Two Thousand Eighteen

HAPPY HOLIDAYS blog readers:

The New Year is just around the corner (which at the time I'm typing this sentence is less than 29 hours away).   I just want to use this time to reflect on my year of 2017.  

In May of 2016, I made the bold move of leaving my $20.00 per hour job at JP Morgan Chase to become my own boss.  Initially, I wanted to tutor math full-time.  However, that did not work in my favor.  At the end of 2016, I began working as an customer service agent for an outsourcing company, NexRep, which took me into 2017.  

In my first full year of working from home, I had a few ups and downs.  First of all, I was evicted out of my apartment, so I had to get accustomed to living under someone else's roof for the first time in 25 years.  Even though I lost my total privacy, living under my brother's roof is not a bad move.  For one, it gives me an opportunity to rebound financially.  My expenses are down, which means I can ultimately put money away and not live paycheck to paycheck.   

In January I started doing customer service/sales with Tan Physics, in which I will be celebrating my one-year anniversary next month.  I also started doing customer service for Staples through Arise in late August.  If all goes well, these two positions will be my last positions in which I will earn a hourly wage.  

In late November, I placed a brief halt on my safelist advertising to focus more on improving my website and also to build a landing page in order to build my e-mail list.  I will discuss my progress with these next month!

If you are reading this, and you are an Internet Marketer, as yourself these questions:

"What goals have I set for 2018"

"Where do I see myself one year from now?"

If you are able to answer these questions definitively, then you could be on your way to earning  a steady income online (if you're not doing so already).  For those who cannot answer these questions, I hope I am able to be an inspiration to you and get you more motivated to take action.  Better yet, if you are serious about becoming a better Internet Marketer, perhaps we can work together to make that happen.  After all, it's better to do things as a team!

In my monthly update posting, I will discuss my blueprint for becoming successful in 2018.  Until then:  

OPP Update: December 2017

Good afternoon blog readers.....and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

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We are in the midst of the 2017 Holiday season and most of are in a festive mood.  A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated Thanksgiving....then we opened up the Christmas shopping season with Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  This festive mood will carry us up to Christmas Day and it will end on New Years Day 2018.  

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Speaking of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I was rather busy on those days servicing for Staples.  As with any retail store, this is a busy time of year for Staples, which means that more people will be calling our customer service number.  For this month, my hours working Tan Physics has been reduced to 30 hours a week, which means that my Staples servicing has increased to 30+ hours a week.

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In spite of my busy schedule, I have not neglected my internet marketing goals.  Even though I haven't done any blog postings in November, there has been a change in course in my marketing efforts.  First of all, I have begun reading my newly purchased e-book, Mastering Super Affiliate Marketing, and after reading the first chapter, I have a blueprint of how I'm going to get started.  

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After signing in to my ClickBank account, I discovered that the purchase of the product I'm promoting (the MSAM e-book) earned me over $11 in sales.  In retrospect, it means that I paid a net of just over $6 for the product.  Seeing this result now gives me the desire to really promote this (and my other affiliate products) and to start earning income.  

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In a surprise move, ClickBank University gave me an offer I could not refuse.  As part of a Black Friday sale, CBU reduced their monthly fee by 75% for the first month, so you know I took advantage.  Along with reading the MSAM e-book, I will utilize the information in CBU and continue my learning.  

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My blueprint to start earning income with internet marketing starts with ME and my BRAND!  My focus now is to work on my brand, which means updating my personal website. Eventually, I will be promoting all parts of my website, which includes SFI, Math Made Easy Tutoring, and my ClickBank affliate sites.  When I find the Bitcoin opportunity I want to promote, that will also be added to my website.  Once my website is fully updated, then I will be using it to network.  My next move afterwards will be to create a squeeze page to get others into my brand.  

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With the Holidays approaching, I am not certain if I will be creating another posting covering a topic by the end of the year, but I will have a special Holiday posting around Christmas.  Until then, enjoy your Tuesday!

OPP Update: November 2017

Happy November blog readers!

Can you believe it?  The Holidays are just around the corner!  It starts with Thanksgiving, which takes us into Black Friday and the start of the Christmas shopping season.  We countdown all the way to Christmas Day, then a week later, we bring in the New Year of 2018!  

If you are an Internet Marketer,  you have 2 months of 2017 to make a difference, then carry your positive momentum into 2018, where your life can change for the better.  Nevertheless, this will be my blueprint....end 2017 with a bang, then make 2018 the best year ever financially!  

The month of October was a great one for me.  First of all, I started servicing for Staples through Arise (as mentioned in my previous posting), which is going very well at this point.  I got my first deposit, in which I worked only 8 and a half hours.  I will look forward to the full deposit I will receive later this month, in which I will have over 25 hours of pay.

As far as my internet marketing efforts, I continued to promote my 3 ventures through safelist advertising; I continued to read my Blogging For Dummies book to improve my blogging skills; finally, I decided to purchase one of the products I am promoting, which is called Mastering Super Affiliate Marketing.  

