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Marketing FAQs

Below are the most commonly asked questions about working online.

Basic Questions

Does Anyone Ever REALLY Make Money Online?
How Does Marketing Work?
How many links does it take to make money?
Isn't Online Marketing Pretty Much Sown Up By Now?
What is an "affiliate"?
Aren't MLMs just another name for a pyramid scheme?
How Long Does It Take To Make Money Online
So, There's No Guarantee I'll Ever Make Money, Is There?
I'm Looking For A Work-At-home JOB. Why Should I Have To Pay To Start?
What's The Difference Between Work-at-Home and Work-Online?
How Much Does It (Should It) Cost To Start Working Online?
Are There Other Ways To Make Money Online?
Do I Need To Be A Writer or Programmer To Market Online?
What Skills DO I Need?
What is SEO?
Should I have my own website?

Does Anyone Ever REALLY Make Money Online?
Yes, every day. I do and I know enough other people who do, too, to know it is not just a fluke or that only big companies and scammers make all the money.

In fact, for a wide variety of reasons working independently as an online marketer is becoming a viable alternative for many.

How Does Online Marketing Work?
First, it's important understand that marketing is the industry word for "one who advertises." So, a marketer is someone who advertises, usually for a fee or commission. Unless they advertise their own products.

With that in mind, whenever you are on a website and see a banner or link to another website, that's online advertising (marketing). And each of those banners/links goes to the site being advertised. The most common example of advertising is Google Adsense ads, which are almost everywhere. What most people do not realize is that, every time someone clicks on one of those links and buys something (that's important), someone, somewhere is getting paid. Either an affiliate or the site owner. Someone is getting a commission for that advertising. That, in a nut-shell is online marketing.

In various ways, marketers place the links to the affiliate programs they've joined and each time that results in a sale, they get paid.

How many links does it take to make money?
The amount is less important than the quality of the links. For instance, one link on a highly visible site, can result in many sales. That's what Google Adwords is all about (on each Google search page, the column on the right -- and sometimes top links -- are paid for by marketers, hoping the general public will click on their link and buy something), though that's a form of paid advertisement.

Though less effective than it once was, email marketing is another form of "targeted advertising" because, theoretically anyway, the recipients have already expressed an interest in that product or company. I say, "theoretically," because there has been such a problem with spam and other unsolicited email, that the email servers filter out many of the emails-- even those someone does want.

Isn't Online Marketing Pretty Much Sown Up By Now?
Not at all. In fact, one thing that many people do not realize is that the online community is still in a very early stage of development. Though the 1st World Markets have access to state-of-the-art technology, only 5% of the worldpopulation has access to a computer or the internet. Every single day, thousands of people turn on their first computer and access the internet for the first time. Though there are well-established marketers, most are still only private individuals. So that levels the playing field considerably.

Plus, the internet is constantly changing. Sometimes new marketers have an advantage because they are open to the newest form of marketing, while esblished marketers are still doing the same thing. For instance, many new marketers have made "a killing" on places like MySpace and YouTube, because they are more open to learning about it.

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What is an "affiliate"?
An affiliate is a independent sales agent for a company. I emphasize "independent" because many people mistakenly think they are working for that company, similar to an off-line job. They aren't. An affiliate is more like an independent contractor. They are only paid for the sales they generate.

More importantly, even if a company offers increased commissions or other incentives for an "upgraded" membership, this does not mean the company is responsible for providing any more sales. That is always up to the affiliate.

Another aspect of many affiliate systems is what is known as MLM marketing (Multi-Level Marketing). In essence, an affiliate also becomes a recruiter by bringing others in to help sell. These people then become the affiliate's "downline" and they earn a portion of their "downline's" commissions. Or, if the company offers upgraded memberships, they earn a portion of the upgrade fee, either a one-time payment, a monthly payment or an annual payment, depending on how the upgrade is managed.

Aren't MLMs just another name for a pyramid scheme?
Though at first glance pyramid schemes may seem similar to Multi-Level Marketing (MLM), there are a few key differences between them:

The biggest difference between an MLM and a pyramid scheme is that pyramid schemes do not offer a real product; in reputable businesses an MLM is only a secondary payment plan for a product-based company.
A pyramid scheme is based on the concept that all anyone has to do is pay in; a viable MLM program teaches the skills needed to prospect and support those prospects.

A pyramid scheme has no visible "bottom row"; an MLM has a rigid structure and pre-determined method for updating the growth of the program fairly.

