If you've done any searching for ways to make money online, I'm sure you've come across plenty of dodgy sounding offers. While new scammers and new scams are popping up all the time, I'm going to list a few of the more well known scams around. A nice rule of thumb: If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
. Envelope Stuffing and Craft assembly. This scam has been around longer than the internet, but it still manages to lure people in. You have to pay to join the company and you "make money" by filling envelopes, or creating some sort of craft thing. However, in the case of crafts, your item has to pass "quality tests" before you are paid. And in most cases, no matter what you do, you are very rarely paid anything. Stay right away from these "home based business opportunities".
. Anything that promises high and quick returns. It's the classic get rich quick scheme. You invest some money and are promised that it will grow in a very short time frame. Well, this is usually a pyramid scheme and you are pretty much guaranteed to lose all your money. This is not to say that all of these methods will fail, but they are very risky. You are much better off creating a legitimate business than gambling your money with these schemes.
. Survey companies that promise to pay you hundreds of dollars per hour just for taking surveys. You always have to pay money to be able to take the surveys, so the company makes a lot of money, but they're about the only ones. What you'll usually find is that you may get paid for taking surveys, but maybe youll get 15 or 20 cents, rather than the $30 you were promised. Perhaps there are some legitimate companies out there, but more often than not, youre going to get burned.
Internet Marketing Basics
Legitimate Online Business Opportunities
If you do some searching for terms like "work at home opportunities" or "make money online", you'll find all sorts of different methods and schemes. I'm sure you'll believe me when I say that the majority of these are scams. If you are looking to make money on the internet, you need to focus on creating your own online business. And there are several ways of doing this.
You can:
. Sell stuff on ebay. This is probably the most well known of all online businesses.
Thousands of people are making great incomes, just by selling stuff on ebay. While this
is a legitimate business, there are easier ways to get started online.
. Create your own informational products. Many multi-millionaires have been created by selling their own products. Is it easy to create your own ebook or CD? Definitely, if you're creating a crap product! And is it easy to market that same ebook or CD to make millions? Definitely NOT. For someone starting out in the world of internet marketing, the learning curve is just too great. If you don't believe me, think about how you would go about selling your own book. If you have to actually think about it, then this isn't for you.
Yet But the easiest way to make money online is to:
Sell other peoples stuff! This is known as "Affiliate Marketing" and is the focus of this book.
It is the easiest way for a newcomer to make money online. As an affiliate marketer, all you
have to do is sell other peoples products. And when you do, you get a cut! The percentage of
the sale usually varies from 35%-75%, but some affiliates will give you 200%, because they
know they can make even more money out of that customer that you sent to them.
So, forget about ebay, forget about creating your own products. With affiliate marketing, you don't have to worry about product creation. You don't have to deal with customer support, you don't have to deal with wholesalers or worry about where you're going to store your stuff. All you have to do is send people to your merchant's sites (The person who owns the product is called a merchant) and sit back and collect the payment cheques that will be rushed to you every two weeks or so. How do you go about doing this? Well, that's what the aim of this book is. To get you up and running as smoothly as possible. And remember, I am here to help, so if you are stuck on anything, contact me through my website.