Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

Can the Average Person Earn a Stable Income Operating an ...

Is a work-at-home business using your computer as your income tool realistic for the average person? First, let me say that I do not believe in the notion of an “average” person. There is no such thing. If there were, we wouldn’t have different acumens, different personalities, and different talents. My wife has many exceptional talents. She is extremely intuitive and seems to be able to . . .

"Don't Leave Home Without It?" I Say, "Don't Leave Home W...

There’s a popular credit card commercial that ends with the line, “don’t leave home without it.“ Well, I say “don’t leave home with it.“ What I mean by that is this. Why pay for a product by spreading your payments over many months through credit card payments when you can get what you want by paying cash. And over the lifetime of those payments you will have actually paid 5-10 times more than . . .

Identity Theft: They Got Him

His hard earned money? Gone. Creditors on his back everyday. The cops knocking on his door. His family strained to the breaking point. He didn't do anything wrong but my business partner's life got turned upside down a few years back. He became a victim of what is now the fastest growing crime in the world. Identity theft. According to the Federal Trade Commission, since 1999 over 27 million pe. . .

Search Engines Are A Source Of Tension In An Online Home ...

For a long time I have been a member of several search engine optimization forums and I have recently noticed that the stress level of many webmasters has gone way up (this is especially true since Yahoo and MSN have decided to seriously try their handat competing with Google in the search marketplace). This applies not only to webmasters involved in Internet-based home businesses, but to web. . .

6 Critical Rules When Building An Affiliate Website

There are 6 rules you must use when building any affiliate website if you want the website to make you any money.Building Your Site Rule #1Always have a strong headline.No matter how great your sales copy is or how great your content and information is… no one will stick around long enough to read it unless you grab them with your headline.Make sure you have a compelling enough headline to make. . .

BLOGS! What They Are... And WHY They're Becoming A POWER ...

BLOGS! What a crazy name for the "NEWEST" Internet marketing trend to hit the Internet.But, I like it.It makes this new form of communication kind of mysterious in a way, though, BLOGS have been around for quite some time and only recently have been recognized as a VERY valuable asset to Internet marketers.Recently, I was visiting some Internet marketing related Forums and noticed many of the t. . .

$27,817 Monthly With Affiliate Programs

I still remember thinking that promoting Affiliate Programs was a waste of time. Until I started making a small fortune.At the end of 2004, I started some time exploring the concept of promoting affiliate programs through pay-per-click search engines. I knew of some Internet Marketing gurus who were claiming you could make thousands of dollars every month. But I was skeptical. I remember thinki. . .

Reflections On The First Year Of Working At Home

For reasons that escape me now, I kept sort of a diary during my first full year of working at a home based business. It was nothing close to being a complete daily diary, but was more of a collection of scribbles about things that I felt were worthy of note at the time. Since quite a bit of time has passed since then, I decided to revisit these notes. In no particular order, here are some of t. . .

7 Compelling Reasons to Start Using CSS for your Website

If you haven't heard of CSS, it's short for Cascading Style Sheets. I'm not going to go through what it is. There are many free articles and resources about CSS out there in the wild wild web.Instead, I'm going to share with you why I decided to switch to a CSS based design.I've known about CSS for quite awhile now but I used it minimally on my sites. Mainly to control the default font used in . . .

Traffic Conversion Secrets Finally Revealed!

"Dan, I need your help. The copy on my website sucks. It must. Nobody is buying my product…" Or ordering "my ebook"… Or signing up for "my course"… Or booking "my services." People tell me all the time that their websites "doesn't convert." (Not sure what "conversion" is? It's that "magical" transformation that turns a site visitor into a product/service buyer)If you're a website owner w. . .

14 Ways To Persuade Your Web Site Visitors To Give You Th...

In order to persuade your web site visitors to give you their email addresses, you must first make it easy for them to subscribe. Then find creative ways to keep them coming back again and again.To help get your creative juices flowing, here are 14 tips you should consider:1. Ask visitors to subscribe to your e-zine. It's a good idea to also give them a freebie when they subscribe.2. Have them . . .

How To Choose a Good Online MLM or Network Marketing Comp...

You've heard many horror stories about MLM /network marketing programs. But what you are really hearing about are stories relating to illegal programs or pyramid schemes. Basically, pyramid schemes have no real, viable and worthy product. Obviously, you do not want to participate in such schemes. You want to be associated with a high quality product that you will readily endorse. Why participat. . .

