Copyright 2005 Woon Sung Lianghttp://www.JohnWoon.com
Like tens of thousands of people who often venture online
exploring ways to make a little extra money, I have been
looking for ways that would allow me to eventually live a
life with residual income and financial freedom.
Obviously, I did not know how except for the fact that many
are making millions of dollars every year from Internet.
But I learnt fast, after having paid a lot of money to the
so-called Internet gurus. I realised that there were a lot
of scams, hyped-up promises, and just plain
sure-way-to-loose-your-hard-earned-money programs. Very
quickly, it became obvious to me that the promises of
make-tons-of-money-with-no-effort-all-for-free had to be
challenged because this is not true at all! What you get
for nothing would be nothing. I learnt now how I should
look every time before I leapt.
Building a business online is just like building a
brick-and-mortar business offline. So you need both a good
plan and a marketable product. Some friends advised that I
should build a website around my personal interest or
hobbies because it?d be fun doing so. That way, when the
going gets tough, the motivation to persevere would be more
likely to prevail. However I found that my own interest and
hobbies were not necessarily what the market was looking
for. In fact, I realized that I should look at other
people?s interest instead.
The easiest way to get into business online is through
affiliate programs which allow you to sign up as an
affiliate member. You earn a referral commission from
selling the program owners? products.
These products are usually information products such as
electronic books (eBook) and software that can be delivered
as a file that is then downloaded directly to your
customers' computers. They could be reproduced, downloaded
and sold repeatedly at no cost. There?s no packing,
shipping and delivery cost. Owing to this, affiliate
program owners usually pay their affiliates high
commissions (50% or more).
I learnt that it is best for beginners to start by joining
a few affiliate programs, followed by announcing this to as
many friends as possible to prompt them to visit my
websites.
At the same time I was strongly advised against the use of
?Spam?. Suddenly I found my list of friends to be
pathetically short! Hardly 100 names!
I was feeling really inadequate after finding that many
Internet entrepreneurs actually had a mailing lists of well
over 5000, 10,000, 100,000??.
To start off, I needed a website, although people do make
money without a website. By joining an affiliate program I
did not have to worry about creating a website of my own
because many affiliate programs do offer websites for free.
However I was advised to learn how to modify the website to
differentiate it from many others having the same program
so that I would have some advantages over others.
As I said, I had a miserable mailing list hence I needed to
build one for visitors by their subscribing to my online
newsletters. Oh yes, I have heard it a thousand times in my
short stay in this business ? ?The money is in the
list...that all important list which begins the flow of
"traffic" ?No list...No traffic...No traffic...No sales..?
I send these people my regular newsletter via
?autoresponder? provided by the program and over time, I
hoped to develop a relationship with many of the visitors.
A newsletter allows me to share information and resources
with my subscribers resulting in a positive rapport,
friendship and eventually trust.
There?s a 30-day guide which is really cool. It takes me
step by step each day to improve my business incrementally.
It exposes me to many possibilities, among other things, of
how to drive traffic to my site. And I find joy in doing so
especially in my pyjamas!
The program allows me to join a discussion forum. It is
like walking into a big library, only that it is better
because all the members have similar interest i.e. Internet
business. This is where I find answers and solutions to my
questions and problems. I find active and successful
members discussing their latest findings, for instance, the
best websites and software to use to improve our
businesses. Another advantage in taking part in the
discussion is that other members or visitors get to know my
website located in my ?signature?.
Yes, I also learnt how to place my adverts. Here are some
of the things that I?ve looked into:
1) The various locations where I can place an ad such as
newsgroups, forums, ezines, and web sites.
2) How to post information to a mailing list or newsgroup
for free but using a signature file to promote my websites.
3) How the program helps me to set up autoresponders to
take away the chore of responding to visitors manually.
4) How to write articles and submit them to article
directories to get free advertisement for life.
5) I?ve created a Blog of my own. It is an excellent way to
provide visitors and customers with information at their
fingertips, just a click away. I keep it fresh and alive by
posting interesting articles on Internet business on a
regular basis. The articles in the Blog also offer me free
advertisement because each article carries a link to my
websites.
In conclusion, if you want to make money on the Internet,
it is a real possibility. But please do not expect
something for nothing. You need to invest in your effort,
time, commitment and at least some financial input. Once
you?ve decided, go for it and. ?..DON'T EVER GIVE UP!
----------------------------------------------------
Not long ago, Sung-Liang Woon didn't know ANYTHING about
Internet marketing...
However, within just a few weeks, he launched his own
website AND learned how to profit from an opt-in list, pull
in sales with ezines, make money with Google Adwords and
setup his own BLOG!
Here's how: http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-9747
