10 Simple Ways to Earn Cool Money Online

The Internet has become some form of goldmine within which anyone willing to do honest work can earn a comfortable living. When I started out in year 2012, I was just playing around until I soon discovered how to turn play time into income-earning time. It took me quite some time to master the ropes a bit though.  From my experience, anyone can make money online even if they know next to nothing about online marketing, social media, or even SEO. You can quickly learn the ropes like I did if you are smart enough. I can now comfortably recommend at least 10 ways I have used and others are using to make legitimate cool money online. Here they are but not necessarily listed in any particular order of importance.

#1: Affiliate Marketing

This is readily the most popular and most common way to earn money legitimately online.  Most websites selling products and services rely heavily on affiliates to help push their products/services on the web. When a product/service gets sold on account of the marketing efforts of an affiliate, the affiliate gets a pre-agreed percentage of the sale as commission. The more products you are able to help sell, the more money you make. Presently, SFI prides itself as the #1 Affiliate Marketing Business online. That is for good reasons because they practically lead every affiliate by the hand to make money. With SFI, you can earn anything from #5,000 to $100,000 per year at full blast on a deep downline you must have built over some time.

#2: Google Adsense

This is one great way to earn money from your website or blog. By the time you get a good blog going, the next thing is to monetize it. This you do by applying to Google for a Google Adsense code. This is the code Google gives out to marketers at its own very strict discretion. Once you insert the code on your website/blog, you are good to go. Google kicks in at this stage and does the rest under its own very strict rules and regulations. You get paid any time someone clicks on the ads Google displays via that code on your site and/or makes a purchase. That way, you can earn a monthly paycheck of $100-$5000 depending on how popular your blog is as judged by the traffic it gets on daily basis.


 
#3: Selling Stuff Online
 
This is fairly simple and straight forward i suppose. From my experience, most people do sell stuff easily online. The more stuff you sell, the more money you make. Ever heard of garage sales? This is one way to sell off old stuff you have been accumulating in your garage over the years. It will amaze you the good number of people looking for old stuff to buy online. If you run a physical shop, you can advertise to your followers on social media particularly YouTube, facebook, twitter and Instagram and you get orders as a result. You may choose to advertise on free sites like craigslist.org to get buyers. One very dependable way to make money online is to sell stuff in a great way using the internet to earn cool money! You can make up to $1500 per month selling stuff, any stuff online.

#4: Digital Products
 
You’ve got to be good at creating digital products to earn money here. There are all kinds of digital products out there online created by others even if you are unable to create them yourself. All you need do is to get a resale permit or resell license from the original owners of the digital products and you are in business. Many people are online daily looking for information. If you have well-packaged eBooks or how-to videos on any popular topics or business niches in high demand, you can sell them online to make money. Making up to $1000 per month selling digital products is common amongst marketers.

#5: Brand Sponsorships

Most brands who really want to sell well and get a good market share are often willing to pay for some sort of sponsorship package that includes written content, videos, social shares, and more. Many brands do pay for saying something good about their brands online.  If you are very popular on social media, particularly on facebook, twitter, pinterest and others, and if you have a very huge followership and audience, you can make cool money from brand sponsorship. Brand owners are ever willing to pay for the sponsorship of their brands, if your social media background is hugely impressive. Some $500-$5000 can be made monthly if you get to know the ropes about brand sponsorship.

#6: Display Ads

With display ads on your website/blog, you get to make money when the ads are viewed online. Somehow, display ads are an extension of Google Adsense where the reader doesn’t just have to click on the ad for you to make money. You get paid in two ways. These are Pay Per View, PPV and Pay Per Click, PPC, both recognized and valued by Google Adsense code. Display ads play the same role on your website/blog just as billboard ads on roadsides or highways. With display ads, you get paid based on the number of times your displayed ads are viewed no matter what. For that reason, these ads work better and earn good money for you if your website/blog traffic is really high. Popular blogs earn as much as $5000 monthly from display ads alone.

