What do I want to know when buying a business?

When working through the process of buying a business, the transaction will go through different stages. The first active stage is obviously when the buyer and seller come together for their first meeting. However, before that happens there are many other things that need to happen before that first meeting which, if it goes well, will lead to a series of follow up meetings.

For the buyer, their first step needs to be learning and understanding the buying process. This means becoming as familiar as possible with the language of buying and selling a business as well as the jargon that's part of the industry the business you are looking to acquire is in.

Next step is to understand how much of your personal capital you are willing to invest in a venture. A lot of buyers have seen the value in their homes decline. As a result, the equity is not available to pull from the house and use as a down payment. Other options are available such as using 401(k) retirement money but this is not a quick process and requires the buyer researching and understanding how this process works.

A key component is the buyer understanding and supporting their business and management experience. The best and easiest way to do this is with a limited resume. It doesn't require a detailed breakdown of your employment history but it does require showing management and industry strength especially if the buyer wants the seller to carry a note or they wish to apply to a third party lender for a loan.

Some businesses have either professional or industry license requirements. For example, attorneys, accountants, chiropractors, physical therapists and others require a specialized license while electricians, plumbers, truck drivers and others require an industry license. If a license is required, for example, to run a preschool, do some research to understand the license requirements, the cost and length of time it takes to acquire and if you can run the business while you get that license.

Buying and owning a business changes a person's lifestyle. The time they spend with friends may have to be put on hold while the business gets attention. Be prepared to understand the lifestyle changes that affect all entrepreneurs.

The next step is to define a geographic area that the buyer wishes to find a business. Most people don't enjoy traveling anymore than 30 minutes one way to work or a business. Relocating to buy a business in a new location is an option but care needs to be taken not to try and take on too much.

With the above worked out, now it's time to find a business of interest to you. There are different critical decisions to make. For example, retail, wholesale/manufacturing, home office. Next is business category with food, automotive, residential or business services or children's services. Next is the role of the owner involved in day to day, willing to hire and train managers or prefers to run absentee.

There is no shortage of questions and information to gather when buying a business. What's important though is to put the process in the right order otherwise you will burn out and give up on your dream of owning and operating your business; and end up working for somebody who did.

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Buy A Business - Five Reasons To Buy A Business Instead Of Starting One

You will be able thoroughly examine the financial records, tax returns and leases of an existing business.

Also, you will be able to more accurately judge the strength of the competition since the company you are considering has dealt with them on a daily basis.

The quality of the location and traffic of an existing establishment is known and proven over time - as opposed to a start-up were the quality of the location is at least somewhat unknown.

In addition, as you study a business, it's possible that you will be struck with new income generating ideas, niches that have been overlooked or weaknesses in the competition that can be easily exploited. Since you are looking at an actual business or competitor, ideas (as well as facts) can be assessed in much more realistic terms.

If you are just "thinking about" starting a business (meaning it's just a vision at this point) than everything is much more speculative and theoretical - and making the correct decisions will be much harder.

Sometimes the most valuable information you get from the owner relates to their mistakes - the things they tried that didn't work - even though they sounded like great ideas at the time. You can benefit from their experience and avoid some of their mistakes.

2.) Immediate Cash Flow - When you buy a business that is up and running it will be producing income for you immediately. When starting a business it can take 12-18 months before turning a profit. Even an educated guess as to how much cash you will need at the start to live on and run the business is still a guess.

With an existing business, your need to borrow funds for operating expenses should be less, and if you do need to borrow, the guesswork is eliminated because you know how much cash the business is generating.

3.) The Best Possible Training Is Available- Usually the current owner is happy to give his successor advice and insight based on his years of experience. The current owner has a vested interest in your success.

If he has financed part of the sale price then obviously he wants (and needs) you to succeed. But even if you paid cash, the business is something he has poured his heart and soul into for years so he will still be very interested in helping you succeed - he doesn't want his pride and joy to fail even after he has left.

There is no way to have this valuable (and free) training available to you if you start a business from scratch.

The specific length and type of training the seller will provide may be negotiated as part of the overall sales arrangement. As an example, the seller may commit to stay and work with you for 6 months and then be available for consulting for 12 months after that.

And don't overlook the fact that when you buy a business you inherit trained, knowledgeable and experienced employees.

To customers, your employees are the face of you company. It's hard to overestimate the value of the insights and experiences these employees already have, not to mention the importance of the relationships they have built over the years with your brand new customers.

4.) Financing Is Often Easier - More often than not, a small business purchase is financed by the seller. There is no stronger vote of confidence in a business than when the current owner is willing to finance a significant portion of the selling price - and thereby remain dependent on the business' continued success for years to come. If you plan on starting a business, you will have no financing options as attractive seller financing.

(Note: even in the best case scenario, you should be prepared to pay down 30% or more of your own money).

5.) There Are Always Good Businesses For Sale! - All the above leads to an obvious question:

If a business is successful and the owner believes it will remain so, why would he sell?

That is a valid question that the skeptic in you should ask each time you look at a business.

Some businesses for sale aren't worth buying - at any price. But many successful businesses with a bright future are put up for sale every day. The most obvious reasons for this are the health and/or retirement of the owner.

Other businesses are put on the market because partners have decided to dissolve their partnership and go their separate ways or get divorced. The reason for the sale may be as straightforward as the owner is bored and wants to do something new with their life.

And then there are those best case scenarios where the owner is selling in order to pursue other successful ongoing ventures - winning is a habit and often the most attractive companies are being sold by an owner with other successful companies that require their full attention. The reasons for a business being put up for sale are as unique as the individual selling them.

There are great opportunities out there right now with owners who have valid reasons for selling and who are willing to provide training and financing. Making the decision to buy a business can put you in a profitable position sooner and with less risk than almost any start up opportunity you may find.

Patrick Jennings is the founder of several web sites related to the buying and selling of small businesses includinghttp://www.TheBizSeller.com - a for-sale-by-owner site that helps you sell your business as fast as possible and without using a broker. Searchhttp://www.thebizseller.com/browse2.htm to find businesses for sale by owner.

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How Business Brokers Can Make Your Life Easier When Buying a Business

Business brokers can certainly make life easier for a person interested in buying a business. The process to buy a business has some challenges and working with professional business brokers can certainly bring some clarity to the process.

This article summarizes some of the benefits that a business broker can bring to a business buyer.

Find a business to buy

This seems obvious at first but its important to remember that not all businesses are marketed the same way. Most of the time, a business sale is confidential in order to protect the interests of the seller so business brokers must be quite careful in how they advertise a business for sale. That being said, if you are interested in buying a business please be prepared for a thorough search. Finding a good business that is right for you is sometimes easier said than done. Talk to reputable business brokers and let them know what you are looking for. Be as specific as possible. Hav e an investment level in mind, an industry you are interested (and qualified) in and a geographic area as well. This will help the business broker narrow his or her search to help you find the right venture to buy.

Facilitate the negotiations

Buying a business requires a degree of sensitivity with respect to the human emotions involved. Oftentimes, a business seller and buyer can clash due to flared emotions or perceived slights and a deal can unnecessarily fall apart. Professional business brokers keep the lines of communication open and help deals overcome the speed bumps that invariably come up from time to time.

Manage the due diligence process

Buying a business requires a high level of due diligence to ensure that the business buyer is comfortable with what he or she is purchasing and that the facts, as they pertain to the business sale, check out. Business brokers assist in managing this critical process by ensuring that information flows efficiently both ways, proper information is provided and that the appropriate professionals have the information they need in order to fulfill their roles. Buying a business requires risks to be mitigated due diligence is the process where much of this occurs.

Acclimatize buyers to the local market

Sometimes, business buyers end up buying a business in an area where they are newcomers (or perhaps even new immigrants to Ontario or Canada). Business brokers can play a role in familiarizing the city or area the business operates in to prospective buyers. For instance, many busine ss buyers are coming from the city of Toronto and are inquiring about relocating to the outskirts of the city. Buying a business west of the city (for instance, in Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton or Niagara Falls) has become a popular option for people. A professional Business broker can give these investors a sense of the economic landscape, business culture and so on.

Give potential business buyers a sense of what a new industry might be like

Many times, people buy a business in an industry where they have minimal or no experience and are forced to make a leap of faith and take a chance. For instance, the franchise fast food business is full of business owners with minimal relevant business experience. Likewise for a myriad of industries where new business buyers are completely new to the business (example convenience stores, gas stations, car washes, printing shops, flower shops, restaurants, and so on). The point is that people do buy businesses where they dont necessarily have a background in them. For this reason, an experienced business broker can assist a potential buyer by giving them a sense of what the business required in order to be successful. Perhaps even a reality check.
Buying a business does require a bit of a leap of faith but mitigating that as much as possible by relying on the experience and background of professionals with experience is a prudent measure.

