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My goal is to not only establish a home business that allows me the time and freedom to do the things I’d like to do, but more importantly, to help others do the same.
I began my internet marketing journey in June of 2003, so that only adds up to a little over six years. However, I wasn't able to devote much time or proper focus to it during those years. So in that short period of time, I’ve made a lot of mistakes, been burned more than I like to think about and lost my fair share of money. All of the failure brings me to where I am now, having learned a great deal from all my mistakes, I really have the desire to help others not make some of the same mistakes I have. Ultimately, my success is not worth a penny to me if I do not help others out along the way.
I am Christian, and for my business to be all about me would go against my faith and principles. If I can’t help others to also find the success they are looking for, I find it hard to feel good about what I am doing.
However, if you aren’t Christian, don’t worry - it makes no difference to me what your faith is or isn’t. I respect people of all faiths and even respect if you choose not to have faith in anything but yourself.
All that matters to me is that you are an individual that knows it takes work to be successful, but understands that teamwork is really what enables us to achieve our common goals. If you’ve got a good heart - that helps too : ).
As the name of my site implies, I am here to offer you affordable resources to help get you started in your own home business or to add to what you already may be doing. The importance of the word affordable really can’t be emphasized enough. As noted on the front page, this site is aimed towards those just getting started in internet business, those working with a low budget and/or both of the above.
When many of us set out to try to make some money on the internet, usually the opposite happens. That’s right - we lose money. I speak from experience. I’ve personally lost thousands of dollars and made a lot of mistakes. If you’ve been trying to make money on the internet for any period of time, I’m sure you also have your own “battle scars” that still sting when you think about them.
If you’re new to all this, here’s where I’ve lost quite a bit of money, even more time and where you certainly can too if you’re not paying attention:
Pitfall #1
- Businesses/programs that look and sound great on the exterior - too bad they are being run unprofessionally and inevitably shut down due to their own dishonest practices. And where does that leave the members that sunk hundreds (or maybe even thousands) of dollars into the business? Out in the cold, with usually no likely chance of ever getting your money back.
*Clue - Do your research! How long has this company been in business? What is their track record of success? Do they offer real contact names, phone numbers and addresses in case you have a problem? Have you spoken to any of their members to get their input and opinions about the company? You can NEVER be too careful!
Pitfall #2
- Businesses/programs that have great intentions but no real support and training system. Members sign up only to realize that they don’t know what they’re doing or what they should be doing. The business/program gives you a few URLs to promote so you can bring in other clueless members and wish you good luck. Most folks don’t fully realize this at first, so they spend ridiculous amounts of time and money promoting this “business” that really isn’t a business at all. You might manage to bring in a few people, but then you get frustrated because the people you referred don’t seem to be doing anything. Because they don’t know what to do. Again, the entire thing crumbles and falls because eventually most folks drop out. Too bad for all the folks that invested so much into making it work.
*Clue - I’ll say it again - Do your research! Read everything you possibly can at the website to see if they offer a training and support system. Try to talk to other members and find out what their experiences have been. If the company doesn’t seem to offer the training and support the members will need to be successful with the business, don’t bother - it’s not worth your time.
Pitfall #3
- Program hopping. This can mean two things. One is jumping from business opportunity to business opportunity, because the last one didn’t work out (even though you only gave it a few months). The second is having too many “businesses” on your plate at once. This happens when you see a business that catches your eye, so you latch onto it, but very soon you see another business that sounds good and decide to latch onto that too, thinking you can work both of them. Pretty soon you’ve got five going, because each one sounded better than the last, but you just couldn’t bear to give up any of them.
And guess what, you’re still paying monthly membership costs to each of them.
*Clue - I’m only going to say one thing - Don’t do this. If anything has really stunted my online success, this would have to be it. I’m not saying you can’t run several successful businesses, because of course it can be done. But if you aren’t yet successful with one, what makes you think you can handle more?
Find something that really keeps your interest and dedicate yourself to that. If and when you become reasonably successful with it, then you can look into developing other income streams.
Pitfall #4
- Advertising that is expensive but just doesn’t work. If you’re going to spend money on advertising, you better do your research first. Otherwise, you could waste a lot of money playing trial-and-error with paid advertising. Not too mention the fact that there are many companies out there selling advertising that is just plain phony. What? You paid $49.99 for 10,000 hits? You’ll get those hits alright - because they have some fancy scripted bot hitting your site over and over - not real visitors. You could also spend anywhere from $50 to a $500 (maybe more) on an ad in an ezine that goes out to thousands of subscribers - you’re bound to get some sales from that, right? Not necessarily, because not all of those subscribers are even going to open the ezine email, and the ones that do are probably going to read the content they want and skip right over the ads. I could go on and on with different scenarios.
*Clue - When you’re first starting out, it’s best to go with all the free advertising you can. And don’t think that just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s not going to work. What’s important is where and how you advertise. Some of this is where the all-important training and support I was talking about earlier comes in. Some of it is trial-and-error. Some of it is from learning from other folks out there who are doing what you’d like to be doing. There are many free forms of advertising, and while I won’t go into all of them here, I will say that I still (this may surprise some people) get the best results from traffic exchanges.
Pitfall #5
- Not having a list - that is, your own personal opt-in email list of subscribers to be able to build relationships with and who look forward to hearing from you because they trust what you have to say. In the beginning, while I could see success all around me, I just couldn’t figure out what those folks had that I didn’t. Their names were everywhere and it seemed like they had armies helping to build their fortunes. Well, guess what - they did. Somehow it took me the better part of two years to realize that my lack of success was due heavily in part to me not having a list. Even when I realized that the significance of having that all-important list, I still thought it was something that was unachievable for me. “Big boys” had lists, “little guys” didn’t. You either already had one or you didn’t. I finally got it through my thick skull that anyone could have a list - those “big boys” had to build their lists one at a time and I could too. So now I am in the process of building my own list, and it will be a never ending process, just like it should be (just ask the “big boys”). You might have even arrived here because you were on my list - see, it works!
*Clue - If you haven’t started building a list, don’t hesitate any longer! Find something of value to get folks signed up and keep giving them more! However, don’t inundate your list of folks with ads. They want quality stuff or they wouldn’t have signed up in the first place. They don’t need any more junk mail - we all get enough of that already. If you just use your list to send ads to all the time, they will either just start ignoring your emails entirely or probably even unsubscribe. Building a list isn’t all about advertising, it’s about building relationships. Sell yourself first, then your products.
I’d say all this was good for a start - stay tuned for additions to this page. In the meantime, have a look around and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me.
P.S. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to receive my
Free Affiliate Marketing Guide!
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