A brief summary
of key points to
consider when
evaluating online
income
opportunities.
You've made the
decision. You're
going to find a way
to make money using
the Internet. It's
going to take some
time and effort on
your part. Many
people who attempt
to do what you're
doing never make a
dime, but you're
determined to
succeed.
Well, that's out
of the way. Now that
you know what you
want, how do you
sift through the
countless online
opportunities to
find a program that
gives you a
reasonable chance of
achieving your
goals? Here is a
brief list of things
to consider when you
evaluate an Internet
income
opportunities.
1.) Would you buy
the product or
service if you
weren't in the
program?
A company named
Bowling, Inc. sells
bowling balls and is
willing to pay you a
50% commission
whenever someone
buys one of their
bowling balls based
on your referral.
Bowling, Inc. sells
bowling balls for
$150, but you could
get the same quality
of bowling balls
from any other
company for $100.
Since you receive
a 50% commission,
you would still
probably buy your
bowling ball from
Bowling, Inc. You
spend $150 and
receive $75 back in
commissions. You've
spent $75 to get a
ball worth $100. If
you weren't
receiving a
commission, you
would have to pay
$150 for the ball
and would probably
shop elsewhere. If
your success in the
program hinges on
getting other people
to buy bowling
balls, you won't
have much luck.
2.) What kind of
experiences have
other people had
with this program?
I should begin by
point out that every
program is under
investigation by
somebody at one time
or another. It's
simply one of the
ugly aspects of
human nature that
whenever a person or
group of people is
successful, other
people will come
along and try to
tear them down.
Having said that,
there will always be
scam artists trying
to get you to invest
your time, or worse,
your money in an
"opportunity" that
has no hope of
succeeding.
Fortunately, there
are people who do
research in this
area and are willing
to share it with the
world. Enter the
name of the program
in your favorite
search engine and
see what comes up.
If you're lucky, you
can find a page from
a discussion forum
in which a few
people have had bad
experiences with the
program and a few
people have had good
experiences. Such a
dialogue can quickly
give you an accurate
picture of what the
company is all
about.
3.) Does the
program provide the
opportunity for
recurring payments?
Getting a chunk of
money at one time is
never a bad thing,
but getting a chunk
of money every month
is far more
satisfying. If you
join a program that
sells Frisbees, you
could expect that
once someone has
bought a Frisbee
they won't need to
buy another one for
a while. If on the
other the company
sells disposable
contact lenses, you
can expect someone
who buys contact
lenses based on your
referral, providing
they are pleased
with the product and
service, will be
returning to buy
contact lenses again
in the near future.
In the contact lens
example, the time
that you spend on
the program today
could still be
paying off years
from now.
4.) Could you
make money without
referring anyone
else to the program?
This is one of the
primary criteria in
determining if a
program is legal.
Let's say you pay
$10 a month to join
a program called
Income, Co. How do
you make money?
Whenever you refer
someone to the
program, they also
pay $10 a month, and
$2 of that is paid
to you. Income, Co.
is quick to point
out that as soon as
you have referred 5
people, your
membership is paid
for.
It may not be
impossible to make
money in such a
program, but very
few people do. This
is not to say that
you shouldn't
attempt to get other
people involved in
the program. In
order to earn a
sizable income you
will probably have
to do so, but the
more ways to earn
money the program
provides, the better
chance of success
the program has.
Other ways to earn
money can include:
commissions for
selling advertising
space in the Income,
Co. newsletter,
rebates when you buy
Income, Co.
products, bonuses
for bringing people
to investigate the
program whether or
not they join, etc.
There are more
possibilities than
can be covered in
this article, but
the rule of thumb
is: the more options
for earning money in
the program's
compensation plan,
the better.
5.) Does the
program use cookies
to track referrals?
A cookie is a bit of
Internet technology
that allows a
website to remember
information about
the last time a
visitor came to the
site. Without
cookies, you only
get credit for
referring someone if
they join, make a
purchase, etc.
during their first
visit after clicking
through your
referral link. If
they decide to sleep
on it, then go
directly to the site
the next morning
without going
through your
referral link, you
get no credit for
the referral. With
cookies, however,
someone could come
back to the site
weeks or in some
cases years later,
and you would get
credit for the
referral.
This list is not
comprehensive, but
should help to get
you thinking along
the right lines.
Remember that there
is no single "right"
program. There are
many good
opportunities to
make money online,
but success with any
of them requires
persistence and
patience.
Good luck!
About the
Author
Copyright (c)
2003 Clay Mabbitt.
Clay Mabbitt writes
articles about
Internet affiliate
and MLM
opportunities. Need
in-depth reviews of
the latest affiliate
programs? Find them
at
http://www.affiliatescreen.com