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The One Point You Should Keep In Mind When Buying a Business

Copyright (c) 2009 Richard K Parker

The one thing, in only one word, that you really have to understand when purchasing a business is PREPARATION. This particular eleven letter word is so extraordinarily valuable because it's what invariably separates successful buyers from everyone else. It's methodical preparation that gives business buyers the chance to pounce on fantastic opportunities when they surface. They notice a good deal when they get near it because they follow well laid out preparation guidelines.

When buying a business, you need to be prepared in every aspect of the buying process. Your search for business opportunities is futile unless you know how to recognize a sound investment. And that takes preparation. In order to get prepared, it means knowing business operations inside and out.

Let's consider the importance of preparation when buying a business. With it you will understand the essential questions that you should ask a seller. You wi ll realize the crucial areas of a business to look into. You will know the key issues to review and which business materials to request from the seller. You will know a fair price to propose. And you will know which specific clauses in the terms of a sales agreement to negotiate.

Educating yourself on the business buying process is relatively simple when you consider all the information that is available online and written in books. Preparing yourself for a business opportunity involves knowing the industry, identifying the competition, knowing the market's future predictions and identifying avenues of financing.

Before buying a business, preparation is also necessary for conducting a business valuation, formulating questions to ask the seller, identifying the strengths, weaknesses, areas of growth and problem areas of the business, and negotiating the main areas in order to formulate a good deal.

There isn't anything that frustrates a seller more than havi ng to respond to questions from potential buyers who aren't prepared. When purchasing a business, prospective buyers are supposed to have at least a little business knowledge before agreeing to any sort of contract with a seller. If you're not prepared to commit to a purchase and sales agreement, it's best not to waste the seller's time.

Although you might be a first-time buyer, it is expected that you are prepared to enter the buying a business process. By gaining knowledge about all aspects of the business buying process, you will have the preparation needed to close the deal on the business opportunity you seek.

A common mistake made by those buying a business is to address things as they arise. But buying a business is a major investment and not one that should be left to a haphazard strategy. You can avoid common, yet costly, mistakes through preparation.

When buying a business, the key to success is learning all you can about the business and its indu stry before entering into any contract. As you progress through the business buying process, learn all you can about the company's financials and everyday business operations. Through solid preparation, you can rest assured that you are buying a business that is sound and positioned well for future growth.

One major mistake you can make when buying a business is to underestimate all that is involved in purchasing a business. Without proper preparation, you will quickly feel overwhelmed without the knowledge to make key decisions or understand issues that you might encounter. The buying process is complex and includes many different stages, but with the proper knowledge and research, you can be well prepared to face them all with confidence.

When it comes to buying a business, the wise saying, "If you fail to prepare, then be prepared to fail," so aptly applies. Preparation is the key to success when looking to buy a business that is sound and profitable. It is al so preparation that will lead you in running and growing a success venture for many years to come.

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Buying A Business—What You Need To Know Before You Buy A..

Author: Fernando Simo

Article Source: MiNeeds.com, where consumers get competitive bids from Real Estate Agents/Realtors. Read reviews, compare offers & save. Its free!

Article Link: http://www.mineeds.com/Orlando/Transworld-Business-Brokers/Articles/Buying-a-BusinessWhat-you-need-to-know-before-you-buy-a-Business

Tags: Selling and Buying a Business in Central Florida

So you made the decision to buy a business. Now what?? Well, to begin with, I would recommend you get the services of a business broker to help you find the right businessit is FREE. Just like in the real estate market, brokers get paid a commission from the seller not the buyer AND, in most cases, the broker represents the transactionwhere he is not an agent of either the seller or the buyer. Secondly, I would really give a lot of thought as to why I am buying a business. Do you need to or do you desire to buy a business? In todays economy many buyers NEED to buy a business to replace a job (Note: Most of those looking to get a visa REALLY are replacing the jobs they had in their country of origin). Buyers who desire to buy a business normally spend fruitless hoursand those of the broker-- looking for the perfect business to buy, to no avail.
Buyers should consider the following areas, as well:

1. What are you looking to invest? One should understand that the equity used to purchase a business IS NOT the only equity required. In many cases, a significant work in capital amount is required to begin running the operations of the business effectivelymarketing, distribution, inventory, additional fixed assets, etc.

2. Where are the funds you want to invest? Are they coming from 401Ks, SBA loans, Home Equity Lines of Credit? There may be restrictions as to how to use some of these funds.

3. Based on your life style, how much income do you need to maintain it, after debt service and taxes? Please keep in mind that most businesses sell at 2-3 times its owners benefit. So that if you need $100K to maintain your life style, you are looking to buy a business in the range of $200-300K.

4. How many hours per week are you willing to work?

5. Are other fami ly members to be working the business with you?

6. What industry am I willing to work in?

7. Where am I willing to have this business geographically?

8. Do I have the licenses required to run this business?

9. Am I willing to provide a personal guarantee on any notes provided by the seller?

10. Is my credit good enough to get a lease agreement/assignment?

An understanding of what it is that you want/require when buying a business is critical PRIOR to going through the process of buying. Most good brokers will help you determine your viability to buy a business. Once you know what it is that you are looking for, the broker can help you get there quickly and efficiently.

Should you want to know more about selling or buying/selling a business in Central Florida, please contact me, Fernando Simo, at 407-361-8886 and/or visit my webpage at www.bizbuyorsellflorida.com

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How to Buy a Business and Earn Great Profits!

If you are a determined, budding entrepreneur, one of the most fulfilling yet challenging ventures you will ever undertake is buying a business. There are several factors that you need to consider when you decide to buy a small business. This article provides you an outline of the things that you need to know about acquiring a business and earning a profit. A business endeavor cannot simply be expressed in revenue streams or asset value: it has a soul. This means that there is an idea behind it. You need to learn how to look beyond numbers or costs in buying a small business for sale. The following is a find a guide on how to buy a business successfully and smoothly for big profits.

Guide on How to Buy a Small Business

Your personal and professional experiences are the first things you need to consider when you want to buy a business. You should be passionate and interested in the venture you wish to own and manage, and you need to be good at it. In certain cases that a line of business is not exactly your area of expertise or interest, it does not necessarily mean that you should opt out of buying that business. In cases wherein lack of experience is involved, you need to consider retaining the key staff or hiring qualified replacements. This will surely lead to bigger profits.

The location is another essential aspect to consider when you buy a business. Think about these questions: Is there a big demand for your services or products in your chosen area? Will this demand change in the near future? How big should your location be? What are the sales and profits you can expect in starting a business in this area? Are new management and staff necessary? You must have solid answers to these questions in order to ensure that the process of buying a business goes smoothly.

After deciding on the business you want to invest in, you will then need to assess its value. Take note that there is no best method to determine the value of a certain business. Professionals generally recommend approaches depending on the type of business and industry. With this, it is best that you learn the history and the operations of the small businesses for sale that are on your prospect list. You should consider hiring an experienced business broker. This is to avoid any possible buyer-seller conflicts on certain issues. A professional broker will be able to guide you in this matter.

How Much Money Do You Need to Buy a Business

Determining the right price of a small business for sale is one of the most challenging aspects of purchasing a business. The task of getting a trustworthy and reliable financier is also an issue. The capital you need for investment depends on the size of the business you intend to purchase. If you are planning to buy a small business, you may use your personal savings to finance a big portion of the overall cost. You also need to be sure that there are enough funds available to sustain your prospect business in the long run.

Seeking the help of a third-party financial institution is also a reasonable option in financing your business. Look for credible and trustworthy companies such as direct lenders and banks. For banks to approve your business loan money, you need to prepare certain requirements like personal collateral, a solid business plan, as well as the information of the business you want to purchase and manage. There are other institutions that are willing to lend money aside from banks. These are generally commercial finance and venture capital companies.

So, are you now ready to buy a business and begin your journey to successful entrepreneurship?

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Should You Buy a Business or Get a MBA?

Profit Now or Profit Later

Those who have recently graduated from college or in the process of completing their degrees, specifically those who are majoring in business, find it hard to choose between two contrasting options: to stay in school and get a MBA - Master's of Business Administration - or go out into the real world and start a business. To make an informed decision on this matter, there are four factors that one needs to consider: money, time, estimated return on investment and the current market condition. Those people who choose to get a masters degree do so under very stressful situations. They usually work part-time while studying, earning just enough to sustain full-time classes. These students oftentimes use their own savings, borrow money from family members or friends, and sometimes go into debt issues because of unpaid student loans. After a couple of years studying in a business school, they already possess a significant degree of education that they can use as an advantage over those who did not pursue a MBA. However, they cannot deny the fact that they are also far behind when it comes the actual world of entrepreneurship.

