Michael Dunbar - Internet Marketer: August 2009

15 Reasons to Become an Affiliate Marketer
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There are HUGE benefits to promoting affiliate programs with your own home-based Internet business, and I've come up with a list of 15 great reasons to become an affiliate marketer.

Let's look at each reason separately:

1. No Production Costs - The cost to develop and produce a new product is prohibitive for almost anyone who wants to start a home-based business. With affiliate programs, production costs aren't an issue. The product has been developed and proven - all on the merchant's nickel.

2. Low Cost Set-up - Compared with building a brick and mortar store, starting a home-based Internet business is relatively cheap. You probably already have a desk, Internet-connected computer and word-processing software, which is all the equipment you may need.

3. No Fees for Joining or Licenses to Buy - I often compare doing business as an affiliate, with distributing a line of products in the real world. The biggest difference is that the distributor must often pay for a license to distribute products within a limited geographic region. Affiliate programs, on the other hand, are usually free to join, and geographic market reach is limited only by the affiliate's ability to promote his web site.

4. Choose From Thousands of Products and Services - What isn't sold online? That list must be shorter than the one describing all that IS sold online. There are thousands and thousands of affiliate programs selling every product under the sun. That makes it easy to find products related to your current or planned web site.

5. No Sales Experience Needed - When I started my affiliate business, I had absolutely no sales experience. That wasn't a problem, however. The companies I affiliated with provided excellent marketing material. Using their sales copy, I was able to get my first affiliate site up in less than a day.

6. No Employees - The largest expense of most businesses is employee salaries. Although there might be times when you need or want someone to work for you as an affiliate, it's doubtful you'll ever have to worry about hiring full or part-time employees. When you have a project you want to hire out, it is easy to find specialists in every computer- related field who can work for you from the comfort of THEIR own homes. You pay only for the project, and never have to worry about ongoing employee-related benefits and deductions.

7. No Expensive Merchant Accounts Needed - Setting up a merchant account for any business is a time-consuming and costly business. It's even more tedious for Internet businesses. However, merchant accounts aren't a concern when you're an affiliate. The merchant bears that cost and handles all processing of payments. You never have to lose sleep over potential chargebacks, fraud or losing your merchant account when you're an affiliate.

8. No Inventory to Carry - Even if you live in a small one- bedroom apartment, as an affiliate you can sell large items without storage concerns.

9. No Order-Processing - Forget the problems associated with collecting and storing names, addresses, credit card numbers, etc. The merchant does all that!

10. No Product Shipping - The cost and hassle to prepare and ship products to customers worldwide could be staggering. Affiliates never have to worry about packaging supplies or postal rates.

11. No Customer Service Concerns - Do you hate the prospect of dealing with nasty people or customer complaints? Don't worry about it! The merchant handles the snivelers.

12. Make Money While You Sleep - What other business allows you as a sole proprietor to keep your doors open and keep making money even when you take breaks or after you go home for the night?

13. The World at Your Doorstep - The Internet is the world's largest marketplace. You can drive more visitors to your online store in a day, than many small-town merchants sees in his or her brick and mortar business in a year.

14. Minimal Risk - The product you chose isn't making money? Dump it. Take down your links and promote another! It's that easy. There are no long-term contracts binding you to products that don't sell.

15. High Income Potential - If you have a job, your salary or hourly wage is probably pre-determined. Maybe there's not much, other than working overtime, that you can do to increase your income. With your own affiliate business on the Internet your income potential is limited only by your desire, effort and imagination.

There you have them - all the good reasons to start your own online affiliate marketing business. Start today and benefit from this incredibly simple, cost-effective business opportunity known as affiliate marketing. The time is right, and the time is now.

-- Article excerpted from Rosalind Gardner's "Super Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436,797 Last Year Selling Other People's Products Online". Rosalind is the 'Net's most recognized expert on successful online selling as an affiliate marketer.

Vist her web site here.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

How Can Viral Marketing Help Your Online Business And what is it?

Viral Marketing is a traffic generating tool that allows you to multiply your visibility online by utilizing your existing customers and subscribers (free or paid) in a word of mouth type of referral machine that uses the properties of multiplication to snowball your marketing efforts.
Viral Marketing is like a flu bug, it spreads from one person to the next spreading the word about your business and increasing the awareness of who you are and how to reach you.

