How To Patiently Start And Grow Your Home Based Business From Ground Zero

Getting started online is not one of the easiest things to do, especially if you lack the requisite know-how or guidance. It's quite like falling in love for the first time and not being able to find the right words to say. As simple as introducing yourself becomes such a maze, you wonder what you had for dinner last night. Now what makes the situation even more challenging, is the fact that you have literally thousands of offers puling you in every conceivable direction, all at the same time, all having one aim...your wallet! Oh, I meant your credit card! Quite an ordeal, isn't it? Well, it is so truly said that experience teaches wisdom, and, no kidding, I can attest to that. Sitting up before my computer night after night, until 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m....staggering out of bed with eyes half opened, fighting with the little energy that is left to stay awake so I can get the kids ready for school on time and most importantly,get me ready for work, calmly assuring myself that things will be better the next time around. I was dead wrong! Why? Because the next time I pushed that power button on my computer, flexed my neck a bit (it's a blessing I'm not wearing a neck support by now) and jumped online,would have been the worst nightmare yet! Before I could barely pull up my chair, someone yelled frantically from the other side of cyber space "Join my affiliate program and make six figures overnight!!!" Pl-lease, that should have been "Enter your credit card number here and I will show you how to become poor overnight!" I have learnt my lessons the hard way. I have seen many eerie days, spent many sleepless nights, stumbled many a times, lost hard earned money chasing some fly-by-night join-and-do-nothing-and make BIG-bucks schemes, suffered ridicule from family members, you name it, but today, thank GOD,I have turned over a new page in my internet diary. With all this experience, I believe I am rounded enough to guide you to not making the same silly mistakes I made. (Wow! That just gives me such a feeling of joy) Now even though they come with their pitfalls and cul-de-sacs, joining the right Affiliate program/s, is probably the easiest and fastest ways to get started online. This is simply a basic "no risk" agreement /partnership giving the right promote someone else's product,in exchange for a commission. Simply put. You get your own affiliate link/URL like, http://www.howtomakeitonline.com/your ID. Now once you refer someone to your link and he/she makes a purchase, voila, you make money! You don't have the cumbersome task of storing inventory, worrying with shipping woes, employing and paying staff, not even renting an office! There are two types of affiliate programs on the: one-tier or two-tier. You make money with the former by direct sales only. On the other hand, the latter allows you the flexibility to sign up "sub-affiliates", on whose efforts you make money as well! However, there some questions and possible actions you should ask or take before joining an affiliate program. They should include: 1. Does the affiliate program offer you a free way to join without buying the product or service? This option gives you the opportunity to kind of "feel out" the program before actually committing your hard earned cash. 2. Contact other affiliates already in the program to see if they have had any problems. You can do this through their discussion board (a great way to know what others are saying) or do some research online using Google etc. 3. Is the product or service related to your target audience? For example, if you have a passion for gardening, look out for Affiliate programs in this area. 4. Can they notify you by e-mail when a sale is made? Critical factor. You need to see if your efforts are paying off. 5. Do they offer backend products so you can get repeat sales from the same person? This is a very effective method. For eg. You are buying a book at Amazon.com and during the process you see some- thing like, "People who buy The Purpose Driven Life also bought God Came Near" or something like that. 6. How often will you receive a commission check? AND, how much sale you will have to make before receiving your check. I am yet to collect $70 from a home based self-claimed millionaire who painted a dazzling picture of promptness and guarantee. 7. Do you get credited for a sale if people come back in a month and then make a purchase? Of course, people here speaks to your or your sub-affiliate's personal referral. 8. Can you get around-the-clock help online or offline? 9. Do you get a large percentage of each sale as commission? How unreasonable it would be for your affiliate program to give you only $5 on a $97 sale! After all, you had to work hard to make that sale. 10. Do they provide you with proven sales material? (links, banners, classified ads, sales letters etc) 11. Will they give you the leeway to create promotional ads. It would be pointless if you are unable to creatively promote the program to maximize your earnings. 12. Do they offer you access to an online sales stats page? 13. Do they use a reputable system to track your sales? 14. Does the affiliate program pay commission for sales of people who sign up under you? This is the two-tiered approach referred to above. 15. Can they offer customers a lot of different ordering options, so in return you won't lose sales. What if I came to your affiliate website looking for how-to tips on skiing but you only offer skiing gears? See the logics? 16. Will they keep in contact with you on a regular basis by e-mail? I would also suggest that you "cloak" your affiliate ID if you don't already have your own website yet (for more info on how to obtain your own website at zero cost, visit http://www.retirein365.net). Here's a link providing you with FREE resources, including a tool to cloak your affiliate ID, http://www.addme.com/tools.htm In closing, be patient when starting your online journey. Anxiety is the your greatest enemy with frustration on the other side as its alibi. It takes time to achieve success online and one must always be mindful of the pitfalls and "cyber pockets". If you are prepared to walk the walk and talk the talk of the successful,your online future is bright. Before I run off here's another Tip Of The Day for you on Jamaican creole (Patois): In English you ask, "Where are you from?" In Jamaican patois you say, "weh yu come from?" AND (hold on to your seats for this one!) You say "I love to eat at KFC", Jamaican patois goes like this, "mi love fi nyam a KFC" Chao! Keep looking out for more very interesting articles from yours truly.