A pyramid scheme pays only when, like a chain-letter, everyone pays you; an MLM is based on pre-established commission percentages, not only for other sign-ups, but also for sales.

Two excellent examples of established MLM companies are Avon Products and May Kay Cosmetics.

How Long Does It Take To Make Money Online
Anywhere from 2 weeks to 5 years to never. There are so many variables in the equation, that there is no ONE right answer to this question.

However, many experts agree that if someone were to go into online marketing, working seriously at it full-time, with enough venture capital to optimize all the possible reliable resources, they could expect to begin showing a profit (over expenses) after about 9-12 months. And, even that is only a guess-timate, since particular circumstances can make even that general scenario vary widely.

That's the bad news. The good news is, as you build your links and build your reputation, you steadily grow your business. And there's no limit to how much you can grow that business-- it's completely up to you. This, incidently, is why so many biz opp ads quote such large earnings (i.e., "make $10K/Month!), because it IS possible to earn that much money. They just never say, "Make $10K/month, THIS month."

So, There's No Guarantee I'll Ever Make Money, Is There?
No, there isn't. But, then, any type of offline sales career (car dealers, realtors, sales clerks) is the same way. When someone becomes an online marketer, they are working as an independent contractor. They pay their own expenses, are responsible for their own taxes, determine their own workload and reap their own benefits. It's very important to be able to work independently and create your own structure in order to succeed.

I'm Looking For A Work-At-home JOB. Why Should I Have To Pay To Start?
The very nature of this question reveals some of the confusion brought about by online hype. There are few, if any, REAL work-at-home JOBS. Furthermore, any website that professes to "offer" a "job" is being deliberately misleading. This does not mean they are necessarily a scam-- just using poor marketing tactics.

As for paying just to become an affiliate, that should set off alarm bells. Many savvy salepeople make it seem viable to pay to become an affiliate-- but they are losing ground (fast), as more and more companies offer free memberships.

What's The Difference Between Work-at-Home and Work-Online?
This is another cause for some confusion since working at home and working online can be two different things and some "work-at-home" companies will avoid those differences, further confusing the issue.

The essential difference is the kind of interaction the company or product demands. A work-at-home opportunity can be a "direct-sales" position, in which company representatives (you) are expected to meet with clients or prospects in an attempt to sell something (like insurance or cosmetics). Furthermore, the companies often require their representatives to attend conferences or training seminars that are held in their area. Typically, too, these companies offer little or no online support. For anyone infirmed or physically challenged, this distinction can pose a serious obstacle to their success.

A Work-ONLINE opportunity only requires that one have a computer and internet access. Period.

How Much Does It (Should It) Cost To Start Working Online?
This can vary greatly. It IS theoretically possible to start an online business without paying for anything more than access to the internet. One could, for instance, get a free blog page, sign-up to a free affiliate program, write and submit some amazing articles, join and use safelists and traffic exchanges and join a few marketer-friendly forums (and behave themselves) and begin to make an income from that, alone.

However, Blogs (and most programs that offer "free" sites) are very limited and utilize at least part of the space for their own advertisement; free affiliate programs tend to offer little or no support; writing and submitting articles is time and labor intensive (and not everybody's cup of tea) and "marketer-friendly" forums are becoming hard to find.

Realistically (and excluding living expenses) it will probably cost about $250-500 to get set up, plus approximatgely $30-50 per month after that.

Are There Other Ways To Make Money Online?
Of course. Selling items on eBay and Amazon.com are possible. Amazon.com also offers its own affiliate program. Plus, running one's own company or sellig one's own products.

Do I Need To Be A Writer or Programmer To Market Online?
It helps, but it isn't essential. Both skills can be learned as you go along.

What Skills DO I Need?
The ability to type; a willingness to work and learn; and a serious attitude toward your goals.

What is SEO
Search Engine Optimization. It means making a website easy for a search engine to index, or find, and easy for the site to climb to the top of the search engine listings. Page Rank refers to where a page ranks on the search engines.

Should I have my own website?
There are two schools of thought about having one's own website. Some believe that the only way to really make money is to have a website. One reason is that affiliate pages are never page-ranked. Also, by having one's own website, one can focus all their advertising on that site, which in turn, lists all their affiliate links. Otherwise, they are forced to advertise each affiliate separately... and this diffuses (and weakens) their efforts. A marketer can only do so much advertising.

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