Becoming An Executive Affiliate in SFI

The recent changes to the commission structure in SFI from a 2-wide matrix to a single 1-wide Powerline Structure are great news for every member of SFI! Up until now only the "big dogs" in SFI have really benefited from the Powerline structure but that all changes from 1st January 2007.

From 1st January 2007 every affiliate joining SFI enters a Powerline. On that date the Powerline will be constructed and to be included in the new Powerline you must be an Executive Affiliate by the end of December 2006 (that is of course unless you joined SFI very recently and are still in the "first 30 days in SFI" window) and your placement in the Powerline will depend on when you joined SFI. Everyone who joined SFI after you will be below you in the Powerline - as this means everyone who joined companywide you can imagine the sort of numbers we are talking about! The Executive Bonus you earn automatically each month will be based on the Commission Volume generated by everyone below you in the Powerline.

If you are not an EA by the end of December 2006 you have permanently forfeited your position. Yes, of course you can still upgrade to EA at a later date but you will be placed at the bottom of the Powerline. For more info click here.

Do I Have To Buy Something To Become An Executive Affiliate?

No - you qualify for EA status when you generate 10SVP (Sales Volume Points). These points are generated through your personal sales - you will see your current SVP at the top right hand of the screen when you have logged in to the SFI Members Area.

Some of the ways you can generate 10SVP are:

• sell one membership to the Institute of Home Business Entrepreneurs (IAHBE). In some ways this is an ideal way of doing it because it's an ongoing monthly membership so will keep you as EA each month as long as the buyer remains a member.
• sell 2 Gallons of Veriuni Family Safe and Earth Safe Laundry Detergent
• sell 1 bottle of the very popular Veriuni Liquid Nutrition
• sell a single subscription to any one of the popular magazines in the Veriuni Magazine Rack

You can make these sales by referring people to your specific SFI Gateway Websites. You literally have hundreds of Gateway websites to choose from all personalised with your name and SFI ID number. Find a listing of your Gateway sites here. Familiarise yourself with these sites and use them! Unfortunately many people ignore this aspect of SFI and focus solely on recruiting affiliates. Recruiting others is important but to maximise your income potential with SFI you should make use of every resource available to you.

You can of course buy from your own store and thousands of Affiliates (myself included) initially upgraded to EA status by doing this. Personally I signed up to the IAHBE which gave me my 10SVP and later I also signed up to the VeryVIP International Resellers Package. As you know (or maybe you don't of course!) I am from the UK so I understand it's difficult for non-US affiliates to make full personal use of their product range but I can certainly recommend both of these packages as excellent value in their own right. If you are from the US then your SFI Affiliate Store is your oyster!! Also remember that as an EA you buy from your store at wholesale prices (up to 56% off retail price). Shop at your store here.

 

Why You Should Be Using Forums

Basically there are two reasons why you should be joining (and posting) in forums.

Firstly and, in my opinion, most importantly, it's a great opportunity to learn from others and make contact with people already involved in Internet Marketing - and, of course, it's also an opportunity for you to share the skills and knowledge you have with those just starting out in IM.

Secondly, it's free advertising! Most forums allow you to attach a signature to your profile so that everytime you post you are creating a link back to your website. Also remember that forum posts usually just sit there forever - they are not normally deleted so your link will be hanging around there forever too.

The first thing you must do when you join a forum is read the rules! All forums have them but some are stricter than others and you must observe them if you don't want to fall foul of the Forum Moderators. Create your profile - many forum profiles give you the opportunity to add additional links to your website etc.

I suggest spending a bit of time browsing the forum so that you get a "feel" for the topics under discussion, etc. You don't have to post straight away although most forums have an "Introduce Yourself" thread which is a good ice-breaker. Don't just post for the sake of creating a link back to your site and remember that your post itself should not be an advert. You are there to contribute and add value to the forum. It's easy to spot the people who are only interested in getting their links out there - their posts are usually one or two words (yes, no or I agree/disagree!!). This is not only irritating for others to read but it also damages the poster's credibility which is just not what you want when you are trying to get yourself "known" in IM.

I recommend you join the following free forums right now :
www.conqueryourniche.com
www.earnersforum.com
http://associateprograms.com
www.netmarketingforum.com
www.trafficroundup.com/forum/index.php

The above forums are all free to join and I recommend them all - they are all entertaining, useful, informative, busy and welcoming to new members. Basically, all the things you look for in a good forum! There are lots of other forums around which may be equally good but these are the ones I use the most. To find others go to Google and search for "home based business forums" or "make money online forums" or similar and you will get hundreds of results.

I can't write about forums without covering the most famous IM forum around. I am mentioning this separately because, unlike the ones mentioned above, membership is not free. You can get membership to The Warrior Forum if you sign up for a Host4Profit account which costs $24.95 per month. Host4Profit is actually a very good hosting service in it's own right but, to be honest, I don't really need their hosting services. I retain my Host4Profit account because I want to continue with The Warrior Forum and I would willingly pay more than $24.95 per month to do so!

