Traffic Swarm - Program Overview

Are you using traffic exchanges to drive
traffic to your website?

Here is an overview of one of the best
(in my opinion) traffic exchanges available
on the internet.

Traffic Swarm

The reason for traffic exchanges: more
traffic = more customers = more sales.

Traffic is the key to success on the
Internet.

COST: Free - upgrades available but not required.

BENEFITS:

Targeted Traffic: You’ll get visitors who are predisposed
to like what you’re offering. They read your site description
and... CLICK, they’re at your door.

Each visitor will be pre-qualified. That’s because they’ve
landed on your home page out of their own curiosity and
interest. These prospects are more likely to take the action
you want them to because they read what you told them before
they decided to CLICK.

More Visibility: Your link – a true prospect generator --
will get displayed in front of thousands of surfers outside
the TrafficSwarm network. That’s major!

Members of TrafficSwarm get an incentive – more exposure! –
to place a link box on their site that rotates mini promotions
for member URLs. When visitors to those sites read the promos
in the link box, they inevitably click on those that pique their
interest. Result: Tons more traffic!

Efficient Prospecting: You’ll increase the likelihood of
finding the visitors you want. Tweak your ad copy and new
prospects can sample what you’ve got.

TrafficSwarm gives you the ability to test your promotion to
determine what wording delivers the best results. Improved
wording means better targeting. Better targeting improves
the odds that visitors will like what you’re offering and
will come back for more.

Valuable Intelligence: You’ll be able to track and sample
competitive websites in your category. When they offer
something new, you’re on it: CLICK

There are now 150,000 sites in the TrafficSwarm network.
In categories like Business Opportunities, there are
scores added daily. You can use your Start Page to keep
on top of who’s offering what. If you’re an opportunity
seeker, you’ll get to see what’s new and tempting now.

Increased Leverage: If you recruit others to use
TrafficSwarm, their activity generates more credits
for you. More credits equals more traffic: It’s that easy.

Traffic Swarm members earn credits each time someone
in their recruiting “down-line” opens their browser or
uses the Search Box. Members can also earn commissions
on down-line credit purchases, too. This adds up to
more traffic, and with purchases – actual cash to you.

Marketing Muscle: You’ll get special deals on
cost-effective products that can help you grow and
manage your Web business better. Success sells.

Our partnership with AdMinder is one example of
the way TrafficSwarm members get “insider” deals
on best-of-breed software products designed
(in this case) to create online small business
ad campaigns. We’re able to offer our members
this product at a HUGE discount from the retail price.

Better Value: You’ll be joining the number one
traffic exchange on the Internet. Bigger means
better when it comes to delivering targeted visitors.

The amount of traffic grows exponentially with
the growth of the network. More members means more
interested visitors for you. More sites means a
greater selection for our users. More selection
means more targeting As we cross the chasm –
100,000 members 200,000…you win too

BEST OF ALL - it's free!

Forget Becoming An Overnite Success With Your Home Based Business


By Kirk Bannerman


Believe it or not, it takes a long time to become an overnite
success! Once you have chosen your particular home based
business, the two most important things to remember are to stay
focused and not to get discouraged.

I've had many active and enthusiastic business team members that
were their own worst enemies because they exhibited the classic
"flea on a griddle" behavior pattern and jumped around chasing
one business opportunity today, and then another one tomorrow
without ever putting in enough sustained and focused effort to
reasonably give themselves a chance to succeed at any of them.

I can really relate to this situation since I briefly fell prey
to this same "dog in a meat market" syndrome when I first started
my own home based business a few years ago. I caught myself
trying to chase several different opportunities at once and not
being very successful with any of them.

There are so many home business opportunities (some real, some
not) that it takes real personal discipline to avoid the
scattergun approach...you know, throw enough against the wall
and something is bound to stick. In the early going, it is
really important to resist this temptation and to stay tightly
focused on a single business.

Some will argue that "I don't want to have all my eggs in one
basket". To those people I say, diversification is fine, but
only after you have achieved solid success with your initial
business. A premature attempt at diversification will quite
likely cause a loss of focus and actually slow down your
success rate.

If your main marketing vehicle is a website, you can fairly
easily leverage your initial success and effectively promote a
few other complimentary and closely related home based business
propositions from the same website.

However, it is important not to go overboard and offer too many
choices to visitors to your website. If you do, there is a good
chance of confusing your visitors to the point where they will
take no action and you have, in effect, diluted the effectiveness
of your website.