How To Quickly and Easily Choose The Right Home Based Bus...

Chances are, if you're reading this you're looking for a decent business online. You're probably being barraged with a zillion different companies all promising you the moon.So, how do you choose the right one? I'm glad you asked :-) Here are the three steps you need to take to find out if online company you're researching is a winner:1. Research The ProductsDoes the company you're considering. . .

How To Really Profit from Domain Names

Have you heard about domain names that sold for over a million dollars? Inspired by this, you imagine registering a great domain name, hanging onto it for a while, and then selling it off to become the next multi-millionaire. It could happen, but don`t count on it! First of all, many of the truly great domain names are already taken. Second, the dot com bust took some of the wind out of inflate. . .

Websites: First-rate and Easy on the Pocket

In today’s online marketplace, designing a quality business website is easier than ever before and the cost might surprise some. As Fortune 500 companies around the globe exhaust countless hours and enormous amounts of capital on developing and maintaining a website, savvy small business owners are realizing the potential of website templates. Web templates are ready-made web design products th. . .

The Internet is Great for Home Business

Home business and work at home opportunities have always been around and always will be. While there are many scams designed only to take your hard earned money there are also many legitimate home business opportunities for entrepreneurs who want to earn extra money working at home. The problem has always been that it is difficult to get funding for a home business and if you do not have. . .

Tons of Top 10 Rankings Guaranteed

Okay I admit it. I was kidding. I can’t guarantee top 10 search engine rankings any more than the next guy.But hold on. Before you click away in disgust I believe I’ve got the next best thing. That all but guarantees you'll get top 10 rankings. Lots of them. For next to nothing. So you might want to stick around and find out what this is all about.You see to hear some tell it a top 10 ran. . .

It Ain't Going To Happen!

Are YOU still trying to succeed online without an AutoResponder and Mailing List Manager? It's NOT going to happen!Your #1 online success tool is a mailing list manager. If you don't have one you are NEVER going to succeed online. Here's why.A List Manager is a handy piece of software, which enables you, at the press of a single button, to deliver a message to every single person on any given . . .

Are You WASTING Valuable Web Real Estate?

I sat at the lunch table, turning every shade of red the mind could conjure up. I had to do something, and do it fast.My aunt was chaperoning my eighth grade class on a field trip to the local amusement park. Then she did it...As we finished eating our lunch, my aunt wrapped up a half eaten hamburger in a napkin, and promptly stashed it in her purse.As everyone at the table looked at me and sta. . .

6 Steps To Adsense Domination

When you make your living online, you realize the need for multiple streams of income.One of the easiest and most lucrative ways to generate a secondary income, which also happens to be passive, is via Google’s Adsense program.I’m sure you’ve read the claims of a few individuals generating five figure monthly incomes from Adsense. For many of you, I’m sure you are wondering why you aren’t makin. . .

Think Outside The Box!

One of the things that I like to do with my spare time is visit various business forums and chat rooms. It is interesting to see what others are thinking, and once in awhile, I run across a question or post that makes for a good article.Here is a good example from the SMC Members Forum. I have changed the name to protect the identity and privacy of the user. This post represents a very common s. . .

Product Positioning - 4 Differentiation Tips

Here are 4 product positioning tips to differentiate your business.Luckily, it’s not all that hard to stand out from the crowd, as long you realize the importance of product positioning. Positioning is the art of matching your marketing message, with the desires, feelings, & beliefs of the particular type of customer that you know you can service better than anybody else. You make yourself "vis. . .

Are You 'Solving' or just 'Selling?'

Here’s a brief survey. How many of you sell something online? It could be a product or a service. Second question: If you sell anything online, do you write any material used to promote that product or service? My guess is that if you’re reading this article, you probably answered ‘yes’ to both questions. Now here’s a third question…How many of you WANT to be ‘sold’ something? If I told you I’d. . .

Who Else Wants Their Share Of Residual Income Without Hav...

Last week, I read a very cool case study written by Anik Singal (sorry, can’t give you the link to the case study, it is available only inside his exclusive Affiliate Classroom, which I highly recommend, by the way http://www.membership-site-reviews.com/affiliateclassroom.html ) where he was explaining how last month, while being very sick, he still managed to create a 4800$ RESIDUAL income. I . . .

Can You Build an Online Home Business Without a Monetary ...