Here's what makes it special :

• All the big names in IM are active Warriors - John Reese, Cody Moya, Stone Evans, Mike Filsaime, Willie Crawford, Jeff Mulligan, Yanik Silver, Carlos Garcia, Dr.Mani to name just a few. It's the stomping ground for the best Internet Marketers on the planet.
• It's a training ground for thousands of up and coming Internet Marketers. I've learned far more from browsing/asking questions in The Warrior Forum than I have from all the Ebooks, reports and articles I've read over the years.
• It's a place to share ideas, find answers, make friends and develop partnerships.

If you plan to be an Internet Marketer there is simply no better place in the world for you to hang out than The Warrior Forum! I would encourage anyone to join and get involved in it as much as possible. 1">

This Weeks SFI Newsletter

This week's newsletter topics include:

This week's news:*
Where to advertise for results*
16 new products and services*
Product Spotlight: IAHBE*
NOC & TuneFlow news*
Don't have time? What to do*
Affiliate Center enhancements*
Love lessons for your business*
Poll: T-Net 2.0 element you like?
More

Click here to view

Constructing A Great Headline

Your headline can be the most important part of your online prescence so never underestimate the importance of getting it right!

Also remember one of the great things about headlines is that you don't have to stop at just the one - strategically placed, eye-catching headlines are a great way to break up a long body of text and also to keep the readers attention. However, the most important headline on your page is the one at the top because that's the one that will make people start reading in the first place.

Look at your competitors headlines for ideas and ask yourself the following questions:
what (if anything) grabbed your attention?

• was it good enough to make you read further?
• did it make you want to take immediate action?
• what keywords were used that made it stand out from the rest?

Focus your attention on your online competitors work - offline headlines have different requirements and can often be fairly straightforward and direct. Writing online copy demands an attention-grabbing style. You only have seconds to attract your readers attention.

Avoid writing headlines as if they are an advertisement - try to make it as personally aimed at the prospective reader as possible and a good headline should also give an indication of what is to follow. Don't make outrageous claims unless you can back them up! If your headline reads "make $10,000 in three days" you need to provide proof of that claim in the body of your copy. Blatantly lying to people in order to get their attention will not establish a good rapport between you and your prospective buyer at the outset. As soon as the reader realises they have been "conned" they will have a negative view of your sales pitch, your product and probably you as well!

A good headline should tell the reader what he/she will get from your product, for example more money or more time. It should also create a sense of urgency in your reader - as if they don't read on about your product right now they will be missing out on something they need/want right now.

Testimonials can also be good attention-grabbers in a headline. Instead of saying "I will show you how to make $5000 every month" what about "When Jim lost his job we helped him fatten up his bank account" Of course you would need to expand further on this theme in the body of your text but you can see that the latter headline has a more personal touch and is more likely to engage the reader. An alternative to this would be to give your personal testimonial in the headline "I lost my job and had no-one to turn to, now I make $5000 every month using this program". This also works because it creates empathy with your reader who may well be able to identify with that situation.

Unlike offline sales copy, you do not usually have length restrictions for your headlines when writing online copy. The exception to this would be writing classified ads or email headlines. However, a headline should not be longer than one sentence and should be kept as "snappy" and to the point as possible.

Private Label Resale Rights

Buying Private Label E-book Resell Rights versus Writing Your Own

In today’s society there are many individuals who are looking to make money anyway that they can. In many cases, these individuals are looking for opportunities that allow them to work at their own pace or be their own boss. If you are one of those individuals then it is possible that you may have thought about creating and selling e-books.

The popularity of e-books has rapidly increased over the past few years. Many readers are not only finding it convenient to purchase them, but also cheaper. In most cases e-books are easily read on the computer but they can also be printed off. Since more and more consumers are interested in purchasing e-books there are more individuals who are looking to make money off of them. If you are able to do this, you may find success; however, that success will not come without hard work.

If you have never created an e-book before, it is difficult to understand exactly how much hard work it entails. To be worth the buy, most e-books are at least one hundred pages long; many are longer. If you are interested in creating an e-book, it may take months for you to complete. In addition to hard work, you should also have previous writing experience and knowledge on the topic that you are writing about. This knowledge and experience isn’t essential - you can of course do what many authors do and thoroughly research your subject - but unless you are happy to produce sloppy work and basically rip people off you have to be prepared to put in a lot of effort.

In addition to writing a quality e-book you will also have to find ways to sell it. Together, the two could take a large amount of time. For many individuals this is a major turn off; however, there are alternatives. If you are interested in selling e-books to make a profit you do not necessarily have to create your own. Instead you can obtain the private label resell rights to someone elses e-book. Obtaining the resell rights to an e-book will allow you, in many cases, to assume the work as your own, edit the content, and pocket the money from each sale of the book.