The month of November will be a busy one for me, which I will be carrying the momentum from October:

1. I will continue to service for Staples.  Last month, I got my feet wet.  This month, I will strive to become more efficient in my customer service efforts.  I will do that by studying the different procedures that I will need to provide stellar service to my customers.  Who knows?  A raise could be in the works in the future.  
2. Now that I purchased MSAM, I will begin to read, then do my best to implement the blueprint, so I can be on my way to earning an income promoting my affiliate links.
3. I will start promoting my personal website more directly, thus promoting my brand, so that other Internet Marketers or ones who show an interest in internet marketing will see what I'm all about.  
4. Slowly, I plan to get back involved with SFI.  I will use a different approach to find others who are looking for an opportunity.  
5. I will continue to seek a great opportunity involving bitcoins, so I can start earning bitcoins in my wallet.  
6. I will continue to further my education with blogging, plus begin reading other blogs relating to internet marketing.  I will also continue to read my other book, Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days.  
7. A few days ago, one of the opportunities I was promoting, $1.50 Cash Magic was shut down.  The website no longer exists.  Instead, I will begin to promote an e-book, Safelist Marketing Tactics, which I will talk about more in detail in a future posting.

I definitely have a lot on my plate this month, but that's a good thing.  My plan is to get my own place by next spring and also to eventually start earning $10k per month.  The customer service calls have dropped drastically with my Tan Physics position, so I'm using the time in between calls to promote my opportunities and to further my education.  

If you are an Internet Marketer and you are reading this posting, I hope it will inspire you to take action with your own goals.  

Have a Happy Wednesday everyone and have a Happy and Prosperous November!

Arise and Staples

Happy Wednesday blog readers:

If you have been following my journey over the past few months, you would know that I had been training for the Staples opportunity through Arise, which started in late August.  As of today, this is my third week of servicing the Staples opportunity after certification.  

During certification, I was on the phone servicing Staples customers for 2 hours (8 pm to 10 pm) each of the five days.  It was rough in the beginning, because the customers had issues that we weren't taught to resolve in training.  We were taught basic tasks like placing an order, creating a return, or viewing a status of a delivery.  We weren't prepared to handle inquiries about rebates, tax exemption or store complaints.  

Fortunately we have a knowledge base website at our disposal along with chat support.  However, these tools didn't always help when I have the customer on the line, and I'm looking for a quick solution to his/her issues.  

After 3 weeks of phone experience, I am happy to say that I feel more confident and more empowered as a Staples customer service agent.  Because of my increased knowledge of the system and policies, I can resolve a customer's issue in a quicker amount of time.  

Last week, I was able to work 21 hours, and I hope to be able to work the same amount of time this week.  So far, I am scheduled to work 16 hours, thus I am certain that more time will become available.  

This Staples opportunity with Arise along with my Tan Physics customer service position are the stepping stones to my ultimate goal of becoming a successful Internet Marketer.  I'm making the money by servicing Staples and Tan Physics customers while I continue to promote, learn and build my business ventures.  

As I mentioned in my previous posting, The 7 Essential Tasks of an Internet Marketer, if you want to start making money online as an Internet Marketer, the thing to do is to start working from home.  Working with Arise is a great way to start earning an income from home.  The Arise platform services several Fortune 500 companies.  Companies such as Staples, Comcast, Carnival, eBay, Intuit (Turbo Tax), and several others.  While you are working from home, you can use the extra time to build your internet marketing business.  

As I am typing up this posting, I am awaiting calls from Tan Physics customers.  In fact, while waiting on calls, I was able to advertise my Mister Safelist link on several safelist sites; I was able to read a few pages of my Blogging for Dummies book; finally, I was able to read the information on one of my affiliate links, Mastering Super Affiliate Marketing, which I plan to purchase tomorrow.  Yes, I'm going to purchase what I'm promoting!  If I'm going to promote a product, then I need to know something about it...not just what's on the sales page.  

That is it for today.  I hope you all have a Wonderful Wednesday!  

Internet Marketing: Why Most Internet Marketers Fail

Hello blog readers,

Last month, I discussed the Truths and Misconceptions about Internet Marketing as a whole.  Today, I want to discuss the reasons why the majority of people who strive to succeed with internet marketing, fail before they can get started.  There are many reasons why Internet Marketers fail to make a single dime with internet marketing, but the question is....who is at fault?

In my opinion, there are two culprits:  the business opportunity who is promoting their system, and the prospect, who is looking for a business opportunity to promote.  I will discuss each culprit below.

  

The Business Opportunity is at Fault

There are business opportunities out there that are seeking affiliates to promote their system.  With some businesses, you pay a fee, then you are able to promote the opportunity.  However, many of the opportunities that are on the internet ask you to "opt-in", by providing your name and e-mail address.  In order to get prospects to opt-in, some opportunities will say just about anything...perhaps even bending the truth or exaggerating on what the prospect will receive by joining their opportunity. 

