Information On Affiliate Wealth

Honesty I am "on the fence" with the promotion of affiliate programs. But truth be told it is one of the easiest ways to get started and make money routinely on the internet. I could write for hours about it but why do that?

I won't do it. Why not? Simple, because so many others have already. I almost hate to promote this because of how he promotes his information but it's true that the RichJerk has created a phenomenal business and it only gets stronger and stronger. The information is well organized and it really does give you step by step instructions on setting up your affiliate marketing system the right way. Although I don't spend a lot of time with affiliate sales, the little I do pays big benefits, in a relatively passive income way..

Here's the other thing...it's not new, but not old either. His information is timeless because updates happen all the time and I just go online and upgrade to the latest material. The forum is terrific with a ton of successful people interacting and sharing their ideas.

If you have any interest in making money with affiliate programs or sales, this would be a fantastic start for a very reasonable fee. Let me know what you think.

Affiliate Programs

For some time I was interested in affiliate programs and sales. Indeed this is an area that has grown exponentially over the last 10 years. Affiliate programs or sales can be a great way to market, sell, and even make money for the creator of the product and/or the affiliate marketer.

There are a couple of ways to cash in on being an affiliate marketer:

1. Building a list: Smart marketers build their contact list. This can be done in many ways including direct email marketing, website "catch" pages (to catch their interest and email before sending them to your product), writing an interesting blog and more.
2. Hook up with the most popular affiliate checkout gateways. Start with these:
   
1. Clickbank
2. Commission Junction (Once you get really up and running)
3. A great (not good) product or service
4. A really good guide to affiliate marketing.
   

Affiliate marketing can be frustrating at times. Sales can storm in at times and then all of the sudden just dry up! You have to constantly test the most effective marketing techniques like adwords, search engine placement companies, direct email campaigns, blogging, and more ideas to assist your affiliate campaign.

Don't get fooled into buying into just any affiliate product. It must be legitimate. Honestly, I have tried (sadly) probably over 60 products or services that underdelivered and underperformed. Also, PAY ATTENTION to these "gaurantees" that are offered out there. Most of them aren't worth a pile of s*it! I have requested refund over 30 times and not even received a response email from the "company." Be careful.

There are well intentioned, good products and services out there. I can only steer you to the ones I feel confident about. If you don't like them and find some affiliate programs that work better, please let me know in the comments here. I am happy to review them.

Right now my top programs can be found HERE. They typically bring in about $1,000 per month for me, but some months are lower, some higher. Anyway, if you feel like experimenting, check them out.

Don't forget to sign up at clickbank, you'll need to if you are serious about promoting products. You can find tons of products and services there also to promote from your site.

Lemonade Experiment: update

I was away on a fishing trip this weekend down in the Florida-Gulf-Coast so I haven't updated the Lemonade Experiment or Experiment #1 in several days. I have an update on the Lemonade experiment today:

So far a total of $7.00 has been donated to the lemonade stand for kids afflicted with cancer or other potentially terminal disease. You know what that means? It means my daughter will be creating a beautiful card or picture and sending or delivering it to a child who is battling disease.

She's only seven (almost) but she understands that helping others is truly a good thing. While all kids have a drop of egocentic quality, she is pretty sensitive to others too.

Please feel free to donate to the Lemonade Experiment to help Lauren, and instill hope in children who don't have any. Please see the button on the left sidebar.

The Lemonade Experiment

When trying to engage my almost seven year old daughter in a discussion about making more money I ran into the popular "lemonade stand" idea. Great idea of course, but at the end of the day we have to take the stand down and I said to her "also, mostly we only have time to set it up on the weekends, like saturday...I said"..

"Why not figure a way to brainstorm an idea online that might someday lead to making money even when you aren't around?!" ...was my response. Here's where the conversation went next...

Well, my wise daughter said to me,

Lauren: "why not just ask people to contribute Fifty Cents each...and if enough people do it then I won't have to keep putting the lemonade stand up..."

Me: "How much do you want to make from this?"

Lauren: " I don't know..maybe I could make a website lemonade stand!"

Me: "Why would people donate to you without getting anything?"

Lauren: " I don't know, maybe they want to help me!"

Me: "Why would people want to help someone they don't know?"

Lauren: " I don't know...the same reason you want me to help people that I don't know maybe..."

[sidebar: this statement killed me. After wondering if she's heard anything I say, she really really floored me with that.]

So this is what I proposed: She could ask for donations but only if she is willing to GIVE something in return. This could potentially teach her and reinforce the spirit of giving to others, and begin a healthy and positive respect for money and wealth. She has agreed to give:

• A real, custom picture deliverable by mail to a child afflicted with cancer for every $5.00 earned. She's a fantastic artist. I will post here each time she sends one of her custom pictures. If permission is granted, I will post the childs name who received it.
  

The Lemonade Experiment

So I decided to compromise and said that I would help her cause on this blog and if her donations exceeded her lemonade stand earnings than we will start her a full time website at the end of the summer. Her future site will be "The Lemonade Experiment" (or something similar :) So this starts the official "Lemonade Experiment For Wealth." You may donate to her cause on this page. If She succeeds we will start a new website that will be seen around the world as "The Lemonade Experiment."

When You feel the urge to donate to this cause/experiment go here:

Good luck Lauren! I will keep results posted here. You can donate her prescribed "50 cents" or whatever you choose when you push the "make donation" button. I programmed it so that you can put in whatever you like for donation.

Taking Time Out

Just taking time-out to wish all of you a happy Memorial Day weekend. With any observance, examine the purpose and make something of it...

Until next time.. Live well and prosper

Happy Memorial Day

Just taking time-out to wish all of you a happy Memorial Day weekend. With any observance, examine the purpose and make something of it...

Until next time...

The Chipping Principle

For years I have had a second job. One reason is to save money for summer time when my school counseling position is not always available. The other reason of course is just to have some extra cash to spend, save, or invest. I probably won't stop my second job (bartending) for a while but I am considering it. Some people have asked me how I can have a very serious professional career in counseling/clinical work and at the same time have a second job as a bartender?! Well, the combination isn't so bad really. And unlike other options like private practice, it helps so that I don't take myself or career too seriously to enjoy. Enough on that...

Anyway, it is possible that I might give up the second job in favor of more web-based income. One possibility is to simply build a network of websites and blogs that earn a little bit each day. Simple enough right?

It is simple, but not exactly EASY. Because like anything else it takes careful thought and persistent work. Not HARD work, but persistent work. So if this is my goal (to earn more from home and give up bartending) then I will:

• make it a defined goal
• set small objectives
• Chip away each day, or conform to set schedule

It's what I call the Chipping Principle of attaining a goal...in this case earning more money. The idea of passive income is very real...but it's like the field of dreams: "If you build it..."