#7: Sponsored Posts

Many companies pay people to write about and promote their products/services in form of sponsored posts. It is sort of similar to sponsored brands, the only difference being that the posts are not directly about brands but about specific products/services. With a sponsored post, a company pays you to talk about their product or service on their website if you have the clout and authority to command belief. If you are a known and respected authority in any field related to the product or service, you can make $2000-$5000 per month from sponsored posts alone.


 
#8: YouTube Ads

YouTube currently enjoys a special niche online as a video exchange site. It is extremely popular for that. You can easily set up your own onsite account and start posting your own videos. Good money is made from ads in onsite accounts which have a large followership and popularity. The more the ads are viewed, the more money you make. Google Adsense code helps out also in this process. YouTube ads are fairly easy to set up because all you have to do is turn on ads every time you publish a video. Most marketers earn more money with this strategy as they build and enlarge their viewership. Some earn up to $5000 per month from just turning on YouTube ads embedded with Google Adsense codes.

#9: Freelance Writing

This requires some proven and tested expertise and there is no running away from it. Without knowing what to write and how to write it to impress others, you can’t be a good freelance writer. Many freelance writers earn some $100-$1000 per article depending on the niche and the writer’s authority. Freelance writing enables you to gain exposure and authority as you write along. That helps to increase the demand for your services and ultimately improved and enhanced earnings as a result.

#10: Consultancy/Coaching

Consultancy/Coaching is the niche of authoritative experts online. You can package and sell full courses inclusive of certification online. Through webinars, you can directly offer real time lectures worldwide and earn good money for your efforts. You can coach online for business strategies, health and wellness, hunting, hiking, swimming, body building and any topic of your choice where you have undisputed know-how and expertise. How much you earn depends on the type of niche you are involved in. Some high flying Executive Coaches/Consultants make around $200-$350 per hour coaching or consulting for sundry businesses.

Last Line!

Not everyone may find all these methods suitable for them to earn money online because our individual competences and backgrounds vary very diversely. That’s OK! Just find and settle for any you believe you can make money with and not necessarily all of them. If you do that, you are good to go and you too will start making clean and legitimate money online with your own efforts. Get started right now if you are not already on. A delay means loss of money which you can least afford. 

 

9 Factors to Consider When Choosing an Affiliate Program

Online Marketing Experts advise that no one should just jump into the business without deep reflections and planning. These days, starting an affiliate marketing program can be a bit tricky because of the proliferation of scam businesses everywhere. There a literally thousands of affiliate programs from merchants and online stores out there promising to pay commissions for all sales you can generate. Many of these schemes could be scams, while many others are genuine. The real reason you must do all due diligence before you get involved in any. Here are some 9 factors you must consider before deciding.


 
01. Reputation of the Affiliate Program
 
When picking an affiliate program to join, you must start with merchants who have a good reputation. This makes your job easier as all you have to do is to simply point your ads leads to them. Company good reputation is all embracing. It includes past sales records, tracking methods, reliability, good payments/commissions methods as well as good news and reviews about the company. A thorough internet search for news and information about the merchants can always help out here.

02. Can I Sell the Product/Service?

This is rather obvious. You can only make money on a product you are capable of selling. You will only be paid if you can successfully sell a product/service. If not, you will merely be laboring in vain. To sell a product/service, you have to be sufficiently convincing. If you are not well vast and knowledgeable about a product/service, you will find it difficult convincing others to buy. When choosing an affiliate marketing program therefore, you must consider choosing those that sell the kind of products and services that you can promote successfully on and offline.

03. Does the Program support my Country?
 
When choosing an affiliate program, you must choose the ones that support your country because that is where your earnings will be sent. Without country support, you may end up promoting and selling products/services for merchants without receiving payments as due for all your troubles. You can’t claim to be in business if you are unable to earn from it.