Why Do You Need Viral Marketing?

1. Your business will increase exponentially. Your customers tell their friends and family and they become customers who tell their friends and family. The buzz on the internet is that every satisfied customer tells 12 other people about their great experiences shopping online. If your efforts persuade 10 people to tell 10 people and each of those 10 each tell 10 people...well you get the picture, right?
2. It establishes credibility and trust in you and in your Website because those people spreading the word are also spreading their recommendation about you and your business.
3. Viral Marketing is very compelling, it encourages people to interact with your marketing message. When people actually react and act upon your message they are more likely to remember it and repeat the message. An example is if your child tells you a funny joke and you laugh at it, you are likely to remember the moment and to repeat the joke to friends and other family members.
4. Viral Marketing is a low cost way of marketing your products or Website. There is no cost to word of mouth advertising
5. Unlike playing the game of telephone, viral marketing stays intact from one mouth to the next, from one recommendation to the next. An example would be if you write a terrific article explaining about the benefits of one of your products, or giving tips about how to experience a really wonderful event that your website promotes and at the end of this very informative article, you have a line of text that says, "If you found this information helpful, please pass this article along to a friend". The message (the article) stays the same for your subscriber and the friend that is passed the article to read and also the same for the friend that the friend passes the article to. Articles gets passes around the Internet by publishers of ezines who pick up the article from the article directory you put it on. Readers of those ezines like the article so much they pass it along via email to their friends who in turn pass it along to their friends. That's the power of Viral Marketing.

Viral Marketing Examples and Ideas

1. You write and article with a "pass this along" message at the bottom with your website address in your byline
2. Give away free trial or demo versions of your product. Have an ebook for sale, give away a free chapter on your website. Give away a trial # of days of your service and then ask for payment after the trial is over.
3. Hold a contest to win a prize by drawing from all those names entered in the contest. Everytime someone invites their friends to enter the contest they get another entry into the contest for every friend they encourage to enter. They get rewarded for passing along your contest by getting another entry.
4. Affiliate programs are just another way of applying viral marketing. People are spreading the word about your product or service and receiving an award for doing so (commission).
5. Make sure you give people a benefit or reward for passing along your article/demo/trial/affiliate program
6. Make an obvious point to ask people to share your marketing article/demo/trial/affiliate program

For more information on Viral Marketing in affiliate marketing, particularly as it applies to CPA, check out the newly-released Zero Friction Marketing System

Monday, August 17, 2009

Ten Commandments for a Stress-Free Life

“Life is a journey and an experience.” We have all heard that before haven’t we? Well, that is true, it is a journey and we have the opportunity to make it great or mediocre. The choice is ours.

Ten Commandments Stress in our personal and professional lives is ever changing and constantly on the rise. Everyday we’re expected to do more and more with less and less – less resources, less energy and less time.

In order to master the ability to manage stress, it’s important to first remove one of the biggest obstacles that stands between chaos and calm – SELF.

Often we are one of the biggest contributors to the calamity and chaos we experience in our lives. Stress management is the recognition that life is all about the choices we make.

So starting today, choose to take control and follow these ten commandments to help you lead a stress-free lifestyle:

l. You shall not be perfect, or even try to be.

Think of how many things don’t get done because someone is waiting for the perfect time, place and circumstance. Working with perfection as your standard is both a mental and physical drain.

Lose the need to get everything done “perfect.” Know that it’s far better to accomplish a task at 85% perfection than to procrastinate and wait for 100% perfection.

ll. You shall not try to be all things to all people.

Whether you like it or not, others will try to put who you are and what you do into a particular category in their head. They’ll label you with one or two words and resist – indeed be revolted – by anything that breaks that mold. That’s just the way the world is, and it’s better to work with it than to fight it.

Trying to be all things to all people may seem like a great way to cast a wide-net. But really, it’s a way to turn people off. Being everything is equivalent in most people’s minds as being nothing. What can’t be categorized is likely to be rejected and forgotten.

In business, career and relationships, decide who you are and what you stand for in a sharp fashion. Try to summarize it in only a word or two for the area you’re focused on. This is a much better strategy than trying to be all things to all people.

lll. You shall sometimes leave things undone.

