, its success depends on your commitment and how much work you put into it.

If you want  to find out more about an SFI home business and see if it’s the kind of program for you, click here.

Ros Bott

Achieve Financial Freedom Online

Career Change and Home Business Coaching

An increasing number of people are finding the idea of working from the comfort of their own home an appealing one.  Because of this, the online home-based business industry is growing rapidly, and there are many opportunities available for those who look.  These opportunities can be extremely lucrative, but before you get started you need to make sure that it’s going to work for you.

Read the rest of this article here…

Ros Bott

Achieve Financial Freedom Online

Any website owner wants one thing first and foremost:  Traffic.  Without traffic to your website, there will be no sales.  It’s a bit like setting up a market stall in the middle of the Sahara Desert!  No matter how great your products are, or how beautiful your website is, it won’t mean a thing if no-one can see it!

There are, of course, many ways of increasing traffic to your website, but I think most experienced internet marketers would agree that one of the best ways (and, in fact, one of the cheapest) of increasing traffic for website owners is through marketing with articles.

Now, some people find this a little daunting.  Perhaps you are not a natural writer, or perhaps English is not your first language or you may have no idea how to go about submitting articles and how it all works.  How do you get traffic to your website by writing articles?

Well, I have a gift for you.  The people at Article Marketer have produced a free ebook called: The 4 Ridiculously Simple Keys to Online Success. 

This ebook is a step-by-step guide in how to submit articles, how much to write, how often you should submit and how to track your submissions.

They’ve kept it fairly short, so it’s easy to read and simple to follow.  You will find that article marketing is much less complicated than you might have thought, and you will be well on the way to getting targetted traffic to your website within days.  You can download this FREE ebook below:

DOWNLOAD ARTICLE MARKETING EBOOK

By the way, this book is fully re-brandable, so if you are a member of Article Marketer already, you can re-brand this book and give it away to others.

If you would like to find out more about the submission services provided by Article Marketer, and their own training courses, CLICK HERE.

Marketing with articles is fun, free and effective, and produces targetted traffic for website owners, plus you build credibility within your industry.  You cannot afford not to do it!

Ros Bott

Achieve Financial Freedom Online

Career and Life Success Coaching

Are you a Pluginprofit (or PIPS) member?  Or are you considering becoming one?  Do you just want to learn the secrets of affiliate marketing?

If so, I have a real treat for you.

The very generous mentors who run the PIPS PowerGroup have put together a free ebook to help all PIPS members build their business.

Each of the six mentors have contributed to the book, giving their own personal success story, the mistakes they’ve made, the resources they’ve used, and how they have become highly successful affiliate marketers with PIPS.  This book is packed with tips and guidelines on building your affiliate marketing business, whether you are a PIPS member or not.

You know they saying: If you want to be successful, then follow someone who already is - well this has been made easy for anyone who wants success in their PIPS business - or any other affiliate marketing business.

What’s more, you can re-brand this book and give it away free and build your downline as well!  This means that if you joined PIPS today (if you’re not already a member), read this ebook, AND gave it away, you would give yourself the best chance of getting your business off to a flying start.

To download the ebook for free just click on the link below:

DOWNLOAD THE PIPS POWER BOOK HERE!

To Join the PlugInProfit Site, click here.

Learning the secrets of affiliate marketing has never been easier!

Ros Bott

Achieve Financial Freedom Online

Career and Life Success Coaching

Are you wondering whether to start affiliate marketing?  Wondering when would be the best time to start up an online business?

The answer is: “Don’t wait any longer; the time is now!”

The truth is, in the affiliate marketing industry we are just coming to the end of the slow period.  As people come home from their holidays and look at the bleak prospect of getting back to their jobs, they begin to think about alternatives to the 9-5, and towards the end of August the online marketing industry really starts to pick up.

So if you’ve been hesitating and thinking about it, but have not got started yet, don’t lose out on the opportunities that will be coming soon.

Another good time for affiliate marketing is the New Year, when people review their lives and look for something new to start.  But why wait until then?  If you begin now and learn as much as you can before January, you could find yourself really reaping the benefits by the time the New Year begins.

There really has never been a better time to start this fun and exciting business.  As the credit crunch hits, and traditional jobs become more insecure, more people are looking to start a home business than ever before.

If you start up an online business now, you could be looking at earning a full time income within two years.

After that, the sky is your limit.

For opportunities, see my website below.

Ros Bott

Achieve Financial Freedom Online

If you have an online business, you will know that your most important goal is to get traffic to your website.  After all, without traffic, there are no sales!  So, finding any way of getting targetted web traffic for free is always worth looking at.

The new site, TrafficVibe builds on the way traffic exchanges work in a slightly different way.  When you join, you  will be able to post your own banners, text ads and send solo ads as long as you agree to read other ads and read email ads (though you can opt out of this one if you want to).  When you read other ads you build up points which you use to “pay” for your own advertising.

Of course, the other people using this site are internet marketers - but this means that you can advertising products and services that would be useful to other website owners.

The site also has an affiliate program, so you can build up commissions by referring other people to the site and you get paid when they upgrade or make purchases.

There is plenty of support, a forum, useful tools and links and lots of different ways of earning points.

To visit this site and find out more, click here to join TrafficVibe for free.

Web traffic for free is always a good deal!

Ros Bott

Achieve Financial Freedom Online

It’s a cloudy Monday morning here in the UK, and I often remind myself on days like this that five years ago I was joining commuters on the 30 minute morning drive to work, trying to wake myself up to face the day ahead, while the weekend faded away into oblivion.

These days my commute is somewhat shorter: from my bedroom to the spare room where I have my office.  I can gently ease myself into Monday morning, and while I don’t sit at my computer in my pyjamas, I certainly don’t have to wear a smart suit and have perfect hair!

I became self employed just over four years ago, and despite set backs, some financial, I have not regretted it for one second.  In the last year I discovered affiliate marketing and am happily building my business and looking forward to financial freedom in the not too distant future.

Today I have the Olympics running on one half of my computer while I’m typing, and I have an old school friend coming round for lunch.

Don’t be fooled, though.  Working for yourself at home is hard work and discipline is needed to keep up the momentum.  But I can honestly say I find it easier to get out of bed these mornings than I did five years ago!  And if I need to catch up I can work in the evening, or get up an extra half hour earlier if necessary.

Working at home gives you flexibility and freedom.  In these days of recession and work insecurity, it is certainly worth looking at self employment as an option.  There are many choices available for the home worker - and you don’t have to put up a lot of money either.

If you’re fed up with Monday morning, why not contemplate a home business?  It’s definitely one way of improving your Monday!

Ros Bott

Achieve Financial Freedom Online

Career and Life Success Coaching