Getting Started Online – Online Business Ideas For Beginners – Part I

There are many business models for an Online Business. It is often the Internet Business beginner’s daunting task to find these various business ideas, understand how they work, and learn ways to profit with them. It is also difficult to decide which model will work best for YOU.

In this first article I will explain 2 of the most popular online business types. I think they are a good starting point for online business newbies. The models I chose here are well-known, easy to learn, and there is an abundance of information that you can find, for little or no cost, to help you get started. These models are ideal if you are starting out with little or no start up money and limited internet experience.

FREELANCING

The first of this type is Freelancing. Once thought to be available only to the writers and artists of the world, freelancing is fast becoming one of the most popular ways to make money online. Sites like Elance, oDesk, Guru, and Rent-A-Coder have made it extremely easy to get started to get up and running with a freelancer profile in less than a few hours. Some of the most popular freelance openings are:

Writers – These include article and report writers, eBook writers, blog posters, forum posters, copy writers, review writers and much more.

Researchers – Web researchers have grown in popularity to become one of the most sought after freelancers. Research takes time and today’s online marketers would rather spend that time on other tasks and outsource the research tasks to others. This area of freelance requires no more than internet access, a computer, and time.

Graphic Artist – Logo design, banner creation and web page design is a great way to get started in freelancing. Perhaps your background and education is in this area OR you just enjoy it as a hobby. Either way, graphic artists do very well in freelance.

Programmers – This includes every aspect of programming. It seems this area is a mystery to many and those who need this service are willing to pay very good money for a good programmer.

Freelancing jobs are abundant. Check out the sites listed above and for more information about getting started. You can also check out Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams
by Pamela Skillings. Skillings is an author and career coach who writes about her escape from the corporate world and discussed how others can do the same.

AFFILIATE MARKETING

In a nutshell Affiliate Marketing can be defined as commissioned sales online. The difference with Affiliate Marketing is that you do not need to have a sales background to get started and you do not have to do any of that dreaded cold calling or the face to face sales pitch.

Affiliate Marketers are promoters of other people’s products and services. They make a commission based on the type of product or service and that company’s affiliate program. Many of these programs are very generous offering up to 75% commission per sale.

So what types of products or services can you promote? Just about anything! eBooks, websites, dog grooming products, electronics, outdoor furniture and many consumer products that you probably use yourself have affiliate programs available. You can look for affiliate programs on some of your favorite sites. Just look in the headers, footers, or sidebars of these sites for links called AFFILIATES, AFFILIATE PROGRAMS, or PROMOTE.

Another way to find these programs is through Affiliate Retail Outlets like Clickbank and Commission Junction. These sites offer Marketplaces where you an locate 100s of products and services to promote.

How do you promote these products once you find them? There are many ways to promote as an Affiliate. If you have a website or blog you can post banner ads on your site or you can promote through list building and email marketing. Review sites are another great way to promote products. You can create a brief review and then offer the product you are promoting within the article. You can even promote products without a website through Pay-Per-Click advertising or Article Marketing.

Affiliate Marketing is one of my favorite online business models because you can get started for very little money and with limited experience. If this seems like it might interest you then I recommend you check out Rosalind Gardner’s “The Super Affiliate Handbook”. It was the first book I read on Affiliate Marketing and it is one of the most comprehensive guides on the market today. Rosalind just updated her handbook in September 2009 with the most up-to-date techniques for Affiliate Marketers. It is required reading for any new affiliate.

Freelancing and Affiliate Marketing are two great ways to get started making money online. They are very appealing to the beginner because they require little or no money to get started and are suited for individuals with a variety of experience levels.

In the next article I will discuss more online business ideas including creating your own saleable product, micro sites, and pay-per-click. Check back soon!

Ancora Imparo!

Tips For Affiliate Newbies

I have recently started studying information on becoming an Affiliate / Super Affiliate. I have been at this for about six months now and have spent a majority of that time doing a load of research on both products and programs. I have found a lot of useful information but have also found a lot more useless information, scams, and bogus content.

