When first starting to build an online business, it can be both confusing and overwhelming. There are literally thousands of different opportunities out there and that does not make it any easier. However, if you’re aware of some common errors that people make, you’ll be able to avoid them and have a much better chance of succeeding.

I’ve compiled a list of the most common mistakes others have made so you can avoid them when starting your online venture.

1. Failure to plan is planning to fail
One of the biggest and possibly the most costly mistakes you can make, is not having any goals or plans. You must take the time to carefully plan how you are going to achieve your objective or goal. You need to treat this as a “real” business or you’ll never be successful with it.

2. The learning curve
All of us need to go through some type of learning curve if we want to achieve our desired results. We all learn at different levels so how fast you learn is really dependent on each individual. This holds true for any type of online business as well.

Since home based business is not a new concept, you’ll be able to find many proven models online. What you should do, is identify a business that you’re interested in and focus on that. Once you find that business, find someone who is already succeeding with it (you’ll be surprised at how many people are willing to help) and try to learn all you can from them. If you can duplicate what they are doing, you will most certainly decrease the learning curve. It would also be a good idea to join an online forum so you can get some support when needed.

3. I’m going to be rich!
This is probably the most common reason why so many people give up after a short time. They have the misconception that they will “get rich quick”. Nothing could be further from the truth, although some unscrupulous marketers will try to have you believing it. Success can be yours but it will not happen overnight. You need to treat your online business as you would any other. It takes hard work, dedication and persistence.

4. I don’t need any capital, it’s an online business.
How I wish that were true. A much more believable statement would be; “I can start my online business with a minimal amount of money”. It’s true that many free resources can be found on the internet, however, you still should be prepared to spend some money initially. You most likely have the hardware but you need a high speed Internet connection, domain registration, and hosting. To take your business to the next level, you may need to invest some dollars in advertising and promotion, as well as some additional software and training materials.

5. Who needs research?
Many people will start on online business or create a new product without doing any market research. Just because your family and friends think you have a great idea does not necessarily mean there is a market for it. This can be a big mistake that can cost you lots of wasted time and/or money.

You need to carefully research any product or service you plan to promote and determine if there is a market and if it can be profitable. There are loads of tools out there to help you determine if there’s a buying market for your product. Just by reading newspapers and magazines that are relevant can be a good indicator of what’s “hot” in today’s marketplace. Trends change rapidly and products that were in demand last month won’t necessarily be in demand today. Always try to keep abreast of what’s going on and be sure there’s a demand for your product or service.

6. Are you willing to make a commitment?
As I mentioned earlier, it takes lots of hard work if you want to succeed with your online business. If you’re not willing to make a total commitment to your business, especially during the first year or so, running an online business may not be right for you.

Each of us is motivated by different things. What is it that motivates you? Perhaps it’s creating a better lifestyle for yourself and your family, maybe an exotic car, a dream vacation, etc. No matter what your goals may be, always try to reaffirm and visualize them with frequency. That will help to strengthen your commitment and put you on the path to success.

I listed what I felt are some of the more common mistakes people make and I realize there are many others. I’m curious to know if any of you have made one or more of the mistakes I mentioned or a mistake I did not mention.

If you are like many others who are looking for ways to supplement your income or considering leaving your 9-5 job, becoming an affiliate marketer might be right for you. Affiliate marketing is considered one of the best home based businesses because it’s very easy to get started, requires minimal or no up front money and the risk factor is very low. You will also find that in most cases, depending on the products you promote, the commissions can be very generous and range from about 30-75%.

Regardless of the experience you have as an online marketer, just about anyone can start an affiliate marketing business. Here are the primary reasons why so many people are finding the affiliate marketing business so attractive:

1. No web site or blog needed.
Although I do recommend that you have your own web site or blog, it isn’t necessary as an affiliate. If you do have a web site/blog that’s great. All you would need to do is add the appropriate links or banners that are provided by the merchant. If you don’t have a site, you can still make money by promoting your links. One of the most effective ways of doing that is writing articles. You would then include your affiliate link at the end of your articles and submit them to the article directories. When people read your article and click on your link, you earn a commission if they make a purchase.