After a prospect opts in, then the business will reveal more truths about their opportunity.  When a prospect discovers that the "language" used before opting in is different from the language used after opting in, the prospect is discouraged, and therefore refrains from any further relationship with that business opportunity, thus opting out from receiving further communication.

Below I will discuss some of the tactics the business opportunity uses (or doesn't use) in order to attract prospects to their system.  

Not Qualifying The Prospect

When a business opportunity is seeking affiliates to promote their business, they are merely inviting just about anyone to join...even ones who may not have the credentials to become a successful Internet Marketer.  As a result, a business will have affiliates sign up who do absolutely nothing.  

Qualifying the prospect by asking questions will indeed reduce the number of opt-ins, but the result will be a higher percentage of prospects that will actually promote the opportunity.  


Misleading the Prospect on How Much Money One Can Make

You're an Internet Marketer, and you visit a business opportunity website.  The first thing you notice is a dollar amount; $10k per month; $5k per week; $1000 in just a few days.  These are the websites that talk more about the "fruits" and less about the "labor".  When a business opportunity puts more focus on the money that can be made or the rich lifestyle you could be enjoying....rather than focusing on the business plan and how to get there, that misleads the prospect.  

Yes, prospects are drawn to the money, and for a business, it's a strategic way to get prospects to look at what they have to offer.  However, the business opportunity doesn't tell you that a lot of labor will need to be had in order to enjoy the fruits....and even then, it's not guaranteed that the prospect will make $10k per month, or it may take a couple of years to get there.  Again, the business opportunity gives you this information AFTER the prospect pays or opts in to their system.  

Businesses should focus more on the business side of things when they are seeking prospects.  If a prospect knows what is expected ahead of time, then it will be up to that prospect to decide if he/she wants to pursue the opportunity, and in turn, that prospect may actually work the it.  

Misleading the Prospect on How Easy it is to Make Money

If you, as an Internet Marketer, visit a business opportunity website, and you read the language given by the opportunity, you would think that it would be easy to make $10k per month with their system.  Again, this misleads the prospect into thinking that very little effort is needed to make money.  

No business opportunity should tell a prospect that anything is "easy", because it is not.  It takes a lot of hard work and strategic planning on the Internet Marketer's part before one earns $1000 per month or more.  It's okay for a business opportunity to say that their system is "simple" as it pertains to the opportunity itself.  Dollar amounts should not be discussed.  

Misusing the word FREE when Promoting an Opportunity

Just like the above examples, an Internet Marketer visits a business opportunity website, and the word that resonates throughout the site is FREE.  Some opportunities will lead you to believe that they can show you how to make $10k per month for free. 

The fact is, nothing is totally free.  Otherwise, the business opportunity claiming the above will not make any money.  As with any business opportunity, in order to succeed, there will be some type of investment.  That investment may be in the form of advertising/marketing fees, cost of  equipment, further education into the business, etc.  

It's okay for a business to provide free information or a free report in regards to their system, but not making false claims regarding how much money you can make.     

There are many business opportunities that use misleading tactics in order to persuade prospects to opt-in to their system.  However, using these tactics will lead a prospect to failure.  We know that a business use these tactics in order to get prospects, but if a business is not totally truthful about what they can offer before a prospect opts in, that will discourage the prospect from wanting to promote the opportunity after opting in.  

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The Prospect is at Fault

To be successful at internet marketing, it takes a lot of work and dedication, just like any other occupation.   Nonetheless, many prospects yearning to become Internet Marketers quit before they make a single penny, and thus leading them to failure.  Even those who sign up with a great business opportunity fail to make any money, because of their lack of dedication.  Below are some reasons why prospects fail at internet marketing on their own accord:

Not Having the Right Mindset

Many prospects who are looking to become Internet Marketers don't have the right mindset. To earn a decent income with internet marketing, one must be fully committed to the task.  That means that one has to BELIEVE he or she is an Internet Marketer.  

To become a successful Internet Marketer, one will need to make a life adjustment to accommodate 
the time needed to promote the new business venture.  Unfortunately, many new Internet Marketers are not willing to make the needed adjustments to accommodate this new venture.  Just the same, many feel they can spend perhaps an hour or two a week promoting their venture, and when no prospects come their way, they quit.  

Believe that you're an Internet Marketer; think like an Internet Marketer; plan your marketing strategies like an Internet Marketer, and you can achieve like a successful Internet Marketer.

It's All About the Money

The fact is, many prospects are drawn to the potential of making a lot money with internet marketing, which is probably the main reason why many who strive to become Internet Marketers fail.  Many prospects focus on the fruits, or the money and lavish lifestyle that a successful Internet Marketer enjoys.  To reach the plateau of the successful Internet Marketer, one will need to put in the work, or the labor.  

