Making Money - Online Business Opportunity

I’ve heard many people complain that there’s just too many stumbling blocks in building a business and while they are true, I think they don’t have the proper attitude.  I’ve heard people worry about managing their staff, or their inventory, and of course their money but I think they’re just worrying too much.

Thing is stumbling blocks are everywhere.  It’s in school, at work, in the family, at church, and of course in business.  Even worst, encountering stumbling blocks in our everyday life is inevitable.  You’ll definitely come across one or two each day trying to hinder you attain your goals.

So what’s the right attitude?  Simple.  Each time you come across a stumbling block just look at it, think of how you can overcome it and continue with your journey.  Imagine seeing a gold bar about 10 feet away from you.  You can see it but between you and the gold bar is 1-meter thick transparent glass that’s 5 kilometers high and 100 kilometers wide.  You can almost here the glass wall whispering, “You can’t have the gold bar.”  But hey, you want the gold bar and you want it really bad.  What would you do?

You tell me…

Find more Online Money Making Opportunities

I make money through Text Link Ads and ReviewMe.  Both being owned by the same company.  The money I earn is not that much - averaging only $70 / month from these two combined.  I used to get my earnings through Paypal (Tip: I use a friend’s paypal address and give him a share of what I earn as a “fee”).  Then I tried changing my profile so that my commissions will be sent to me in check (or is that cheque).

Worried at first on whether my checks will make it through the chaotic postal system of the Philippines, I finally got my first check, then my second, then my third, then my fourth.  So far so good and I’m happy with it and though I have to go to the bank to deposit the checks and wait 30 days for them to clear, I still feel glad knowing that my dollar savings account (I use Banco de Oro by the way) is growing.  And of course add to that the feeling of expecting a couple of checks in US dollars arriving at your doorstep.

As an Amazon associate, my question is, “Is there money in Amazon?”

Thus far, I’ve earned less than $10 in almost 2 years of putting amazon links on my sites and heck, we all know that $10 is not much.  However, I’ve heard people who are making hundreds and even thousands of dollars in Amazon sales.  What am I doing wrong?  What are they doing right?

Apparently it’s clear.  There is money in Amazon but making that money is not as easy as putting ads on your websites and getting paid for every click.  In fact, it will never be as easy as most Amazon products will give you a commission only as high as what you get from any decent pay-per-click ad.  In other words, on click on a PPC ad is just about as worth as a sale of one Amazon product.  Problem is, people like clicking but not all like buying.  Now you can see why I’ve made only $10 in almost 2 years.  They click (yes, I have lots of clicks) but very little conversion.

So, what should I do?  I’ve written a gameplan and though I haven’t taken one step into this gameplan, I still want to share it with you.

The Game Plan

1. Be pro-active in selling Amazon products.  Buying is an active decision made by the customer while clicking an ad can be a passive result of reading a blog post.  In other words, you have to preset your reader’s mind into buying the product.  This is hard and this requires skill.
2. Put up a website dedicated to selling Amazon products.  Unlike blogging where all you have to do is write a post, selling any Amazon product requires dedication.  A simple, “I’ve read this book, it’s cool, so buy it” blog post won’t do much.  You have to hard sell your product to your reader by pointing out each product’s benefits, writing reviews, and so on…  I told you, it’s not easy.
3. Gateway pages.  No I’m not talking SEO here.  I’m referring to real pages designed to bring traffic to your Amazon selling website.  This way, you may just get enough traffic to make your first $100 in Amazon sales.  These gateway pages should presell your products and they should be written well.
4. Newsletters.  Grab people’s email addresses by offering them something free such as an eBook or a service then ask them just before they click “Submit” if they want to sign-up for your monthly newsletter.  This way, you can inform them of updates on your site(s) and hope to make more sale.
5. Check what’s wrong and keep on tweaking things.  Never stop learning since making money with Amazon is not easy (at least for me)

Now before I end, I’d like to point out why I think only a few people are making money with Amazon.

1. The reader has to buy a product
2. The reader has to have money
3. It requires more time and dedication on the side of the publisher
4. The commission is very very small

Nonetheless, every good businessman takes every cent earned seriously and being an aspiring successful businessman, I’m setting my mind on it - perhaps not as a way of supporting my family’s needs but rather a challenge.  If I can make good bucks in Amazon then I get I can make good money in just about anything else online.