2. No product creation.
As an affiliate, you will be selling other people’s products so you do not need your own product. This eliminates all the time and costs associated with developing and researching a new product.

3. Shipping and handling included.
Another great benefit of affiliate marketing is; all the shipping and handling is done by the merchant. Your main focus will be driving traffic to the merchant’s web site. When a sale is made, the merchant is responsible for the product delivery and the payment processing.

4. So many products, so little time.
There are literally thousands upon thousands of products and services an affiliate can promote. You have the ability to pick and choose the products or services you want to sell. Obviously, you will want to promote the most popular, high in demand, and hot products. This takes a bit of research but there are many free resources to help with that task. It’s also best to choose products that you have an interest in and those you wouldn’t hesitate to buy yourself.

5. Hosting and domain expense eliminated.
As I mentioned earlier, you don’t necessarily need a web site or blog. If you choose not to have your own domain and web hosting, you eliminate that expense. Many people when first starting out, have limited funds so those expenses can be eliminated and you can still earn money as an affiliate. However, if you feel you must have a site, you can set up a site or blog utilizing some of the free services that are available such as Blogger.com. I’ll say this again; it is recommended to have your own site or blog. You will most likely earn more and build credibility with your own web site/blog.

6. No customer issues.
As an affiliate, you will not have to deal with customer issues such as refunds. The merchant or network is responsible for handling any refunds, however, the affiliate will be charged back if a refund is issued. For this reason, you should try to find products with a low refund rate. One of the affiliate networks that makes this task a little easier is ClickBank. In addition to all the other stats that they provide on every product is the refund rate. If the product has a high refund rate, move on to something else.

When you take into account all the above benefits and advantages of affiliate marketing, it’s no wonder that affiliate marketing is so popular. With that being said, I should also mention that affiliates who do earn a significant amount of money, work very hard. This is not a business where you’ll make tons of cash overnight. Affiliate marketing is a wonderful business and the rewards can be great but it takes lots of hard work, dedication and patience.

Are you an affiliate marketer or are you considering becoming one? What is it that you find most attractive about affiliate marketing?

Related Blogs

The following article is from fellow Internet marketer Tony Germana of Marketers’ Profit Hub

The Top Ten
By Tony Germana
www.MarketersProfitHub.com

Have you ever thought, “boy, would I love to get about 10 of these Gurus around my dining room table for coffee to pick their brains for a couple of hours?” I sure have.

I’m gonna save you the trouble of trying to get them all together. Through a lot of research, I’ve found what I consider to be some of the very best blog posts on Internet Marketing for 2009 and 2010. I call them the “Top 10″ and you’ll find them below They are posts that are brimming with top flight information, tips, and ideas. Pure gold for any serious Internet Marketer or wannabee. You’ll recognize some of the authors and some you won’t but they all deserve to be praised for the gems they’ve offered in their content! Don’t stop here, break out your pick ax and dig into this goldmine.


20 Must-Follow Blogs For Internet Marketing And Affiliate Marketing In 2010
By Doug Champigny
http://dougchampigny.com/20-must-follow-blogs-for-internet-marketing-and-affiliate-marketing-in-2010/

Guaranteed Internet Business Tips For High Conversion
By Evan Gould
http://www.internetincomeformula.com/internet-business-tips/

How To Generate Sales Leads-21 Lead Generation Ideas You Can Execute Today
By Igor Kheifets
http://www.igorhelpsyousucceed.com/2009/12/how-to-generate-sales-leads-21-lead-generation-ideas-you-can-execute-today/

Starting A Free Online Business, Step by Step
By Lynn Terry
http://www.clicknewz.com/1679/starting-a-free-online-business/

5 Success Tips Especially For “Newbie” Affiliates
By Robert Barry
http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/successful-affiliate-marketing

Do You Have What it Takes to Be an Internet Marketer?
By EJ Cooksey
http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/make-money-online-with-ej-cooksey

The Road To Affiliate Marketing Success
By Tony Germana
http://marketersprofithub.com/2010/02/the-road-to-affiliate-marketing-success/

How To Get (Free) Instant Website Traffic
By Stuart Stirling (a.k.a. “Stu Sensei”)
http://stuartstirling.com/how-to-get-free-instant-website-traffic/

3 Ideal Business Models
By Jason Parker
http://proimer.com/1879/21-million-in-2009/

3 Keys To Kick-Start Your Biz In 24 Hours
Posted by Jimmy D Brown
http://www.jimmybrown.com/3-keys-to-kick-start-your-business-in-24-hours/

I hope you found some of these articles as useful and informative as I have. As always, your comments and feedback are welcome.