Business Owners and the MBA program

It can be very beneficial if you decide to get a MBA program while running an already existing business. Everything you will learn from your classes can be directly applied to the business you are managing. Buying a business and running it personally will help you develop new business skills and hone those that you already have. Having a MBA degree will surely show you how to improve your weaknesses in business management. Attending a business school is also a good opportunity for you to meet new people and make lifelong professional relationships that will give you an advantage in running an existing small business. A MBA will surely give you strong credibility within local communities. Financially, you can also benefit from a master's degree. Bankers are more than willing to approve loans to business owners who have MBAs. A good MBA program will also help you think like an executive, as the things you'll learn from classes will guide you in business issues and expansion strategies.

Becoming a Successful Business Owner

You should know that buying a business is a costly process. You need to spend a considerable amount of money if you want to buy a business or purchase a franchise. In either option, you need to get financing assistance for the purchase price, the inventory cost, marketing and advertising expenses, and the property or equipment lease payments. The money you will spend on continuing with your MBA can also be good capital for buying a business. Your money will be returned immediately in the form of sales income. Among the simplest ways to buy a business is to go for an established franchise. This move is safer because all planning has already been done by the parent company, and the business methods and processes were also tried and tested in the market. Everything you'll need is at your fingertips. The franchisor will guide you on the operations of the business, showing you the strategies to make the most out of your franchise. There is also a good chance that the people you will deal with at the franchisor level have already earned their MBAs.

Doing it the Right Way

Here is a guide on how to buy a business and get a MBA:

Use your savings from college to buy a business. You may opt for an existing business or franchise because it is safer and profits come in faster.

Learn from the experts in the industry, and save up as much as you can.

Once the business is running smoothly and annual sales are remarkably growing, you can go back to school as a part-time student and pursue a MBA.

Earn more profits!

The good news is that small business opportunities these days include offers to help business owners get MBAs. Also, a recent write-up in a popular business publication stated that becoming a MBA consultant or coach is a highly profitable business venture that aspiring entrepreneurs should definitely consider.

The questions now are... How many business owners in your community have MBAs? Did they earn them before or after they decided to buy a business?

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Buying a Business is No More Building a Castle in Air!

Established business is bought and sold slightly differently in market. You need to have a thorough survey, perfect calculations, advises of knowledgeable persons in the same field. You need to consult for business valuations also. Surely returns are high and challenges and risks are higher in buying a business.

First you need to set up your priority. whether you want to be an entrepreneur really? Because you need to know many things before a big plunge! Few points have been discussed here to boost your morale in selling or buying a business. You need to comprehend these key factors.

First dilemma is whether you should go for buying a business for sale or start a new one on your own. Both are equally good and have their own defined scope. But ready business is always better as it has its foothold already in the market. Buying a business plays safe always rather than starting from a scratch, as it goes known devils are better than the unknown ones!' E xisting business has overcome bearing these teething troubles in the beginning already. So it is good buying a business which has a proven record already. It is quite well established in the market.
The products and services of that firm are already floated in the market interwoven with price system even. There will be a pool of experienced employees in the business for sale. This is the fundamental move and also a plus point in buying a business. These experienced employees will help giving advice in running the business which would prove invaluable in the long run. These points favour in buying a business which is already in the market. If you have decided to buy a business for sale, you ought to know something more about them. So buying business seems easier than starting from a scratch for sure.

Then you need to start looking business for sale. You need to calculate what do expect from this business establishment. A buyer has to see on profits line. Secondly once you bought the business for sale, you need to find out a way how to take it to the next step immediately. This newly bought business should be able to generate revenue as much as it was wit h the last employer. The gradually it can bring the expected results. The person who is buying a business surely looks for the more profits or returns if this is the only source of income.

Huge cash flow is there in buying a business or business for sale. The person who is buying a business may find more luring and attractive business opportunities. Buying a business definitely needs a huge amount of money. Mostly first installment is given and the rest of the amount will be given in different installments. Whether you buy or sell a business you need to have the fundamentals very clearly. If you a mediocre financially with fire in belly to do something in businesses' then such opportunities are the best! Mostly half or one third should be enough for the final seal in such deal.

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Tips When Looking to Buy a Business in Sydney

Are you interested to buy a business in Sydney but don't know the right place and process to start? Do you know how to determine the best possible routes to buy a business in a short span of time without compromising your budget?

Here are some tips that you can use if you are ready to embark into buying a business:

1. Be financially prepared. One of the first things that buyers have to consider is having an ample amount of budget. You have to make sure that you're current financial standings can cover costs for 12-18 months, deal with unforeseen expenses and advertising and marketing expenses as well.

2. Buy a business related to your field of expertise. Buying a business familiar to you or that's within your expertise can save you a lot of time and cost. You can easily point out what you will need to market your newly acquired business or what will be your target market, thus sparing you the need to do thorough research. It can also boost your level of performance and confidence that you can run the business well.
3. Find Out the Reason why the Business is for Sale. Aside from retirement, look out for valid reason as to why the business is put up for sale. It pays to look at details first before jumping into the conclusion of buying the business. It may be that the company already had a bad reputation and you might just end up spending on fixing past failures instead of spending time to more profitable business activities.

4. Consider referrals. Ask your friends, relatives, business associates, colleagues, for prospective business opportunities. They can help you evaluate new business ventures and they can give you advice as well.

5. Know how to Bargain. Do take some time to do your own market valuation, analyze the current market and negotiate with the price being offered. Offer less, you might be surprised, but some sellers easily agree to what buyers offer! If you are not good in bargaining, you can seek professional help from an intermediary.

6. Seek Professional Help. Research on professionals like business brokers, lawyers, accountants if you are not confident in transacting solo. Transactions can be made smoother if you can find the right people to help you.

Remember that buying a business, though exciting as it is, takes a careful and wise decision making process before you can take the plunge.



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Personal Trainer Courses in Australia

Fitness instructor courses are gaining in popularity as so many people seem to be bent on getting as fit as possible. By doing fitness courses you are almost assured of a job that is high in satisfaction as well as financial reward. There are many personal trainer courses available and the one you choose will in most cases be dictated by your geographical location and the cost.

Location may not be a consideration to you if you are willing and able to move to an area where personal training courses are available. If you are truly interested in making personal training your career, you will certainly need to be trained. No one can really get into this type of work unless they are properly trained. Training in fitness education will ensure you are capable of carrying out the necessary duties in a safe and proper manner as far as your or your gym's customers, go.

No one wants to be responsible for injuring their customers physically, but this is what can happen if you don't have the proper training. You must be able to not only encourage people to train and guide them through it, but first to draw up a fitness plan that will suit their goals and their present standard of health. You need to be able to guide and train them in their use of equipment so that they don't injure themselves and perhaps sue you or your boss.

Completing the correct fitness education will give you your personal trainer certificate, which will open many doors of employment to you. You may be able to get work in gyms around the world or even work on a cruise ship. Going for your certificate IV fitness will train you how to set up your own gym or personal training business. Once you are trained, you may also be able to work in areas such as rehabilitation for accident or stroke victims that are related to fitness, should you choose to do so.

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To special educate or not (Part 1)

To special educate or not . . .

For many reasons we as a society and educational institution cant accept that some kids will always be behind. One reason for this that you dont hear discussed is grade levels, which have a negative cumulative effect for roughly half the school population. In college everybody has heard of or learned about the bell curve; which tells us it is normal and expected to have a range of abilities. Yet it amazes me how society, politicians, and educators seem to forget this fact. In education classes teachers even learn that in a given class you can expect a six year grade range. In other words, in a 5th grade class there will be kids with reading levels ranging from 2nd through 8th grades. Time out; did anybody ever tell the general public this? Also, how did this information apparently get erased from the memories of every professional working in the schools? Getting back to grade levels, consider this. The bell curve tells us that half the children will be below average. So in any grade, half the students will be behind. Think about when students start out in first grade. Half of the students will leave first grade below average (or below their peers), or below where they should be at the end of first grade. This cycle continues for most of these kids school years because they dont catch up. And we wonder why so many kids drop out when they reach high school? They have already experienced years of failure. Grade levels tell them, and remind them daily that they are failures. If you dont think so, try explaining to them year after year why they are behind.

Another way society has denied the real-life differences among children and tried to deal with the crippling effects of grade levels is through special education. The development of the categories of special education was influenced more by politics and social pressures than by research. Even today, the few categories that include the vast majority of children in special education (Leaning Disability) are highly subjective in their definitions and decisions of who is labeled and placed into special education. Research into the effectiveness of special education has shown that once a child is placed (get a label), his/her chances of graduating greatly decrease. Of course, nobody tells parents this at an IEP meeting! The child in special education receives an Individualized Education Program (IEP), which sounds impressive. Who wouldnt want an education program tailored to their needs? Well, the problem is that the goals in an IEP are at a level far below his grade placement. Whats even worse is that most of these students never get up to grade level, or catch up. So what happens when one of these children gets to high school and theyre still reading at a third grade level? I have been in many uncomfortable meetings trying to explain this to parents. But hey, they have a label, and have received professional help, so its ok to be years behind, or sometimes even nearly illiterate. The IEP becomes a license to fail.