Whatever you decide to do, you will need to stick with it for a
reasonable length of time (give it at least one year) and put in
a solid and sustained effort. Stay focused and don't get
discouraged. As much as you would like it to be, starting and
developing a real home based business is certainly not an instant
gratification situation.


----------------------------------------------------------------
Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and
coaches others seeking to start their own home based business.
Visit his website at
Legitimate Home Based Business for more details.
----------------------------------------------------------------

The Proof Is In The Proofing: 7 Tips To Develop Great Proofreading Skills

In many professions, especially writing and internet marketing, the primary form of contact with customers is via the written word: website content, display ads, Spam-compliant emails, not to mention forum posts and even responses to queries, etc. The list is endless. And all of them have one thing in common: They are based on the written word.

Because of this, the importance of proofreading one's work, word-for-word, cannot be over-stressed. No one would think of making a presentation while wearing a shirt covered in grease or spaghetti-sauce stains. Nor, despite a few eccentric exceptions, of appearing at one's wedding in sandals and baggy shorts. Yet that is exactly the same thing as allowing even one 'typo' to appear in the final copy of any professional text.

To avoid these written faux pas, proofreading skills are essential. Proofreading to writing is the equivalent of house cleaning to home design or laundering to dress-making: While the house may be beautiful, it is nothing more than a fancy pig's sty if not cleaned up; the gown nothing more than a rag, if not treated properly.

But proofreading is not an easy skill to develop, primarily because, for mystical reasons no writer will ever understand but will nonetheless verify, once a thought has been translated to a page, the author often develops a specialized kind of blindness, one in which they can no longer see what they've written clearly. Instead, all they see is what they *intended* to say.

But there is hope. As with any skill, producing letter-perfect copy comes with practise. Following are seven tactics for effective proofreading. None of them will guarantee perfect copy. All of them have their weaknesses. But if at least two or three are employed on a consistent basis, typographical, punctuation and/or grammatical errors will show a marked decrease.

1) THE TRUTH ABOUT SPELL-CHECK: THERE, THEIR OR THEY'RE
Upon its release, Spell-check was touted as every writer's dream, allowing those without secretaries (i.e., 98% of us) to forego the tedious chore of proofreading. To say that it fell somewhat short of that goal is an understatement. However, it IS useful as a basic, first-run-through tool. And it does point out the most obvious errors.

2) AS YE SPAKE
"You know, you can just, like, go over to this website and. . . "

This sentence is an obvious example of one of the most common errors in writing and is hardly ever caught during proofreading. That is, general improper usage. As anyone learning a foreign language can attest, there is a distinct difference between what is acceptable in the less formal, oral format than its written counterpart. While writing should be fluid and succinct, it should not mimic spoken -- even well-spoken -- language. When proofreading, the signs of this type of misuse are: Overly informal slang; lack of reference within the context (i.e., over-using pronouns); and an abundance of typically oral modifiers (but, like, you see, etc.).

3) WHO SAID *THAT*?
While writing, an author so often becomes embroiled in the act itself -- of refining a thought or idea, of showing a progression of that thought -- that he/she loses perspective. In the process, incomplete sentences may be left hanging, replacement words may be put in the wrong part of a sentence, complete thoughts might be chopped up. For this reason, it is often easier to see these errors if, no matter what the deadline, the writer takes a break before reading over their copy, then comes back and reads it through from the beginning. In this way, these type of errors will become glaringly obvious.

4) BEATING THE GREMLINS AT THEIR OWN GAME
Though it's doubtful gremlins really do reside within printers (many swear to this), it is true that most 'typo's' can be found more easily in printed form. And, while it *seems* more efficient to proofread the text first, *then* print it, it actually wastes time. Perhaps it is because reading for sense and content, reading for typos AND correcting all at once can be a matter of covering too many bases. Whatever the case, printing a copy makes proofreading much easier.

5) FRIENDS READ FRIEND'S COPY
There is an old proofreading saying that "a fresh pair of eyes make all the difference." This is because after repeatedly looking at the same copy, the brain actually stops processing the information. By asking someone else to look over the same copy, the "fresh pair of eyes" can find any otherwise elusive typo(s). Co-workers, friends, and relatives can be the best help in this case. For long documents or a complete website, it might be better to hire a professional proofreader-- unless your friends REALLY love you.