Seems like nowadays more and more bloggers are also becoming marketers. Most blog owners are marketing their blogs to attract readers and generate some income. What this means is; blog owners now are marketing their blogs so those who are interested will be able to find it and ultimately become readers. Blogging has also become one of the most effective ways to promote products and services by using text links, banners and other methods. For anyone who is contemplating starting an affiliate marketing business or for that matter, any type of home based business, having a blog should be part of your marketing plan.

If you are just starting out with an online marketing business and plan to use a blog as your primary marketing vehicle, you should seriously consider having more than one blog. To get started, the first thing you’ll need to do is prepare a list of the markets that you have an interest in. To obtain the best results, it is highly recommended that you only have one blog for each market that interests you. As you are probably aware, visitors are looking for specific information so do not confuse them with content that is irrelevant. To put it very simply, if you have a blog about dog training, you shouldn’t have tips about improving your golf swing. On the other hand, if your blog is about dog training, it only makes good sense to include a variety of related dog training tips, methods and programs. You won’t have any problems by keeping all your content relevant to your specific market.

You will need to learn the various techniques to becoming successful if you are seriously committed to marketing your blog and earning some money. One of the main things you will want to learn is SEO (search engine optimization) so you can drive more traffic to your blog. You also want to keep your visitors interested, so writing good content is equally important. Of course you’ll also want to learn the best ways to promote the products and services you’re affiliated with. If you take those tasks seriously and learn all you can about them, you have a good chance of becoming successful with your online endeavor.

Many people who are first starting out, sometimes have difficulty finding all the time they need for learning all the various things you’ll need to know. Most people like to try this out on a part-time basis and see how things work out before making a commitment. One of the things you’ll quickly discover is that you’ll need to learn SEO (search engine optimization). Knowledge of SEO will become critical to your success. You will need to find the best ways to drive traffic to your blog and get good rankings with the search engines. If you’re serious about making this work for you and you can’t find the time, you may need to consider hiring someone to do it for you.

When time becomes an issue, many people outsource some of their work, especially when the goal is to make a decent income. Not only do people hire those who can help with SEO but they also hire writers to help with their content. These people can write articles for your blog and also post comments on other relevant blogs which in turn gives a link back to yours.

If you do outsource any of your work, be sure to keep track of who is doing each task. The best way to do that is by using a simple spreadsheet. You should decide how often each task needs to be done and who is doing it for each of your blogs. By utilizing a spreadsheet, it will help you prioritize and keep you organized.

Just as in any other business, blog marketing requires lots of hard work, dedication and perseverance. How much effort you put into it is what you’ll get out of it. If you only put in a part-time effort or a few hours per week, don’t expect to make a full-time income from it. If you take your business seriously and put in as much effort as you possibly can, your results in the long run will pay off. One of the greatest feelings in the world is having your own business and being your own boss.

When first starting out, remember to take it one step at a time and don’t overwhelm yourself. By staying focused and working hard, you can make your dreams of having a successful home based business come true. Your hard work will pay off eventually if you are patient and persistent.

Are you currently utilizing your blog as a marketing vehicle? If so, how about sharing some of your results, techniques, strategies, etc.

During the past decade, the Internet has significantly changed the way business is conducted. It has also changed the entire way people become successful working in a home based business. Not only that, but many more people have been given the opportunity to leave their 9-5 jobs and start living their dream of working from home. There are countless numbers of people who seem to make the transition to working online very easy yet others continue to struggle.

Are you someone who has been contemplating making this transition? Do you think you have what it takes to make this a successful venture? Let’s take look at a few of the qualities that will make the ultimate decision of who will succeed and who will probably fail.