To start earning a massive income, new Internet Marketers will need to spend months promoting their brand and their business ventures, and to keep it consistent.   Unfortunately, many who get started don't finish, because they don't see the money right away.  Nevertheless, Internet Marketers who are in it just for the money are destined to fail.    

Not Educating Oneself

As with any other business venture, there's quite a bit of information to learn if one is to be successful at internet marketing.  New Internet Marketers must learn the different methods of marketing, such as e-mail marketing, SEO Optimization or using social media for marketing. New Internet Marketers will also need to start building business relationships in order to grow their business.  However, new marketers don't take the time to learn and apply the different techniques needed to grow their business. There's more to promoting a business than just showing others a link to your website.  

Fortunately, there are many books, e-books, articles, blogs and other material available for the Internet Marketer to learn about different marketing techniques.  Become a student of internet marketing, apply what you have learned, and the results will come in time.  

Not Fully Committing Oneself to Marketing 

As an Internet Marketer, you must promote your brand, your product/service, and/or your affiliate link DAILY in order to be successful.  Many Internet Marketers fail because they have yet to grasp the concept of marketing their business on a daily basis.   

Not Persevering

Many new Internet Marketers get discouraged, because they are promoting their business and not seeing the fruits of their efforts.  The thing is, many Internet Marketers who are successful today will tell you that it took them months...perhaps even a couple of years, before they started making any serious money online.  The keyword here is PERSEVERANCE.   One must continue to market and promote his/her business, even when things appear bleak.  Sometimes a prospect will need to see your offer many times before he/she acts on it.

Many of us want to live the lavish lifestyle that becoming an successful Internet Marketer brings.  However, many of us tend to quit before reaching that plateau.  Becoming a successful Internet Marketer is just like any other occupation.  You have to be fully committed to doing the work needed to become successful; which means learning the different methods of marketing, then apply what you have learned to promote your brand and your business on a daily basis.  

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So the question is....why do most Internet Marketers fail?  Yes, there are business opportunities that tend to mislead prospects into thinking they can make a lot of money with little effort.  However, it is up to that prospect to educate him or herself about internet marketing in general and seek out the legitimate business opportunities.  Once the prospect find that good business opportunity, he/she needs to do the work to make it successful.  My final answer....it's the prospect that is ultimately responsible for his or her destiny.  

Before I conclude with this posting, I want to give you an example of a business opportunity that does not mislead the prospect, and it does not claim how much money you can make.  All it claims is that you can "grow a second income".  All of what you need to know to make a decision about whether to promote this business is listed on the page.  Click HERE to take a look at this opportunity.      

That concludes this posting.  If you are an Internet Marketer reading this, I hope it was enlightening for you.  Also, I hope it will help you to take action with your marketing efforts.  

Have a good day blog readers!

OPP Update: October 2017

Good afternoon blog readers:

If the year of 2017 were a football game, we have just entered the 4th Quarter!  Yes blog readers, we are 3 months away from 2018!  

In the month of September, I was training for my new Customer Service position with Staples, which is a good thing, because once I start taking calls, I will have an additional source of income.  However, my internet marketing efforts have been minimum at best this month.  I did promote my PIF43, $1.50 Cash Magic and Mister Safelist ventures a few times in September, but it wasn't enough.  

One area that I did gain knowledge is with the Bitcoin revolution.  Even though I have yet to get a full grasp of it, I do have a better understanding of how it works.  I have a Bitcoin wallet to acquire Bitcoins, and soon, I will be looking into this one business opportunity in which I can start earning Bitcoins.  

This week, I am in certification with the Staples Customer Service position, which means that from 8-10 pm EDT, today through Thursday, I will be taking calls from Staples customers.  Starting next Monday, assuming that I pass certification, I will fully be into my role as a Staples Customer Service Agent.  Even though I was only able to schedule 7.5 hours for next week, the following week, I will schedule to work at least 25 hours, which will be in addition to the 37 hours I will be working as a Tan Physics Customer Service Agent.  My goal in this regard is to earn at least $600 per week.  

Now that the training for the Staples position is over, I will resume my advertising, blogging and education as an Internet Marketer.  By the end of the year, my plan is to start earning some kind of revenue with my ClickBank affiliate links, and to acquire my secured credit card, so I can start selling on eBay again.  

With the above efforts, my goal is to move back into my own apartment by next spring.  It's time to go to work!

My next posting, Internet Marketing:  Why Most Internet Marketers Fail, will be posted later this month.  

Have a great October blog readers!

Internet Marketing: Truths and Misconceptions

Good morning blog readers,

In the last posting, I discussed the 7 Essential Steps that an Internet Marketer will need to take to be successful in this business.   In this posting, I want to discuss some of the misconceptions you may hear about Internet Marketing, and the truths about each of these misconceptions. Before I get into these misconceptions, I will illustrate an example of a misconception that I faced years ago when I was looking for a business opportunity.

