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Why You Should Promote Residual Affiliate Programs

Jan 5

Posted by Emmanuel Aubrey in wealth | No Comments

Are you a webmaster in need of additional income? Or are you planning to set up an online business but you still don’t have any product to sell? If so, affiliate marketing may be the best solution for your problems. With affiliate marketing, you won’t need to worry about the products you have to sell. All you need to have is a website with sufficient contents that are related to the products of a certain online company offering affiliate programs. By becoming a member of the program, or by becoming an affiliate, you can start earning a certain amount of money right away!

Affiliate marketing is some sort of business relationship established between a merchant and his affiliates. In affiliate marketing, an affiliate agrees to direct some traffic to a merchant’s website. If that traffic is converted into some kind of action, like a visitor purchasing a product on the merchant’s website or a visitor becoming a lead for the company, the affiliate who directed the traffic will be compensated. Compensation may take the form of either a percentage sales commission for the sales generated or a fixed fee predetermined upon the application of the affiliate on the merchant’s affiliate program.

Promising a lot of benefits both for the merchants and the affiliates, affiliate marketing has become one of the most popular online marketing methods today. In fact, almost every merchant or retailer site today offers an affiliate program that any one can join into. Most retailers would entice people to become affiliates or members of their program by promising great benefits like large commissions, lifetime commissions, click through incomes and a lot of other benefits. But would all these affiliate programs bring off the same benefits?

Most affiliate programs would pay you, as an affiliate, a one-time commission for every sale or lead you brought to the merchant’s website. Commissions for this kind of affiliate programs are usually large, ranging from 15% to a high of about 60%. Other affiliate programs would pay you a fixed fee for every click through or traffic you send to the merchant’s site. Programs like this often pay a smaller fee for every click through, usually not getting any larger than half a dollar. The good thing about this kind of program, however, is that the visitor won’t have to purchase anything in order for the affiliate to get compensated.

Another type of affiliate program is the residual income affiliate program. Residual affiliate programs usually pay only a small percentage of sales commission for every sale directed by the affiliate to the merchant’s site. This commission often comes only in the range of 10% to 20% sales commission. Because of this, many people ignore residual affiliate program and would rather opt for the high paying one-time commission affiliate program. Are these people making a mistake, or are they making the right decision?

We can’t tell, for sure, if people are making a mistake by choosing a high paying one-time commission affiliate program. But we can definitely say that they are making a large mistake if they ignore residual affiliate programs. Residual affiliate programs would indeed pay at a lower rate, but merchants offering such kind of programs would generally pay you regular and ongoing commissions for a single affiliate initiated sale! That means, for the same effort you made in promoting a particular affiliate program, you get paid only once in a one-time commission program, and a regular and ongoing commission for a residual program!

So, are the benefits of promoting residual affiliate programs clearer to you now? Or are they still vague? If they are still vague, then let’s make them a bit clearer with this example.

Suppose there are two online merchants both offering web hosting services on their sites. The first merchant offers a one-time commission type of affiliate program that pays $80 for every single affiliate initiated sale. The second merchant also offers an affiliate program, but this time a residual affiliate program that pays only $10 for every single affiliate initiated sale. As an affiliate, we may get attracted at once at what the first merchant is offering, as $80 is definitely a lot larger than $10. But by thinking things over before actually getting into them, one may be able to see that the second merchant is offering us more opportunity to earn a larger amount of money.

Supposed you have directed traffic to the merchant and it converted into a sale, you’ll get paid once by the first merchant for the sale you have initiated. But with the second merchant, you’ll get paid monthly for as long as the customer you have referred to the merchant continues to avail of the web hosting service. That means that for the same effort of getting one customer to avail of the merchant’s service, you get paid monthly in residual affiliate programs while you only get paid once in a one-time commission type of affiliate programs.

So, are residual affiliate programs worth promoting? Definitely yes, because you virtually get more money from these types of affiliate programs in the long run! And would residual affiliate programs work best for you? Probably not, probably yes. It is not really for me to tell. But with the benefits that residual affiliate marketing can provide, it would really be unwise to ignore such programs.

Author: Emmanuel Aubrey
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Learn How to Explode Your Wealth Fast

Jan 5

Posted by Wayne Miller in wealth | No Comments

Keeping an open mind to new wealth building trading ideas is just as important as finding a new developing trend if you happen to miss that trend prior to it happening. To explode your wealth into serious money, most of the time you need to spot the major trend reversal before it happens, but that is not always the case. Long trends do exist. The key is to know what to do and when if and where you find them and it really does not matter if that trend is going up or down.

Long trends in different commodities can make you rich. Just look at gold and crude oil for example. Even if you caught either of these trends late, you still had a better than average easy chance for a high degree of wealth if you know what to do, where to do it and how. You and you along are reasonable for wealth in your life and it is up to you to get a positive mind set and the correct education to make it happen. The link at the end of this article can lead you to discover the right trading educational plan for wealth building in your life.