6) READ IT OUTLOUD
While it may seem to contradict the advice in #2, above, reading the text aloud often forces one to recognise a typo or grammatical error the eyes have scanned over and missed a dozen times. This goes to the core of why proofreading is so difficult: Simply put, the mind naturally adapts to what it sees very quickly. If one sees the same error repeatedly, without it being corrected, it ceases to recognise it as such. Thus, in proofreading, our own capabilites betray us. Professional proofreaders (yes, there is such a profession, though now only associated with the law and publishing fields) use a technique in which one proofreader will read aloud, while another proofreader (using a second copy) follows along, making corrections. This is an extreme measure, but worthwhile for any text that must be absolutely letter-perfect.

7) THE WORLD IS YOUR EDITOR
Especially in the case of a substantial body of work (a website, for instance), an open invitation for correction should be given. Though, again, it seems contradictory to what has already been said here (in #5, above), inviting the corrections of the world at large allows for a greater source of information. And, of course, this is only after all other efforts have been made. Even with two or three people viewing the text, a broader forum of information can always pick out one or two straggling typo's.

Using even one or two of these tips will enhance the body of any author's work, allowing them to enjoy a professionalism they would otherwise be denied. Think of it as buying a new suit and tie, then dry-cleaning them regularly.--mo

*****************************************************************
About The Author
Marige O'Brien works as a writer, web designer and affiliate marketer. Her own website can be found at (http://www.trackermo.com)
She also worked for 3 years as a professional word-processor and proofreader.
*****************************************************************

Myths and Truths of an Online Work at Home Parent

You decide that working 40-70 hours per week out of
the home is just not for you. Now what?

You begin to explore the internet for options, most
sound to good to be true. Are they?

Who do you ask? Who do you trust? Does this really work?
Can you be successful?

Discover Myths and Truths of becoming an Online
Work at Home Parent!

Myth: Working from home is easier than working outside
of the home.

Truth: Working from home successfully is usually much
harder. You only depend on yourself for your paycheck.
You will need to organize your time around your children
and family, which is much harder than asking your
coworker when they are free for lunch. Working from
home takes extraordinary organizational skills and a
true commitment from yourself and your family.

Myth: I'll be able to work whenever I want.

Truth: You'll be able to work when you can convince
your spouse and children that you need to work. Life
doesn't stop because you need to sit at the computer
or go to the post office. There are still needs that
your family will have and because you are home,
you'll be expected to help fulfill those needs.

Myth: I'll be able to do it all...housework, kids
lunches, balance the checkbook, etc...

Truth: You'll be able to attempt to do it all.
However, if you are truly working from home you will
still be dedicating much of your time to your work.
Although you have gained the time of your commute,
you have also gained many more responsibilities.
Finding a balance will be difficult in the beginning.
Keeping the balance will always be a challenge.

Myth: My kids will enjoy having me around more.

Truth: Yes, your children will enjoy having you in the
home, however; they also will become more frustrated
with you because you will have other responsibilities
than playing with them. They will see you at home and
wonder how come they can't always have your attention.

Myth: I'm going to quit my job within 2 weeks because
I can create a six figure income almost instantly on
the internet.

Truth: If you are going to work from home and use the
internet you can work towards a six figure income. 98%
of network marketers fail within the first year.
You cannot build a website and expect people to visit.
You must work at creating you business, products and
customers.

Myth: Everybody will want to be part of my new business.

Truth: Although you may have some supporters, most
people will smile and go back to their regular job.
It's up to you to find people who truly want to
change their daily lives by working at home.

Myth: Every opportunity on the internet is a scam.

Truth: Many opportunities give false hopes about
becoming a millionaire overnight. Luckily there
are a few true tools on the internet to help you
build a successful business with hard work and
persistence.

Overall, if you want to become a work at home
parent the odds are stacked against you. However,
with a strong desire to see your children for
more than moments every day you can succeed in
working from home and using the internet to
build residual income. My financial future and
family lifestyle are in my hands and I wouldn't
have it any other way.
__________________________________________
Catherine Whitcher, has found success working at
home by building a true business using FREE tools.
She has beaten the 98% failure rate and leads a
WAHP coaching program to allow other parents to
stay at home successfully. To learn more about
this FREE MENTORING email:
support@yourhomebusinessinfo.com
Learn more about residual income:
http://www.yourhomebusinessinfo.com
__________________________________________

Are Free Domain Names Worth the Cost?
by J. Stephen Pope


Everyone likes a bargain. It's even wise to keep one's
costs down. On the other hand, you can be so cheap that
you cut your own throat.