The year was 1987, and I was a sophomore at Howard University in Washington, DC.  At the time, my mother was paying my tuition, plus I was receiving financial aid.  I know it was hard on my mother to pay for my college education, so I wanted to find a way to help her with those expenses. After all, I wanted to be responsible for my own college education.  

I am not able to remember where I saw the opportunity, but it was an ad that says MAKE MONEY BY STUFFING ENVELOPES.  Of course at the time, the Internet was not available to the general public, so I had to send for the information, which was mailed to me.  When I received it, I start reading the possibilities, and I got excited about it.  I remembered some of the things that were mentioned in the letter:

First, it began to tell you how easy it is to make money stuffing envelopes, and to get paid for it. Secondly, it would ask how many envelopes you would I like to stuff per month.  It asked, HOW MANY ENVELOPES CAN YOU STUFF PER MONTH?  10?  50?  100?  300?  Reading this, I was getting excited.  Yes, I can stuff 300 or more.  

The next thing that the letter focused on is the amount of money you can make.  I don't exactly remember the amount, but the amount was in the ballpark of $5k to $10k per month.  

The bottom line is.....the letter focused on how much much you can make, which would get anyone excited about signing up.  At the end of the letter, there was a price of about $24.95, which you would have to pay in order to start stuffing envelopes.  I paid the fee, then sent off my order form.  I was thinking to myself...not only will I be able to pay for my own college expenses, but I will be able to do some Christmas shopping during the holiday season.  

When I got the report and I read it, my excitement suddenly turned to disappointment.  After reading this report, I found out that I had to place ads in order to solicit others who want to stuff envelopes, then I would have to send interested parties the same letter I received previously.  In the report, it was suggested to place an ad in the National Inquirer.  When I bought the National Inquirer, you wouldn't believe how many STUFFING ENVELOPES ads I saw.   There were HUNDREDS of ads.  UGGHHH!!!!!

The stuffing envelope scheme was an example of a chain letter scam.  Such tactics would be illegal in this day and age, but at that time, you had quite a few of these business scams. Deception is the name of the game with these opportunities.  You convince whomever is reading your letter how much money they can make without discussing the details, put a price on it, and after the prospects pay, you tell the truth about what is offered. Unfortunately, many business opportunities today use the same tatics.  Many of them tell you what you want to hear as far as making a lot of money, and they tell you how easy it is to make that money.  After you pay the fee, or opt in to receive e-mails, you get the truth about the opportunity.  In my opinion, this deception is one of the reasons why many people who want to become Internet Marketers fail before they can get started.  When a person who is striving to become his/her own boss comes across a business opportunity that deceives them, thus saying one thing, then after you pay or opt in, saying something else, that can be discouraging.  

If you are reading this posting, and you are striving to become an Internet Marketer, let me clear up a few misconceptions you may hear about Internet Marketing, and the truths that follow.  

MISCONCEPTION #1:  YOU CAN MAKE MONEY OVERNIGHT

The Misconception:  This is probably the number one misconception one hears about Internet Marketing.  Believe it or not, there are business opportunities out there that claim that you can make money "overnight".  When they say this, they don't mean that you can literally make money overnight, but you can make it quickly.    

The Truth:  There are several ways you can make money overnight:  1)  winning the lottery, 2) winning big at the casinos, 3)  winning by betting on sports, and 4)  Obtaining money from an inheritance.  As far as making money overnight in Internet Marketing, it just doesn't happen.   No one goes from rags to riches overnight with Internet Marketing.  The truth is, making money as an Internet Marketer is a slow and methodical process.  Even our most prominent Internet Marketers will tell you that it took months, perhaps years before they even made any serious cash.  

MISCONCEPTION #2:  YOU CANNOT MAKE MONEY ONLINE

The Misconception:  Before the Internet was available to the public, there were a lot of pyramid schemes and business practices that would be illegal today.  Just the same, many people believe that most of the business opportunities online are not legitimate, thus making money online is nothing more than a fantasy.  

The Truth:  There are legitimate business opportunities online that can provide a nice income for you.  As with any business venture, whether it's online or otherwise, there are procedures you must follow (as illustrated in my previous posting) if you want to be successful.  In other words, you must treat your online business as you would any mom-and-pop store; you will have to work!  With time, (and with a little investment), you can make a substantial income online for yourself.   

MISCONCEPTION #3:  FREE...FREE...EVERYTHING'S FREE!!!!

The Misconception:  When it comes to Internet Marketing, the one word you will see with most business opportunities is the word FREE.  Some of these opportunities will claim that they can help you make money online, and they can do it for free.  

The Truth:  You will not be able to make $10k per month with something you received absolutely free. Many of these business opportunities will tell you that you can make a substantial income without coming out of your pocket, but only after you "opt in" (which means you signed in to receive future e-mails from them), you will then receive e-mails in which they will "upsell" to persuade you to buy in order to make money with the opportunity.  The fact is, no business opportunity will make money by giving you something 100% free.   Think about it.  If you could earn $10k a month without spending a dime of your money, then there would be more successful Internet Marketers in the business.  