1. Work should be enjoyable.
There aren’t very many things quite like enjoying the work you do. That gives an entirely different meaning to life. When you enjoy what you do, your work becomes more of a pleasure than a chore. I’m sure that many people still feel that work is not something to enjoy and it’s just something that people must endure.

If you are one of the many people who make the decision to start working from home, be certain to chose something that you’ll enjoy. If you don’t enjoy what you do, it will only become the same tedious task as your 9-5 occupation. Many people enjoy what they do at first because they are working from home but that feeling of joy quickly wears off if you’re not doing something you enjoy. Don’t become another statistic of those who will probably fail.

2. Discipline is mandatory.
If you do any type of work online, I’m sure you know how easy it is to get distracted. There are so many interesting things on the Internet and it’s very easy to get sidetracked and check something totally unrelated to your task at hand. Or you might get an e-mail that looks interesting and you decide to open it and see what it’s about. Next thing you know, twenty or thirty minutes went by and then you realize you’ve accomplished nothing.

You need to set a time for working and stick to it. I speak from experience when I say a one hour project could take several hours. There are so many things that will come up during the day that you’ll want to explore but you need to discipline yourself to remain focused on your work. Now that I’ve learned how to do that, I’m much more productive and I can accomplish what needs to be done a lot faster. Being disciplined, also allows me the free time I need to check out all those other interesting things.

3. Patience is a virtue.
Don’t have expectations of becoming an overnight success. We’ve all heard the stories of people making great amounts of money in a very short time. I’m sure there are some people who struck it rich very quickly but that is not the norm. Remember, working online is the same as starting an offline business and it does take time and lots of hard work.

You must be realistic, especially when you’re first starting out. Do not expect the results you want to magically appear. Avoid the disappointment and frustration of expecting big money in the first few months. I am not one who will ever discourage a person from pursuing their dream by working online but you need to have realistic goals and expectations.

4. Changes can be good.
In the world of online businesses, you should always be prepared for changes. As you know, the Internet is constantly evolving. To be successful as an online businessperson, you must be willing to change as well.

You will always come across new techniques and strategies. What worked last month may not work this month. You need to keep up with the times regardless of what niche you’re in. There’s always an abundance of information out there and you should set aside some time to seek out this information. You’ll find that in most cases, the information is free.

5. Interact with your peers.
More than likely, there will be other businesses that are similar to yours. Check them out and see what they do differently. Try to make contact with some of these like-minded people. Chances are, you might learn something new or better yet, you might be able to joint venture with them. Joint ventures can be a very important step towards reaching your goals.

By doing all the things mentioned in the 5 steps above, in no way guarantees you will be the next success story but it’s a good path to start off on. If you do decide to start working online, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a wonderful place to work and a great way to earn an income. As I mentioned earlier, the most important things you can do is; take time to find something you will like. Don’t set yourself up for failure with unreasonable expectations and always be prepared for change. If you’re willing to put forth the effort and have a good work ethic, you’ll be well on you way towards success.

If you currently work online either full or part-time, what has been your experience? Do you feel you can be successful as an online marketer?

This is the time of year when many people make their resolutions and set goals for the new year. If you do a search on the Internet, you’ll find countless discussions on goal setting and how important they are. It’s a proven fact that successful people, no matter what endeavor they are pursuing, are successful because they all set goals for themselves. One of the biggest problems people have with setting goals is; they aren’t sure of how to properly set a goal and therefore their goals are never fulfilled. In this post, I want to share what I feel are the 10 most important steps to follow when setting a goal.

I hope to see all of you achieve some level of success in the coming year. No matter if your goal is affiliate marketing, other business endeavors or personal, I know you have it within you to achieve whatever it is you desire.

Here are the 10 most important steps you should consider when setting a goal:

1. Passion/Inspiration
A goal must inspire you to action. You need to be very passionate about your goal and sincerely believe that you can achieve whatever you set as your goal. Your passion should continually motivate and inspire. After all, isn’t life without passion merely existing?

2. Be Realistic
Always set realistic goals. What would be the point of having an unrealistic goal such as: I’ll be a millionaire in 30 days. I’m not saying that it’s impossible but if you don’t truly believe you can do it, don’t make it a goal. Many great people have set goals that others thought would be impossible. So, don’t let what others think, have an impact on your goal. If you truly believe that you can achieve a specific goal, go for it!