Special education is just a reflection of the problem with our unrealistic expectations. We cant accept the fact that some kids will always be behind, no matter what we do. Since the 1970s, when the government passed massive special education legislation, the numbers have swelled, and it has been plagued with controversy. Its interesting once again how people in education so readily accept research when it seems acceptable, or they are told by the higher ups that they will accept it, but when its to the contrary educators and legislators turn the other way. The research has shown for a long time now that special education is not working. Kids who are in special education dont catch up, and they are more likely to drop out. I believe this research because I see it every day. Another thing the research tells us is that there are no clear and consistent interventions (treatments) that distinguish the children identified with the disabilities that represent the majority of kid s in special education. The disabilities that comprise the majority of kids in special education are Learning Disabled, Mentally Impaired, Emotionally Disturbed/Behavior Disorder, and Other Health Impaired (this one has so many kids because ADHD falls under it). In other words, when an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is made for these children, which specifies the goals and objective of how each child will be taught, they differ very little from disability to disability. A learning disabled (LD) childs IEP will look very much like a mentally impaired (MI) childs IEP, and so on, with all the various comparisons. And I believe this research because I have seen thousands of IEPs. The interventions always involve something like repetition, a multisensory approach (hearing and seeing it, and hands on), having directions read to them, and extended time limits. If you looked at a childs IEP goals and objectives, and didnt know their eligibility, you would have a very hard ti me figuring out what their eligibility (disability) was. What it really boils down to is we are bringing the material down to their level. If a learning disabled child is reading at a second grade level, he will have the same (or very similar) goals and objectives as a mentally impaired child reading at a second grade level. What needs to happen is that we need to teach kids at whatever level their at (remember the bell curve); but we have to stop pretending that all kids are the same, and hiding as many of the ones that we can get away with that arent at grade level or behaving in special education. This is malpractice and we have to stop doing it.

After special education legislation in the 70s it was common for schools to have self-contained classrooms. These are classrooms in which special education students spend most or all of their school day. The class size is small, with paraprofessionals to assist the teacher. As with many things in our society, there were more than enough researchers and experts to provide the proof demonstrating the reasons and benefits for these classrooms. Well in the 90s this all changed with self-contained classrooms being gutted from school districts. When I started in the field in 1990, I worked under a principal who had already been in education for about 25 years. He told me how they (people in education) had worked so hard to get these classrooms and now they were getting rid of them. And of course the experts had all the research to show why we needed to get rid of these classrooms. I guess they got it wrong the first time? I dont know, but maybe somebody should tell the taxpayer! The research and experts once again helped lead us on another humongous, costly wild goose chase, which only delayed the inevitable. For years the learning and progress of students who were learning and behavior problems were sheltered and protected from scrutiny and real accountability. Basically, as long as you had an IEP it was OK to be far behind all of your school years. And if your behavior was so bad that you werent learning, that was OK because you had an IEP. I know this sounds harsh and cruel, but dont misunderstand me. Teachers, schools, and districts were doing what they could, and trying to work within the rules they were given to try and educate these problem children. As more kids were becoming more problematic, the schools were expected to deal with them. So kids were often given a label, and any label would do. By the 90s it became obvious that there were too many kids in special education. After all, how could there be that many disabled children? So of co urse the research was provided to show that self-contained classrooms and labeling were actually detrimental to these children. Nevertheless, the reason the number of children in special education was growing is because there was a growing number of children that the regular education classrooms could not deal with. But that didnt matter, and we were pressured to reduce the number of kids in special education!

More to come on this topic.

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Getting California Group Health Insurance Quotes – You Need Some Information to Understand These Quotes

Getting California group health insurance quotes can be the first step in providing your employees with coverage. Many small businesses want to give their employees the option of purchasing health care coverage. But, with costs as they are, many employers think they cannot find affordable options. You might be surprised at the prices you get when you ask for quotes. One of the little surprises for businesses in California is that, by law, the company can write off every bit of the money they put out towards health care premiums. That can lead to a significant savings in your taxes as well as on health care costs.

What do you need to know before getting California group health insurance quotes? The first, and most basic, question is how many people you need to cover with the insurance. The employees must work 20 hours or more per week to qualify and must be employees paid through W-2's instead of 1099's. One of the benefits of group health insurance for small businesses is that insurance companies cannot ask health questions. Employers must contribute 50% of the lowest premium available under this plan. This usually applies to the youngest age group in the plan. So if the youngest age group has a minimum premium of $200, the employer must cover 50% of that or $100 for each employee. Employers can choose to cover more, however.

What factors contribute to the premiums you are getting California group health insurance quotes? There are four critical factors used to calculate premium costs. Your location plays a role. Businesses in large cities usually pay more than those in rural towns do. Number of employees also is a factor. The fewer employees you have, the higher the premiums will be for each individual. Discounts start to apply as you add more employees. The age of employees also contributes to the calculation. Younger employees cost less when it comes to health care coverage. A final factor is which plan you select. HMO plans usually cost more than PPO plans do.

What else do you need to know when getting California group health insurance quotes? The best way to get quotes is through a knowledgeable agent. The agent can look at your company's particular situation and find a good balance between cost and coverage. With a good agent at your side, you will find the plan to fit you business's budget without breaking it.

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The Top 5 Best Selling Affiliate Marketing Books for beginners

Make a Fortune Promoting Other People's Stuff Online: How Affiliate Marketing Can Make You Rich

This is the most comprehensive guide to treating affiliate marketing as a hard-core business. Written by a highly successful affiliate marketer, "Make a Fortune Promoting Other People's Stuff Online" is the definitive guide to planning, implementing, and managing a successful affiliate business on the Web.

Rosalind Gardner reveals pearls of wisdom from her firsthand experience, showing you how to identify a niche with a huge market, research and understand that market, and sell the benefits of the products you represent. Offering numerous time- and cost-saving techniques, she presents a five-step plan to assessing a product or service to promote, 12 ways to increase website traffic, and 20 questions to ask before joining an affiliate program.

Affiliate Millions: Make a Fortune Using Search Marketing on Google and Beyond

For more than a decade, the Internet has allowed people to make substantial amounts of money on both a full time and part time basis. Today, with even more online opportunities available than ever before, you can achieve a level of financial success that most people only dream about and in "Affiliate Millions", author Anthony Borelli will show you how. With the help of co-author Greg Holden, Borelli will show you how to make thousands, and eventually tens of thousands, of dollars each month through the process of paid search marketing and affiliate advertising.

Along the way, they'll also share the secrets to mastering this often overlooked strategy and provide you with the tools and techniques needed to maximize your potential returns. Since making one million dollars through paid search marketing and affiliate advertising in his first full year of operations, Anthony Borelli has never looked back. Now, he wants to help you do the same. Filled with in depth insights and practical advice, "Affiliate Millions" will introduce you to this profitable endeavor and show you how to make it work for you.

Successful Affiliate Marketing For Merchants

Affiliate marketing has become a buzzword among Web marketers today. Since payment is based on performance, the cost of affiliate marketing is far less than any other online marketing vehicle. If you're an online business, it is estimated that the cost of acquiring a new customer on the Net can range from $75 to as much as $200 per person. Affiliate Marketing can solve this problem with little or no out-of-pocket costs.

It can be done by anyone with a Web site with attractive content or any business with goods and services to sell, no matter how small the business is.This book will show anyone conducting business online, how to plan, implement, and manage a successful affiliate marketing program. The book will give marketing, advertising, sales and publicity professionals, as well as Webmasters, hands-on advice and guidance on how to find and implement affiliate programs available on the Net today. It will also provide case studies of successful programs as well as failures and scams to demonstrate and teach the lessons of building a successful program.The reader will find valuable Web resources such as tracking software and contract templates with the guidance of this book.

There will also be direction for the reader to focus the content and develop the right affiliate model for the type of business.

Strategic Affiliate Marketing

Even though it can be argued that affiliate marketing is an old phenomenon, in a rapidly changing online business environment, it is still a new and developing business area. This highly topical book contains a thorough analysis of affiliate marketing, including theoretical and practical considerations. Strategic Affiliate Marketing acts as a unique guide for both practitioners and academics on how to approach affiliate marketing.