If becoming an Affiliate or an Internet Marketer is something that you have been looking into then I hope these tips will help you on your way and save you some time.

1. Do your research! Read all you can from other Affiliates and see what they are doing and how they got there. Reading their stories and How-Tos has proven invaluable and has helped me to avoid many Newbie mistakes. Two books I suggest are “Make a Fortune Promoting Other People’s Stuff Online” by Rosalind Gardner and “Affiliate Millions” by Anthony Borelli and Greg Holden. Both books are packed with vital information for understanding and mastering Affiliate Marketing. (You can link to both of these books from the bottom of this post.)

2. Don’t fall for all the scams. There are 1000s if not tens of thousands of products out there that promise to make you an overnight success…JUST SAY NO! One thing I have learned is that there is an abundance of free information out there via blogs and podcasts that can serve the same purpose as those $97 programs everyone is selling. Search iTunes for podcasts on Affiliate Marketing and Internet Marketing. Search for blogs on Internet Marketing and Affiliate Marketing. You can learn so much by just listening/reading.

3. Don’t expect immediate results. Growing a good Affiliate business will take time. Don’t expect to start receiving $1000 checks in the mail tomorrow. If you do…more power to you! (and uh, send me your secrets!) but chances are you will not. Don’t get frustrated…it will come!

4. Expect to put the time in. Building sites, writing quality content, and researching Affiliate programs takes time. Expect to put your nose to the grindstone a bit. If you already work fulltime, spare a few hours each night. Turn off that TV and get to work!

5. Know the products and programs you are promoting. Read the terms and conditions. Also, try to promote products and services you are familiar with. It makes writing reviews and promotion so much easier. If you have never ordered or used the product before, then order it…read through the material…scrutinize the ship time and Customer Service. Offering your customers quality products and services will build trust and keep them coming back.

6. Keep it real. Avoid content generators and programs that write articles for you. Although these tools will save time, they will lack quality and quality is what you want to build…not a lot of useless words on a page.

7. Promote it! Promote yourself…DONT BE SHY!!! Get out there and tell the world what you are doing, what you are writing and what you are reviewing. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo, and Tumblr will help you spread the word and share stories with other Affiliates…so get on it!

I hope these few tips will help you on your way and don’t forget to check out these two great Affiliate Marketing books to get you started.

To Your Success!

WEEKLY FREEBIE – eBook – Affiliate Marketer’s Tool Kit

One of my greatest talents has always been the ability to find FREE content on the internet.  The subject doesn’t matter to me.  I know that regardless of the topic I can always find free information, instructions, and more on anything I am learning.  I suppose it is a sort of game I play.  I always get a kick when I can find what I need without having to take out my wallet.  Just to be clear here, the free content I am talking about is LEGAL content.  I am not referring to illegal downloads or anything along those lines.  Besides, that would be too easy and I like the challenge!

I am definitely an advocate of free content and I have used it to learn everything from Photoshop to jewelry making.

When you are getting started with Online Business you want to learn as much as you can and many Marketers know this.  The proof is in the 100s of Internet Business and Marketing products targeted at “newbies”.  They are everywhere and beginners often get caught up in the trap of spending a lot of money on these products when they first get started.

If you are an Internet Business beginner I strongly suggest you look to learn as much as you can without spending any money.  You can easily do this with a little research.

This week on Learn Internet Business Today I am introducing a new weekly segment called WEEKLY FREEBIE.  In this segment I will offer the readers a link to some valuable free content related to Internet Business and Marketing.  It may be an eBook, a video, an article or a blog post but in all cases the informaation will be FREE.

This week I am starting off with a free eBook entitled “The Affiliate Marketer’s Tool Kit“.  The eBook is free to download and has 20 pages of valuable information about Affiliate Marketing.  If this topic interests you then I hope you will check it out.

Check back weekly for your piece of free content.

Off and Running!