Start Your Online Business! The Summer Lull is Over!
The summer lull is over! It’s time to start your own online business.
And so, in the next few blog posts, I’ll give you some tools for how to do just that.
First of all, you need to decide on what to do….
And if you’re Googling “Make money online” or “start online business” you’ll get literally millions of results — most of them designed to give you a great big headache and to empty out your pocket book faster than you can say “What the Heck?!”
Now I’m not saying that everybody is hawking a scam. There are a lot of well-meaning people out there with make money online and starting your business products that work (some of them a whole lot better than others).
But still…
Usually, there are a few problems with a lot of the products, even those created by well-meaning marketers… Learn to read ALL the small print and the disclaimers.
The problems with many products:
1) They are expensive
2) They give you only a piece of the puzzle
3) They leave out the part on how to actually make it work
4) They require you to use expensive ways to “drive traffic” to your site and product (and that can clean you out fast).
5) They have expensive upgrades if you want the “real scoop” (i.e., coaching programs or premium programs or Platinum levels etc.)
6) They teach you something that no longer works
7) They lock you into one niche that may or may not deliver — and by the time you find out, you’re flat broke
That last one happened to me after an expensive “high level” coaching program — it was literally useless and cost me more than $5,000! It still makes me weep when I think of what I could have done with all that money instead.
Not only was the information basically a rehash of what I had already paid for — and paid to that same person no less — but the one thing that went beyond the generic stuff got me off a path that was starting to work for me and sent me to a market that was not interested in spending money on that kind of product — and could basically get something they thought was equivalent for free. Yikes.
Well, that was two years ago, and I’m not making THAT mistake again (I hope).
So what should YOU do?
Start out slowly, and look very carefully before you leap into high-priced programs. Or even programs that start out seemingly low-priced, but if you actually want to make money with them, you have to upgrade…
Examples of those are multi-level marketing programs (some of them anyway). Another pitfall of those… you often have to buy leads — and those can be very expensive.
Oh, and one last thing… beware of unsolicited calls for “coaching” — even if they guarantee that you make the big bucks or your money back. You get those when you sign up for certain “free” “pay-for-shipping-only” offers…
A good rule of thumb: hang up on anyone who wants to know your credit history on that first and unsolicited call. Just say NO.
And all of the above is just about the programs that are for real, at least more or less, though they rarely deliver all they promise.
There’s a whole world of scams out there.
Basically, here are a few rules of thumb:
If you have to pay for a “work-at-home” job, take a pass. And if something promises you outlandish profits for very little work, it really is too good to be true.
Stay clear of “survey” programs as well, certainly until you’ve gotten VERY good at reading ALL their small print, or unless you’re really excited about working for pennies an hour, most of them payable in gift certificates.
This is not meant to discourage you, but to ENCOURAGE you to look before you leap, and do some serious soul searching before you invest in anything pricey.
Here’s another reason why pricey products are probably not what you need right now:
In order to get the most out of them, you need to have an online business already and have gotten way past the basics.
Here are a couple of FREE reports to get you started thinking in the right direction:
* A guide on some of your best options for making real money online
* A special report on how to get started with a legitimate home business
* A special report on selling stuff online, and specifically on the differences between Amazon.com vs Ebay
If you have stuff lying around your home and want to get a fast start, I highly recommend that last one especially — I myself have gotten my own start with selling stuff on Amazon Marketplace.
The cool thing about selling stuff on Amazon especially is that it’s VERY low-tech, requires no fees up front, and Amazon does the advertising for you, so it’s really easy.
You’ll get more info on that in the Amazon.com vs Ebay resource above.
Anyway, check out those resources, do some thinking about what might work for you, and then… go for it.
To your success,
Elisabeth
P.S.: I almost forgot… I’d like to invite you to get my FREE online success e-course which will give you an introduction to article marketing and affiliate marketing, plus other stuff.