Here are two ways to register a domain name for free and
some reasons why you might not want to.


1. You Must Have Your Own Top Level Domain (TLD) Name


Your business website should definitely have its own top
level domain (TLD) name. This means a name like
yourcompany.com. It doesn't mean a subdomain of someone
else's domain name, such as yourcompany.someisp.net.

Sometimes persons hesitate to register a proper domain name
because of cost, lack of knowledge, or indecision. However,
paying the nominal fee charged by the domain registrar for
your own domain name can reap rich dividends.

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or Internet address like
(ignoring the http part) someisp.net/hosting-accounts/yourco/,
or yourcompany.someisp.net, just doesn't look as
professional as yourcompany.com. It might be
free (as in included with your web space) but it just
doesn't cut it.

Consider: If you put your URL on your letterheads,
business cards, signs, et cetera, which Internet address
looks more professional?

If you mention your URL on your radio advertising or to a
customer over the phone, which one will be easier to
remember?

As well, what if your web host goes out of business or you
decide that you want to change to another provider. Now,
you need to notify everyone that you have now changed to
yourcompany.someotherisp.net. You will also need to change
all your stationery, signs, and advertising to reflect the
change.

On the other hand, the domain name yourcompany.com, could
be transferred from one web host to another simply by
informing your domain name registrar of the change.

So, to avoid losing business and incurring unnecessary
additional costs, be sure you have your own top level
domain name.


2. Should You Get a Free Top Level Domain?


It is possible to get a free top level domain from Dot TK
(@www.dot.tk). (You may also get paid dot tk (.tk) domains
from them.) However, there can be disadvantages to using
a free top level domain name.

Here are some of the restrictions noted on the Dot TK
website.

You may register no more than three free domain names.

The ownership of the free domain remains with Dot TK.
This means that you can't sell it. (Of course, if you
pay for the domain you do own it and can transfer it to
a new owner.)

Also, if you don't have 25 visitors come to your home
page within a ninety day period, your free domain name
registration is cancelled.

You need to have existing web content somewhere so that
your dot tk name can be forwarded to it.

There may well be other disadvantages.

Apparently, Dot TK uses frames to show your website. This
being the case, you may have issues with navigation
(bookmarking or finding specific pages) and search engine
friendliness.

Therefore, for serious business use, consider carefully
the true cost of free domain names.


RESOURCE BOX:


J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
has been helping clients to earn maximum business
profits for over twenty-five years.

For more information about domain names, visit
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/domain-names.html

For profitable Work at Home Small Business Ideas,
visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/

Tips And Advice When Starting Your Home Based Business

By Kirk Bannerman


There are a great many types of home based businesses and there
are numerous reasons why people choose to start a home based
business. Some of those reasons include:

1. Dissatisfied with their present employment situation.

2. Out of work due to being laid off or downsizing by their
employer.

3. A need to be home more with young children, an infirm family
member, or aging parents.

4. A yearning to be their own boss.

Whatever your particular reason for exploring a home-based
business, there are a few common steps you need to take in order
to launch your business.

First off, you need to come to grips with reality...be realistic
in your expectations. Far too many folks read advertisements
that are hype and imply quick money, and lots of it, from a
home-based business start-up. It will certainly take a year, and
in some cases it may take up to three years, before you begin to
truly make a significant profit from your business.

I have helped a large number of people start up their own
home-based businesses using the Internet. Over time, I have come
to recognize two of the most important factors for identifying
people that should NOT start a home based business. If a
prospective entrepreneur says something like...

"I'm broke and need to make some money, fast!"

or,

"I want to start a home-based business, but I don't want to spend
anything on it until after I start earning some money."

...it is certain that they have not addressed reality and, with
that mindset, they will most certainly fail.

It takes a lot of time to successfully market and promote a new
business. If you are planning a home-based business in order to
spend a lot of time with young children or care for the elderly, a
full-time business (and income) may not be a realistic objective.

Second, spend some time researching your business idea. Make sure
there is truly enough of a market for your product or service.
It's easy to fall into the trap of having a hobby or passion for
something that you like to do and just assuming that you can turn
it into an economically viable business.

Third, learn as much as you can about small business. There is a
wealth of information available on this topic and the US Small
Business Administration is probably as good a place to start as
any. Just go to http://www.sba.gov/ and navigate to the sections
dealing with home based businesses.

