Too Many Business Opportunities

Hey Gang,
Doesn't there seem to be millions of business opportunities out there? Every week there is a firesale or traffic blaster or best thingy for the money offer. Just this week I received over 55 (and counting) emails from people about the newest thing, Butterfly Marketing---it was some big 'secret' until today. At $997, hell I'd have kept it a secret too! Not to say it isn't good, I have no idea. What I do know is I'm not buying it.

Why? Is it the price? No. It's about The Hype. If something is going to save the world, cure every cancer known and unknown to man or heck, let's keep it simple--cure the common cold, let me at it! But there seems to be one of these 'latest and greatest' from somebody, somewhere every 3 months or so. And the old, tired but true cliche is true: If it seems too good to be true....you know where it ends.

With that said let me say something to you new folks looking for a business to start, whether it's online, offline or from the comfort of your day job---Take Your Time! Not every so called 'opportunity' is right for 'everybody'. I'll share this with you so you have some idea what I'm talking about.

At one time I owned a small business accounting and bookkeeping service. I am trained as an accountant and it seemed like a natural fit? WRONG! I had 25 clients, 20 I should have never taken on because every accountant in town had seen them, or heard of them. Clients from hell is putting it mildly. Anyway, it paid the bills--atleast when the checks didn't bounce, they didn't slip out of town the night before or call me at 3am because while playing games on the business computer they wiped the hard drive. Did I mention that I was also their cheap and free tech person?

Moving on, what I also had was a mailing list of 3500 people to my free bookkeeping newsletter. All this before the internet and email. Guess what business I was really in? It was the only part of owning that business I really enjoyed. The bookkeeping side was what I did to live indoors and put food on the table (sometimes with the help of a temporary agency). That was a miserable 5 years.

What I want you to get from this story is this: Find something that you would like to do every single day and do that! Not because other people are making money at it. Other people may like gardening, auctions, selling real estate, being a landlord, affiliate programs, ezines, network marketing and the list goes on---That doesn't mean it's right for you.

Another precaution--Doing the same kind of work you did as an employee does not mean you will be successful doing it as a business. I still keep up with what happens in the accounting field but it's only a minor interest. There is not enough money in the US Treasury to make me want to do it again as a business.

My homebased internet business is affiliate selling and I'm learning something new about succeeding at it every day. Only now am I making any money after 2 years of dabbling. Some of you are doubled over laughing at my $65 commission check--How much are you making online and how long did it take as an affiliate? Everybody has to start somewhere and for you new folks, it starts with learning how to do the business side of your business.

What do I mean by that? Let's take network marketing or MLM. It's an easy business to get into--pay less than $100, get your sales supplies or company website and you're in. Now comes the business side of doing business.

How do you get qualified traffic to that website?

What product or service are you selling and what makes it better, more profitable or at the very least different than what is already out there?

How easy is it to make $300 a month consistantly with your program?

If you don't know, why should I listen to you?

Don't think this is just my way of knocking your dreams--far from it. It's the reality of business. Nothing gets bought until it gets sold and if you are doing business of any kind--somebody better buy something or you won't be in business very long.

Do a reality check the next time the latest and greatest opportunity comes through your email, friends or co-workers: What's the very worse that could happen if I lost my primary source of income and had to rely on doing just this one opportunity to pay my bills, put food on the table and live indoors. Would this opportunity do this in the next 30 days? Are you absolutely certain it will?

As someone who comes around here once in a while to catch my rants I know you are independent minded, take no BS (not even from me) and really want to start your own business. Great and all the success you can grab, go for it. Don't get blind-sided by the bells and whistles. Either get real answers or move on.

Leaving you with this:

Success means living the life of the heart - Francis Ford Coppola

Quick update

Hey Gang,
Just to let you know I'm working on the color scheme for Lower Back Answers Online--purple and gold doesn't seem to be working. Anywho, as you know I talked about making affiliate marketing one of the income streams for your online home based business. Set it and forget it, the ultimate passive income generating machine. So far I'm only made $65 today ---but if it keeps up for 30 days then I can tell you it honestly works! Since I didn't make even that much in 2 years on my own --- as it stands, the system is working!

Did I use the resource I shared with you earlier this week? Yes. Would I risk it again --- You Betcha!

That's it for today. But, I'll leave you with this

"If at first you do succeed -- try to hide your astonishment"

- Harry F. Banks.

affiliate marketing & online resources

Hey Gang!
Well, since I made all of zip-zero-zilch-nada with my affiliate marketing efforts in 2004 and 2005, it's obvious I missed something. Other people make serious money with affiliate marketing and are no smarter nor better educated than me, it could only be they were doing something right!