The biggest downside to obtaining the resell rights to an e-book is the amount of money that you will have to spend. Depending on who you do business with, the cost of acquiring private label resell rights may be fairly expensive. Since most freelance writers spend a large amount of time creating their e-books, as previously mentioned, they will want to be fairly compensated. The cost of resell rights to an e-book may be considered a disadvantage to this unique business opportunity but it can also be viewed as an advantage. E-book authors that charge more for their work typically have produced better content; better content is easier to sell.

Whether you make the decision to develop your own e-book or purchase the resell rights to someone else’s, you will still have to find a way to market the e-book to the general public. This, depending on what approach you take, can take time and also cost more money. That is why many individuals prefer purchasing the resell rights to an e-book that has already been created. This allows them to spend more time on marketing, which will in turn create sales.

If you are unsure as to whether or not you should create your own e-book or obtain the resell rights to another you are not alone. There are a number of other individuals wondering the same thing. Private label resell rights are an amazing business opportunity for some, but not for all. There is a great free audio course on private label resell rights at www.plrtips.com check this out today. All online business opportunities take time to find success. If you have the financial resources needed to obtain the resell rights to a well written e-book I would encourage you to give this opportunity a shot. You are not guaranteed results but you may be surprised with what you find.

The Downside to Selling Private Label Products on Online Auction Websites

Each day hundreds of individuals make the decision to purchase the resell rights to a particular product. If you are looking for a legitimate business opportunity, there is a good chance that you may be that individual. To successfully profit from private label products, to which you have legally obtained the resell rights, there are a number of important factors that you should first consider. These factors are essential to making money instead of losing it.

Private label resell rights are available on a number of different products, including e-books and software. In most cases the e-book author or the software developer is unable or unwilling to spend time marketing and selling their own product. Instead of targeting potential customers they shift their focus to others who are looking to make money. This is done by selling the resell rights to their product. If you have the time and the knowledge needed to market the product in question you may be able to make money with this opportunity.

After you have purchased the resell rights to a particular product it will then be down to you to sell that product and make a profit. It is likely that you would want to make as much money as you possibly could.

When it comes to selling any product, whether you created that product or just obtained the resell rights to it, you will need to find an effective sales method. There are many individuals who have found success by using online classified ads, creating their own websites, or by using online auction websites. While all of these selling approaches may produce results, some may not work for you.

If given the opportunity, most individuals would choose to sell their products via an online auction website. This is because unlike many other selling methods, online auctions are cheap to use and they often produce fast results; however, those results may not be what you are looking for. If you are planning on purchasing the resell rights to a private label product for the sole purpose of selling that product through an online auction website I would advise you to reconsider your decision. This is because online auction websites are not what they used to be.

Instead of making money with online auction websites many are losing it. As previously mentioned, online auction websites have changed. In the past only a limited number of products were available for sale. The limited number of products helped items not only sell, but sell for a high price. Now, there is so much competition on these sites that it is hard to make a profit. In fact, with the time it takes to post an online auction and the fees associated with doing so, you may end up losing money. There will always be some joker who is determined to savagely undercut everyone else and practically give away products for next to nothing. It's very tough to compete with that if you are selling the same product!

To be successful with the reselling of private label products I would advise you to use more than one selling method. Online auctions may work but they are not guaranteed results. That is why it is advised that you do not solely rely on them to generate income.

The Benefits to Creating Your Own Website to Resell Private Label Products

As soon as you purchase the resell rights to a product you will be able to begin selling it; however, additional steps may need to be taken. For instance, private label resell rights often require you to change the product, which you just purchased the resell rights to. This change is often minimal but it is sometimes required. The last thing that you may want to do is alter a perfect product, but in a way it may help you. After this alteration, you may be able to claim the product as your own. This means that you could officially be the author of an e-book or a software developer.

Once the additional steps, if any are required, are taken, you can then begin to sell your product. Unfortunately, this is where many individuals go wrong. The only way that you will make money is if the product sells; therefore, you need to find and use an effective selling method. There are a number of different methods that you can use; however, you may find your own website to be the most beneficial. This website can not only be used to provide information on your product, but it can also be used to purchase it.

When it comes to developing a website there are many individuals who are unfamiliar with web design. If you are one of those individuals you have a number of alternatives. One of those alternatives includes the assistance of a professional website developer or designer. For a fee you should be able to have a professional design your website for you. If you are looking for a low-cost way to develop your own website, you are urged to choose a web hosting plan that includes a free site builder. I have tried a few and personally I like Bravenet. It doesn't cost much money - about $10 a month (although there is a completely free option I don't recommend it because your site will be covered in ads for other people!) and really has all the tools and hosting you will need to publish a range of sites. It's also really easy and straightforward to use. You don't need to know much (if anything at all!) about html, etc.

