Marketing for the Novice

Most marketing professionals started out with minimal, if any knowledge about making money online using a free affiliate program. Online marketing is a good
strategy to learn the necessary skills and better understand the product and service development for internet marketing. Affiliate marketing pros advertise other
websites services and/or products in order to earn a commission from the sale.

Accepted and proven techniques to profit from these programs and
become successful are available for anyone willing to make a commitment to learn a few things... There are four important things a novice must know to earn income
from affiliate companies.

1) A strong desire to attain success regardless of the obsticles in front of them. Patience and perserverence to achieve the goals for
earning money.

2) A good computer with a fast internet connection. There are plenty of free software sources online that will help with article writing,
templates, keyword phrase, website optimization for Search Engine listings, etc... you won't need to buy hardly any software to get started. A simple search at
Google willl help you locate what you need. Some research to include a reputable website like cnet.com should be considerd before you click
"download".

3) Time - you cannot gain the skills and knowledge you will need overnite. Affiliate marketing, for a beginner, can sometimes be
overwhelming. Start sloww and if you get discouraged... stop for the day and start new in the morning.

4) Action. You must use the knowledge and skills
obtained and put them togeting in an action plan. Set your goals... both short term and long term. Include what you intend to achieve and remember to put a time
frame on your goals. Once you get this far... you will be on your way towards online profits.

There are a lot of individuals who have the desire, along with
the computer knowledge who aren't willing to invest time involved needed to achieve success. Learning the skills is normally the obsticle most people can't
overcome. However, If they do take the time to learn what is needed, success is right around the corner.

Erich V Winnecke owns the Work At Home Directory.Com website which is for people who are interested in locating a work from home income source or starting a Home Based Business. If you have any questions visit his website at: Work At Home Jobs Directory.

Working At Home Scams

There are very few people who haven’t at one time or another thought about starting an online or offline home based business.



The benefits obvious and appealing… work from home (heck even work in your PJ’s!), spend more time with your family, fire your boss, make more money…ect.



However when it comes to actually doing something about your dream of working from home most people won’t even get started. It’s sad to think that so many people are dying to work from home but sadly they probably never will.



In my experience as a network marketer I’ve heard a lot of reasons for not getting started but the biggest one by far is simply that they are afraid they are going to get scammed.



It’s not an irrational fear really. There are scams out there after all, and for a lot of people it can be hard to tell the difference. Some people might even say it’s impossible, but it’s not.



Spotting a home business scam is really very simple if you know what you’re looking for.



#1 Thing To Look For…



Lack of a product. It is 100% illegal to have a business and no product. When you are checking out a home based business for the first time make sure you find out what product you will be marketing.



While it’s good to find a product you can be passionate about you actually can make money even with a horrible product… lots of people have done it in the past. The product however, does have to exist.



If the person you are speaking with can’t tell you the product run and run fast. You’re about to get scammed.



#2 Thing To Look For…



A company’s reputation. Now listen to me when I say that you don’t have to sign up with a company that’s been around for 20 years or more. There are a lot of really great start up or ground floor companies out there.



However if you can’t find out anything about their corporate office (or they don’t have one), and you can’t find any real people just like you who are actually making money you’re probably dealing with a scam.



Scammers don’t like to put down too many roots so they won’t have a corporate office, they won’t have very many employees and they just generally won’t stay in one place for too long. Never… ever send money to someone who can’t give you at least a little bit of information about their company’s reputation.



#3 Thing To Look For…



They won’t tell you what you’ll be doing up front. Before you pay any money to someone to start a business you should know 3 things: the product, a little bit about the company its self and what you are going to be doing to make money.



Will you be selling the product? Will you be bringing other people into the business? Both? This is the final thing you should find out before becoming involved in a home based business.



Before I end this article here are a few other good points.



First of all just because someone asks for money up front doesn’t make it a scam. All real businesses cost money to start. After all if you were going to start a traditional business it would take money to get started right? An internet business is no different.



Most home based businesses require that you also get other people involved and help to train them. This is also not the mark of a scam. It’s just a business structure, no more no less.



Finally, just because you hear a few bad reviews about a business doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a scam. People leave companies all the time and sometimes they are angry. It is super easy to write an angry blog post or say something on the internet when you are upset. So make sure you really get your facts and make sure you’re not just listening to a jilted ex-business owner.



Follow these steps and you won’t be fooled by the scammers out there, and hopefully you’ll find an awesome business that can give you the kind of freedom that only working for yourself can provide!