04. What are the payment options?

This is always a major concern because everyone wants to earn commissions as due. For that reason, if the payment options supported by your affiliate marketing program are not supported in your country, you will not be able to receive your payments. A real dilemma no doubt! So, before selling for an affiliate, make sure you will be able to receive your commissions seamlessly. Luckily for most marketers, web technologies support many payment options these days. You have credible payment options like Bank Cheques, Wire Transfers, PayPal, Payoneer Master Card, and Direct Deposits. Find out what works in your country before getting involved.

05. What is the Cookie Timeout?

This is one important but very interesting technicality in affiliate marketing. Cookies! Cookie timeouts!! Cookies help to identify correctly where a sale was initiated online. Cookie timeout determines how long from the time you first pointed a lead to an affiliate merchant’s website that a purchase from them will earn you a commission. Cookie timeouts vary from 24 hours, one week, two weeks, 30 days, or up to 90 days or even more depending on the product/service and the merchants.


 
06. Commission Structure in place

Since every marketer wants to earn commissions, some attention must be paid to the commission structure involved in the business. You must find out what percentage of commission you are entitled to when you help point buyers to the merchants and when a sale is made. Google adsense web technologies are very popular in determining commission volumes and payouts online. This you can research easily through Google. From the merchants, you can find out if the commissions they pay are one-time commissions, recurring commissions, or residual commissions.

07. Promotion Methods Allowed

You’ve got to find out the different methods the affiliate program allows you to promote their products/services. It is very smart to make sure that your preferred methods of promotion are permitted by the affiliate program. Some may prohibit advertising on Search Engines like Google while others may kick against using social media. Conversely, some social media platforms prohibit the promotion of certain products/services on their platforms. You must take all these into account before settling for an affiliate program because without being able to promote a product/service successfully, you can’t expect to help sell it.

08. Are there Sales Support Services?

Selling could be very problematic for marketers if sales support services are not available. Brochures, banners, text links, manuals and even sales training help provide the much needed marketing promotions support to the buyers through the sales force. Merchants providing these things and even having in place prompt response and feedback time somehow help to oil the entire selling process. Sales support services are credible ways an affiliate program can help you succeed faster and better since your success directly impacts on their own success.

09. Timely Payments

It helps to always confirm the payment procedure of an affiliate program before joining. This you can do by asking the right questions such as:
How often can you receive Payment (Weekly, Monthly or Quarterly)?
What is the minimum balance payment threshold you must accumulate before you are paid?
What is the Payment Cycle? 
With what currency will you be paid?
Any withholding deductions for tax purposes or charities?


 

Why Time is Highly Valuable

“If you don’t value your time, neither will others. Stop giving away your time and talents. Value what you know and start charging for it.” ~ Kim Garst
 
Do you know that many people live by simply selling their time? It is the value you bring to your time that others get to pay for. All of us have equal time allotted to us daily but the people who get to use their own time better tend to live better and are more successful in whatever they are doing for a living. Time is fleeting and waits for no one. Once gone, it is gone forever and never to be recovered. The more and better you deploy your time, the more successful you become in your chosen business.

The value of time becomes more apparent when you discover that paying for services rendered is measured in time. Traveling between two locations no matter the means of transportation is estimated in time even though the distance is known in mileage. Economists believe very rightly that time is money since nearly all of us live by selling our time to others. If you are a wage earner, the employer who pays your wages values it in the time you put in working for him. Even if you are self employed, the prices of your services/products are determined largely by the time you expend to get through with the service or to produce the product. The good news is, everyone has ample time daily to do what they like with. The people who get to make it better are those who are able to use their time economically and profitable. You too can if you give it a try, now that you know.

Get busy right now because…. “No pains, no gains. To get the prize, you must pay the price.”
 

