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SQ625
Member
Joined: 5 Nov 2007
Posts: 36
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# Posted: 5 Dec 2007 21:14
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I see in a lot of the forums that people are concerned about how much it cost to start a home business. Most work from home opportunities cost very little in start up costs. For example, affiliate marketing really doesn't cost much to get started. The only costs would be the ad costs, and there are ways to keep them to a minimum when starting out.
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 860
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# Posted: 6 Dec 2007 00:37
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I think a lot of people, though, don't want to or can't afford to "risk" losing anything. That's why they are online looking for a way to make money.
I know I was scared to try things, even small investments, because I couldn't afford to lose those few dollars I did have.
I did the ad thing, but I never made any sales from them. EVER. How embarrassing. I only ever used the different free ads, so I didn't lose any money, but it made me even more nervous about spending any money with no hint of results.
Perhaps I don't write good ad copy.  I still think the best bet for beginners is to build themselves a niche website for affiliate marketing. The investment can be less than $1 per day and once you are up and going, you will make at least that much back in Adsense if nothing else. So all you will be out is your time.
Of course, if you build your site properly you will make way more than that and be grinning at your own sheer genius. Ha ha - just kidding.
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pcwork
Member
Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Posts: 1630
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# Posted: 6 Dec 2007 15:44
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I agree with what happywife says, start small and reinvest your money
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SQ625
Member
Joined: 5 Nov 2007
Posts: 36
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# Posted: 7 Dec 2007 23:07
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Your absolutely right. Something like affiliate marketing can, and should be started on a small budget and kept that way until you develop the skills needed to go larger.
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Newbie Shield
Joined: 22 Sep 2007
Posts: 1418
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# Posted: 8 Dec 2007 09:33
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You can start for free by setting up a free blog, Squidoo lens, or similar. You can advertise for free with press releases, forum posting with sig files, article submissions, and free classifieds.
It's a minimal risk (your time) situation where you will learn a lot and gain the experience necessary for a larger future venture. I make money for free with the above methods.
Newbie Shield
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HTML Squidoo TricksSquidoo-specific HTML how to tutorials, tips and tricks to make your lens stand out from the crowd. Code samples and step-by-step all the way through. 100% free. Made by yours truly ;)
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Hemjoe
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Joined: 6 Feb 2007
Posts: 535
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# Posted: 8 Dec 2007 10:53
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I agree with newbie shield i have made money in the past using these methods and they have funded further projects, so free methods are a great way to learn, refine your skills and even come across problems but because it is doesn't cost you it is risk free
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twnuck
Member
Joined: 13 Nov 2005
Posts: 89
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# Posted: 9 Dec 2007 20:02
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I think the problem is exactly what happywife says, people try to start home businesses when they are broke and then are scared to death about every dollar they spend.
A better solution is to work for someone else at first, save cash, learn as much as you can about marketing, create a REAL business plan and when you have at least six months of disposable funds available then it's time to INVEST in your business.
Most people are way too underfunded and then end up quitting before they see results. I wasted years starting and stopping businesses because I was scared to death of every dime I spent. Big mistake that cost me thousands before I figured it out!
Todd
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juno44444
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Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Posts: 128
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# Posted: 15 Dec 2007 18:50
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Yes I agree on starting out with low-risk blogs etc. I use blogger blogs. If you spend hundreds of hours on a blog, working on its SEO, reading your E-Books, getting backlinks, etc, you will LEARN. Then if you find out you did it all wrong, you didn't lose money. You just learned.
I have a blogger blog which I started in this way. I got it to number 3 for its main keyword on Google. It makes around $15 - $16 a week on Adsense. Its a small niche. But I learned so much from it! Maybe it will get higher. But now I feel I am starting to know what I am doing and can tackle something bigger.
That's how I think you win. You learn and practice before you invest in anything you aren't sure of.