Fourth, write a business plan. It is your roadmap to reaching
your objectives. There are numerous articles on the Internet
and in libraries that can assist you in developing your business
plan as well as addressing the many other issues involved with
starting and operating a business from home. As a starting
point, here are a couple of Small Business Administration
website locations that should prove useful:

http://www.sba.gov/starting/indexbusplans.html
http://www.sba.gov/library/pubs.html


And last, but not least, seek the advice of a tax professional.
Your first reaction may be that you can't afford such expenses
right now; but, in reality, you can't afford not to seek such
advice from the very beginning of your home business start-up.
They can advise you about ways you may be able to reduce the
amount of taxable business income at the end of the year.
Paying for an hour or two of consultation with a tax professional
at the beginning will probably save you much more than that
amount later on down the road.

I never cease to be amazed at the number of people that seem to
think that some magic is somehow created when you put the words
"home based" in front of the word "business". It's still
business...it just happens to be based in the home.


----------------------------------------------------------------
Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and
coaches others seeking to start their own home based business.
Visit his website at
Legitimate Home Based Business for more details.
----------------------------------------------------------------

The Top 7 Productivity Killers (and how to avoid them)
Copyright © 2004-2005 Michele Hanson-O’Reggio, All Rights Reserved
A Virtual Pro
http://www.avirtualpro.com


As a small business owner you wear many hats. Office
administration, marketing, sales, bookkeeping, advertising,
customer relations: it never ends. Your to-do list is growing as
quickly as your energy level is plummeting. Oh, and you need to
make more time for yourself and your family. There just isn’t
enough time!

And let’s not forget those goals you set for yourself. Weren’t
you going to dramatically increase your personal productivity?
Didn’t you promise yourself you’d grow your earning power? And
what about working on your self-esteem and getting more out of
life? After all, isn’t that why you went into business for
yourself in the first place?

You can manage your time better and reach your goals, if you
learn to avoid these Seven Deadly Productivity Killers.

Productivity Killer # 1 - Procrastination

We’re all guilty of it. But the upside of procrastination is that
it offers clues to the nature of the real problem. You might be
putting something off because you don’t have the expertise to
complete a task. Perhaps you haven’t found the best solution to
the problem yet. Maybe the task is too overwhelming. Or maybe you
just don’t like doing it.

Once you’ve figured out why you procrastinate, you can start
working on a solution. For example, if you’re overwhelmed, try
breaking up the task into smaller pieces and tackle them one by
one. If you don’t have the expertise for the task, or you hate
doing it, why not give the job to someone who has the know- how,
is good at it, and actually loves doing it?

Productivity Killer #2 - Multi-tasking

Most people, including me, try to do everything all at once. You
kid yourself that you’re getting lots done. But you’re not. When
nothing gets your full attention, errors creep in. In the long
run, you end up spending more time undoing those mistakes. Stop
trying to do it all at once. By giving your undivided attention
to one thing at a time, you’ll be much more productive.

Productivity Killer #3 - Spending Time on Tasks That Don’t
Produce Income

The hallmark of a successful entrepreneur is the ability to
delegate. Working on a difficult or boring chore quickly saps
your energy and enthusiasm. Admit that you’re not an expert at
everything! Give the job to the real experts. They can do it more
easily and cost-effectively, and you can get back to doing what
you do best.

The first step in deciding what to delegate is to determine the
most valuable use of your time. Always apply Pareto's Principle-
The 80/20 Rule. This rule states that 20 percent of your
activities produce 80 percent of your results. So, in
prioritizing your to-do list,determine which tasks are in your
top 20 percent by assessing their value to your life. When you’ve
identified the activities that generate the most income, you’ll
know which tasks to delegate.

Productivity Killer #4 - Lack of Planning

If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will take you
there. Stay focused by periodically re-evaluating your
objectives. Making a list of your goals helps. Thinking on paper
stimulates creativity and transforms fuzzy ideas into a clear and
concrete action plan. Reviewing the next day before you go to bed
is also effective. Your subconscious busily works on your goals
while you sleep, and you’ll wake up feeling in control and ready
to tackle your challenges.

Productivity Killer #5 - Handling Things More Than Once

Do it, Dump it, or Delegate it! Handle things only once by
evaluating every task that comes your way, decide what to do with
it, and prioritize your to-do list. Once you’ve started a task,
keep at it until it’s done. When you come back to an unfinished
task, you need to take extra time to re-familiarize yourself with
it and figure out where you left off.

