My Blog

Unrealistic Expectations

MaggieMae — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:26:16 GMT

i am proud of what I do, and I try to be honest with everyone. I firmly believe that you can earn extra income taking surveys and build a home business from network marketing. I am doing it by following instructions, and taking consistent focused action. Is it not always easy or always fun, no, its work plain and simple. My affiliates are often surprised when I tell them how much study and work is involved in network or internet marketing and that it involves sales. Business is sales. You sell yourself when you apply for a job and you continue to sell yourself to your employer every day. If not, that job doesn’t last long. I know that people are looking for easy fast income and it doesn’t exist. We all have to take the time to acquire the necessary knowledge and take consistent action. Then like any business, it takes some investment and time, though not anything like a bricks and mortar business. Some years ago my husband and I took our life savings and invested the whole of it in a business. We succeeded because we worked hard, knew our stuff and nothing unforeseen happened. My experience with Internet marketing doesn’t even come close to that experience. The risks and investment for a typical work at home business are minuscule compared to a traditional business. If I can learn how to use a web building program and enough html to build websites at the age of 65, then I figure anyone could do it if they just worked hard. On top of that I spent the winter in Mexico and at times didn’t have wifi. I’m not an expert or very creative, but I have a profitable website thanks to a program developed by a very successful marketer with SFI. I’m involved with three programs that do have the potential to build full time income, but not overnight. SFI – network marketing firm in business since 1998 which has a number of income streams and many products and services Top Online Profits (Tops) – Learn to build your own marketing website, with instruction and the help of the forum moderators LeadersClub – Invaluable Sales training. These three programs fit together well. They all have top notch resources and training. They are not free, but not out of reach for the serious minded marketer. Their programs work, if followed. One of the programs I have been promoting to my affiliates with little success so far has been SFI’s merchant services, because it involves contacting merchants directly for referrals to Bridge Business Solutions (BBS) for installation of debit/credit card processing units. No money to collect and no actual sale to close. The only reason I can think of for their reluctance to promote the program is fear of rejection; people just don’t want to ask for business. Not all work at home businesses need to be on the internet. Some of the ones that have the most potential combine person to person contact with internet marketing. The more connected you are with your customer or affiliate, the more satisfying the experience for all. Have you ever compared the shopping experience in a huge box store with the shopping experience in a small shop or boutique? I do shop at the big box stores when I go to a city, but I prefer the personal attention and service in a small shop. Why do you think that Avon or Mary Kay Cosmetics are still popular? If I didn’t live in the British Columbia Mountains in the summer and a remote seaside fishing village in Mexico during winter, I would be out personally contacting merchants for referrals. On a personal note, in 1967, a friend introduced me to a new product. It consisted of four containers of skin creams and treatments. I purchased the product, but decided not to promote it because I thought it would dishonest of me to claim that my complexion was a result of the skin treatments. I always had good skin. The lady that developed that product was Mary Kay. If I had started with Mary Kay then, and continued through the years, I would have had one of those pink caddies a long time ago. . This business is all about our human nature; our needs, desires and fears. As marketers, we have to learn to structure our marketing strategies to meet those needs and overcome fears. About the Author: Maggie Eslinger, a somewhat retired pensioner Top Home Jobs Directory and Work at Home and Home Business Guide

CATCH the Agloco Wave

MaggieMae — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:19:02 GMT

I recently listened to an interview on the David Lawrence radio show with one of the developers of the AGLOCO network. These guys paid out millions to people in their first venture a few years back. It failed because the bottom dropped out of the advertising market and price per 1000 ads dropped to a point where they could no longer continue. Now they're back....... and the ad business is booming. I think it's time to get on board and start promoting the AGLOCO Toolbar. You can turn it off and I have done so when doing online banking and etc. This is a win, win for anyone. You are constantly being bombarded with ads when you do searches or use your email accounts. Why not join up and earn a few bucks. For more info vist: http://hotshorturl.com/js34

Travelling in Alberta and I'm Still Cold

MaggieMae — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:19:58 GMT

It's beautiful, lush and green. The reason for that is all the rain, lightning and wild weather. Anyway, still slogging away on my laptop. I am looking forward to returning home to Beautiful B. C. We are hoping to stay in one spot for at least three months before we head back to Mexico for the winter months.