I’ve been an Amazon associate for quite some time already and I have to admit that through all these years of being in Amazon associate, I haven’t really discovered the gold mine in it yet. I know that there is good money in Amazon since there are people making mony out of it so it’s just a matter for me to look at the right direction and do the right things.

Good thing Amazon is also developing bits and stuff to enhance the associate’s experience - this time with Amazon Context Links.

I always wished for Amazon to provide “real” contextual ads for their publishers and thus far, nothing really has met my criteria. I wonder how their Context links would work. They did provide a couple of links in their blog that shows how these new feature works and it does look good so I’m giving it a try.

It works by searching your website’s content for keywords and converting those keywords into links to particular products in Amazon’s inventory. A click doesn’t earn you money, you will still need to make a sale.

Here’s Amazon’s official words on it - Context Links Beta - You Create the Content. We’ll Link It.

This blogging guide is written to help all those new bloggers out there who asks the following questions:

1. How do I start blogging?
2. Is blogging for profit a good idea?
3. How do I make money blogging?
4. What do I blog about?
5. How do I promote my blog?

This post is not meant to be a blogging for dummies article of sorts but rather, it is written to guide existing and wannabe bloggers in their blogging endeavors.

Now, let’s answer the questions above.

How do I start blogging?

This is the easiest part of all. You can start blogging without having to spend a single dime. All you need is a computer and an internet connection. You can start blogging and have your own website / blog by signing up for a free account at any of the following websites:

• Wordpress
• Blogger
• ILoveMagick Blogs

There are a bunch of other free blogging services out there but any of the three mentioned above can get you started. Of course, if you want more control over your weblog, then you might want to go with a paid hosting service that supports some sort of blogging tool. One such web hosting company is Transinnova - they will even help you setup your blog. The advantages of making use of paid hosting for your blogging endeavor are enormous - you get to decide exactly how your blog looks, you get your own domain name, and you get to install whatever plugin you want.Is blogging for profit a good idea?

The answer to this simple question is YES. In fact, any endeavor whether it be blogging or not (or online or not for that matter) is always a good idea as long as it brings in profit. I know several bloggers who are making a good living out of their weblogs and a lot more making a reasonable amount of extra money on a monthly basis.

So unless you hate making money, the answer would be YES.

How do I make money blogging?

The answer to this question is as many as there are ways to make money in the world but let’s tackle only the most popular ones.

• Making money though PPC ads
  • Show text-ads on your Website or Blog with BidVertiser.
  • You can monetize your site with AdBrite
  • You can try Adsense
• Making money by selling text links
  • Sell Ad Space with Text Link Ads
• Writing Reviews
  • Get paid for writing reviews at ReviewMe

There a bunch more of ways to making money with your blogs but usually, it’s mixing them all together that works best for most newbies.

What do I blog about?

Now, this is the hard part. First, I strongly advise against blogging about yourself unless you’re a celebrity. Of course, saying something personal once in a while on your blog would be nice and give a human touch to it. However, don’t fill up your blog with all your ramblings and rantings.

You can write about anything of interest to you. Do you like computers - blog about them? Do you like housekeeping, write articles about them. The choices are endless. Thing is, if you’re interested in something, chances are there are also other people who are interested in that same thing.

Finally, just remember, whatever you blog about, make sure it’s interesting and written well.

Onto the last question…

How do I promote my blog?

This is actually easier than most of us think. Here are a few easy and effective ways to promote your blog.

Optimize for the Search Engines. How do you do this? Simple. Go to Overture’s Keyword Inventory Tool and type your blog’s main topic (i.e. computers). Overture will then return a list of keywords related to your topic that were searched for the previous month. Take note of these keywords and incorporate them in your blog. This is what I call niche blogging. A good read about this method is the Niche Market Domination Course. Read it and absorb it then act on it. Another nice reading is the Keyword Masters Course.

If you optimize for the search engines very well, then you won’t have to worry much but as my grandfather always say, “It’s better to cover all grounds than sit and relax hoping that all will go well.”