MISCONCEPTION #4:  "YOU CAN MAKE $1000 IN JUST 7 DAYS"

The Misconception:  You've probably seen opportunities that claim that you can make a certain amount of money within a certain amount of time.  Personally, I have seen videos in which people claim that they made over $1000 in one week after starting the opportunity.  

The Truth:  It may be possible for a seasoned Internet Marketer, who already has already built a business relationship with a large number of people (i.e. a large opt in list) to start a new business opportunity and rake in at least a thousand dollars in a week.  It could be possible to make that amount of money if you pay a lot of $$$ for advertising.  In general, no one, and I mean NO ONE who is inexperienced in Internet Marketing will be able to generate that amount of cash in their first 7 days of promoting the business.  The fact to the matter is, many of these business opportunities tend to exaggerate the earnings to persuade you to sign up.  Any legitimate business should be telling you more about the opportunity and less about the money you could make.  

MISCONCEPTION #5:  "IT IS SO SIMPLE, EVEN A TEN-YEAR OLD CAN DO IT"

The Misconception:  When a business opportunity says a ten-year old can work the business, this is telling you that you don't have to put in a lot of effort to make money.    

The Truth:  If this statement were true, there would be far more Internet Marketers out there making a substantial income online.  If a business opportunity was that simple, you wouldn't have to go to college for 4 years to work for a Bachelor's Degree.  All you would have to do is to promote this business to make money.  The truth is, no business opportunity is "simple".  You still will have to devote a lot of time and effort (and/or money) to make it work for you.    

MISCONCEPTION #6:  "YOUR WEBSITE WILL BE SEEN BY THOUSANDS"

The Misconception:  There are systems out there that claim they can help you receive a lot of traffic to your website or affiliate link.  

The Truth:  This is another exaggeration to get you to opt in or buy into their system.  What they don't tell you is that in order to get thousands of views to your website, you will have to pay...and even when you pay, it's not guaranteed that you will that many views on your website.  Also, the views that you may get could be from other Internet Marketers who are looking to promote their website or affiliate link.  

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Many of these business opportunities and systems will exaggerate or deceive you with their offers in order to get you to pay or opt in to their program.  As an Internet Marketer, you should be aware that nothing will come easy as far as building your business to earnings of $5k or more per month.  As with any business opportunity, you will have to earn your way to success. With the right tools, you will be successful.  

In a future posting, I will give you my analysis on why the majority of Internet Marketers fail to make a single penny online.  Until then, have a great weekend!  

OPP Update: September 2017

Happy Labor Day Weekend blog readers:

I hope you are all enjoying your Labor Day weekend (for the USA readers).  For everyone else, I hope all is well in your world.  For me, it's business as usual.  A week from today, I will be celebrating my 50th birthday.  How is that for a milestone?  

I don't have much to say in this posting.  Not much has changed as far as my progression with growing as an Internet Marketer.  In August, I continued to promote my 3 ventures:

• PIF43
• $1.50 Cash Magic
• Mister Safelist

Each week, I am adding referrals to each of these programs, which is a plus.  In my next OPP update, I will provide the number of referrals I have in each of these programs.  

Even though I have been advertising my ventures, much of my thought and preparation in August have been with the new Customer Service position I started training for with Arise. When the training is over, I will be providing customer service and sales for Staples.  Even though I have been training for only 4 days at this point, it's so far, so good.  I will be in training for this position all this month, and in October, I will be live on the phones.  

Over the last month, I have been setting up my work station, thus preparing for this position. For one, instead of connecting to the Internet via WiFi (through my brother's router), I had to purchase my own internet service.  Later this month, I will have telephone service.  I bought one of these fancy telephones with a headset from Amazon.com.  

I will be receiving my customer service/sales calls from this phone once I start working.  Finally, I will need to set up dual monitors to make my customer service job easier.  I'll probably use my first pay from the Staples position to purchase another monitor.  

I am so excited about training for this position, because once I start working, I will have secured my second source of income.  My plan is to work 60 hours a week between the Tan Physics and Staples customer service positions, which will bring me at least $600 a week. Finally, I will have more control of my finances, and I can start saving my money so I can eventually move back into my own place.  

As far as my growth with Internet Marketing, I will continue to move forward.  Even though the process is a slow one, it's a steady one.  With the second source of income coming in October, I will get a secured credit card of $200 to use with selling items on eBay.  My proceeds from my eBay sales will be used to increase the credit limit on my secured credit card, so I can sell more items.  More about this in another posting.  I also plan to use social media to promote my ClickBank affiliate programs.  I also plan to purchase some of these programs so I will have better knowledge of what I'm promoting.  