When building your website you will want to add information on the product in which you are selling. If you are selling an e-book you may not only want to give a description of your book but a few samples. These samples, also often referred to as inserts, will allow your potential customers to determine whether or not your product is worth the buy. In addition to adding product descriptions, samples, and pictures, you will also want to add a shopping cart. This feature, provided by most web hosting companies, will allow you to sell your product right off of your website. I operate a number of websites and I would advise anyone to consider providing two payment processor options one of which should be PayPal. This is simply because there are literally millions of PayPal account holders in the world so it's convenient for many of your potential customers. However, you should also be aware that many people hate PayPal with a passion for various reasons so providing an alternative makes sense. There are lots of alternatives out there but check their terms and conditions (and especially the fees!) before you sign up to any of them.

If you follow the above for a small amount of money you will have a way to not only sell your product, but market it as well.

About Tracking Software

Advantages and Disadvantages of Purchasing Your Own Affiliate Tracking Software

Millions of business owners rely on affiliate programs to help increase their sales and in turn their profits. If you are the owner of an online business, especially one that sells a particular product or service, you may be able to benefit from the use of an affiliate program. If properly implemented, they are a great way to increase your revenue without having to do a large amount of extra work The first step in getting started is to find an affiliate tracking software.

An affiliate tracking software? If you have never heard of this product before you may be wondering exactly what it is. Affiliate tracking software is the actual program behind your own affiliate program. If you start your own affiliate program, you will be relying on your banners and links to help increase your websites traffic and its sales. These banners will be placed on the websites of your affiliates. With affiliate programs, each time that one of those links is used to generate a sale, the website owner, webmaster, or website publisher, whoever you are partnering with, will receive compensation for their part in the sale.

To be able to compensate your affiliates you will need to have a way to determine if, when, and who helped you generate a sale. This can only be done with affiliate tracking software. Therefore, if you are interested in starting your own affiliate program, you must have affiliate tracking software. When it comes to affiliate tracking software you will have a number of different options. Two of those options include purchasing your own affiliate tracking software program or using someone elses.

If you use someone else’s affiliate tracking software program you will most likely end up doing business with an affiliate networking company. These companies not only provide you with tracking software but they also help to track the sales of your affiliates, and even pay them. The payment feature is unique because it is not offered on most software programs that you have to buy on your own. With software programs that you buy on your own the software should calculate how much you owe each of your affiliates, but you are required to take care of the rest. Depending on what your business is and how busy you are, you may not have time for this.

Having to pay your own affiliates may seem like a disadvantage to buying your own affiliate tracking software; however, it doesn’t necessarily have to be. Even though you are still required to send out your own payments you will generally find that this process is easy to do. That is because most affiliate tracking software programs are designed to automatically calculate the amount of money each of your affiliates make. Whether you choose to pay your affiliates on a weekly or monthly basis, you should be able to find out, right away, how much money you have to pay them. If you are paying them with a check, you can simply write the check and move on to something else.

A potential disadvantage to purchasing your own software can actually turn into an advantage. That disadvantage is customer service support. A large number of affiliate tracking software programs do not come with customer support. Almost all will come with a detailed user guide, but customer service support is not guaranteed. Although not all software programs offer customer support there are even more that do. This means that if you want to have access to customer service support you just need to find affiliate tracking software that has the support included. If free customer service support is included it should be outlined in the software description or software features section.

The above mentioned advantages and disadvantages are important when determining whether or not you should purchase your own affiliate tracking software or do business with an affiliate networking company. Whichever decision you make, you should be well on your way to seeing an increase in profits. The affiliate tracking software program you choose will not have a direct impact on how much money you make, but it will have an impact on how easily your affiliate program flows.

How to Find Reputable Affiliate Tracking Software Programs or Services

When it comes to finding a particular product or service, there are many individuals who start searching online. The internet is a great way to find whatever you are looking for, but there are also a number of disadvantages to doing so. For instance, it is often difficult to determine the quality of a product or service online. If you are a business owner who needs affiliate tracking software for your affiliate program you will need to find the most suitable one for your needs. While you can do this online there are a number of important factors that you will want to keep in mind.

As previously mentioned, it is often difficult to determine the quality of a particular product or service, including affiliate tracking software, online. This is because it is difficult to tell whether or not an individual or company is being honest with you. Although you may find an affiliate tracking software program that claims to be the best it may not actually be. To determine whether or not the claims of a software seller are legitimate you will have to do a little bit of research.

The first step in finding a reputable affiliate tracking software program or service is to familiarize yourself with all of your available options. This can easily be done by performing a standard internet search. You may want to perform that search using the words affiliate tracking software. Your search should provide you with the names and website addresses of a number of different software services or programs. You will want to quickly examine each of these products and eliminate the ones that do not offer what you need. This should leave you with a smaller list of software programs or services. Those are the software programs and services that you will want to further examine.

