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> Get Articles > Internet Marketing > 5 Things to Consider When You Decide to Make Money Online
5 Things to Consider When You Decide to Make Money Online
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Clay Mabbitt
cmabbittaffiliatescreen.com
AffiliateScreen.com
http://www.affiliatescreen.com/?adid=17
You’ve made the decision. You’re going to find a way
to make money using the Internet. It’s going to take
some time and effort on your part. Many people who
attempt to do what you’re doing never make a dime, but
you’re determined to succeed.
Well, that’s out of the way. Now that you know what
you want, how do you sift through the countless online
opportunities to find a program that gives you a
reasonable chance of achieving your goals? Here is a
brief list of things to consider when you evaluate an
Internet income opportunities.
1.) Would you buy the product or service if you
weren’t in the program?
A company named Bowling, Inc. sells bowling balls and
is willing to pay you a 50% commission whenever
someone buys one of their bowling balls based on your
referral. Bowling, Inc. sells bowling balls for $150,
but you could get the same quality of bowling balls
from any other company for $100.
Since you receive a 50% commission, you would still
probably buy your bowling ball from Bowling, Inc. You
spend $150 and receive $75 back in commissions.
You’ve spent $75 to get a ball worth $100. If you
weren’t receiving a commission, you would have to pay
$150 for the ball and would probably shop elsewhere.
If your success in the program hinges on getting other
people to buy bowling balls, you won’t have much luck.
2.) What kind of experiences have other people had
with this program?
I should begin by point out that every program is
under investigation by somebody at one time or
another. It’s simply one of the ugly aspects of human
nature that whenever a person or group of people is
successful, other people will come along and try to
tear them down.
Having said that, there will always be scam artists
trying to get you to invest your time, or worse, your
money in an “opportunity” that has no hope of
succeeding. Fortunately, there are people who do
research in this area and are willing to share it with
the world. Enter the name of the program in your
favorite search engine and see what comes up. If
you’re lucky, you can find a page from a discussion
forum in which a few people have had bad experiences
with the program and a few people have had good
experiences. Such a dialogue can quickly give you an
accurate picture of what the company is all about.
3.) Does the program provide the opportunity for
recurring payments?
Getting a chunk of money at one time is never a bad
thing, but getting a chunk of money every month is far
more satisfying. If you join a program that sells
Frisbees, you could expect that once someone has
bought a Frisbee they won’t need to buy another one
for a while. If on the other the company sells
disposable contact lenses, you can expect someone who
buys contact lenses based on your referral, providing
they are pleased with the product and service, will be
returning to buy contact lenses again in the near
future. In the contact lens example, the time that
you spend on the program today could still be paying
off years from now.
4.) Could you make money without referring anyone else
to the program?
This is one of the primary criteria in determining if
a program is legal. Let’s say you pay $10 a month to
join a program called Income, Co. How do you make
money? Whenever you refer someone to the program,
they also pay $10 a month, and $2 of that is paid to
you. Income, Co. is quick to point out that as soon
as you have referred 5 people, your membership is paid
for.
It may not be impossible to make money in such a
program, but very few people do. This is not to say
that you shouldn’t attempt to get other people
involved in the program. In order to earn a sizable
income you will probably have to do so, but the more
ways to earn money the program provides, the better
chance of success the program has. Other ways to earn
money can include: commissions for selling advertising
space in the Income, Co. newsletter, rebates when you
buy Income, Co. products, bonuses for bringing people
to investigate the program whether or not they join,
etc. There are more possibilities than can be covered
in this article, but the rule of thumb is: the more
options for earning money in the program’s
compensation plan, the better.
5.) Does the program use cookies to track referrals?
A cookie is a bit of Internet technology that allows a
website to remember information about the last time a
visitor came to the site. Without cookies, you only
get credit for referring someone if they join, make a
purchase, etc. during their first visit after clicking
through your referral link. If they decide to sleep
on it, then go directly to the site the next morning
without going through your referral link, you get no
credit for the referral. With cookies, however,
someone could come back to the site weeks or in some
cases years later, and you would get credit for the
referral.
This list is not comprehensive, but should help to get
you thinking along the right lines. Remember that
there is no single “right” program. There are many
good opportunities to make money online, but success
with any of them requires persistence and patience.
Good luck!
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Copyright (c) 2003 Clay Mabbitt.
Clay Mabbitt writes articles about evaluating online
money-making opportunities. Need in-depth reviews of
the latest affiliate programs? Find them at
http://www.affiliatescreen.com/?adid=17
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