3. Be Specific
Any goal you set must be specific. Setting a goal of something like “I want to be wealthy” is meaningless. Your goal must state what wealthy means to you. The same thing applies to “I want to be happy”. Your happiness needs to be defined the same way wealth does. If you don’t have a specific goal, how will you know when you achieve it?

4. Visualize Your Goal
If you can’t imagine your goal as reality, it probably will not happen. If it exists in your imagination and it’s a part of your life, it will become an achievable goal. As an example, take a pro basketball player. When the most successful players take a shot, they see the ball going into the basket even before they release it. Visualize your goal and you have a much better chance of it becoming a reality.

5. Affirmations
You need to constantly tell yourself that your goal is achievable. Having those self-talks each and every day is one of the most important things you can do. Not only must you have those affirmations but you need to tell others what your goal is. By telling others, you’ll get them to believe in what you’re trying to accomplish and they may even contribute to your success. Telling yourself and others is something that must constantly be done because you will not only convince yourself of your goal, but others as well.

6. Adaptability
Always remain focused on the best possible method to achieving your goal. As certain elements change in your life, you should be able to adapt and apply new methods to achieve your goal. The original methods you thought would fulfill your goal may not always be the best methods. Make changes as necessity dictates.

7. Write It Down
This is probably one of the most important steps you need to take when setting a goal. It’s a proven fact that nearly everyone who puts a goal in writing is far more likely to achieve that goal. If your goal is only in your head, it will more than likely become wishful thinking. Write it down and put it in a place where you can see it often.

8. Precision Timing
Almost as important as writing down your goal is being time specific. You must have a target date of when you feel you’ll achieve your goal. By merely stating that “someday I’ll be financially secure” or “someday I’ll own my own home”, it probably won’t happen. If you are serious about achieving a goal, you must put a specific date when you’ll achieve that goal. By stating that you will achieve your goal on September 15th, you are more likely to attain it.

9. Originals Are Worth More Than Copies
The goals you set must be your own. I’m not saying you can’t have a goal that is similar to another person’s but many people will set a goal that is inherited or influenced by a colleague, teacher, parent or even society. Your goal will have much more meaning if it’s your own. The reason you set a goal in the first place, with the desire to achieve it, is not just to have it but to be fulfilled and happy in making the accomplishment. If the goal isn’t your own original one and you do manage to achieve it, it probably will mean very little to you. Why would you waste all your precious time on something that won’t mean much to you?

10. Do It Now
As Brian Tracy stated “The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch, get started, take action, move.” Well, what are you waiting for? Now that you know how to set a goal, go do it. There’s no time like the present.

I’m sure many of you have set goals for yourself and have some words of wisdom to share. Do you feel it’s important to set goals?

Aside from the low risk to get started as an affiliate marketer, one of the primary reasons more people than ever are getting involved with affiliate marketing is; you become your own boss. You work the hours that are best for you and there are no deadlines to meet. If you equip yourself with the right tools and have a positive mindset, you are on your way to becoming successful as an affiliate marketer.

So, what are the things you’ll need to become successful in this industry? What qualities must you possess in order to do well? We already know that affiliate marketing is highly competitive so one must have “the right stuff” in order to move ahead. There are several things that you will ultimately need to achieve your desired goals and to be able to stand out from the crowd.

Here are the most important qualities you should have:

1. Positive mental attitude. Yes you can!
You must be optimistic about what you’re trying to accomplish. Don’t be discouraged by negative comments and attitudes. You will find there are many people who believe it’s impossible to earn money online. No one said it would be easy but it absolutely can be done and tens of thousands of people earn very good money as an affiliate or online marketer. If this is something you really want, don’t let the naysayers stop you from pursuing your dreams and trying to make a better life for yourself.

2. Patience is a virtue.
Even if you don’t see immediate results (in most cases you won’t) you need to be willing to invest time and effort. You might not see any positive results for a few months but if you can be patient and continue putting some effort in, you will begin to see success. After investing your time and hard work, it would be a shame to give it all up. Hang in there because there is some light at the end of the affiliate marketing tunnel.