 

Real Challenges to Success in SFI Business

From my own experience, my greatest challenge to success in SFI business was MARKETING my business. Because I was unable to market my business effectively, I faced very tough challenges in selling products at Tripleclicks and even recruiting PSAs. I found out to my chagrin that because I could not recruit real active PSAs to grow my downline, succeeding in SFI became a real challenge. This challenge was exacerbated because: 

 
- I was too shy to talk to people.
- I was not very good in Internet marketing.
- I could not advertise my business effectively.
- My budget was very low for advertising.
- I was not learning very fast.
- I was not very optimistic.
- I was not even enthusiastic.
- I thought I was not smart enough for this kind of business.
- I did not believe in the usefulness of advertising my business.

How did I overcome these challenges? I sat down and thought long and hard. You know, I even considered quitting the business at some point. My saving grace was that I turned to fellow affiliates including my upline for help. That is what changed my thinking. That is when I discovered that all these factors which hitherto inhibited me from marketing my business effectively can be overcome by deliberate efforts. These efforts include reading/learning the business thoroughly, following the rules and using the tools provided to grow your business. Your upline, your sponsors and your a2a friends can also help you out to find a way to market your business effectively. From my experience in SFI, fellow affiliates willingly give to other affiliates free tips to market their business. This is aside from the free tips SFI Admin makes available to all affiliates on very regular basis. I have over time found these tips/opportunities to be very useful and have actually been using them. My business has been on the upswing ever since.

5 Credible Ways to Boost Your Small Business Sales

As a small business owner, there is no doubt you are desirous to increase your sales at all times. The good news is, there are many different paths you can take to increase your business’s sales. Many members of the small business community do have lots of great experience to share when it comes to credible selling techniques. These here 5 tips come in very handy.



01. Simplify Your Content Strategy. Selling online revolves around good content marketing. Making your content simple and straight forward always gets better results. Content marketing can be a great way for you to increase sales for your business. But fancy strategies can sometimes distract readers from the real purpose of your content. The simpler your content is therefore, the better it is for your marketing efforts.

02. Write Captivating Headlines and Titles. Well this is what your readers get to see first. If you want their attention, your content headlines and titles must be easily captivating and attention-arresting. If you’re going to use content marketing or any other type of written copy to market your business and increase sales, you need to be able to write great headlines and titles. It is attention you want and that is what helps you to grab it. Simple!

03. Set Smart Business Goals. As one popular cliché says, “if you don’t know where you are going, you will end up someplace else.” Setting good goals somehow helps to solve that common problem. Anytime you want to increase sales or accomplish other things for your small business, you must start with your goals. Setting smart goals can mean the difference between success and failure.



04. Latch on to the Art of Upselling. When working to increase sales, it’s often preferable to get your customers to buy more or to buy an upgraded version of the product they’re looking to purchase. That’s where upselling comes in. When smartly and intelligently used, you can get much more products sold by way of upselling than any other.

05. Target Holidays and Festivities. For smart business owners, it is no longer news that you can increase sales using holiday marketing tactics. Even when the economy suffers a downturn and people are left with less disposable incomes, holiday seasons traditionally draw many people out to shop. For this reason, holidays can be a great opportunity for you to increase sales. Targeting holidays and festivities therefore is a very smart way to increase sales for your small business.

You Need Good Communication Skills to Sell

“Everybody lives by selling something.” --- Robert Louis Stevenson

Anyone who can’t express themselves can not by any stretch of imagination be good Salespersons. Salespersons are generally good talkers. I recently read an advert where the advertiser, was looking for someone “who can sell refrigerators to Eskimos.” This advertiser was obviously looking for good persuaders as Salespersons. You must be a good and effective communicator before you can succeed in persuading anyone. Both written and verbal communication is very important. I have heard it said that “it is not what you say that matters but what they hear.” Communication is not about talking to yourself but talking to someone else. You must be able to size-up your customer accurately to know how you can deliver your message. If you go around speaking “Queen’s English” to someone who has never been to school, you will sooner than later find out that you are wasting your time and the person’s time, particularly the person’s time. If you can’t get the message across effectively, you are not communicating. I once had a hobby that kept me amused no end. I used to collect pieces of communications I came across that appeared to convey meanings different from what the communicators meant. I will share just a few of them here with you.