Sometime this week, I will submitting my posting about the truths and misconceptions about Internet Marketing.  It will be a must read for those who are novices in the Internet Marketing field.  I need to make the final touches on it before I post it.  

As you can see, I am making very little money with my Internet Marketing efforts, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to give up my dream of making at least $5k a month.  It will take time before I start seeing the fruits of my labor.  I will discuss this matter in my next posting, thus giving you the truth about Internet Marketing.  

Have a good Labor Day (USA only) blog readers!!!!!

7 Essential Tasks of an Internet Marketer

Hello blog readers,

It is amazing how fast these days are going by.  Preseason football is here (GO COWBOYS!), kids will be going back to school in a few weeks, and next month, I celebrate my 50th birthday! Life is good!   

So...you made the decision that you want a better life for yourself.  A life where YOU control your own destiny; a life where YOU decide when to work and when to play; a life where money (or lack thereof) is no longer an issue.  To reach that goal of financial independence, you decided to become an INTERNET MARKETER.  Thus, you are ready to earn a 5, 6 or even a 7-digit income online.  

As I mentioned in my last posting, I want to talk about what it takes to become a successful Internet Marketer.  Listed below are 7 essential tasks that I feel are necessary to start earning a substantial income online.  If you exclude one of these tasks from your game plan, you are likely to fail as an Internet Marketer.  Let us review the tasks below: 

1:  Establish a Mindset for Internet Marketing 

You have made the decision to become an Internet Marketer.  That's great!!!  Now you will need to establish the mindset of one.  

To become a successful Internet Marketer, you will need to BELIEVE that you are indeed an Internet Marketer.  You need to wake up with that mindset and to go to sleep thinking the same. Create a mindset that this is now your part-time job, and you are in training.  Once you start to think that way, it will be easy to get into the habit.  

If you have not done so already, start reading self-help books to boost your confidence.  You can also talk to a mentor; someone who is a successful Internet Marketer, to give you pointers on how to succeed.   

It is essential to have a positive mindset, so you can start performing the other tasks you will need to become successful at internet marketing.  Without a positive mindset, your heart will not be into it, and you will fail before you even get started.  


2:  Find a Business Opportunity 

Now that you have the mindset of a successful Internet Marketer,  you want to find that business opportunity that is going to earn you income.  

For many people who are just getting started into Internet Marketing, your best bet is to become an AFFILIATE, which is someone who promotes a company's website or sells a company's products.  As an affiliate, you get paid a percentage of the sales that you make from selling the product, or if you are involved in the company as a whole, you also earn commission from people you referred to the company.  

If you don't want to sell someone else's products or promote someone else's website, then you can sell your own products or services.  Of course, you need to use your mind to come up with a product or service that will sell on the internet.

Whether you become an affiliate for another business or you promote your own business, you want to find an opportunity that:

1. you have some knowledge of the products or services rendered
2. you will enjoy promoting

Such is called a niche, which means a comfortable or suitable position in life or employment. For instance, if you have an interest in health and wellness products, then that is the type of business you want to promote.  Having a passion for that type of product will be easier to talk to others about, which will give you a boost in sales.  Nonetheless, it would be very difficult for you to promote a product that you have no interest in whatsoever.  

Many individuals who become Internet Marketers will want to use business as their niche, which is fine. However, when promoting your service, discuss more about the aspects and benefits of the business and less about the money.  Many business opportunities tend to focus solely on how much money you can make, which is a no-no!  If the business opportunity is a good one, and you promote it well, the money will come.  

Whether you sell someone else's product or service, or you create your own,  you want to make sure that you know your product/service very well, so you can communicate it to others and make sales.



3:  Work From Home 

You now have your new business opportunity that will eventually become your main source of income.  Thus it is time to learn the opportunity, then promote it.  In the beginning, you will want to spend as much time possible learning your business opportunity and how you plan to promote it.  If you are working 40 or more hours a week on a 9-to-5 job, you've lost those 40 hours a week to work on your business.  You may be able to use the time after work to work on your business, but after a long day of work, you may be tired, or you may have family obligations.  The point is, it would be very difficult to find the time to learn and promote any business when you're working 40+ hours a week.  A great solution to this problem is to work from home.

When working from home, you may lose your benefits, such as medical or discontinued contributions to your retirement and you may lose wages (those are temporary setbacks). However, there are many more benefits to working from home:

1. No commuting to and from work
2. No expenses on clothing
3. Working in whatever clothing you feel appropriate
4. Set your own hours
5. Save on gasoline
6. Less wear and tear on your automobile

There are many companies that seek work-from-home agents: Sitel, Working Solutions, NexRep and Arise just to name a few.  You can also work as a freelancer through Upwork.   All you will need is a desktop computer, a modem and a USB headset.

In regards to your new business, working from home is a good thing, because, for one, you will get your first taste of working from home.  Secondly, when you are working at your desk as an agent, you may have some downtime between calls.  You can use that time to learn and promote your business.  There will be no boss to tell you to "put it away", because as an agent, you are your own boss!