3. Just do it!
If you want to be successful with your affiliate marketing efforts, you need to possess self-determination. You have to be an action taker and have the ability to consistently push yourself. One must be able to motivate themselves to reach a goal that you set. Don’t set unattainable goals. Set realistic goals and once you reach your first goal, it begins to get easier and more routine.

4. Discipline yourself.
Discipline is another quality that is needed not only for affiliate marketing but anything you want in life. There are many ways to describe the word discipline. The dictionary says discipline can be:

Instruction
Maintaining order
Mental training
A system of rules
Controlling behavior

If you possess those qualities, than you can achieve anything you put your mind to.

5. Must be willing to learn.
If you want to be an affiliate marketer, you must be willing to learn and be trained. It’s critical that you take advantage of any opportunity to learn because this industry is constantly changing and new programs and technology are always being introduced. There are many so called “tricks of the trade” and knowing them will give you a far better advantage. Going into this business or for that matter, any business, without proper knowledge, can only lead to frustration and a lack of positive results. Many of the people who give up rather quickly, are the ones who never took the time to learn all that was available to them.

The qualities needed in a business such as affiliate marketing are diverse but most importantly, if you really want to succeed, you must have a burning desire and believe in yourself. Your level of success will be determined by the effort you put forth. In this business there is no such thing as a free ride or a magic button to push for overnight wealth. Only hard work, determination, patience and taking action on the things you learn will bring the results you desire.

I’ve listed a few of the qualities I feel are necessary to make it as an affiliate marketer. What other qualities do you feel are necessary for success?

As promised, here is Part 2 of the list of free tools to help with your marketing efforts. In case you missed Part 1 of this list, you can see it here: Free Tools That Make Marketing Tasks Easier – Part 1

1. eBay Pulse
Wouldn’t it be great to know what people are searching for and more importantly, what they are actually buying? With eBay pulse, you can have that information at your fingertips. This is a very powerful tool and it’s something I recommend that every marketer use when doing market research. When you first go to eBay pulse, you’ll see a daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay.
Click here for eBay Pulse

2. Google Trends
With Google Trends, you can compare the world’s interest in your favorite topics. You can enter up to five topics and see how often they’ve been searched on Google over time. Google Trends also shows how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and in which geographic regions people have searched for them most. This can also be used for niche research as it will give you insight on whether search terms on certain topics will trend up or down.
Click here for Google Trends

3. Google Docs
Basically, it’s a place to store your documents online, and you’ll have the added benefit that you and others can edit files at the same time. This tool allows you to create basic documents from scratch or start from a template. You can easily do all the basics, including making bulleted lists, sorting by columns, adding tables, images, comments, formulas, changing fonts and more. Google Docs accepts most popular file formats, including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT, etc. So go ahead and upload your existing files. And best of all, it’s free.
Click here for Google Docs

4. Good Keywords
A Windows software program for researching the best keywords for your web pages. Use it to find profitable products and ideas, analyze your competition and check the progress of your web marketing and advertising efforts to ensure the best return on your investments (ROI).
Click here for Good Keywords

5. Onlywire Bookmarklet
I’m sure you know how big social bookmarking currently is. It’s a great way to drive lots of traffic to your site for free. You really should take advantage of social bookmarking and begin driving traffic to your sites. Onlywire allows you to bookmark your sites across many different services with one quick and easy click. Getting it set up the way you like may take a bit of time because you need to register with many services but once you do, OnlyWire syndicates your content and articles to the web’s top social networking sites with a single button click. There is a free and a paid version. The difference is the advertising on the free version.
Click here for Onlywire Bookmarklet

6. Gigasize
This is a very handy tool that allows you to upload your movies, games, music and photos and store them online for instant access and sharing. GigaSize.com specializes in sharing files too large to email. If you’ve ever had a file to large to email, this solves the problem. Send your large email files on the net by uploading to Gigasize. This is the easiest way to upload, download and share your files.
Click here for Gigasize

7. SEO Book Keyword Tool
I use several free keyword research tools but one of them that I use often is SEO Book Keyword Tool. It offers rough suggested daily search volumes by market for Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. It gets it’s results from Wordtracker and it provides links to other relevant sources next to the search results. This is a tool that is certainly worth checking into.
Click here for SEO Book Keyword Tool