The authors explain the core values as well as challenging and combining established marketing theories in the light of new online marketing activities, taking into account the characteristics of the Internet and interactions among various participants and agents. Rather than arguing the rights and wrongs in absolute terms, this book presents a strategy for engaging in affiliate marketing. The authors also examine what considerations should be taken into account before doing so, as well as investigating how to optimise resources once fully active in this area. This fascinating book focuses on how to build long term relationships with online partners, while gaining value and optimising resources.

As such, it will be of special interest to academics and students of management, marketing and business. Online advertisers and online media will also find this a valuable tool with which to understand the potential of their online return of investment.

Internet Riches: The Simple Money-making Secrets of Online Millionaires

Getting rich on the Internet is no longer about IPOs and venture capital. These days, it's easier and cheaper than ever to start an Internet business. In this strategy-packed guide, Scott Fox reveals the powerful but simple methods he and thousands of others have used to make big money online.

Exclusive interviews with "mom and pop" entrepreneurs prove how easy it is to get started and build a business that will make millions. Filled with practical pointers and inspiring interviews, it's the most accessible, uplifting book ever on starting and enjoying a super-lucrative online business.

If you are looking for the best affiliate marketing training programs online, you may find yourself a little overwhelmed by the enormous amount of information available. Affiliate marketing training programs, tutorials, eBooks and websites abound. However, not many are very helpful to the newbie affiliate marketer, for many reasons.

First of all, affiliate marketing is an incredibly competitive industry, and there is a lot to learn. An affiliate marketing eBook or program can only skim the surface of what you need to know, and will usually lead you to buy more "recommended" products. These are sales ploys, embedded within the pages of the so-called training manuals. For instance, imagine you just purchased an eBook that promises to teach you all that you need to know to make a fortune on Squidoo. You will probably encounter many industry terms that you don't understand, such as "keyword optimization" or "niche marketing". Naturally, the book would not be designed to teach you these vital skills, as niche marketing is not the topic of the book. However, once you have been made aware of how important it is to understand these concepts, the author of the eBook is more than happy to "recommend" a great product that will teach you all that you need to know. Of course the link to the author's affiliate site is embedded in the pages for your purchasing convenience, and before you know it, you will be buying a product that claims to teach you how to make it big in these areas. Then that of course will lead you to something else, which will try to sell you something else. This can become extremely confusing, discouraging, and expensive.

Many times people join an affiliate program thinking they can throw together a quick website or blog and the sales will come rolling in. This is certainly not the case. To become successful as an affiliate marketer, you must learn the entire workings of the industry, including: how to choose a product and niche, the different types of affiliate marketing, how to perform market and keyword research, how to build a blog or site, Search Engine Optimization, the importance of relevancy, tracking your ads, and so much more. The idea that one eBook or training program can teach you all this is ludicrous. Also, the industry is changing so fast that most affiliate marketing training programs are outdated before they even become published.

So what is the solution? The best affiliate marketing training programs available are set up as online affiliate marketing schools. These schools provide various types of ongoing training tools such as: courses, eBooks, audio and video files, tutorials, one-on-one coaching, and more. One such school- which is actually an online affiliate marketing university- provides its members with all the necessary tools of the trade, including: pre-built websites, website builder and free hosting, keyword analysis tool, competition spyware, rapid-writer article writing software, complete niche research information and PLR articles within the chosen niche, (saves the affiliate hundreds of hours in research and data analysis), and more. These schools also include a member's forum, where support and guidance is offered freely by successful affiliate gurus who enjoy helping others become successful, and are willing to mentor, answer questions, provide suggestions, etc. This type of suppor t is invaluable, and usually unavailable through public affiliate forums which are inundated with users who are merely trying to sell something.

Certainly the best affiliate marketing training programs are not stand alone programs, eBooks or courses. There is simply too much to learn to be successful in the field, than can be gleaned from these kinds of products. Membership websites are available, which teach and include everything the affiliate needs to become successful. These membership sites are very affordable, and will help you get the edge that is necessary in this competitive, but lucrative, industry.

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What is Affiliate Marketing and advertising Or an Affiliate Website?

Affiliate Promoting Secrets

These days, we can simply produce private website web page. As very long as you have a Computer system Accessibility Net, You will be capable to access web sites these as Google, using them to give website internet site style templates to generate a easy individual web page. The internet site will assign you a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to store the subject matter on your web page, while also adding some of these web-sites want to promote promoting. In this way, only a single or two hours of your pages on the Web in!

But how to make your internet site to achieve a lot more function? How to use it worthwhile targeted visitors to your site? If you are an on the net affiliate, how do you draw in men and women to your site to buy points? A can simultaneously satisfy the over two sorts of desires and is rather popular approach is to Affiliate Marketing and advertising (Affiliate System). This article will introduce what is affiliate advertising and marketing, affiliate advertising ideas apply to the object and how to use
affiliate advertising to make your internet site advantage from.

What is Affiliate Advertising and marketing or Affiliate Website?

Affiliate marketing is also called Affiliate Marketing Network (Associate Plan), the Affiliate Website web page (On the net Merchant Net Site) and the affiliated World wide web site (Affiliate Web Website) an agreement reached among. Stipulated in the agreement, the latter providing the previous customers, the former to the latter to pay a commission for this. The affiliated internet sites to location links to company internet sites, and in accordance with the two sides agreed to receive advertising in return for payment of service fees. Returns are normally disbursed in accordance with the adoption Affiliates (Affiliate) websites the range of readers into the affiliate Internet web page or a purchase or other functions of the variety of consumers to be calculated.

Some are also in accordance with the affiliated Internet website to access the affiliate Net website banner adverts (Banner Ad) to calculate the range of people today. Generally, as very long as the affiliate merchant site members can give to deliver passenger movement or earnings, organization website site, which will be in accordance with agreement between the events to shell out a particular remuneration. The recruitment of affiliates (Recruiting Affiliate) is not only a very good way to conduct online gross sales, but also is a low cost and efficient marketing and advertising method. In addition, it is a excellent selection of website promotion.

Affiliate advertising, at minimum the following three:
* Client
* Affiliated internet sites
* Merchant Site

In 1996, Amazon (Amazon.com), CEO and founder JeffBezos (Jeff Bezos) to make affiliate advertising as a network promoting strategy to spread open. Amazon On-line commitment, in accordance with referral and affiliate web sites to buy publications or other commodities, the range of profit-sharing commission, in purchase to appeal to affiliate web page stage to Amazon textbooks for sale on-line, or link. The affiliated internet sites help only marketed by Amazon's other points to do online, which includes: taking orders, collection, shipped to shoppers. The outcomes of this method victory want far more than 500,000 World wide web site to join them.

At present, affiliate marketing has been an raising variety of website utilized by a range of forms. For quite a few none core E-small business the sites to turn out to be an affiliate member is engaged in a superior way of e-commerce.

Affiliate Method, compensated product

Affiliate marketing there are three models of payment:

* Pay out in accordance to gross sales (Centered on gross sales to spend): Amazon's on the internet affiliate marketing and advertising program that is paid by revenue of a normal illustration. In this sort of a pay out model, only when a client via the affiliate link to check out the merchant world wide web site members and develop the real purchase, the affiliate Website internet site will shell out to affiliates. Some merchants, like Amazon, the exact same line, according to a specified percentage of product sales compensated there are also some merchants for every product or service sold will be compensated a certain sum.

* Shell out-per-click on (The volume of pay-per-click on): In this payment model, the affiliate Net web site beneath the affiliate internet site and click on the link to stage to the amount of website visitors to the affiliate membership fee. Visitors do not want to acquire any commodity, but also from affiliate websites log on to the affiliate web site and conduct soon after the act has almost nothing to do with the Member World wide web website.

* According to the quantity of pay-to manual (According to guide the quantity of payments): Click on here to pay-mode operation of the enterprise according to the completion of guidance (i.e., fills out and submits a form) the amount of visitors to the affiliate membership payment. This implies that the completion of a affiliate website requires site visitors to fill out the info, which information can be employed as a affiliate World wide web website product sales leads, or as sales prospects to promote other corporations.

There are also some other payment design. In essence, the affiliate marketing and advertising method, merchants will choose their finest behavior as a basis for payment, and then transfer to their affiliate sites the incidence of this behavior, the variety of clientele compensated to affiliated members.

Various essential pay in the over design, derived from some other far more prevailing payment mode:
* Two-tier affiliate method(Two-Tier Method): two-tier affiliate plan structure and Amway, Avon and other firms applied in multi-layer immediate advertising and marketing (also known as "network marketing", is a improvement on behalf of salespeople and commissioned salespeople sell and revenue from marketing and advertising) is related to the organizational construction. In this payment design, affiliate membership is not only the product sales from its Web website, click on on or get a commission to guidebook behavior, but also its advancement, and position to cascade below the affiliate Net web page is a member of revenue, clicks or get a commission to guide conduct.