You can easily determine whether or not the affiliate tracking software of your choice is reputable or not by finding a product review website. These websites can also be found by performing an internet search. If you have the names of numerous software programs it is likely that a number of them will be reviewed. You are advised to closely examine those reviews and weed out any that have negative marks or complaints. While most affiliate tracking programs are reviewed, you may find a few that are not. For your own safety, you are advised to treat these programs as if they have a negative review. This is because you will not want to pay for affiliate tracking software if you don’t know how well it actually performs!

You should also be able to determine whether or not an affiliate tracking software program is reputable by performing a standard internet search on each program. For instance, you will want to perform an internet search with the name of that particular software. It is likely that your search will connect you to web pages in which that affiliate tracking software was discussed. You are advised to read through these discussions to determine if current, or even past, customers were satisfied with what they received.

When searching for reputable affiliate tracking software, it is important to remember that very few products will have a perfect review. There will always be someone who thinks that something should have been different. A few negative comments or reviews does not mean that the affiliate tracking software in question is not reputable. However, you should be wary of software that has a large number of negative reviews or comments. That software may not only be not worth your time, but also not worth your money!

Autoresponders - what they are and how to use them

All About Auto Responders

Throughout the Internet autoresponders make for an excellent promotional tool. Although the technical name is an autoresponder other known names include auto email, mailbot and email responder. An autoresponder is a great way to save time as it responds to any message with an automatic response.

Autoresponders can vary from messages that go through email to scripts that are programed to run on servers. All types of autoresponders work the same as they will automatically send a message out when a message is received. Depending on the message they receive they will send out the correct return message. This can be determined by the script or the email address.

Although they are great for promotional reasons they are also widely abused across the Internet. Autoresponders are great to use for your daily tasks as they will basically do all the work for you. On the other hand, they can also be quite disastrous if not set up properly.

When you submit your website to search engines, directories, or classifieds, you should never attempt to use an autoresponder address. Most of these website types use autoresponders themselves when they send out their messages. If their autoresponder happens to send a message out to your autoresponder they will continue responding - which can be very annoying.

When you decide to subscribe to an email or ezine you should always use your valid email address and never use the address for your autoresponder. If you use your autoresponder to subscribe, chances are you’ll have your subscription revoked. It can be very annoying if a group sends out emails only to find that your autoresponder keeps sending return messages. For that very reason you should never use your autoresponder address to subscribe to anything.

Autoresponders can be great to use although they can also be a hazard as well. Often times, with subscriptions groups or ezines, it can be very hard to locate someone who is using an autoresponder. In most cases those who use an autoresponder don’t have the same reply or from address as they did when they signed up. In cases such as this it can take quite a lot of time and effort to locate the address.

If you take care of your autoresponder and don’t use it to annoy others or sign up for email subscriptions it should treat you well. An autoresponder can do a world of good for your business, saving you a lot of time and effort. Autoresponders are easy to set up and easy to use, which is great news for anyone who isn’t technical with the Internet. For the price they cost and how easy they are to operate autoresponders can make your Internet business easier than ever before.

Boosting Business With Autoresponders

Although these days most everyone is familiar with an autoresponder many don’t know why they are beneficial to businesses. An autoresponder can help your business by automatically emailing your clients and customers with a preset message that will help to increase your sales.

An autoresponder can help your list of clients grow, even send each one of them their own personalized email message. If you choose, you can also follow up each individual email with repeated emails, varying the content whenever you wish. These programs will also allow you to keep track of conversations, and send out broadcast email messages whenever you have news or new products to offer your clients.

As research in the past has shown, personalized email from autoresponders is a great way to boost your business. When you send a personalized email to one of your clients, the autoresponder can address him or her by their name which always makes a customer take notice. While you could do this yourself using traditional email it could take you a few hours if you have a long list of customers.

Autoresponders make sending personalized email a snap. All you need to do is set up your email template, then select where you want the name to go. You can add everyone in your customer list to the autoresponder. Once you have everything ready to go, all you need to do is send out the emails with one simple click. Best of all you don’t have to set it up again when you need to send out broadcast messages.

Although there are some people who will buy products after one or two emails, most people require about seven or eight emails before they will purchase anything. Autoresponders can really help you there as they will do all of the emailing for you. You don’t have to keep sending manual emails or anything like that. All you need to do is set up the email address, type in your preset message, and then feel free to send it as many times as you like.

Through the use of an autoresponder you can really boost your business. For serious Internet Marketers it really is an essential tool. You can spend less time sending messages and more time doing what you enjoy. If you’ve never tried an autoresponder before you owe it yourself to check out everything they will do for you and your business. Online businesses can get a lot of emails on a daily basis which is where the autoresponder will really start to shine and show you just how great an asset it really is.