8. Blogpulse
This is yet another great tool to find out what’s hot in the blogosphere. It has top links, top videos, key people, top blogs, key phrases, and much, more. It may take a little getting used to it but once you do, you’ll see how powerful this tool can be and you’ll be able to keep track of the lastest happenings in the blogosphere.
Click here for Blogpulse

9. Picresize
This is another favorite tool of mine. There are other free tools available to resize your images but I feel this is one of the best on the Internet. It’s very simple to use. All you need to do is upload your image, choose the size and that’s it. You’ll have your image resized in a flash. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the ease and benefit of Picresize.
Click here for Picresize

10. Mailinator
I’m sure you’ve come across many pages where they want you to enter an email address to see an offer. I don’t mind entering my email address if it’s something I believe to be of value but I do have a problem giving up my email address just to see a sales page. Mailinator solves that problem because it’s a free tool that allows you to create disposable email addresses. With Mailinator you can protect your privacy and avoid spam. There is no registration or sign up required.
Click here for Mailinator

I hope you will find some of these tools helpful with your marketing. If you have a favorite free marketing tool, please share it by posting it in your comments.

The following post was written by one of my favorite marketers, Jessica Swanson – “The Shoestring Marketer”. This article covers a topic that is near and dear to me: building relationships. I found this article both informative and useful and I’m certain you will also. So, lets get right to it.

A radical change has occurred in the world of marketing. Just five short years ago, most companies utilized only traditional forms of advertising including: TV ads, radio ads, magazine ads, newspaper ads, etc.

As a result, most marketing consisted of advertising that interrupted whatever the consumer was doing. TV commercials are a perfect example of this advertising concept. As you watch your favorite Thursday night program, suddenly a commercial breaks onto the scene and interrupts you. Thus, the term “interruption marketing” was born!

Obviously, consumers began to rebel against interruptive advertising, because, let’s face it, no one likes to be rudely interrupted.

According to Kirby and Marsden (authors of Connected Marketing), 90% of people who can skip TV ads, do skip TV ads. In addition, 65% of people believe that they are constantly bombarded with too much advertising. So, as a small business owner, the first question that you must ask yourself is: “Am I rudely interrupting my prospects with directive advertising methods?”

As consumers pulled away and began to distrust directive forms of marketing, marketers were forced to make a change. No longer could marketers engage in the traditional, forceful ways of old; consumers were just too savvy for that.

As a result, interactional marketing was born! Developing relationships with your customers before they do business with you is an integral part of a successful marketing plan. No matter what business you are in, your motto should be: relationships first, sales second.

As a marketer what can you do to begin to develop relationships with today’s consumer? Here is a quick list to ensure that you are heading in the right direction:

1) Engage Your Prospects Through Real Conversations.
Today’s clients desperately want personal relationships with those they choose to do business with. As a business owner this is relatively simple to accomplish through some of the popular social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. Ask questions, answer questions and provide helpful suggestions to your prospects on a regular basis. Marketing is not a one-way street. Today’s consumer wants to build a relationship with you.

2) Focus On Solving Your Prospect’s Problems.
As a small business owner, you need to determine what problems your prospect needs solved – then work at providing the solution! Believe it or not, your prospects don’t care how successful, savvy or good-looking YOU are. All they care about is their own problems and how you can provide the solution. You must take the focus off of yourself and instead, convince your prospective clients and customers that you can help them.

3) Share Information.
Offer your prospects valuable information about yourself and your company. Give them a taste of what they can expect if they develop a business relationship with you. You can accomplish this by giving away free reports, free ebooks, free product samples, etc.

4) Use The 80/20 Rule.
No matter what platforms you use to interact with your prospects, always follow the 80/20 Rule (better known as the Pareto Principle). You should spend 80% of your time providing useful content, offering helpful suggestions and developing relationships and only 20% of your time promoting your company, blog, websites, etc.

5) Treat Your Clients and Customers Like Royalty.
Once you start bringing in new clients and customers, make sure to wine and dine them! Your small business will grow ten times faster if you create loyal, lifetime fans of your products and services. Why? Simply because your current clients and customers are 40% more likely to buy from you again and 60% more likely to send you referrals.