So You Want to Work Online!

MaggieMae — Sat, 26 May 2007 17:41:01 GMT

Read this before you spend your time, energy and money. Before you begin to consider money making work at home opportunities, you have to answer some very basic questions: How much time do I have to devote to an enterprise? You have to be realistic. If you are working full time, have small children at home or have physical limitations, your time may be limited. What skills or knowledge do I have? The answer to this question has a direct bearing on the time you will have available. If you have excellent typing skills, good language skills or specialized knowledge it may take you less time to get an enterprise up and earning income. If you lack some skills, it will take longer. There are opportunities online for people who are fluent in more than one language, have good communication skills for telephone work, writing and editing, data transcription and etc. Be sure to consider your hobbies. You may have the information and experience necessary to create the content for a successful niche website. Do I have the appropriate equipment? Do you need a faster internet connection, newer computer or printer/fax/scanner? What computer programs will you need to acquire or purchase. (Many very useful programs are freeware or open source like FileZilla, NVU, Wordpress or the Firefox Browser) What kind of work or business would I feel good about? You have to be proud of your work so if you are not comfortable in a direct sales position, don’t go there. If you want to go into internet marketing or become a virtual assistant, but don’t know much about it, don’t let that deter you. Just get online and go get the knowledge you need. All it takes is perseverance and time. You will need to believe in the service you provide or product you market. Don’t try unless you can be passionate about your work. Even in regular 9 – 5 jobs, you can’t be truly successful without that passion. How much money do I want to make? Well, everyone wants to make lots of money. Some Internet activities such as surveys, panels, reading emails, pay less that others. They require little investment, few skills and so are less rewarding. There are many very happy busy determined people making extra income taking surveys, product testing, secret shopping or by reading emails. Many people enjoy taking surveys and completing offers for cash and prizes. However, if you want to earn real part time income or full time income you will have to work the hours and learn the skills you need to succeed. How much money can I budget to start an online career or for the education I may need? Only you have that answer, but you can start out on a shoestring as there are tons of free resources online. You will find that many people want to sell you ebooks that they claim will make you wealthy. Avoid buying ebooks. Contact me through my website email and I’ll send you the addresses of a couple of sites where you can download free. My advice is to register for a few ezines that relate to your field of interest. They all want you to buy something, but they do offer information. There are many affiliate programs that will allow you to register and use their resources for free. These are excellent sources of information because they only earn money if you do. Even if they have monthly fees, members who earn little income drop out. It’s in their best interest to help you succeed. The big money earners spend big bucks on advertising, but they all started out small..... A Note of Caution - Stick with well established affiliate programs and do your homework. Avoid the programs that are just starting or pyramid schemes. Pyramid schemes really don’t have much of a product to sell. Sometimes they have products, but they are ebooks or software with little real value. They rely solely on selling new memberships. Check the programs out with the Better Business Bureau. Log onto related forums and ask for opinions. You’ll find that people are willing to share all their bad experiences. Just remember that working online is very competitive and people have often failed because they didn’t realize how much effort was required. An online work at home business doesn’t require the same investment as a bricks and mortar business or commuting costs, but it will require expenditures. If you are willing to do much of the work manually, you can reduce many costs. About the Author: M. Eslinger, a somewhat retired pensioner. http://www.gohomeworkers.com Visit Top Home Job Directory – Your Source for the Best Work at Home Ideas and Opportunities

Made it back from Mexico! I'm cold

MaggieMae — Fri, 18 May 2007 06:23:50 GMT

Left Bahia de Kino Nuevo on May 19th and arrived back in Canada to find 10 and 15 degree C days about 40 to 50 degree F, I think. Way colder than the 80 degrees I would like. The neat thing about working online is that I can do it anywhere. Its totally portable. Right now I am on my way back to California for a weeik and working in a motel using wifi. I don't have a land line in Mexico so will be using satellite internet next winter. The weather down there is good except during July, August and September. From what I've heard, I don't think I want to be there. Sometimes think I would like to live there full time, but know I would miss home.

