Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)

Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) is featured on this blog because it is a recognised and (usually) legitimate method of gaining income. It is not one that we would generally recommend.

The concept behind Multi-Level Marketing is that of the sales "pyramid". Each participant has a place on that pyramid, and his or her job is to recruit others to their "downline". Those recruits will in due course, so the theory goes, recruit others to the tier below them, who will generate an income both for the participant's recruits and for the participant him or herself.

Typically MLM involves the selling of a product. However such is the marketing model that in actual fact it works equally well with or without a product to sell. The essence of MLM is that once a pyramid of successful marketers has been created the original participant will be able to sit back and watch the money flow in as those below him struggle to create portfolios of their own and to build their own vibrant downlines.

Where Multi-Level Marketing has worked it has been because those within a particular downline have been dynamic enough to fill out the spaces below with active, spending customers. Some people do make a considerable amount of money from MLM. The problem that arises however is that no matter how big the structure, there is always somebody who is going to be suffocating at the foot of it all, unable to find fresh recruits with which to create a new downline. With all the money in the system being provided by participants, for the person at the top to win somebody at the bottom needs to be out of pocket.

Those who are involved will tell you that there is a difference between Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Selling. In truth the only difference is that with MLM there is a token product being sold in order to justify the exchange of capital.

There are many MLM products and schemes on the market. Some require a buy-in on the part of the visitor. But all of them operate essentially the same way and for similar reasons.

Google AdSense

Google AdSense is the counter side of Google's AdWords program.

With AdWords, advertisers pay to have their promotional material displayed on Google's pages. It is displayed on a Pay Per Click basis, meaning that every time a visitor clicks on the ad the advertiser pays a fixed fee to Google. At the time of submission the advertiser sets a limit as to how much he or she is prepared to pay for each click, or in total over a given time period.

On the opposite side of the coin is Google AdSense. With this program blog and website owners display content supplied to them by Google, advertising other people's material. When a visitor to your site clicks on this link you, the blog or website owner, receive a share of the fee incurred by the advertiser.

There are, of course, certain rules to be obeyed and checks in place in order to present abuse - the most obvious being a prohibition on AdSense users clicking links on their own pages just to generate income.

Although the amount accrued per click is very small many site owners do make a considerable income from AdSense. Much depends on the popularity of the site, as well as the relevance and proximity of the advertising material. At the very least it costs nothing, provides additional web content, and creates a new potential income source.

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year

We would like to wish all our visitors and readers a happy Christmas and a very prosperous 2015.

Focus Groups

One of the best ways of making decent money from very little effort is through focus groups, where the volunteer (i.e. you) is paid to attend a discussion, usually for an hour or two and involving a small handful of people, to offer thoughts and ideas about a product or service.

There are many research companies which pay good money to active participants, and the best way to locate these is simply to search via the Internet, making sure you target those locations to which you are prepared to travel. Typically market research pays between £20 and £35 per hour.

The downside is that focus groups are usually few and far between, and the rejection rate at the point of application is very high. To begin with you will be asked a few questions to ascertain whether or not you are suitable for a particular project. Much more often than not you won't be, and there are also sometimes restrictions on how many events one can attend during any given period.

Whilst rejection can disappoint, it is worth persisting as there is probably no better or easier source of personal income around.

Characteristics of Easy Money Making Ideas That Do Not Work

By David Lim

If a website tells you that it has an easy money making idea, what kind of idea would you expect? You would probably expect an idea that is so easy to do that an idiot can do it. In addition, you would also expect it to rake in a lot of money and be totally hands off. At least, that is what you would expect if you have been reading all the ads.

Well, I have news for you. I have tried all the easy money making ideas and they do not work. Either they require the skills of a rocket scientist, or do not make money, or you need to spend all your time on it, or a number of other reasons, but more often than not, they just do not work.

Some characteristics that identify an easy money making idea include:

* A graphic on the website that has palm trees, beaches, a cool dude or dudette in beach wear in a beach chair with a notebook on his lap.
* A promise that anyone and everyone can do it, in other words, absolutely no skills required.
* Pages and pages on how good their product is, and after reading everything, you still have absolutely no idea what the product is.
* A promise that you can earn a lot of money for work that a 9 year old can easily do.
* If the easy money making idea is a report or a subscription that has to be purchased, there will be many enticements to get you to buy. You may see a countdown timer with only a day or 2 left, or offers of bonus ebooks worth hundreds or thousands of dollars upon purchase, or a limit on the number of purchases allowed. More often than not, you will get all of the above.

Real money making ideas do exist on the Internet. But you do have to navigate through the minefield of "easy money making ideas" before getting to the real stuff.

David Lim is the webmaster of a site about realistic money making ideas, a site that goes into detail about how to implement the various online easy money making ideas featured. Take note that some basic skills, a little ingenuity and hard work will be required for success.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2357764

Content Writing

If you are a decent writer who is competent in his or her native language there is money to be made by writing content for other people's websites and blogs. Sometimes blog owners will pay you to pen guest articles, however most of them are more likely simply to offer you a backlink as payment for your work. This is not to be scoffed at as the success of your own website depends to a large extent on its presence on the search engines, which in turn is largely dictated by the quantity and quality of the links that direct back to it. But in the short term this is not going to pay the bills.

If you can it is always best to seek out your own customers. These will be able to assess your work and agree a decent price with you for your efforts. Every one's a winner.

Many budding writers however will not have the resources or the contacts to enable them to do this. The other option therefore is to register with a freelancing site and then to place bids on writing job offers when they become available. There are a number of sites offering such a service, including Freelancer and Elance.

One strong word of advice would be set your own standards and stick with them. If you write good quality material, charge accordingly. One of the down sides of freelancing sites is that they are often populated with "writers" who are prepared to write 500 words of barely intelligible English peppered with a few "keywords" which are out of context and have barely any relevance to the article for a dollar a time. Don't get involved in an auction with these people. Any customer who would prefer their services to those of a quality content writer just to save a few pounds doesn't deserve your help. Wait your chance, some decent work will come your way you can be sure.

Selling Through Ebay

Even in the most Spartan household one would be surprised by just how much unwanted material can be found lying around the home. Furniture, second-hand books, CDs, old collectables - just about everything has value to somebody.

With an Ebay account it is usually possible to find a buyer if your item is priced cheaply enough. Remember to factor in the cost of postage and packing before deciding whether an item is worth selling. Some people report making hundreds of pounds selling items they had long forgotten they had.

We would advise that you first compile an inventory of what you have that is surplus to requirements, then research its likely value by looking at similar items that already appear on Ebay. Price yours competitively and wait for somebody to come along and buy it. Simples.

For the more adventurous there is the method of actually purchasing items from Ebay which have been underpriced, then readvertising them a little while later at a more realistic price. Special rules apply for "traders" so please do be mindful of what you are and are not permitted to do.