That's one thing about being Solo - we find answers! I dabbled in affiliate marketing my way with no results -- now I've decided to get serious because one more you are over-qualified interview and believe me when I tell you - I'm going postal!

Somebody once said 'Always follow the smart money', well that's exactly what I'm doing. Learning from those who put their money where their mouth is!

What I found is there's a formula to follow and who else better to learn from than two people known online as 'super affiliates' to teach me that formula -- Jim Edwards (yes, that Jim Edwards!) and Rosalind Gardner (the $400,000 a year super affiliate herself!)

Affiliate Business Blueprint is not for everybody just as affiliate marketing isn't for everybody. I am not trying to convince you to change your business model if it's working for you. There are plenty of other opportunities for starting your home based busines online that require less work, time and money. Affiliate marketing is the business model that fits my personality.

With that said, most of you are going to be turned off by two things with Affiliate Business Blueprint.

First is the initial investment. You have to pay to play! The course isn't FREE. Even at the special price of $47, it may be more than many of you are willing to pay in order to learn how to make money with this business. I paid for it and it's only one of the investments I've made in my business arsenal for 2006.

Second it takes work. To make serious money is going to require effort! The course includes 13 MP3's and an 84 page PDF transcript. I recommend reading the transcript first and then going through the MP3's to make it stick. Relearning what it's going to take to make money this year with my affiliate business was worth the time investment. The actual time it took to make my first affiliate sale and mini site went much faster!

Go take a look for yourself at the Affiliate Business course and decide if it fits into your business plans. You can either get the information and start using it to make serious money in any affiliate program or you can decide it's not right for you. I'm passing the information along.

---

I found these websites in my bookmarks --

Signup with your actual birthday and Pepsi™ will send a surprise like this one on your birthday. Ok, it is kinda cheesy -- but it was noisy and fun -- Happy Birthday

This is my favorite place on the web when 'stuff' runs downhill and is the only 'guru' that matters -- Cool Guru

Have not used this service but if you are operating a service business, it may be worth a look -- Service Business Marketing

This is a great site for salt water aquarium owners. The site is 'butt ugly' but the information is right on! -- Salt Water Aquariums

As small business owners, we're always comparing prices for services we need. Delta Dental™ has plans for individuals and families. Most other plans only cover you if you are an LLC, S-Corp or Corporation - put this one on your list to check -- Individual Plans

Been looking for small business resources online other than the SBA? NFIB™ is the nation's largest small-business advocacy group with over 600,000 members -- Independent Business

Consider yourself Self-Employed? Me too and there is strength in numbers for office supplies and other products or services for us. Find out if you can benefit from joining the --National Association for Self-Employed™

That's it for this post. Will let you know how my affiliate business is coming along. In the meantime --- I leave you with this:

"You can out distance that which is running after you, but not that which runs inside you" - African Proverb.

Website Overhaul Complete!

As you all well know - lowerbackanswers.com needed an overhaul and it's finally done. Does it sing, dance, have flash? Heck No! You know how I think about that 'dazzle 'em with B.S' theory. Solid information and good products, that's it. If you're looking for the next great internet flash-bang, talkin & walkin website - don't go look. It's built to do two things well:

1. Provide my visitors and customers with reliable information to take control of their low back pain, and

2. Recommend only products I believe in and merchants that know what they're doing without hype. Simple.

Now for the fun stuff. Remember I said there were only a few people online that I trust to do business with? It was waay back in December sometime...oh, heck. Here they are in no particular order.

Before I go there, the reasons I trust these guys is because I've bought some of their products, got jiffy quick response to my newbie questions and they are just plain business people. What they did before they got to be 'gurus' is interesting too - Hey, we even have a former 'Hawaii 5-O' cop on the list. Don't worry, he's blunt and funny as hell but knows his stuff.

His name: Jason Cain. If you ever get a chance to read his blog, I'm adding the link on here, go through the entire thing - archives and all. You'll laugh, but you'll also get solid information on how to do this 'internet' thing. If you don't see the link, you know how weird I get sometimes, his blog is at Gold Blogger

Next on my list of 'good guys'

Craig Garber, Mr. King of Copy. Careful, he has 60's flashbacks! But his email newsletter is not full of fluff and he won't try to sell you every piece of crap on the internet. His site is at King Of Copy and yep, he loves to hear from his readers. Tell him 'Danielle' sent you - that should get his blood pressure going. If learning to write sales copy and operate your business better is what you want, Craig will help you get there. Trust me.