Work at Home on a Shoestring

MaggieMae — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 18:44:59 GMT

Work at Home on a Shoestring Maggie's Blog January 22, 2007 Work at Home on a Shoestring Many professionals design expensive web sites for large businesses.and that leaves a lot of room for the small work at home entrepreneur. The basics of this small work at home enterprise are as follows: 1. Contact and convince a few small merchants with repeat customers that you can build a simple website to advertise their weekly specials or coupons. Start with one! Offer a one to three month free trial and keep your prices low. You’ll have to do some research to find out the prices that the professionals charge. That’s easily done by visiting their web pages. 2. You can save yourself time by scanning the advertising in local daily and weekly papers. If a business is advertising and does not include a website, you have a prospect. The first thing any merchant will do is advertise his website. 3. Convince the merchant to obtain email addresses from each of his customers 4. Convince the merchant to hand out a small ad directing them to his website. 5. Build mailing lists from his customer base for an additional cost. 6. Offer to send out a newsletter to his customers for an additional cost per submission. Your beginning costs for this enterprise are basically shoe leather and some printing of advertising materials. You’ll need business cards, rate cards and contract sheets outlining your services. You can use free web hosting, free banners, free graphics, and free templates to build your websites. There are many available. I use NVU, a free program to build websites. Your website doesn’t have to fancy, it could consist of only one or two pages. An example for a drycleaner might be a main page with a banner with the business name, a secondary table (box) with store location, phone number and etc. The next table could be a listing of all his services and rates. Then at the bottom or on second page a coupon or the weekly special. The reason for using tables for each segment of your page is that they are easy to edit. Once your simple site is up, you can easily change the specials or coupons without much work. If he has a picture of his store, logo or letterhead, you can scan them and use on the website. Eventually, you will need an email responder service, or design your own system. You may explain to the merchant that you can use free domain hosting and free domain names, but it always looks more professional for a business to have its own domain name and .com is the most recognized. However, one of the others might have a name more appropriate to the business. The costs for acquiring a domain are usually less than $10 with free hosting for a small site. These options should be outlined and explained to the merchant so that he understands the scope of the service you offer. For example, you should have a contract sheet with the cost of designing a one or two page site, costs for weekly or monthly changes to rates specials or coupons, costs for maintenance of customer email lists and costs for preparing newsletters or sending out emailed newsletters or coupons. The merchant would be asked to pay for obtaining a domain name or web hosting as well as an email responder service if he wants one. The responder service is good because the customer is asked to opt into the service and is given the ability to opt out. I don’t think it’s a good idea to get involved in printing paper newsletters or using snail mail, it’s expensive and not that effective for the small merchant. Every time I head off to nearest city to shop, I visit the grocery and green grocers websites to see the weekly specials and I’m sure I’m not the only one. I have usually obtained the website from a local weekly paper ad or from a web search. I think this is super idea for a home business. As you do have to meet with local merchants, it’s necessary to dress appropriately and be business oriented. Not that you have to wear suits or fancy cloths, just stay away from very casual cloths and be well groomed. Of course, I have to get a plug is for the Nice Offers program offered by SFI. It offers merchants free online coupon advertising. I go over that option in detail on my Nov. 6, 2006 Blog. Again, the start up costs are low. SFI maintains the website and bills the merchants for the agreed upon fees and pays you a commission. Also, Top Online Profits will guide through the process of setting up a professional website. Their program very nearly forces you to learn what's necessary to become a successful internet marketer and webmaster. Their costs are low, about $60 a year for the program. The number one ranked web hosting service is iPowerweb for about $100 a year for their basic service. It's what I use and I'm very happy with their service. Visit my website for more information on all these business ideas: http://www.gohomeworkers.com .