As you start to generate income from your business, you can afford to work less hours as an agent, and devote more time to your business.  In time, the business income will be enough where you can leave the work-from-home agent position altogether.  Furthermore, the transition will be smooth, because you are already working from home.  

Consider working from home as an agent.  You can earn an income working from home while you build your Internet Marketing business.  Eventually, your Internet Marketing business will become your main source of income.  

4:  Educate Yourself 

Have you ever heard of the phrase, KNOWLEDGE IS POWER?  This phrase is true in every way.  

If you want to become a successful Internet Marketer, you will need to learn EVERYTHING about internet marketing.  As you further your education in the subject, you will hear different terms like funnel system, autoresponder, advertising on autopilot, and SEO, which stands for search engine optimization. 

There are a plethora of books, e-books, articles, forum discussions and blog posts on the subject of internet marketing and all its parts.  READ IT....LEARN IT....and APPLY IT!

5:  Advertise 

This task is the most important task as far as taking action.  You have the business opportunity that you want to promote.  Now it is time for the world to know what you have to offer.  You may have a great product or service, but if you don't advertise, no one will know what you have, and therefore, you will fail as an Internet Marketer.    

Basically, there are two ways to advertise your business.  One, you can go the free route and promote your business in places like free classifieds, social media and safelists.  The second way is to pay for advertising (solo ads), which will give you better results.  Either way you advertise your business, you want to get as many people looking at your offer (here's another term....traffic) as possible.  

The one thing you need to know about advertising is this; don't expect to receive responses to your offer with just one posting.  Remember.  You are in competition with thousands of others, and most people need to see your offer dozens of times before they decide to buy.  The key is to stay consistent with your advertising.  Also, you want to consider the different ways of advertising.  Don't just advertise your business in only classifieds and safelists.  Expand by doing a YouTube video promoting your offer, or start a blog (like this one...smile).

Remember to stay consistent with your advertising.  The more places you advertise your business, the more traffic you will receive, and that can lead to sales.


6:  Build Business Relationships 

Advertising your business blindly in different places can be beneficial to a degree.  You may get a few sales.  However, your chances of making a 5 or 6-digit income online would be very, very low if you use this method of advertising.

The fact is, no one wants to buy from a stranger.  You can place your ads out in several places, several times, but the results may be modest at best.  That's because the people looking at your offer don't know you personally.  Ask yourself; "would I buy a product from a perfect stranger?"  For most of us, the answer is "no".  If you want to take your advertising to the next level, instead of promoting your business, promote yourself, thus BUILD YOUR BRAND.

When you promote yourself, and your brand, people who visit your advertisement are getting to know who you are as a person, and that is essential to building business relationships.   Instead of promoting your offers directly, give away something of value for free to individuals who "opt-in" for it.  Once that person opts in to get your free gift, then you have built that relationship.  Now you can offer your business services to these people.  This is a form of e-mail advertising.

Imagine building a list of 5000 people who have opted in to receive your e-mails. Now you can promote your business and get more buyers, because these people are familiar with what you have to offer.  Once you create this list, you want to add value to the relationship by giving advice and giving away free stuff in addition to promoting to them.  This one task is the difference between the Internet Marketers who are now millionaires and the ones who don't have a single sale.  

By creating your brand (promoting yourself), people are more likely to listen to you.  See where having a knowledge of internet marketing can help you here?  If you know what you are talking about, people will listen, then they will buy!

7:  Persevere 

This task is where the majority of people who are striving to become Internet Marketers fail. When we are promoting a business opportunity, we are looking to get fast results, and when that doesn't happen, we want to quit, and the dream dies.  

Keep this in mind; you are promoting your offers.  So are thousands of others.  You are in competition with many others.  If people are seeing your offer, more than likely they are seeing others as well.  What you should do to stand out is to do something that will have people looking at your offer.  Be creative!

The ones who continue to advertise their websites are the ones who will get the sale.  When you are first starting out, it could take months before you start seeing some real results.  If you believe in your product or service, and you feel that others will benefit, you have to persevere and continue to promote your services, even though it may feel that no one is noticing. Sometimes, a person has to see the offer many, many times before deciding to buy.  

These are the 7 Essential tasks of an Internet Marketer.  Of course, performing these tasks will not guarantee great results.  However, if you continue to push the envelope and find new ways to implement each of these tasks, in time, your will reap what you sow.  

Think about what you want in life and use that to motivate you in this quest.  You may want a new car; a nice house; the ability to travel; whatever!  For me, I want it all, but for my immediate goals, I want my own place and to play The Legend of Zelda:  Breath of the Wild on a brand new 55" 4K HDTV!

In my next posting, I will discuss the truths and the misconceptions about Internet Marketing in general, so you can get the upper hand on what to expect.