Bullet Proof Profits
If you've tried your hand at any type of online business, then you'll already know it ain't a walk in the park. In fact if you're anything like me, you've probably already tried and abandoned many such ventures - and ended up a lot lighter in the pocket!
If I'm honest I'd have to say I've tried literally dozens of different home business and online moneymaking opportunities and 9 times out of 10 I have come up short.
But there is one advantage gained from all that optimistic persistence - and that's you learn what works and what doesn't.
Take selling health products for example. I'm a big user of supplements and various additions to my diet. And over the years I've tried selling them via different home-based businesses. A few years back I joined a big name referral marketing company selling a range of such health supplements. The products were great (and still are), and I even spent time verifying the company's claims before I jumped on board.
But guess what? Even after spending months creating my own promotional website, doing advertising, and persisting through thick and thin - at the end of the year I had only made a measly total of $320 for all my efforts. Meanwhile I had been spending over $100 on autoshipped products each month - and another $30 for the corporate marketing website.
I can tell you, that sort of experience doesn't leave a good taste in your mouth! However, I always try to look for the silver lining - and in this case it was discovering what didn't work.
Regardless of my previous bad experiences, I'm still a fan of referral marketing. Why? Because I have earned (and continue to earn) good upfront and residual commissions by pointing people to particular products and services. But the trick is to sort out the wheat from the chaff.
Here's some pointers I've learned over the years - the essential ingredients necessary for earning a good income from referral marketing.
1. Attractive Pricing
There's no doubt that the cost of a product impacts on how easy it is to sell. And if it's a difficult sell, then you aren't going to earn much in the way of commissions. As a personal example, when I was trying to build an income with the health company I mentioned above, I failed to take into account the negative impact of promoting products at around the $70 -$100 price point - when similar products could be got from health shops and supermarkets for around $30-$40.
2. Instant Product Appeal
It's obvious that the product should have wide appeal - and deliver distinct and measurable benefits to the potential buyer. Health, appearance, sex and how to make money are all areas of universal human interest
3. Successful Marketing System
One of the quickest ways to fail in any business is to lack the necessary sales and marketing skills. Trouble is, most of us do lack them! Fortunately, the internet provides a potential solution, that of being able to use a fully-automated online marketing system - a system that both promotes and sells for you. There are some good ones out there - as well as useless ones - but they often cost an arm and a leg to use. One such system I tried recently cost me over $200 a month, and it didn't take me long to calculate the financial burden this placed on the fledgling business I was working on, so I cancelled my subscription. But most online marketing systems will cost around $20-$39 a month - not counting the cost of any leads.
4. Effective Lead Generation
It's a truism to say that you can have the greatest website and the most powerful marketing system on the planet - but if no one visits your webpage then all is in vain. You see, there is a reason just about every company operating on the net offers commissions to those who promote their products and services. It's because driving traffic to a website is quite a challenge - so why not get others to help out? Trouble is, advertising and lead generation costs money and there are a thousand ways you can end up broke in the process.
5. Profitable Compensation
It goes without saying that you need to be well paid for your efforts. You need to see results - and fast. You need to make upfront income from initial sales as well as repeat sales. And ideally you also need to make money from leveraging off the efforts of other people.
6. Low Operating Costs
Nothing will kill a business endeavour quicker than having to pay too much to keep it alive. If you're paying top dollar for your products, marketing system, advertising and leads, you will quickly find yourself out of pocket and lose the motivation necessary to continue. To succeed in any business (online or otherwise) you need low overheads!
7. Reliable Company
No one wants to put in the effort of building a business to promote and sell a company's products or services if that company is unreliable, or not stable enough for the long haul. No one wants to hitch their wagon to a frail or sick horse!
The Success Formula
If you could source competitively-priced products to promote, with wide appeal - working with a reliable and respected company, be given a promotional website and full-featured marketing system for free, and receive free leads to drive your business - then you would be well on your way to success.
And if you added to that a startup cost of just $30 with no compulsory monthly financial commitment, a commission plan that rewards you for both upfront and repeat sales, and a residual income from the efforts of others - then you would have a potential moneymaking tiger by the tail!
The good news is I have discovered such a business opportunity - one which you can start for just $30, with no marketing system or leads costs - and with a great compensation plan.
Find out more by downloading my free 14 page report: Bullet Proof Profits