Author Archive

Online Business How To From The Couple Next Door

Monday, August 16th, 2010

In my first article, I told you about some of our background in starting an internet business. We have sold homeschool curriculum, eBooks, and home-study courses built around online business how to tips. And we have learned a lot about the intnert through both our success and failures.

The first eBook we ever sold, my wife wrote. It is called Raising Leaders, Not Followers. Basically it was an eBook designed specifically for homeschoolers, teaching them how to raise their kids for leadership positions. My wife approached me with the idea, and I said, “Honey, it is not really a barn-burning topic. I just do not know that you are going to make any money with it.” Well, she proved me wrong. She sold $11,197 the first 19 days. How is that for internet marketing 101?

So not bad for a our first eBook product. So then she came right behind it with a book for Christmas. And she said, “Honey, I am thinking about doing an eBook on preparing your heart for Christmas because everyone runs up on the day and they are just demoralized. Christmas comes and goes, and people are not really prepared. After they tear open their gifts, people are like, what do we do next?”

I said, “That is a wonderful idea, but with all the free stuff on the internet for Christmas, I do not see how you are going to sell anything. You got lucky with the first one. That was a fluke. But this one, you would be lucky to sell 5 copies.” I was a very supportive husband, right? Well, she proved me wrong again. She sold over $2,200 the first month with that Christmas book. Imagine getting a $2,200 Christmas bonus every year. That is what we do. My wife created it 3 or 4 years ago. We roll it out every Christmas, and every Christmas, we get a $2200 to $2500 bonus.

You see the principle here? Well, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, I will be the first to admit. But when I saw my wife do these two things, I thought, I can do it myself. And I got my chance to start an internet business pretty quickly.

I had a red pickup truck. It was a Ford F150. My daughter had taken it to high school. She was playing softball with the high school. And all of a sudden, her teammates were screaming, “Gentry, your truck is on fire!” She looks up. There were flames going 20 feet high out from under the hood.

As it happens, there was a faulty cruise control switch that was a recall item from Ford. So after we got the fire put out, the truck was a total loss. The guy told me,”There’s a recall notice on this.” I called Ford, and they said, “We sent the recall notice to Texas.” I said, “Thank you, but I am in Idaho in seminary.” But they refused responsibility. I was so upset.

I decided to start an online business, so I put up a little website that said, “My truck caught on fire.” I had pictures of the truck, and I opened up the hood and showed how all the engine compartment was burned up and all the wires were burned up. I said, “Why don’t you help me while I help you? I’m going to give you all this free internet marketing stuff. Graphics package. Some software. eBooks. Marketing tips.” All this stuff I had compiled and got free off the internet. I compiled it into a product and sold it for like $47. And I made $5,470 in the first 9 days.

I am serious. If I can succeed on the internet, you can, too. You do not need a degree in business. All it takes is a little online business how to, and you will see your business skyrocket.

Stephen Beck can teach you online business set up steps and how to make your first $1000 online. Go get a FREE link to his webinar replay, where Stephen shows you exactly what you should do: http://www.youronlinebasics.com/go.html.

Affiliate Sales – Your Key To Learning Internet Marketing

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Although I have been an entrepreneur for a long time, I have seen the most success in my business since learning internet marketing. From my experience, one quick way to make money on the internet is through affiliate sales.

Before you discount this as a good option, let me outline a simple way to approach this idea. From my experience, you can begin generating cash flow this week so that you can afford domain names and outsourcing some of the details of your business. For example, you could outsource email, article marketing, and webinar setup just to name a few.

There are five keys to affiliate sales, and the first key is to find something to recommend. It should be something inexpensive that you can comfortably recommend to others. You don’t want to recommend a big ticket item right away, but instead start out small and build up to it. You want your list to trust you and rely on your recommendations. Look at the sales page for that product, and you will be able to tell whether or not it is appealing.

The second key is to know what issues your list is looking to be solved. What I am trying to say is to figure out the problems your readers are dealing with and how you can help them. For the answers, I usually go to niche-related sites, forums, or even social networking sites to see if I can find the answer. When I am willing to do this extra bit of research, I end up with more sales because I understand where my readers are coming from.

The third key to affiliate sales is to write a recommendation. Let me give you a sample outline. When you write a recommendation for an affiliate product, be sure to include the following: what does it do, how does it benefit the reader, how does it compare with similar products, what did you like about it, what did you not like about it, and what is your overall ranking? You can then post your review on your blog or other website, but the whole point is to make sure it is on your site with your affiliate link and then drive traffic to your review.

The fourth key is to spread the word about your recommendation. Again, your blog or website is important. If you do not have a blog, I recommend Wordpress or blogger. You can also send an email to the contacts in your personal or business account. They will be interested to hear about your recommendation.

The last key to affiliate sales is to utilize search engine optimization (SEO). You want to use the keywords in your recommendation that people are actually entering into Google. These will be “buyer” keywords, not just general keywords. Using the “buyer” keywords will boost your post and get your more traffic and eventually more sales.

Affiliate sales can be a quick way to get your feet wet and generate cash flow quickly. Give these steps a try and see your bank account grow.

Would you like to learn internet marketing basics? Stephen Beck is an expert, and he can teach you how to make your first $1000 online. Geta FREE link to his webinar replay, where he explains exactly what you should do: http://www.YourOnlineBasics.com.