* The residual earnings affiliate plan(Residual Method): This affiliate system supplied that if the members from the affiliate world wide web web page website visitors to enter the affiliate World wide web website to purchase merchandise at the affiliate Web website or companies, a continuous, affiliate members can hence continues to be a commission. Numerous clients get from common earnings (these kinds of as month-to-month support payment charged) of online merchants to use far more of this affiliate program.

In addition, there are a few shows by the quantity of affiliate plans pay out. The implementation of these programs (also known as spend-per-see plan of visits) corporations only in view of its banner advertisements the visitors visits to the Member to spend a commission. This pattern frequently does not fully outfitted with the framework of affiliate promoting, just as a regular advertising and marketing and advertising and marketing to work. In contrast with conventional marketing, affiliate network marketing and advertising benefit only when an affiliate member of the small business generated the sought after outcomes, the merchant charges are allowed.

While the advertisers, the classic advertising and marketing (for example, that you see on tv advertising and marketing and a number of banner ads on the Net) and possibility is reasonably bigger. Mainly because in the conventional marketing product, they do the advertisements price tag usefulness is unsure. If your ad is greater than the positive aspects to the corporation advertising and marketing costs, advertising even if productive but if the added benefits of marketing than advertising costs, the business can only resign to fate. In affiliate advertising and marketing, online enterprise is only valid when paid in the ad. Consequently, drastically decreased the danger of advertisers. It is exactly simply because of this, one particular would like to agreement for marketing web-sites, in order to join affiliate marketing is far more direct way of promoting is substantially much easier to locate advertisers.

How to control affiliate advertising and marketing or affiliate software?

Conceptually speaking, affiliate advertising, it seems very uncomplicated Even so, to make sure its smooth operation, people want to do a lot of work behind the scenes. In purchase to really grasp the affiliate members of the commission total, the require for a person to track internet sites visited by members of the actual circumstance of a affiliate internet site.

According to the distinct payment models could need to have to decide:

* Affiliate membership in a unique website and click to enter the amount of merchant sites
* Members by means of an affiliate website back links into the affiliate site and on the site searching or perform other acts of the expected amount of consumers
* In the affiliate members of the website of a affiliate website printed the range of banner ads

In addition, merchants and affiliate tracking involving members of the unique agreement to guarantee that the latter received a deserved commission.

Whether or not a merchant Internet site to recruit affiliates, or affiliates to determine interested in affiliate marketing programs are a great deal of perform needs to be done. Nonetheless, there are nonetheless numerous companies that consider the time to personally manage members are fairly value it, consequently, as tirelessly as the Amazon, the pro-force into it. Though these businesses the entire method of advertising and marketing the plan and in full control of the commission paid on time, they are nevertheless ready to draw in a huge variety of franchisees.

Since their ailments of membership in terms of a zero danger or zero expense, that is, affiliates can link to web sites to make money just undertaking a excellent position. Nonetheless, for a lot of web-sites, recruiting members, or join an affiliate small business websites are pieces of time-consuming and laborious job. World wide web web page entrepreneurs and several have little self confidence in the commission calculation of the total of industrial web sites.

Are you looking for much more information on affiliate advertising and marketing? CK Fang's has been in the enterprise of affiliate marketing and advertising sites for about 3+ years. He is the creator of "What is Affiliate Advertising Or an Affiliate Site", which give you facts what is affiliate marketing and advertising.

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How to Earn Money at Home For Free - The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Affiliate Marketing

How to Earn Money with Affiliate Marketing

It may surprise you to learn that you don't need a business, or even a business idea, to earn money online. You can earn extra money online simply by recommending other peoples products and services - it's called affiliate marketing.

So What is Affiliate Marketing?

With Affiliate Marketing you earn an agreed commission each and every time you direct a new customer to another businesses website. Affiliate marketing can give you instant access to third party marketers who will help promote your products through advertising, email, and online links in exchange for a commission.

Affiliate marketing is a marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's own marketing efforts. ~ Wikipedia

Affiliate marketing is particularly suited to the Internet because consumers can move from one website to another instantly (i.e. instant referrals with no distractions in between) and everything can be tracked and accounted for automatically (i.e. no worrying about dishonest affiliate managers who might deny a new customer was referred by you). Last year, according to InternetRetailing.net, the affiliate marketing sector in the UK alone, generated sales of roughly 5bn. Would you like to learn how to earn money with Affiliate Marketing? The rest of this article will step you through all the things you will need to get started.

The 3 Key Players in Affiliate Marketing

In order for affiliate marketing to work, 3 people are required

The Merchant- A business that sells a product or service on the Internet that, also runs an affiliate program The Customer - a person (the end customer) who ultimately buys 'the Merchants' product or service The Affiliate - a person (you) who actively promotes the merchants product(s) and first engages with the customer (often on a website or by email) before referring the customer to the merchant

*please take note of the above terminology as it used throughout the remainder of this article

Affiliate Marketing Basics

The theory behind how the Affiliate Marketing process works is very straightforward. The merchant installs special software on their website that allows affiliates to create an affiliate account. This software then automatically issues the new affiliate with a special affiliate link. The affiliate then creates a webpage or writes an email that promotes the merchants products. This webpage (or email) directs viewers to the merchant website via the affiliate link. The affiliate software running on the merchants website tracks visitors that arrive via these affiliate links. If any of the visitors that arrive on the merchants site via an affiliate link buy a product (i.e. convert) then the affiliate software automatically updates the affiliates account with an agreed commission. The affiliate software can be (and often is) setup to pay out commissions automatically via PayPal.

How You Can Get Started as an Affiliate Marketer

Before you can start to earn money with affiliate marketing, you need to understand the basic steps involved.

Step 1. Identify a Product with an Affiliate Program - Find a business that sells a product or service that you are happy to recommend to people - that also has an affiliate program.

Step 2. Sign Up to the Affiliate Program and Get Your Special "Identifier" Link Signing up to an affiliate program is usually fully online and takes only seconds. Generally; you enter a username, an email address, a password and select how you would like to get paid. That's it. Once signed up you are provided with your special link.

A link, for your information, is the blue underlined text you see on webpages that provides a method of moving between one website page and another. An affiliate link is special because it is unique. This special link allows the "merchant" (using special software) to automatically track "customers" sent from the "affiliate".

Step 3. You post the link on your website (or in an email) and get people to click on it Once someone clicks on your link they are taken to the "merchants" website. If they choose to Buy once they get there then you get paid an agreed commission. If they don't buy then you get nothing. If they don't buy right away, but come back and buy 3 (or 6) months later then you may get paid - it depends on the affiliate program and the terms and conditions you agreed to when you sign up. How you go about getting the visitors in the first place is explained in greater detail below and in even greater detail throughout our online marketing course.

Step 4. Manage Your Payments Most affiliate programs pay out automatically to your PayPal account. Certain, bigger businesses prefer to send out a cheque (a.k.a "a check" for our American readers). The below diagram sums up this process nicely..

Affiliate Marketing Strategies that Work

All affiliate marketing campaigns begin with selecting an affiliate program that a) you believe has a market and b) offers a reasonably generous commission. How to do this generally involves:

keeping your eyes open for opportunities as you surf the web, Searching for programs using Google or Affiliate Program Directories Signing up to big Affiliate Management websites such as Commission Junction or Click Bank.

Once you have found an affiliate program you "like the look of" there are three main Affiliate Marketing Strategies that work. We will explain each, starting with the one that is the most time consuming - but has the greatest earning and growth potential.

Strategy 1. Create a large blog or website around a central topic Affiliate marketing is the "reason to be" for many blogs and websites you see on a daily basis. For many other websites, it is a major source of supplementary or secondary income. Many bloggers you will notice, who are considered experts by their readers, often recommend products and services in the articles they write. These articles of course contain affiliate links.

If you read back through the articles written on the ebusinessmatters.com blog, you will also notice book recommendations that contain affiliate links to other businesses (merchants) like Amazon.

The secret to affiliate marketing success with one large website is to find a niche where your opinions are relevant and will help you to connect with other like-minded people. The below points explain the things you need to do in order to succeed in Affiliate Marketing with Strategy 1 (and also link to lessons that explain each)

Develop a professional quality website (using WordPress which is free and easy) Get a first class web design (you can buy a WordPress theme for less than $50)and hire a graphic designer on elance to update the images for less than $100 Write interesting articles that people enjoy so you can develop a loyal following over time Optimize your website and articles so that they get found on search engines Promote your site for free using a variety of technologies and online resources Encourage visitors to buy products or services that are related to the central topic of the website. Finally, analyse your sites stats on a regular basis to make sure you are getting the most from your marketing efforts and to make web design improvements that will lead to more visitors and more affiliate revenue.

Doing these things yourself is not difficult, or expensive. Learn how at the ebusinessmatters.com online marketing course.