Choosing Your Autoresponder Software

It can be a somewhat difficult and time consuming task to find the right autoresponder. There are a lot of choices available on the Internet, each one ranging in price and features. Before you decide to purchase your own autoresponder you should first think about your budget as well as your requirements. This way you’ll know what you want and how much you are able to spend.

First, you’ll need to decide the features you want. Next, you’ll need to take a look at some of the different types of autoresponders available on the market. You’ll also need to decide which type is right for you and which brand name you think would work the best. You can answer these questions by comparing different brands, prices, features, and licensing restrictions.

For the Internet Marketer there are sequential autoresponders. These types of autoresponders are designed to collect different email addresses then send out a variety of predetermined messages through email to subscribers that you have on your list. If you have a sequential autoresponder, and use it correctly of course, it can help you bring back more visitors. It can be a very handy tool to have around, especially if you work with a lot of clients. It can help you keep track of subscribers as well as keep them informed about what is going on with your business.

All across the Internet there are many types of autoresponders. They range from web based programs to scripts or programs that run through your computer or personal server. An autoresponder will be a major part of your online business which is why you should always put forth the time and effort to find the best one for your money. If you put the proper research and time into finding your ideal autoresponder you’ll save yourself a lot of time and headaches in the long run.

Basically, there are three main types of autoresponders that you can choose from – remote hosted, locally hosted, and desktop hosted. Remote hosted are hosted on someone else’s server or website. Locally hosted will allow you to work programs for your own web server. Desktop programs on the other hand, will allow you to work from your own computer. Most people choose to go with locally hosted as it makes things a lot easier.

Before you decide on which type of autoresponder to purchase you should make sure that you understand what each type will offer you. There are a variety of autoresponders to choose from meaning that some may not offer what you need. You can always research each type, and then compare prices and features. This way, you’ll know which type of autoresponder will work the best for your needs as well as your business.

Personally I have tried a few with varying degrees of success and I now use (and highly recommend) AWeber. You get unlimited campaigns, lists, follow-ups and newsletters. More than 50 templates for newsletter designs, easy opt in form creation, excellent comprehensive instructional training for setting up and using your autoresponder and excellent customer support. And the good news is they also offer a risk free 30 day trial - try it here

A Word of Caution!

Having sung the praises of how great autoresponders can be for your business remember there is nothing quite like the personal touch and this is often sadly lacking when dealing with people online. Although I use autoresponders I also make the effort to personally email members of my sales teams as often as possible - people generally like to be contacted by a real human being from time to time! Remember that the biggest part of your job as a team leader or personal sponsor is to support your team members and an integral part of doing that is effective communication.

SFI – The Perfect Affiliate Program

If you are anything like me (or most Internet Users!) your Inbox will be stuffed with emails from companies promising instant wealth, huge incomes and early retirement if you just sign up to their programs. And again if you are like me you just can’t be bothered to read anymore of that nonsense and delete them immediately.

There used to be a niggling doubt in the back of my mind that maybe amongst all the dross there was actually a company that could deliver results – a genuine affiliate opportunity. Well there is and it’s called Strong Future International (SFI)! However it’s unlikely that any of the promotions above would have referred to this particular company. SFI is refreshingly “hype-free” – there are no promises of instant success or effortless income. What you get is access to excellent business building tools including a pre-stocked webstore, promotional sites and banners, excellent training and ongoing support (you are assigned three leaders to provide consultation and support), and of course a lucrative commission plan. Refer just three new members to SFI and you can automatically start earning a portion of EVERY sale...EVERY month...made by SFI's over one million affiliates and members worldwide.

So when you join apart from memberships what do you sell? Well, products ranging from Herbal Tea and Magazines to Broadband and Web Hosting! And as I mentioned before your website is ready for business immediately.

Believe it or not it’s FREE to join SFI and you can remain a free member for as long as you want with absolutely no cost to you and no obligation whatsoever. Even becoming an Executive Affiliate is low cost. SFI operate a points system called SVP and you only need 10 of these to qualify for Executive Affiliate status. These points are obtained by either purchases from your website or alternatively the easiest way (and this is what I did) to qualify is to become a member of the IAHBE (International Association Of Home Business Entrepreneurs). The IAHBE is also a fantastic resource for anyone involved in running their own business and at less than $30 for membership is well worth the money.

So how difficult is it to sell the SFI opportunity to prospective affiliates? Well SFI is widely considered the number one affiliate program on the web today and has paid out millions of dollars in commissions to affiliates in 190 countries worldwide and it’s also one of the premier programs that form part of the hugely successful Plug In Profit Site. In fact I only joined SFI when I signed up to Plug In Profit. I have to say that of all the programs I am personally involved with SFI is without doubt the one that is the easiest to promote for a number of reasons – it’s free of course, the range and quality of products available to affiliates, the training and resources are great, but personally I think one of the big attractions is that it’s perfect for the “little guy”. There are no sales volume requirements and basically no pressure. Not everyone is a “heavy hitter” and SFI recognise that fact.