Successfully completing a task, no matter how small, gives you a
great sense of accomplishment and encourages you to take on other
tasks that come your way.

Productivity Killer # 6 - Disorganization

Did you know that disorganization costs the average worker at
least one hour of productivity each day? Can you afford to lose
five hours a week? Of course not! Keeping your desk, files, and
work area clean and organized makes you more productive. You’ll
be more focused on the task at hand, find the things you need
more readily, and feel more in control of your life.

Productivity Killer # 7 - Lack of Balance in Your Life

If you’re like most people, you went into business for yourself
to get more enjoyment from life. Yet many people lose sight of
this goal. They become too preoccupied with the business, and end
up sacrificing their own and their family’s well being. Stress
builds up, they burn out, and productivity takes a nosedive. This
doesn’t have to happen to you!

Be sure to leave at least one day a week for leisure and being
with the people that are important to you. And take care of
yourself - set aside time each day to do something you enjoy.
When you lead a balanced life you’ll enjoy good health, have a
happy family life, and find peace of mind. Your business makes
many demands on you. But with determination and discipline, you
can strike the right balance!



---------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2004-2005 Michele Hanson-O'Reggio. All Rights Reserved.

Michele O’Reggio is a Certified Virtual Assistant providing
administrative and online marketing services to solo
entrepreneurs. For more useful tips and resources to increase
your productivity, sales and working virtually, email
mailto:25tips@SendNow.net and subscribe to the Fre^e
Tips for Pros ezine at http://www.avirtualpro.com.

Choosing the right affiliate program

A very informative article from a fellow home business owner.




Make Lots More Money by Choosing the Right Affiliate Programs
Copyright © 2005 Suzanne Morrison

If you want to make money on the internet, there are
numerous lucrative affiliate programs that you can join for
free.

In basic terms, all you need to do when you join an
affiliate program is add a special link containing your
unique affiliate ID to your website or blog. Whenever
someone follows that affiliate link from your website and
makes a purchase, you are credited with a commission for
that sale.

Affiliate programs are good for you because you make money
from your website visitors without having to worry about
shipping and payment processing. They are also pretty good
for the owner of the affiliate program too as they are
receiving traffic and sales that they wouldn’t normally have
received if they hadn’t come via your website.

If you already have your own website, it should be easy to
find affiliate programs that complement the theme of your
site. For example, if you have a travel website you can sign
up with Commission Junction for free and promote companies
such as Expedia and National Geographic. Or you could sign
up with the first ever online affiliate program, Amazon and
make money by reviewing and recommending travel books.
Regardless of your website’s niche you should be able to
find some sort of affiliate program to help monetize your
traffic.

Most good affiliate programs will provide you with banners,
images, links, sample ads and sometimes even articles and
emails to help you promote their products. They should also
have a support system for you to ask questions, plus
statistics and a reporting function to allow you to view
your click-throughs and sales.

Affiliate programs for companies that sell physical products
such as books and CDs, or travel related products such as
hotels, flights and car hire tend to pay a small amount of
commission, for example 5%.

If you aren’t lucky enough to be getting thousands of
visitors to your site each day and you want to make lots of
money from affiliate programs the best plan of action is to
choose an affiliate program that has a combination of the
following

1. A high commission
2. A residual income
3. Multiple Tiers

Affiliate programs offering a high commission are usually
selling intangible goods. Examples of these include e-books,
software and membership sites. The owners of these affiliate
programs can afford to give large commissions because
although there is a cost associated with producing the
product, the cost generally stays the same regardless of
whether the owner sells 100 copies or 1000 copies. This is
why these affiliate programs can offer a commission of 50%
and sometimes more, meaning that you can sell less of these
products and make more money than you would with a
traditional affiliate program offering a 5% commission.

Affiliate programs offering a residual income tend to be
those that offer a service such as web hosting or access to
a membership site. For example if you direct a visitor from
your site to a web hosting company that offers an affiliate
program with residual income and that person purchases a
hosting package, you would receive a commission every single
month, for as long as that person stays with that hosting
company. The power of this is that you can build up a more
reliable income, which means a steady pay packet during the
months when new sales are slow.

Finally, a multi tier affiliate program is one that rewards
you for recruiting your own affiliates. As well as receiving
a commission for sales that are made through your affiliate
link, you will also receive a percentage of the sales made
from the affiliates that you’ve recruited yourself.