“Don’t let overwork kill your wife. Let electricity do it.”___ Advert for a new electrical gadget.

“All flights have been cancelled for managerial reasons.”___ Sign at airline booking desk.

“The Doctor arrived too late to save my husband. He recovered by himself.”__Elated house-wife to a neighbor.

 “Pregnant women are allowed here without their babies.”___ Sign at the door of an Irish pub.

“We are the ones who dig the shit. They just sit there and eat it.”___ Complain from a frustrated laborer.

“Women are not allowed to entertain men in the rooms. They can do it in the restaurant.”___ Sign in a hotel lobby.

The person whose message conveys what he or she intends to say is the person who is communicating. These messages do not meet this test. It is your duty to learn and use effective communication if you want to be a good Salesperson.

 

You Must Have a Can-Do Attitude To Sell

“Everybody lives by selling something.” --- Robert Louis Stevenson

This is one indispensable requirement for salesmanship. All Salespersons must be self-motivating. Your “Can-Do Attitude” is what the bulk of this book is all about. You must therefore be already familiar with some of the requirements that can give you a “Can-Do Attitude.” A Salesperson is someone who is always able and willing to sell no matter the limitations. To be a good Salesperson with this attitude therefore, you must posses:

Unlimited enthusiasm

Solid belief in yourself and your abilities

Belief in your merchandise

Definiteness of purpose

Unselfishness

Abiding faith

Versatility

Imagination

Positive thoughts

Sincerity of purpose

What Are You Selling?

“Everybody lives by selling something.” --- Robert Louis Stevenson

No matter what you do, no matter who you are, you can’t make progress if you are unable to sell yourself.

An Applicant who can’t sell himself to an Employer may never get a job.

A Lawyer who can’t sell his client’s case to the Judge will be doing the client a disservice.

A Borrower who can’t sell himself to a Lender can never get a loan.

A Footballer who can’t sell his skills to a Club can never get a team.

A Politician who can’t sell himself to Voters can never get elected.

Selling yourself well will require that you master the principles of presentation, persuasion and overcoming obstacles in the market place. The competition is stiff and gets stiffer by the day. You need to master the skills that will enable you to survive in the market place. Napoleon Hill concludes this argument this way: “No matter who you are or how much you know, you will not succeed unless you are a salesman. You must sell your services. You must sell your knowledge. You must sell yourself. You must sell your personality.”

 

Are You a Good Salesperson?

“Everybody lives by selling something.” --- Robert Louis Stevenson

“No matter who you are or how much you know, you will not succeed unless you are a salesman. You must sell your services. You must sell your knowledge. You must sell yourself. You must sell your personality.”—Napoleon Hill

Preparing to meet and deal with a Customer is like preparing to meet and deal with a potential employer. Everyone agrees that this is the time you need to look and act your best. This is the stage to put your best foot forward. The Customer is the reason why you are in business. Without him, you are out in the cold broke and courting bankruptcy. You therefore can’t be too careful at courting the Customer. Before you can sell anything to a Customer, you must be able to sell yourself first. You must therefore acquire and nurture some marketing skills and qualities.

 

How to Market Yourself Well as a Business Owner?

“Everybody lives by selling something.” --- Robert Louis Stevenson

Just listen to this! The first thing a Salesperson markets is themselves. They must be able to market themselves effectively before they can succeed in marketing any product or service. If you can’t sell yourself, you may not be able to sell any other thing. The reason is simple. Nobody knows you as you know yourself. According to Robert Louis Stevenson, “Everybody lives by selling something.” Every hour of the day, buying and selling is going on. At every stage in your life, if you are not buying something, you are selling something. This is what keeps humans busy and humanity gainfully engaged. It is all a buyers and sellers world.