If you’re looking for a home business opportunity I highly recommend this one and remember it’s free so you have nothing to lose. Sign up for SFI here and I’ll see you in my sales team!

How To Be A Stay At Home Mom With A Home Business
Copyright © Daphne Succes
www.daphnespassion.com

If you are a mom, then you already have a full time job with an
endless amount of overtime hours. Even with all of the
responsibilities that being a mom includes, some women decide
to be a stay at home mom with a home business. This can be a
very rewarding adventure and allows some additional cash flow
into the household.

Being a stay at home mom with a home business takes a lot of
dedication, patience and, most of all, determination. You will
probably want to start out small and, time and interest
permitting, work your way up to a larger business in the
future. Because you will need to take frequent breaks
throughout the day, it’s a good idea to select a business that
is not completely demanding or time consuming. If possible,
search for a business opportunity that offers part-time hours.
This will give you plenty of time to spend with your children,
but also give you the opportunity to do something for yourself
and earn extra money in the process.

Being a stay at home mom with a home business is ideal for many
women. The fact that you will be able to stay at home and still
be a large presence in your children’s life is extremely
important. Many parents do not want to leave their children
with a nanny, babysitter or relative, so having one parent
working at home is the perfect option for many families.

At first, it may be very challenging to balance home life with
being a stay at home mom with a home business. It will be
difficult to separate business from pleasure and your children
may not understand why mommy is not available all the time.
It’s a good idea to approach the transition slowly and take
into consideration that your children will miss having you
available 24/7. Every home business requires a computer so, if
you are a stay at home mom with a home business, make sure that
the computer is placed in the same room that your children are
in. If they spend most of their time in the family room, place
a desk in the corner and set up your office there. This will
allow you to be near your children, keep a close eye on them
and work at the same time. This may be challenging at first
because the children will want your constant attention, but try
to explain that their mom has some very important work to finish
and assure them that you will spend time with them very shortly.
Begin with 30 minutes of work at different times throughout the
day, then plan an activity with your little ones. Gradually
work your way up to longer periods of work throughout the day
as the children adjust and will allow you the time to finish
your work.

Being a stay at home mom with a home business will literally
entail you taking on two jobs at once. It is a wonderful way,
however, to spend time doing something that is just for you and
can take you away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life -
even if only for a few minutes. Selling on internet auctions or
babysitting are two very good starter businesses and can
increase in volume in accordance with your time and desire.


About The Author:
Daphne is a Writer, Business Owner, Motivator
and Self-Starter and full-time Mom. She enjoys writing articles
about small businesses and family and tries to motivate other
women with the same desires. She can be reached at
1-877-TOY-DIVA http://www.daphnespassion.com

Do you have what it takes to be an e-entrepreneur?
Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
Author of "Dotcomology - The Science of Making Money Online"

These days, it seems like everyone wants to work
from home and make money on the Internet. But
before you even turn on your computer, the first
question you have to ask yourself is whether
you’re cut out for this kind of work.

The fact is, building a home-based business isn’t
for everyone. Some people like the commute. They
really do enjoy having a boss who tells them what
to do, and they like the routine of working
nine-to-five for an ordinary salary that can
barely pay the mortgage. Personally, I think
they’re nuts.

More reasonably, there are people who are
concerned about the risk of starting up their own
business. They’re not sure it’s worth the
investment of time and money, and they’re scared
of the responsibility that comes with running
their own company. They wonder if there is
another way to escape the rat race.

I’m sure there is. You could win the lottery or
wait for your Aunt Sue to keel over and leave you
her condo. Or maybe you could sit down with a pen
and paper and draw the blueprint for "The Next
Big Thing". Anything can happen... Right?

For me, what happened was creating a successful,
self-running Internet marketing system. It didn’t
happen without effort. It didn’t happen without
at least some initial investment of both time and
money and, of course, it doesn’t happen now
without me making sure that the taxes are filed
and the paperwork is done. But it happened.

I’m my own boss. I work from home according to my
own schedule and I get to pocket all the cash my
business makes. If you’re prepared to give an
e-business the time, the work and the money it
needs to get started and get growing, it can
happen for you too.

Article excerpted from "Dotcomology":
Don't Pay A Dime For Any Ebook, Marketing
Course, Software Program Or Anything Else Until
You've Read This Groundbreaking Document...
Click Here to Discover "Dotcomology" Now!

Organising Your Day When You Work From Home
Copyright © Lorraine Simpson
http://www.FifthAceOnline.com

Increasingly the ideal for many people is to work from home and the Internet has made this a real possibility for thousands of us. There’s a lot to be said for avoiding the daily commute and the stresses of the workplace but working from home brings its own problems and to be successful in your home based business managing your day effectively and efficiently is essential. Use the pointers below to make sure you are making the most of your time.