So it pays to promote affiliate programs, but it pays even
more to be choosy when deciding on which affiliate programs to
promote. Choosing programs that pay high commissions and
offer multi tier or residual income can make a huge
difference to your bank balance at the end of each month.

Resource Box:

Suzanne Morrison is the webmaster of http://www.homebiz-direct.com
She makes an online income with the Plug-In Profit Site -
http://www.bornagainbargains.com/pips.html – a money making
website built for you within 24 hours, promoting 5 of the best
affiliate programs with high commissions, residual income and
multiple-tiers.

Beware The "Hype"

When choosing to start a home business,
you are bound to come across MANY
programs that will be "the last program"
you will ever need or "join, do nothing
and earn a six figure income while you
sleep" slogans.

Beware the "hype". While every product
or service being sold anywhere has
hype attached to the advertising, you
must protect yourself from scams and
unscrupulous people.

I am not against hype: I use it to
promote products and programs, but I
am honest when I tell people that there
are no "sit back, do nothing, earn
money" programs that are legal and legit.

With that said, there are many programs
that you can work and earn residual income
from that work. Just don't expect this
to happen overnight. It takes work,
dedication and perseverance.


Keep that in mind when you decide to
start looking for a home business. If
they are promising the world on a platter,
beware.

If it sounds too good to be true, it is!

Have a great weekend!!
Craig
The Work From Home Helper

Checking Your Website For Errors

If you are going to have an online home
business, then you are going to need a
website.

You can always use free templates - of
course your site will look like it was
created with a free template.

IF you decide to try to make your own
site - when you think it is looking good
and ready to go - check out this tool.
http://www.netmechanic.com/toolbox/html-code.htm

Run this free report (it is limited unless
you purchase the program) and check out your
site. You may be amazed at how many errors
and/or broken links you have and don't
even know it.

Props to fellow PIPS member Suzanne for
bringing this to my attention:
http://pluginprofit.blogspot.com/

How To Save On Gas

Gas prices continue to rise here in
Missouri and I'm sure elsewhere across
the country.

We all have our thoughts and ideas as
to why and who is to blame.

I constantly hear people calling for a
boycott at the pumps. Will this help?

I personally don't think it will. When
you boycott a product or company, you
make a decision to either use a different
brand/type of product or to purchase from
another company.

Can we do this with gas? I don't really
see how - while we may pick certain days
to "boycott" and not fill up our tanks,
at some point (the next day or two) we
will be back at the pump.

So here is my list of ways to help others
save money on gas. We may not be able
to do without it, but we can cut back on
how much we use.

1) Drive Less: Yes this is easier
said than done. Try combining errands into
one day rather than over different days of
the week.

2) Carpool: This one is more geared
to the workforce. IF your job allows, try to
find others you work with to share rides.
Not only will this save money on gas, it will
save wear and tear on your vehicle.

Many cities have ride-share programs set up.
Normally you can get the information from
road signs along major interstates.

3) Drive Smaller Vehicles: I know how
many people love their SUV's and trucks but
be honest, they are not cost effective. Myself,
I drive a minivan but I am looking into
purchasing a small compact car to run around
in.

4) Tune Up: How is your car running? By
getting your car running in top condition (or as
close as you can), you can considerably save on
gas consumption.

5) Extra Weight: Are you carrying extra
weight around in your vehicle (golf clubs, sand
bags you put in the trunk for weight during the
last snowstorm, just plain junk)?

The heavier your vehicle is, the more power it
takes to move it. With this in mind, clean out
that suitcase you call a trunk.

6) Air Conditioning: There was an episode
of Myth Busters on The Discovery Channel (I missed it
but my wife filled me in) where they tested the
"myth" that it takes more gas to run the air cond
in your car than to drive with the windows down.

Their conclusion: The wind resistance put on your car
with the windows down (the wind blowing in and
hitting the back window) uses more gas than driving
with the air conditioner running.

Like I said, this is their conclusion, not mine.
It does make sense though. Of course, if you can
get by without either using the a/c or the windows
down, this would be your best bet.

7) Slow Down: Studies have proven over and
over that slowing down saves gas. With most
interstate highways at 70 MPH, try cutting back to
60. If it feels like everyone is passing you like
you are sitting still, try 65 MPH and then see if
you can drop from there.

Remember, none of these are going to save you a
ton of money, but every little bit helps.