Things to Consider About Strategy One Creating and maintaining a blog on a subject that you are passionate about is an excellent way to get started with affiliate marketing. A blog like this will grow over time and the overall success of the site is not based on the strength of a single campaign (as you will see in strategy 2). As well as affiliate revenue, this type of website also gives you other opportunities to earn money. Often other businesses who target a similar niche will recognise your influence in their market and approach you with lucrative proposals to help promote their businesses. Many businesses will be preared to lease advertising space or offer you free stuff in return for a review or exposure on your blog. This type of website should be undertaken as a long term project and you can expect there to be a steady stream of user comments and emails that will need to be serviced on a fairly regular basis. The key benefit however is that this t ype of website will grow and evolve over time. This means that the success of your site is not all or nothing and you can expect revenue to rise continually. Ideas for this type of site might include

a travel blog where you rate and review places you stay and eat a fashion or style blog - especially if you are into something off-beat or slightly different a hobby or passtime you are passionate about - where you use the site to reach out to others who share your passion

Strategy 2. Create Small, Super-Optimized Websites, Quickly and Often Another common strategy with affiliate marketers is to identify a "search phrase" that they believe they can create a website to rank highly for. This new, super-optimized website should then deliver a steady flow of traffic to the merchant website.

What is a Search Phrase? Users search the web by entering keywords (a.k.a "search phrases") into Search Engines that they feel will give them the best chance of finding what they are looking for. For example: if I was searching for a plumber in Dublin city I would run a search on Google.ie for something like "plumber dublin". "plumber dublin" is therefore a search phrase made up of the keywords 'plumber' and 'dublin'

These types of website effectively cost nothing to develop or maintain - and (once you know what you are doing) can be put together in a few hours. The lines separating failure and success in this form of affiliate marketing are more clearly defined. In order to succeed you must:

Understand search engine marketing - and how to identify search phrases that are popular with web users Evaluate the level of competition for specific search phrases and accurately judge your chances for ranking highly for that search phrase Develop a website that is designed to quickly and effectively refer visitors on to the merchant website Successfully Implement Search Engine Optimization on your site so that it ranks highly for your chosen search phrase(s)

Things to Consider About Strategy Two The turn-around time for 'Strategy Two' is considerably shorter than the other two affiliate marketing strategies. In other words, the "time investment" on your part is minimal. If you want to learn the art of search engine marketing quickly then 'Strategy two' is for you. Once you have chosen an affiliate program and done your online market research - then developing the site from scratch will only really take a few hours work. If you have done your homework correctly then you will have

Done your search engine marketing research and identified "hot" keywords Done your competition research and confirmed that you can rank in the first page of search results for your desired keyword Optimized your website correctly for the search engines and Designed a simple website effectively so that it encourages people to click on your affiliate link

Once you have done all that you should be able to sit back and watch the money roll in (or go hunting down your next affiliate program and start over). The great thing about strategy two is that there is no customer service and no upkeep of the websites. You simply "set it and forget it". As you build a backlog of these small, super-optimized affiliate sites - your affiliate revenue will grow and grow.

Strategy 3. Encourage People to Sign Up to an Automated Mailing List and Email them New Affiliate Offers over time The "mailing list" affiliate model is very popular because all you're hard work in getting a visitor is not lost once they click on the link and go to the merchants website. With the mailing list model you generally persuade people to give you their name and email address - often in return for a free gift of some sort. Many affiliate marketers who employ this tactic use what's called a 'squeeze page' that corrals visitors towards a sign up form - as seen in the image below.

Their email address is then added to a mailing list which is managed by mailing list software. Mailing list software allows you to drip-feed personalized emails at pre-set intervals to your subscribers - and email large volumes of people without worrying about your emails ending up in junk mail folders. Making this work involves following the same rules as in strategy 2 - only now you must also learn how to use mailing list software.

Things to Consider About Strategy Three With Strategy Three you get to decide whether or not you want your website to be Large and Personal (like a site from "Strategy 1") or small and super-optimized (like a site from "Strategy 2") Either way, the ultimate objective is to get peoples email address. For this to happen you normally need to give away something, of value, for free. Generally these free gifts take the form of e-books or access to video lessons of some description. This tends to work well if you are already established as an expert in some particular niche - but for ordinary people this is problematic. Many affiliate marketers will swear adamantly that the "mailing list" model is the best - but I imagine that many make more money from training other 'would-be' affiliate marketers than they do from affiliate marketing itself. Why else would they do it? The big problem is that many of these "mailing list affiliate marketers" go in for a very "ha rd sell" in order to get people to sign up. To me, this is often ugly and off-putting. I have signed up for a few to see what would happen and in every case all I ever got was an inbox cluttered with rubbish. However, it must be said that you do benefit from having an email address to which you get to send repeat affiliate links. If sales is a numbers game (and at one level I suppose it is) then the bigger your list the more money you stand to make.

Reasons to Start Earning Money with Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is a great way to make extra money online for a number of reasons.

Affiliate Commissions are generous (more generous than you think) - For example, with affiliate programs that sell services (like web hosting), your commission is as much as the cost of the merchants service for the first year. Most affiliate marketers don't bother promoting products or services that pay out less than USD$50. As a website owner you are not restricted to any one locality. You can promote products or businesses located anywhere in the world. You don't need any capital whatsoever to get started - Although it is generally recommended that you pay a little extra for premium web hosting - you could in fact setup a website for free, register a free domain, and start your affiliate business without spending a single cent. How to do this is explained in the lesson "Setting up your Online Business". What web hosting is and how it works is also explained in that article. You often here affiliate marketers say "set it and forget it". This means that once you created your affiliate site (i.e. "set it") there is no need to do any more work; no maintenance, no customer service, nothing. Set it, forget it and it will continue to bring in revenue - even while you sleep.

If you have been wondering how you can make extra money online then affiliate marketing is the answer you have been looking for. Affiliate Marketing is without question the best way of making extra money online for free.

Advice for Anyone Interested in Affiliate Marketing

1. Don't waste your money on promises of Instant Success There are a lot of affiliate marketers out who claim to be earning $35,000 a month from affiliate marketing, and for a small monthly payment they will share with you their secrets. If you were earning that sort of money, would you be sharing your secrets? Forget about it.

Be Wary of Hard-Selling Affiliate Marketing Experts If you do choose to further explore Affiliate Marketing, you will no doubt come across many websites that make compelling sales pitches and promises of riches which resemble the squeeze page depicted above. Please be advised that many (most) of these website deliver very little in the way of value. In most cases, rather than helping you, they do little more than bombard your inbox with products they are promoting as affiliates themselves. Although most allow you to easily unsubscribe - some do not. Furthermore, check that they have a privacy policy that guarantees your email address will not be sold on or given away to anybody else.

2. Learn Your Trade, and Be Patient Gaining the skills required to earn any real money from affiliate marketing takes time (measured in months, not years) - and no matter how you go about learning it - you can expect failures along the way. Learning the tools, techniques and salesmanship that this business requires is enjoyable and yes, it can make you a wealthier person - but it take a little bit of time. Be patient. The subtle improvements that make the difference between small and large returns on your affiliate marketing campaigns can only be brought about by experience. The core knowledge and skills required to run a successful Affiliate Marketing campaign are always the same - regardless of which of the above 3 affiliate marketing strategies you employ. Core skills required to earn money in Affiliate Marketing are:

You will need to be able to take care of the technical aspects of running an online business - such as setting up domains, hosting accounts, content management systems, etc. That's easy! You will need to understand the elements that make up a well designed website that pleases visitors and funnels them towards completing a specific goal. You can learn the theory, but true understanding comes with time. You will need to get a web design that "sells effectively" at a reasonable price - this is also easy You will need to understand how to assess the level of demand and supply in a potential market - and be able to accurately gauge your chances of success. This is straightforward, and you will get better at it quickly You will need to understand Search Engine Optimization along with the various other techniques of attracting visitors to a website. You can start strong with this, but experience always helps.

3. Do it for the Challenge, Not Just the Money - and Stick with it If affiliate marketing was easy-money then everyone would be doing it. In reality, the average "per hour" wage for affiliate marketers in their first year generally works out to be a lot less than the pay at McDonald's. Competing for visitors and sales online is no joke. The web has matured and people simply don't fluke it anymore. If you are in it for the short-term, easy money then you would probably be better off collecting golf balls at the driving range or selling your clothes on ebay. Those that take on affiliate marketing as a hobby (or a personal project) generally have the resolve to continue to battle through the hard-times at the beginning. Those that stick with it, and keep trying, end up with a steady, passive and very cushy online income as their reward. Anyone who has gained the knowledge required to succeed in affiliate marketing will also be much more employable - having gr eatly expanded their skill-set in an area that is important to every business - Internet Marketing.