Again, today’s consumers are extremely distrustful of interruptive and directive forms of advertising. Instead, they are interested in developing a relationship with their business partners. So, provide your prospective clients with plenty of ways to interact, connect and get to know you. Your business will thank you!
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Jessica Swanson, “The Shoestring Marketer,” has helped entrepreneurs, all over the world, explode their businesses using cutting-edge, proven and completely FREE internet marketing strategies. To receive your FREE Marketing Kit, which has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you, learn the exact techniques for marketing their businesses for NO-COST, visit: Shoestring Marketing Kit

Have you ever heard comments like; Internet marketing is a waste of time or how about; you’ll never be able to make any money online. Those are the types of comments you generally hear from those people who have no understanding of this business. Let me assure you that marketing on the Internet does work. If you need further proof, why not ask some of the marketers who consistently earn thousands of dollars each and every month. In fact, there are some who earn millions from marketing online. Do you know what the difference is between those who fail and those who succeed? The ones who succeed don’t believe all the negative talk, myths and lies about this business.

Here are some of the most common myths about the Internet marketing business:

1. It’s so easy to make money on the Internet.
If you think it’s easy to make money on the Internet without doing much work, you’re not being realistic and you’re probably dreaming. We’ve all heard the incredible stories about those people who make 5 or 6 figure incomes in no time at all. Well, those overnight success stories are exactly that–stories! Don’t believe all those stories you hear about some “gurus” becoming wealthy overnight by selling a product or information. The real truth to that myth is it usually takes many months if not years to become a financial success. They work very hard preparing, planning and creating joint ventures. When all that is done, they continue to work and work even harder.

2. It’s takes a lot of money to start an online business.
There are many online businesses that can be started with very little or no up front investment at all. Becoming an affiliate marketer by joining a good affiliate program is one way that many people earn their income. Your primary task as an affiliate marketer is to sell other people’s products and services by focusing on the promotion and marketing. All the other tasks such as product development, product delivery and customer issues are handled by the merchant. If you have a computer with Internet access and have the drive and determination, you can start an affiliate marketing business with little or no up front expense. As you begin to earn some money, you should re-invest it in your business and get the tools and programs that will make your marketing tasks easier and eventually earn you significantly more income.

3. You need to be a techno wizard, graphic designer or programmer to start an internet business.
Nothing could be further from the truth. It might help to be knowledgeable about some of those things but in all actuality, you don’t need those skills at all. Many of the biggest names in Internet marketing have no clue how to build a web site or blog. What they do is either establish joint ventures with those who can compensate for their lack of knowledge or they’ll outsource it to the pros who have the skills in those areas. Quite frankly, the most successful people in the business are successful because they focus on the areas that bring them the best results. Bottom line is; if you want to create web sites without learning all the necessary skills, go out and find the pros that do.

4. You don’t need to know how to market or sell on the internet.
How many times have you seen ads that state: “no selling required”. Those claims make no sense at all and being realistic, how can you make any money without doing any selling or marketing? Personally, I feel those programs are not workable and probably run by fly-by-night operators. In Internet marketing of any type, you’ll get your best results by informing potential customers about the features and benefits of your product. The real way to make a sale without selling, is to show people how they can benefit and how their lives could change with what you have to offer. That is the correct way to make a sale without selling.

5. You don’t need to build a mailing list.
You might as well be saying; “I really don’t want to be in this business.” I know you’ve heard the statement: “the money is in the list” countless times from all the marketing gurus. Your mailing list will become your greatest asset but you need to use it wisely. More important than the list itself is the relationship you build with the people on your list. Once you build trust and relationships with the people on your list, you’ll be on the road to success and much bigger earnings. It’s worth mentioning again that you should always keep in mind, you are not selling but rather letting people know how much they can benefit from your product.

The internet marketing myths I mentioned are only a few of the things that can make a difference between failure and success. You can’t believe everything you hear. In this business, it’s always best to do some research and learn all you can and then form your own conclusions.

Have you heard any other Internet marketing myths? Please feel free to share them with our readers.