Manufacturers sell goods which Customers purchase.

Footballers sell skills which Club-owners buy.

Teachers sell knowledge which their Students buy.

Hoteliers sell rooms which their Lodgers buy.

Landlords sell shelter which their Tenants buy.

Filling stations sell petrol which Motorists buy.

Musicians sell music which their Fans buy.

Entertainers sell fun which their Fans buy.

Doctors sell their skills which their Patients buy.

Restaurants sell food and drinks which their Customers buy.

The list is endless. Everyone is either buying or selling. In such a business that involves everybody, succeeding despite all the odds requires some skills. This is why sellers must first be able to sell themselves to buyers before they can succeed in selling any other thing. Remember, whatever you can accomplish in life has a direct bearing on who you are. You must therefore be extremely skillful at selling yourself to others. This requirement covers all fields of human endeavor. 

 

Why Money is a Good Servant but a Bad Master

“If we are born poor, it is not our fault, but if we die poor, it is!”…… Bill Gates

In his book “You Can Win” Shiv Khera tells an interesting story of men who by all accounts had opportunities to be great but they all ended up in ruin. This is how he tells it:

“In 1923, eight of the wealthiest people in the world met. Their combined wealth, it is estimated, exceeded the wealth of the government of the United States at that time. These men certainly knew how to make a living and accumulate wealth. But let’s examine what happened to them 25 years later.

President of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, lived on borrowed capital for five years before he died bankrupt.

President of the largest gas company, Howard Hopson, went insane.

One of the greatest commodity traders, Arthur Cotton, died insolvent.

President of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was sent to jail.

A member of the President’s Cabinet, Albert Fall, was pardoned from jail to go home and die in peace.

The greatest “bear” on Wall Street, Jesse Livermore, committed suicide.

President of the world’s greatest monopoly, Ivan Krueger, committed suicide.

President of the Bank of International Settlement, Leon Frazier, committed suicide.”

These are facts, which many business schools will prefer you don’t know. Many people are supposed to learn a lesson or two on why they can not afford to ignore or neglect any of the pillars that provide balance for meaningful existence. But many still do not learn. People have continued to pursue money as if nothing else matters, a direct consequence of which has been one tragedy after another.

The life and times of one of the richest men that ever lived Mr. Aristotle Onassis engendered yet another familiar tragedy. Aristotle Onassis was born on January 20, 1906 in the Greek quarter of Smyrna, an opulent city on the western coast of Turkey to humble parentage. He left home at the age of 17 after a family quarrel and sailed for South America. He arrived in Argentina and went straight into trading on tobacco, a Greek specialty at the time. With an earlier background of poor school grades, riotous and rebellious childhood, he faced a tough life in Argentina. He traded in illegal items particularly liquor and made friends with Turkish Generals who aided his illegal liquor business. He progressed in business and later went into buying old ships and refurbishing them to make them sea-worthy. It is through shipping that he made his fortune because America was then just opening up to Europe for the massive trade that ensued during and after World War II. This period enabled Mr. Onassis to amass so much wealth that grew in leaps and bounds. It was estimated to be worth over 300 million dollars in 1956. At the time if this death, his fortune was in the billions of dollars range.

Mr. Onassis was so engrossed in the business of making money that his marital and family relationships suffered a terrible neglect. Before his death on March 15, 1975, he had gone through three turbulent and heavily negatively publicized marriages. The last, being the marriage to an American former first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. Mr. Onassis headed a disjointed and non-functional nuclear family that ended up a complete disaster. His son Alexander died in a plane crash while the only child that survived him Christina despite having a stupendous amount of money inherited from her father died heart-broken and dejected. She was widely quoted before her untimely death that she had realized “money can not buy happiness.” She lived and died very young an unhappy and lonely lady. Wealth to the Onassis family did not bring happiness and peace of mind which money can not buy.