Are You Ready to Start Earning Money With Affiliate Marketing?



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Affiliate Marketing in a Nutshell

Affiliate Marketing in a Nutshell

What exactly is affiliate marketing? Affiliate marketing is the single fastest growth industry on the Internet. Its also true that affiliate marketing is one of the fastest and most creative ways to make money and have a career on the Internet.

Simply put, affiliate marketing is selling products on a commission basis. You own a business that advertises and sells products for other companies. You may have a product of your own to begin with or not. The things that a successful affiliate marketer must have are:

Your website is the jumping off point of all your marketing efforts. So the first step in any successful affiliate marketing business is building a good, credible and professional looking website. You must build a user-friendly website, which will attract your prospects and motivate them to click on the links to the products and services you are promoting and make a purchase. There are companies whose business is building websites that you can hire to build one for you.

You must find products to sell, you must be able to determine whether there is a demand for those products and if people will actually buy them. You may either have your own original product or products that are made by others. Which ever way you go, you must believe in the products.

It will be necessary for you to become an adept advertiser and be able to tell whether the advertising you are paying for is producing more income for you than the advertising is costing you.

It is necessary that you have good mathematical skills. You will need to be able to track your sales and determine profit, as well as, see to it that your suppliers are paid in full and on time.

You need the full and unwavering support of your family so that you can devote the time and energy necessary to launch your affiliate marketing business.

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How To Find The Right Boston Airport Car Service

Boston air is always infused with academic charm. Many people come to the city not just to experience its lavish lifestyle, which is magnificent in its own right, but to fill themselves with the knowledge of high arts, complex science, and mind numbing logic. A Boston limo, particularly Boston airport transportation limo becomes witness to many such heated and spirited discussions struck when among the passengers when commuting to or from airport to the university.

Boston, the city that sprawls in 89.63 miles and gives home to hundreds of thousands of people, has in excess of 100 colleges and university where more than 250,000 students come to satiate their hunger for knowledge and expertise. It is one of the major education hubs of the United States. The academic buzz has fetched the name of "the Athens of America" for the city.

The Boston limousine demand in the city and its neighborhood is fueled not only by party goers or corporate executives, but also by people in academic circles. Students of various colleges and university also demand for a world-class Boston airport car service to carry them to and from the airport. Although I do not have any data to support this, I think students contribute a great deal to Boston airport transportation business.

When mentioning Boston it is prudent to mention nightlife of the city, which is made exciting by the presence of various nightclubs, pubs, bars, and restaurants. The city is famous for its restaurants which has unique mix of live music and sumptuous food. From The Alchemist Lounge on Huntington Ave, Jamaica Plain to Les Zygomates Wine Bar Bistro, South St. Downtown to Julien Restaurant on Franklin St (Langham Hotel) to Bella Luna Restaurant & Milky Way Lounge on Amory Street, Jamaica Plain to Zuzu to The Middle east; each restaurant in the city provides a wide range of choices both in food and music. And for an art lover, the rotating art gallery of Zuzu is quite a treat.

But how to hire a right Boston airport car service?

If you have been struggling with this question then an answer to your problem, if not plight, has been found which I am going to describe below.

Step 1: Recommendation, recommendation, and recommendation

Seek recommendation from your friends and families. Nothing works better than personal recommendation in hiring a limousine. Talk to people who have availed Boston limo service and ask not only about which company to go for, but also about the factors you should care for when hiring a limousine in Boston.

Step 2: Scan through local business directory

Now many people appreciate the importance of scanning through a reliable local business directory while hiring a limousine. Go for the best local business directory and look for the available alternatives. The folks behind the directory will include companies with dubious background or missing credentials (scams) because they also have to protect brand image of their business directory. Use this source to make a primary list of limo rental companies to call.

Step 3: Compare the offerings

Make a secondary list of 3 to 4 limousine rental companies in Boston. Talk to each one of them and ask them as many questions about their fleet, chauffeur, interior, model and make of their fleet, sitting space, etc., and do head to head comparison of each features.

You should base your judgment of hiring Boston Airport transportation on all three factors, not any one of the three factors. Each one of them is of equal importance, do not overlook any.

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Home Based Business Ideas - How to Start an Earn From Home

Home based businesses are the trend of the future with the growth of the Internet. It has enabled us to constantly connect with friends, family, schoolmates or co-workers, and also has allowed us to work from the comforts of home. The internet, allow people to access and research for information needed. There are number of home based business ideas around. Earning money online can actually be done, and that's required from you is a lot of time and effort Here are a number of helpful tips for starting an earn-from-home opportunity.

Which Business Should You Start?

There are actually a lot of options, from operating an e-commerce store, to selling information products, article marketing, affiliate marketing, or starting your own foreign exchange or stock market trading, or opening an online auction business. You need to at least spend a few days analyzing and mulling over your options. If you still can't make up your mind, there is a lot of free information on the Internet regarding starting a home-based business. You may also wish to drop by discussion boards and forums, where you can ask for advice, and see what others recommend.

Here are thebest home based business ideasthat can help you to earn at home:

1. Find the home based business entrepreneurs who have experience, so that you can use their recommendations efficiently.

2. Write review of products including their benefits by creating pre selling web pages, as people go online searching for information before buying products.

3. Add a sign up form to your pre selling web pages and promise to give freebies to those who will give their name and email addresses. This will help you to build your big list of subscribers.

4. Provide useful online information to the visitors by writing articles. This will increase meaningful traffic to your website on a consistent basis.

5. Build a theme oriented website having various business options for opportunity seekers in general etc.

Unless you have thebest home based business ideasto know from where to start and how to earn at home, it is difficult to set a good foundation for your business.If you're still searching for a good business on the internet, then pick up the right business for you without wasting time, depending on your passion. To begin with find one that fits your talent and your budget. Know your audience and stick to it. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be on your way to get what you want in life.

If you are having trouble creating home based offline and online business ideas that will work, do not despair. When you think of creating home based business ideas, these normally can fall under a few broad categories. You can sell through online auctions such as eBay, you can sell tangible goods on the Internet, or you may sell a service to customers. You could also serve as a business to business product or service provider.

As mentioned when it comes to finding the right home based business idea for you there is plenty of information and advice available on the internet. Once you have chosen a number of ideas that you are interested in then you need to carry out further research to see if they really do suit you.

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How To Find Out Home Based Business Ideas - Finally A Quick Answer

Thinking of home based business is the trouble-free way to acquire sizable amount while stay at home with your children. But then again I suppose that it is not an uncomplicated task for each person. Everybody cannot fine-tune himself with small but difficult circle of self employment. I will try to point out you some mandatory requirements to come out your home business. Here you will also acquire some helpful ideas to choose the type of business to come out. You need a good planning as anyhow as plenty of fundamental information to tackle down the obstacle on the way of a promising home-based business.

While setting your home-based business you take every the major decisions plus feel proud when you acquire the better findings of it. Now you are the boss along with doing the job on the time table formed by your self. You can conserve the extra effort with getting assist from your children. For of course you have tactics to pop out your home business. Simply ex plore it once again along with sort out any uncertain query if exist. Many newspaper and commercials are showing the ideas making fast cash but indeed they are mostly crap. You need to plan the home based business on true findings if you do not want to be failed.

Getting proper advice is significant to your home based business success. If you don't have the skills or the knowledge you need to pop out and run your home based business then chances of your success are very little. Here are some ideas you can use to prevent home-based business failure. Before you pop out your home business, you must consider your personality and your preferences of work. Working at home can reduce your contact with colleagues. Many individuals find hard to work alone for long stretches of time especially those who like to work in busy office environments surrounding by lot of workers.

You must think of your folks when starting business at home. They will be part of your bus iness in either case weather you want or not. Put the plan of your home based business in front of your relatives along with acquire the thoughts of all member. The other problem is your neighborhood. You have to choose the business that does not affect the people second door. If any body complaint against you in municipal office then you might have to change or finish your work. Register your business in the related office plus usage advertisement to acquire the consumer at your door.

Do you understand that eBay is also a brilliant business thought? Make sure the items that are mostly demanded are proper for being sold online and shipped to the customer, eBay might be the way to go. It can be a inexpensive alternative than establishing your very own e-store plus eBay can give you every type of information to help out you to sell your stuff successfully. Home Renovation Services is also the hottest home based business now a day. Individuals like to repair every th e rooms according to the wish of the individual using them. They consume a massive amount to repair the house in order to the fulfillment of their beloveds. You might have improved luck if you are anyhow mannered along with organized individual. Catering Services is also a good way to get money in your pocket without spending much time. Many factory workers and a number of families love to obtain the hot along with delicious food from any person able to supply in time. Happy Searching for your home based business ideas and good luck.

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