Other things you can do are…

1. Search Technorati for blogs related to you. Make friends with the owners of this blog, write comments on their blog posts and blog about their blogs as well. Take note, do not promote anything. Be serious and honest in making friends.
2. Participate in forums that are related to your topic. If you blog about web programming, then you might want to join a web development forum such as Kangkong.ORG. If you blog about magick or the occult, then you might want to join a magick forum such as ILoveMagick.COM. If you blog about SEO or online marketing, then it is good for you to join an SEO Forum such as SEO Philippines. Whatever you’re blogging about, the thing is, you have to find people of the same interest. Again, make friends - don’t SPAM.
3. Exchange links with related websites.

There are lots of other ways to promote your weblog… just be creative and be sure that you won’t be stepping on other people’s toes.

Ok, that about sums up this simple blogging guide and I hope you enjoyed it.

Just about any person or company selling a product delves into the world of advertising whether it be an ad on the newspaper, on TV, radio or the internet.  Furthermore, these advertisers always want their ads to be placed above the fold - in areas that can easily be seen by the viewer, in places that would capture the attention of people.

So, one company thought… “What about putting ads in space?”  And that’s just what JP Aerospace is doing right now.  They’re currently lining up interested advertisers for their next flight in April to put their ads 100,000 feet above earth - just at the edge of space.

Here’s a sample of such an ad.

JP Aerospace ads at the edge of space. Credit: JP Aerospace

While the ad does look enormous, it is actually only the size of a business card photographed properly so don’t expect to see ads floating in the sky anytime soon.  Disappointed?  Don’t be.  After all putting a supersized billboard in space would be more hazardous than helpful so business-card size ads photographed to look big would be fine.

Now, makes me think… I think any good photo editing software such as Photoshop or Gimp can do such a trick.

We hear it everywhere, the global economy is going down, down, and down… Others even say that it’s going down the toilet. You don’t even have to hear it from other people or from so-called experts. Just take a look at your own life - how much are you earning? how much are you spending? how much are things worth nowadays? how much is your debt?

In times like this, only the wise will manage to survive. So the question is, will you?

Doesn’t really matter if you’re an employee or a businessman. Truth of the matter is, if you don’t have a PLAN B, then you’re doomed.

So, what’s Plan B? Before I answer that, have you ever watched a movie wherein the actors are in a dire situation and one of them asks, “What’s Plan B?” Then another actor will say, “There’s no Plan B…” Of course, the main characters in such a movie will still survive but wouldn’t it be a lot easier if they just had a Plan B?

Plan B put simply is your backup plan. A plan that will give you a positive income just in case any of the following happens:

• You get fired
• The company you’re working in closes
• You get sick and can’t work anymore
• Your business goes bankrupt

I’m sure you can think of many other ‘bad’ situations. Then again, what’s your Plan B? What’s your backup Plan?

Would you get a second job? If that’s your answer, my next question is “What if you get sick?” In such a case, you won’t be able to work on any of your two jobs.

Would you rely on your pension plan (401K, IRA, SSS)? Sounds nice but do you think the government can really sustain all of us when we all retire? I doubt it.

What about putting up a business (or another business if you already have one)? Actually, that’s a good idea but are you ready to go through all the trouble of putting up your own business? If you’re that brave, you can always go ahead. Just want to let you know that 95% of startup business companies close on their first 2 years.

So what could be a good solution? The solution my friend is still a business - but one that already has a proven and working system. It’s called a franchise.

Isn’t it expensive? Well, typical franchise costs range from $100,000 to $1,000,000. You have that money? NO? Me too. BUT THERE’S ARE CHEAPER FRANCHISES AVAILABLE. One that would cost you only $1,000 to $3,000 and just like any other franchise - it works.

Welcome to the world of micro-business franchising. Small, scalable, affordable, and most of all IT WORKS!

Where can you get such a franchise? Contact me and I’ll tell you more…

My contact info are as follows:

Phone: +63 (44) 6914895
Mobile: +63 (920) 5063248
Email: e@mikelopez.info
Yahoo Messenger: sydelct

Contact me now and get the ground breaking information to a surefire solution of getting out of the rat-race. This can just be your Plan B!

While site-hopping, I came across rateGenius - a Texas-based car loan refinancing website and I was impressed by it so I thought I should make a short review about them here in my Business and Money blog.

First, their website is simple and easy to navigate but what amazed me most is their F.A.Q. section which contains tons of answers to Car Refinance questions. From General questions such as “How does refinancing work?” to the more detailed Credit questions, their F.A.Q. is a very helpful resource to the information seeker.