You see it all the time: Ads such as, “FREE HOME BUSINESS”, “MAKE A PROFIT WITH NO COST TO YOU”, etc. You see these claims in emails and on websites all over the Internet. You see them in your local newspaper and in magazines. Are all these ads just a bunch of lies, or can you really build a home business without a monetary investment? I believe the answer to this depends on a couple of differe. . .

How Many Ways Can You License Your Tips Booklet?

You've been thinking about writing a tips booklet. After all, it's shorter, faster, and easier than writing an entire book. A single tips booklet manuscript can be recycled over and over again, developing a new income stream with each deal you make. The booklet can be distilled from a hard copy or electronically published book you've already written, an electronic newsletter you distribute, or . . .

4 Trends You Need to Know About The Passive Income Super ...

The Internet has created financial freedom for millions of individuals who see the opportunities and were willing to take action.Here are 4 Trends that will greatly benefit Online Network Marketers:Trend #1: The Exponential Growth of the Internet.These are some of the results from a research report by eTForecasts: The number of Internet users surpassed 530 million in 2001 and will continue to g. . .

Fallacies Regarding Online Home Based Businesses

In the course of my home business coaching activities, I have often found that people head into the startup of their online home based businesses with a wildly unrealistic mindset. Many have been told that they can sign up for a few programs, build a website around them, add a bunch of banners and links onto their site, then sit back and watch the money roll in and never have to work again. The. . .

2004 Online US Customers Demand Security

During 2004, US Customers purchased $300 billion worth of goods and services from Business Internet websites representing slightly more than 21 percent of total US web sales of $1.4 trillion. But the trend for US Customers clearly shows concerns that need to be addressed by businesses that sell products and services on the world wide web to US Customers.Although seven out of ten US Customers a. . .

Types of Keywords

Keyword can be classified into three categories : Single word Keyword Multiple word Keyword Keywords based on Theme Keyword(s) are basic raw material used in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Keyword selection must be done using Keyword Research where we use special tools to find out a list of Keywords (search terms) searched by targeted audience, recently. Keyword can be single word, two o. . .

Creating a Safer Warehouse Workspace

A safe working environment is of critical concern to employers. In addition to the human pain and suffering caused by injuries, there are bottom line factors to consider.The simple truth is that when workplaces are safer, companies spend less on workers compensation. This is especially true for companies that have warehouses and shipping facilities. While companies are motivated to make the . . .

The Warning Signs Of Online Fraud and How To Avoid It

The number may seem grim for Web-based commerce. In 2004 in the Unites States alone, computer users logged in more than 207,000 Internet fraud reports to the U.S. Internet Crime Complaint Center. If you look hard at this number, you may be astounded, and a good bit frightened, by the implication. You may ask, “Is it really safe to buy and sell at an online site?” Put simply, the answer is: yes.. . .

Success Starts with Articles

No one can logically argue against the fact that content is king. Web sites that are nothing more than glorified link farms or ad spiels must work harder and invest more money to gain visitors—almost none of them return. To keep users returning, there must be a reason. Articles can serve two major roles in maintaining a successful website—content and promotion. Just minutes from now. . .

The WRONG Way To WRITE Articles

As you no doubt already know, writing articles is probably the most effective way to promote your web site. It's a very simple principle - publishers want a vast quantity of good quality content that they do not have to pay for; you provide that content, with the proviso that at the bottom of your article, they include your resource box with a link to your web site. It's a win-win situation. Wi. . .

Being Successful in Spite of Others

My mother thinks I am lazy. I confess that I have stopped listening to her. Just because I do not enjoy ten hour days at the office and would rather spend more time at home with my two boys and lovely wife does not mean I am lazy. I simply have a different perspective about work and earning a living.My mother's reaction to me telling her I have an online business has taught me some things which. . .

Get Business Fit One Minute At A Time

Too many online entrepreneurs spend long hours working online to think about their health and fitness. Your online success is related to your energy levels. How fit are you? Have you looked at your hips or butt lately? We all know that we need to balance building a million dollar online business with keeping the mind and body fit and sharp. You need to train your mind and body for success. But . . .

An Aspirin or an Autoresponder!

Tired of silly old email enquiries? Say hello to autoresponders!If there's one thing that drives us all crazy, it's not having enough hours in the day. You need hours to work out your internet marketing, your sales, your budgets, follow up on invoices and god knows what else. What you're reaching for is an aspirin. What you probably need is an auto-responder. "You must be joking!" you laugh. "I. . .