Charles Hummel, author of Tyranny of the Urgent, wrote: “We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important. The problem is that many important tasks need not be done today, or even this week… The urgent task calls for instant action. The momentary appeal of these tasks seems irresistible, and they devour our energy. With a sense of loss we recall the vital tasks we pushed aside. We realize that we have become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent.”

Overcoming that tyranny of the urgent and focusing instead on those things that are truly important is one sure way to propel us on our way toward a stress-free life.

The way to overcome this problem is to leave some things undone. And that is especially hard for those of us who may have perfectionist tendencies and are driven to excel. We want to get it all done.

The irony is that we will accomplish more by attempting to do less. The key is to prioritize and set aside those things which are not as important. Put your effort into moving those long term projects a little further forward. Then you will eventually be able see success in that area.

lV. You shall not spread yourself too thin.

Don’t spread yourself too thin or lay it on too thick. You really cannot be the best at everything that you want. It is better to be known for a little of something than a lot of nothing.

Don’t try to do it all. Find a couple of things and stick to those. Also organize your time well.

V. You shall learn to say “no”.

Learning how to say “no” can be hard, but it’s something that I feel can really help you be more productive, reduce stress and do a better job with the things you do say “yes” to. Saying no to some things can actually help everyone involved.

The bottom line here is that there are times when you simply have too much going on to stay productive. In order to keep moving towards your goals you need to know when to say no and when to push things off your plate.

It can be hard, and you may feel badly about it, but in the end you’ll be happier, you’ll get more done and the people you live and work with will actually be better off for it as well.

Vl. You shall schedule time for yourself.

If you have trouble finding time to relax, put it in your schedule. Give yourself one hour on certain days to do an activity you truly enjoy. Work on a hobby, do some exercise, go for a walk, or read a book. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you enjoy it. These breaks will help you renew your energy and concentration.

Adding non-work activities to your schedule will give you extra motivation and focus for the times when you are working.

Vll. You shall switch yourself off, and do nothing regularly.

Feeling stressed and unfocused? Try doing nothing. Or rather, try sitting in a quiet room thinking about nothing for at least 20 minutes, twice a day.

It sounds simple, even boring, but transcendental meditation isn’t just for mantra-chanting yogis or herbal-tea-drinking hippies. Maxed-out professionals are turning to daily meditation to lower blood pressure, prolong concentration, and crank up creative juices.

“It helps me slow down,” says Erica Kalick, founder and president of Erica’s Rugelach & Baking Co., a 10-employee gourmet pastry manufacturer in Brooklyn, N.Y. Kalick took up meditation to help her cope after a personal tragedy. “We run around all day, usually thinking about ourselves,” she says. “But if, for example, I’m pissed off at an employee, I can slow down and think about it from the other person’s perspective.”

When you meditate thus before you start working on a task, your stress levels decreases and a great deal of clarity arises.

Vlll. You shall not even feel guilty for doing nothing, or saying no.

An all-or-nothing attitude is why so many people have so little success; we choose structured programs because they relieve us from making choices for ourselves.

And if you begin to make changes in your life with the assumption that any deviation from your plan will ruin it, you might as well not even begin.

Life is full of unplanned obstacles, distractions, and temptations. Your best approach is to prepare for them, keeping an open mind and maintaining a positive attitude.

lX. You shall be boring, untidy, inelegant, and unattractive at times.

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis, known for her acting talents and physical beauty, recently took a bold step many of us would shutter at the thought of – she posed for a magazine minus make-up in a crop top and shorts. She posed for all the world to see the “real” beauty she is – a confident women who doesn’t definite herself by other people’s standards.

Chasing after beauty defined by others (media, family, friends, spouse, co-workers and others) is detrimental to your peace of mind.

You don’t have to look and feel your best every single day. Be bold and love the skin you’re in right now – crooked nose, warts, corns, receding hairline, wrinkles, sags, bulges and all. Appreciate your natural beauty and love yourself just the way you are.

X. You shall not be your own worst enemy. But, be your own best friend.

Far too often, we are quick as a whip to complain when we feel we did something wrong, yet we are not as quick to lavish praise.

Complaining about every little thing is very stressful and draining.