Also, the 1800 number on the top-right of the screen makes it even simpler for any person to get information from them. I give this website a rating of 4 out of 5 for being informational, simple and easy to use.

I recently sent out a text message to my friends as well as uploaded a simple website about a food business franchising opportunity here in the Philippines and I was surprised to get a handful of interested individuals who inquired regarding the how’s and the what’s of the business franchising opportunity I was telling them. For starters, it’s all about food…

Why a food business? Personally, I’m more of a tech guy and though I know how to cook, I’m not really that good at it. Furthermore, having a food business is not really into my system. So why am I into it? Well, because I don’t really have to worry much about the difficult stuff - thanks to franchising. With a franchise, I can actually setup my business within 2 weeks time (or less) and start making Philippine money out of it. But why food? Simple, people love food - everybody does. Even a person who is very very strict with his diet would indulge in some high-cholesterol yummy food once in a while. Food is basically hardwired into the human being’s system and that’s what makes it a good business.

Definition: If you’re not sure what a franchising means, it is a method of doing business wherein a franchisor licenses trademarks and tried and proven methods of doing business to a franchisee.

How much does it cost? Cheap. For as little as Php50,000 you can already start your own money making food business and you don’t have to worry about the nitty-gritty details because that’s what franchising is all about - all the little details are handled by the franchisor. All you need to do as a franchisee is to operate the system when the franchise was handed over to you.

What kind of food business franchises are available? There’s a lot of them but the most popular ones are waffle, burger, pizza, and shawarma. As I said, there are more of them and it’s just a matter of choosing which of them would fit your wants.

All you need is at least Php50,000 and you’re all set. Is 50,000 pesos too much? I don’t think so. If you think of all the money you’ve been spending, you will quickly realize that you’ve been throwing Php50,000 at least every 6 months on nothing. Think of electricity, hobbies, entertainment, e-load, vices if you have any, etc. I think it’s about time that we as citizens of the Philippines should start doing ‘good’ business instead of wasting our time on nonsense. If you’re wise, then you know what to do.

So, what’s in this for you? Answer: Financial freedom. Ask any businessman for advise on how to attain financial freedom and they will tell you to start a business and start investing. My dear friend, the whole idea is to make more money than you are spending. If you’re only earning as much as you spend, then you’re not financially free. Worst is you might actually be spending more than you earn and find yourself in debt all the time. If that’s your case, then I want you to rethink your life and start making wise decisions.

Now, before you tell me that you’re busy and that you don’t have time for this, I want you to first be honest to yourself. Are you really busy? If so, what makes you busy? Is that thing you’re doing that keeps you busy helps you attain financial freedom? Also, do you want to busy all your life? Personally, I don’t. If you’re tired of being busy, then here’s the chance for you to actually stop becoming busy and spend more time for the important things in life such as your family and yourself.

Ok, if you’re interested and I know you are because if you’re not then you wouldn’t have read this far, you can ask me for more information by sending an email to e@mikelopez.info or texting me at 09205063248. You can also reach me by phone at (044) 6914895. If you contact me by phone and I’m not home, then just look for Evelyn. She’s my wife and she’ll be happy to answer any inquiries you may have regarding the business.

Again, here’s my contact info:

• Email : e@mikelopez.info
• Cellphone: 09205063248
• Landline: (044) 6914895 and look for Mike or Evelyn

Email, text or call me for inquiries.

My dear reader, I’m offering you here the opportunity to take that first step into becoming financially free. Don’t waste this opportunity. I say grab it, or at least contact me for more info.

Be wise!

While breast augmentation naturally takes money out of the pocket, I’m actually thinking of a way to bring in some extra money with breast augmentation and it appears to be a good niche to try.  As usual, the whole idea is based around a website that tackles breast augmentation, optimizing it for the search engines, send in targeted traffic from different sources, then make money through advertising.

I did a quick check on Overture and found out that the keyphrase ‘breast augmentation’ got 51612 searches and ‘breast enlargement’ got  28882 last month and that’s pretty nice.  Of course, I don’t plan to go for just ‘breast augmentation’ or ‘breast enlargement’ as my targeted keyword.  I would most likely go specific by adding locations (i.e. Albany breast enlargement) to the keywords plus checking Overture for some other related searches made for the past month.  Add a few mathematical computations to that and I’ll be on the go.