Then there's my daily motivator

Mike Brescia, Think Right Now. Signup for the ebook chapters to be delivered to your primary emailbox every other day. They are excellent for not only staying motivated in your business but will work for every area of your life. I'm going to include Chapter 57 of "Today is Your Day to Win" by Mike Brescia

Enjoy The Chapter.

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Get Mad...Then Make Your World Better
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Today's Empowering Quote
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"Anger is a prelude to courage."
-Eric Hoffer

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Today's Empowering Question
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"What am I really dissatisfied about right now?"

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Today's Fast Session
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I guess I better start right out by explaining the word
'Anger' as we'll be using it. By anger, I mean that you
see something or something happens and it spurs in you a
burning, all-encompassing desire to fix the problem.

The problem with most people is that they get angry at
other people for taking advantage of their weaknesses.
"You took my boyfriend." Hey, if your relationship was
good, there wouldn't be a problem. The blame rests with
you and/or your boyfriend, not anyone else.

A few years ago, I met Rudy Ruettiger. The movie 'Rudy'
is based on his life. He told me that the thing that kept
him going in the face of every adversity you can imagine
was anger...

Anger at everyone that told him playing football for Notre
Dame was crazy; for everyone that told him that he wasn't
cut out for college; that he ought to work in the factory
because it was safe; that he ought to forget his stupid
dream.

The nay sayers motivated him. It made him angry when
people knocked his dream. If you've never seen the movie, I would recommend that you
buy it and wear it out. And if you don't have any tissues,
get some before you hit "play."

What do most people do when others rain on their parade?
What do you do?

Inside, you probably laugh right along and say something
like, "Yeah, it is kind of silly. That IS a little out of my league."

Why not get angry and do something about it, instead.
Show them you can reach your dream.

Few people like to stand out. To be seen as different.

Well, anger is really just another way of describing one
of the first elements that go into making a personal
mission statement. I mean after all, what would a mission
be if you weren't completely behind it emotionally? It
wouldn't be a mission. It would be just a wish. And
wishes don't usually come true.

Missions, though, usually ensure that dreams become
realized. But when you've got a mission, it sets your whole being
into motion.

Great missions come about often when you just can't stand
the way something is and you feel like you must change it.

"MADD" (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) came about because
of anger. "America's Most Wanted" came about because of
anger.

So many breakthroughs and achievements would never have
happened unless someone got mad and said "I'm not going to
take it any more!"

I did that years ago and went looking for tools to change
the way I thought. It took a while, but I found them and
altered them to create a technology that ultimately changed
who I am and changed the lives of thousands around the
world... all because of massive pain and dissatisfaction.

Here's what I want you to do...
Find something in your life that you're dissatisfied with
and get yourself worked up. Ask yourself what your life
will be like if this doesn't change. Feel the pain. Get
angry. Don't blame others in this mental exercise. You're
responsible for your own circumstances. Get that straight.

Feel the pain now. Compare those feelings to the feelings
you'd have if you were just to fix the situation now. No
matter what kind of effort it would take to fix. It might
take years for you to get things the way you want them.
But compare the two futures. Get angry at the first
future. Get scared. And get determined not to end up
there.

Make it a must. You must change it. Feel it. If you've
got to cry and scream and pound your fists, fine...if
that's what it takes.

Look now at the better future you saw. How big is the
gap? Would it be worth any effort that it might take? I
think you'll find that it probably is.

Without dissatisfaction, and often anger, it's verrrry
difficult to get and stay motivated. You must keep your
dissatisfaction in your mind daily.

Use it as fuel for your motivation.
As long as you continue to take personal responsibility
for your life, this can work miracles.

But as long as you keep blaming others for your problems,
you'll continue to have them.

Get dissatisfied. It will help you feel courageous, even
if last week you were hiding out.

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What if you had the same minute-by-minute thoughts as the
super successful? Mike Brescia has developed the ultimate
mental conditioning programs that can help anyone wipe out
intense fears and enjoy huge successes in all areas of
life. FR~EE details==> www.thinkrightnow.com
FR~EE email course ==> mailto:successcourse@aweber.com
=======================================

As I told you, the man is AWESOME! Start with any of these 3 - you will get headed in the right direction to succeed long-term in your business.

That's it for today. Go look at Lower Back Answers Online and Buy Something!