Starting today, make a point to praise yourself every time you have a positive impact on your life. Doing so will not only make you feel good, but will make a difference in a positive way and help you manage stress.

Remember that a stress-free life is all about choice – what are you going to choose today?

Why Make Yourself Crazy? 400 Strategies for a Stress-Free Life Stress Program More Than Relieves Stress, Anxiety & Clutter, It Eliminates The Causes!Click Here!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Google Adwords Marketing Tips

Are you planning to use Google AdWords to get more traffic to your website? If so, here are some tips that will help you out:

1. Once you’ve signed up for a Google AdWords account, before you do another thing, login and start reading. Plan an entire day for this, if necessary. Google provides a lot of useful information within AdWords that will greatly help you in creating and running effective PPC campaigns with their program.

2. If you have not ever taken a copywriting course, do so now. Learn how to write ads and headlines that get people excited. This won’t change your ranking in the results, as the price that you are willing to pay for clicks determines that, but it will greatly improve the number and quality of clicks that you get!

3. Make absolutely sure that you set a daily budget for your Google AdWords campaign! If you fail to do this, Google will run your ad, and bring you unlimited traffic, which in turn will cost you hundreds, and possibly thousands of dollars per day! Get that daily budget set!

4. Don’t just type in keywords that you think are related. Research those keywords, and narrow in on tight keyword phrases that are more suited to your product or content. This will prevent clicks from people who are not searching for your specific product or information – clicks that you have to pay for!

5. Know what you want your traffic to do when they arrive at your website before you write your ad. Write your ads that target the people that you need – people that are ready to buy now, or people to put on your list to warm up to sales later.

6. Test your ads! Write several different ads to see which one gets the best clicks – note, the best clicks, not the most clicks – in terms of the action that you want your visitors to take. Use the Google Conversion reporting tools to find out which ad is best. Also test keywords.

7. Make changes when and where necessary. If you are getting clicks, but your visitors aren’t taking the action that you want them to take, look to see whether the problem is in the ad, or on your website. If you aren’t getting enough clicks, you may have your keywords too focused, and fanning them out a bit by choosing keywords that aren’t so narrow may help.

For more information, visit PPC Guide PRO and Learn how to use the Google Pay Per Click system.

Welcome To My Opportunity And Resource Center.

My name is Michael Dunbar and I am a A Retired U.S. Marine Corps Veteran - Currently Living The Good Life. I earn a good living from home as a Full Time and Successful Internet Marketer. I have been blessed to exit the rat race and work online on a full time basis for 9 years. My journey however, began a long time ago. Like many, I hated my job! Hated working to make an organization rich while I was paid pennies. I ventured to the online world seeking to supplement my income. Joined a high ticketed program and as soon as I paid, my sponsor disappeared!! I was forced to learn the ropes of how to become a successful internet marketer completely solo. Believe me when I say, I failed miserably in many programs several times. I've been through trial and error, however, I stayed determined to reach MY goals.. and each day, more and more of these goals continue to manifest! How, you may ask, did I manage to leave a well paying full time job and work at my leisure from the comfort of my home? I had the DRIVE, DESIRE and was completely DETERMINED to live life based on MY terms. I am NO different then anyone else. I don't contain any magically powers. Anyone and everyone has the power to change their own lives... It's simply a matter of choice! Failure is not an option for me. I choose success!! I have no desire to return to the corporate world. So by applying the principles of the Law Of Abundance. I continuously reap what I sow. I invite you to make the same choice and live the life that you desire. Feel free to navigate through this Blog and discover the activities. Situations are not always to your liking. They don't always appear to be to your advantage, but you have to accept them. If it's in your power to change them, do whatever you can. If not, you must accept them as they are and move on with your life. There is nothing wrong with obtaining mansions on Earth, while we await our Heavenly mansions.

"Get That Skrilla By Any Means"
Michael "Skrilla" Dunbar - Internet Traffic Controller
Author of "From A U.S. Marine To Internet Marketing Millionaire"
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!"

Michael Dunbar - Internet Marketer

Monday, August 31, 2009

List of 500+ Articles Submission Sites

List of 254 LIVE Articles Submission Sites

The archives (271) listed more low have been excluded from the list

Monday, August 24, 2009

15 Reasons to Become an Affiliate Marketer