Using Repackaging to 'Go Big' with your Online Biz

It's actually quite common for online business owners to find themselves stuck. So let's start with a bang and talk about one of the best ways I know to give your online business a real-world boost. Come to understand the concept of 'Repackaging' or 'Repurposing' When I go to the grocery store in the month of November, I always shake my head in admiration. The reason is it's pretty obvious what. . .

What Your Momma Never Told You About Online Press Releases

If you market ANYTHING online, you need to send out an online press release. They are easy to write and can potentially bring you much desired media publicity… which, in most cases, will increase sales. But that’s not what this article is about. I’m going to show you how using low cost online press release services will get your sites indexed into the major search engines fast. The Strategy: Wr. . .

The Internet Marketer

The internet marketer is really a perfect profession. This profession allows you to gain many positive characters. You become more responsible, you learn how to earn money in your home business, how to make it professionally and treat your customers in a way you wanted them to treat you. We have to keep in mind one very important thing that marketing on the internet is different from marketing . . .

Increase Traffic to Your Blog from Search Engines - The T...

Your favorite thing about having a blog may soon be this - they naturally attract search engine traffic.Blogs already have optimized site architecture. Most are set up with a clear navigation, where every page is set up to link back to the other main pages. They also have the inherent potential to be well-linked. If you haven’t already submitted to blog directories, you are missing out on some . . .

Internet Marketing Solution – Content, Content, Content

If you’re looking for the number one, hot Internet marketing solution that will propel your website to the number one spot on the most popular search engines you have a long search ahead of you. The truth is that there really isn’t one technique that will accomplish such a major feat for you. The most successful and popular websites employ a number of techniques to garner that longed for spot. . . .

Earning Money With Affiliate Programs and Google Explained

Starting a business has never been cheaper, quicker, or easier… you don’t even need your own product… …Because with the search engine Google and a commission for every sale of somebody else’s product you generate, you can get your first sale for under $30 in mere hours worth of work. Compare this to other businesses that take months of intense work to start-up and thousands of dollars in invest. . .

Break Out of Your Comfort Zone

Are you having a hard time breaking out of your comfort zone?Everyone has a comfort zone- they are the routines in your life that you've become accustomed to. Routines and habits you are comfortable with and have a hard time changing.-- Personal comfort zones may include certain routines you have like:Getting up every morning- you may go to the bathroom first, then make a cup of coffee next, an. . .

Article Publishing is a Key Component of Internet Marketing

Frequently when I am communicating with other webmasters and I bring up the subject of writing articles, I often get a response like "I'd rather have a root canal, I just can't write", or "my spelling is horrible and my grammar is not much better". In my view, the first excuse is just a matter of attitude. The latter excuse falls on deaf ears because the major word processing programs have good. . .

How and Why to Build a Linking Strategy for your Web Site

Why would you want a linking strategy for your site? The most important reason is to drive traffic to your site, which in turn would increase visitors that would either purchase from you, make your web site more popular, or reach a larger audience to inform for your cause. The second reason to develop a linking strategy for your site is to help increase your rankings in the search engine. With . . .

FFA - Should You Or Shouldn't You?

Whether you are an experienced online marketer or just starting out in your own home based business, you've probably heard someone tell you to FFA.No, they were not being rude! Actually FFA stands for Free For All, and Free For All sites are advertising sites. Whether you should use them or not is your choice.In order to help you make an informed decision, I offer you this article.There are l. . .

Tips For Operating a Successful Business

Whether the business you run is the traditional brick and mortar operation, a large chain store, a franchise business or a home based business the same principals apply. There are 4 basic principles of managing your business no matter the size. Plan, organize, direct and control, following is an overview of each.1) PlanningThis is the most basic of the principals for any size or type of busines. . .

6 Affiliate Mistakes You're Probably Making...

Everyday I see more and more affiliates making the same mistakes. The worst part is that they’re just doing what they’re taught by the so-called “experts.”It’s no shock to me that 95% of affiliates make no money. The problem isn’t that some people are just “better” than others – the problem is just the way the 95% are running their business. That’s why I’m going to diagnose the 6 most common . . .

Easy Online Business Idea!

So, you're not very business savvy or computer literate. But you are searching for a business that is easy to start with your home computer. One you might start with a very limited budget and your present skills you already have.Consider the following: Do you own a computer?Are you a frequent Internet Surfer?Are you aware of the many affiliate programs online?Is your business budget very limit. . .