Identify And Organise Your Work Area
One of the major problems that can arise is that the distinction between work and home life becomes blurred. Create a separate work area (ideally a separate room if you have space) that is used solely for that purpose. If necessary the corner of a room is fine but avoid the general living area of your home - it’s difficult to focus on the task in hand when someone else is lounging around watching TV! Make sure that the tools you need (files, reference books, paper, pens, etc) are close to hand but stored in an organised manner. Set aside 5 minutes each day to tidy your work area. A cluttered desk or work area is depressing and the chances are you will waste a lot of time looking for papers, etc. There are those who maintain that they like a messy desk and they know where everything is – when put to the test this rarely turns out to be the case!

Establish And Maintain An Efficient Electronic Filing System
Most of us who do business on the Internet are bombarded with Emails on a daily basis. Set up folders within your Email system and file the mail you receive just the way you would a paper document. Give your folders meaningful relevant names but only create as many as necessary. Never leave Emails lying in your Inbox – in no time at all it will become cluttered and unmanageable. Move them to the relevant folder as soon as they are opened. Consider also creating a “Today” and “Later” folder for Emails that require action. There is a tendency to regard Emails as urgent just because they are there on your computer but if something does not require immediate action your time is possibly better spent dealing with other things. Once you have dealt with mail in these folders it can then be filed in the appropriate folder. Note that some Email systems (Outlook for example) allow you to set up rules to automatically move an Email to a specific folder as soon as it is received. This is a great tool if set up correctly so if this option is available to you it is worth investing the time to get it organised.

Set Daily Tasks
The Internet is full of distractions and it is easy to waste hours of your valuable time browsing or being completely sidetracked from your purpose. Before you start work set yourself two or three tasks that you want to complete that day. Write them down and stick them up beside your PC. If you come across something that interests you but is not relevant to the tasks you have to accomplish that day bookmark it and go back to it later when your tasks are completed. I am not a big fan of huge “To Do” lists. I am by nature a procrastinator and I have tried to use them many times in the past without much success. Personally I find it a little demoralising to sit down everyday to a long list of tasks that never reduces in size – there is always something else to do! I find that just focusing on two or three tasks a day produces much better results and more often than not I accomplish more than I set out to do anyway.

Set Aside Time For Dealing With Routine Tasks
Establish a daily routine for dealing with routine tasks and stick to it! By routine tasks I mean things like reading and filing Emails or paper mail, updating your electronic diary, surfing the Traffic Exchanges, reading E Books or other information relevant to your business efforts. Set aside blocks of time in your day to do these routine tasks instead of haphazardly dealing with them in between doing other things. This minimises the likelihood of distractions as mentioned above but more importantly ensures that these routine tasks actually get done on a daily basis. I also suggest you set aside blocks of time for making telephone calls. This can be tricky to do if your contacts are in a different time zone, etc. but with a little planning it should be possible to accommodate these differences. Type up this daily schedule on a piece of paper and hang it beside your PC as a reminder to yourself of what you should be doing. Important Note: one daily task you should always make time for is backing up your files to disc. Anyone who has ever experienced an irreparable PC crash will testify to the importance of this. I know from bitter experience how long it takes to get back to normal if you have not backed up your work regularly – never again!

Prioritise Your Tasks
To prioritise your tasks correctly you need to understand the difference between effectiveness and efficiency, urgency and importance. Effectiveness means being productive, getting results or, put simply, doing the right things at the right time. Efficiency means functioning effectively with the least waste of effort. To be effective and efficient you should be doing what you need to be doing in a way that optimises the outcome. An urgent task may have an impending deadline – it has to be done by a specific date. On the other hand it may be that until you complete a specific task you will not be able to do other things. In that case you may well consider it urgent that the task is completed even though there is no deadline as such. An important task must be done well and needs an adequate amount of time allocated to ensure completion but it is not necessarily urgent. Bearing all these points in mind when you are prioritising your workload ask yourself the simple question “What’s the best use of my time right now?”

And finally ………..

Going To Work In Your Pyjamas
This is a cute concept for a sales letter but the reality is different! I remember the days when I first started working from home and I embraced this idea so completely that I would find myself still in my robe in front of my PC at 4 o’clock in the afternoon - no shower, hair unbrushed, surrounded by coffee cups and breakfast plates … you get the picture. Take your business and yourself seriously. I’m not suggesting you put on a suit every morning but when you report for work (albeit you are reporting to yourself!) be washed and dressed and ready to face the day ahead. Having structure in your day focuses the mind and apart from that if you spend your working days living like a slob what are you going to do on your days off?!


About the Author:
Lorraine Simpson is a Director of Fifth Ace Ltd based in Scotland.
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To find the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.FifthAceOnline.com