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MyOwnBoss
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Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 106
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2007 00:20
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Quoting: juno44444 Yes I agree on starting out with low-risk blogs etc. I use blogger blogs. If you spend hundreds of hours on a blog, working on its SEO, reading your E-Books, getting backlinks, etc, you will LEARN. Then if you find out you did it all wrong, you didn't lose money. You just learned. I have a blogger blog which I started in this way. I got it to number 3 for its main keyword on Google. It makes around $15 - $16 a week on Adsense. Its a small niche. But I learned so much from it! Maybe it will get higher. But now I feel I am starting to know what I am doing and can tackle something bigger. That's how I think you win. You learn and practice before you invest in anything you aren't sure of.
If you're going to spend a lot of time working to get your blog ranked well on search engines and building content and traffic, I'd suggest putting the blog on your own domain with WP instead of a Blogger blog.
The reason for this is, you have total control of the blog. Nobody can shut it down because of their terms of service. I know, I know, you're thinking, "I haven't had anybody shut me down, yet.", but the thing is terms of service change. Look at google, they're famous for changing rules without notice. When that happens, a website that was pulling good profit for someone can die overnight. The worst part of this is the website owner usually doesn't know why they got blacklisted - it just happened.
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juno44444
Member
Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Posts: 128
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2007 02:41
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Yes that's good to know. With wordpress I understand you have to pay for hosting as otherwise you can't run ads.
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MyOwnBoss
Member
Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 106
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2007 03:26
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I'm talking about loading a copy of wordpress on your own domain.
That's free...
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juno44444
Member
Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Posts: 128
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2007 12:25
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Wow, you lost me there! What does that mean? What's a copy of wordpress and how do you load it onto your domain?
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MyOwnBoss
Member
Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 106
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2007 17:15 · Edited by: MyOwnBoss
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If your webhoster uses cpanel instead of just ftp, usually it will have a program called fantastico. This program can automatically load a copy of WP on your domain.
For example: If your url is Juno4444.com, you can have either
juno4444.com/blog or blog.juno4444.com (really, you can name the blog pretty much whatever you want).
For FTP only hosts, I know you can still load WP on your site, but I've never done it.
Edit:
I noticed I only half answered your question. Most people think of WP as a website that hosts blogs. It is, but it's also one of many programs that allow you to host your own blog. The best thing about WP is you can install plugins that customize your blog. It's pretty modular. If you're getting a lot of spam comments, you can install plugins that filter it out. Like I was saying, it's really the best choice for a person new to blogging.
2nd Edit:
Did a little looking and found this:
http://www.siteground.com/tutorials/wordpress/
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juno44444
Member
Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Posts: 128
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2007 18:33
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Hmm. Interesting! I've used blogger always. I might look into this!
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ateamfuntimer
Joined: 22 May 2007
Posts: 669
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2007 21:57
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I think there should be more free opportunities that allow you to make money. Its always a good bet to start on affliate sites to get your feet wet. Small investment but you can learn tons about creating a list/database of customer. As you have those clients you can then market your programs to them and ask for referrals. Its a nice way to get things started when you dont have much money or people to market to.
Lots of big time internet guru's offer free stuff to get you on their mailing list then they can show you their paid programs. Its a good strategy. Ive taken this method and used it to get people in my Coastal Vacations business. But ive taken it a step further. I now offer them an opportunity to get started in Coastal Vacations for free. This takes away the fear of LOSING any money and they get to earn as they learn. I call it my A-Team Coastal Vacations Free Apprentice Program. Id have to say the response has been great.
As not to use this thread to blatantly promote my program id say that anyone interested should just contact me. I also encourage others to use the same idea in their businesses. Id be more than willing to join other opportunties when I can check them out and see if its really what I want be forking out hundreds of dollars for a kit and a few website. In the Coastal Vacations situation im lucky as CV has created free training and support tools for the beginner.
I hope to hear from many of you soon and happy holiday to you all.
Adam Frederick
CV Level III Director
Founder of A-Team CV Free Apprentice Program
302 327 6263
[email protected]
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juno44444
Member
Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Posts: 128
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# Posted: 20 Dec 2007 06:38
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Well Squidoo and Blogger are free, that's a start.
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mmitchell73
Member
Joined: 7 Jan 2008
Posts: 2
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# Posted: 7 Jan 2008 11:23
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Coolness! I just signed up with both those sites, thanks all for sharing these sites with everyone!
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