Actually, you do have a good chance for true success if you simply apply certain skills by learning new and improved trading knowledge from the pending stock market crash due mainly to the credit and real estate mess of today. With that said, you need to learn about the US Financial Crisis of 2007. The fact is, all you need is the correct knowledge to create serious wealth.

That is what is in for you…serious wealth.

That is all for now,

[http://www.youtube2dollarad.com] by the Wayne Miller, author

Author: Wayne Miller
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Legg Mason Fund Manager: How to Beat the Market

Mar 5

Posted by admin in business, commodities, investing, investment gurus, mitigating risk, mutual fund, stocks, strategies, warren buffett, wealth | No Comments

Everyone wants to beat the market.  Very few investors do.  Your friends at Black Swan Management, LLC are always on the lookout for information that will make the road to the riches a little bit smoother.

If the stock market doesn’t go up much, your index fund won’t bring big returns. Robert Hagstrom of investment firm Legg Mason says you should use actively managed funds.

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Life Lessons From Leaders

Mar 1

Posted by admin in business, investing, Leadership, mindset, strategies, wealth | No Comments

Zig Ziglar has been quoted as saying “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” Inspirational quotes and sayings can help us stay motivated as we deal with life’s ups and downs.  Perhaps that is why some people subscribe to Reader’s Digest—for the inspirational stories that can provide a new perspective for our daily challenges.  Following are some of the best inspirational quotes and sayings and some commentary on the life lessons offered by these quotes and their authors.

“Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.” – Spanish Proverb

Why is tomorrow the busiest day of the week?  Well, in my experience it is human nature to procrastinate and many of us postpone taking action, preferring to ‘do it later’.  We all know tomorrow is not promised, yet we tend to put off taking action until some unspecified, later date—usually euphemistically termed ‘tomorrow’.  This quote inspires me to take action today.

“Things may come to those who wait but only the things left by those who hustle.” – Abraham Lincoln

Hard work and hustle are more valuable than a high IQ, a degree from the right school, or any of the so-called factors that most people attribute success to.  Abraham Lincoln is remembered as a hard worker, yet few people discuss the fact that he overcame obstacle after obstacle before he finally became the President of the United States.  Lincoln was born into poverty and faced defeat and setbacks throughout his life. He lost eight elections, failed twice as a businessman, and suffered a nervous breakdown.  He began working at the age of the age of seven to help support his family, went bankrupt at 24, spent the next 17 years repaying his debts, but never gave up.  Although I may never be President, this quote inspires me to hustle and never give up.

Don’t find fault, find a remedy. – Henry Ford

Henry Ford, often credited with revolutionizing industry and perfecting mass production methods, was an expert at using other people’s ideas and making them better.  Other people made cars before Ford but Ford made better cars and sold them for less. Other people designed and built car factories but Henry Ford built the biggest factory of his time and made the entire factory a moving production line.  How did the son of a farmer (Ford’s parents fled the Irish potato famine in the 1840s) achieve all this with little formal training?  Henry Ford developed the attitude of a problem-solver.  When others saw insurmountable obstacles and problems, Ford saw opportunity.  Where others saw failure, Ford recognized an opportunity to learn from his mistakes and try again.  When he realized he didn’t know enough about electricity to pursue his dream, he took a job working at an electric company.  When his investors backed out on him, Ford raised funds by selling shares of stock. When his assembly line workers were unhappy Ford bucked the entire industry standard and increased pay while cutting hours.

Henry Ford’s story is inspirational because it proves that hard work, finding creative solutions, and remaining persistent even with repeated failures is the key to solving life’s problems.  In fact, Ford’s attitude laid the foundation for his success.  He knew that every big problem is really a collection of smaller problems.  Instead of dwelling on the problem and placing blame, Ford faced his problem and focused on solutions.  Henry Ford knew that placing blame on others, external circumstances, or life in general only makes the problem worse. Henry Ford inspires me to see ‘problems’ as opportunities.

One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes. – Benjamin Disraeli

Benjamin Disraeli entered politics (unsuccessfully) in the early 1830s but did not hold elected office until 1837.  For the next 31 years it always seemed he was on the verge of wielding power and influence but somehow, things never worked out in his favor.  He stayed the course and in 1868 finally became the British Prime Minister due to a resignation.  However, later that year in the general elections he was unseated.  It wasn’t until 1874 that he got another opportunity to implement his political ideas.  Two years later, once again Prime Minister, he was recognized by Queen Victoria with the title of Lord Beaconsfield and continued to shape his government’s policies.  In addition to a successful political career, Disraeli also gained renown as an author, solicitor, and social figure.  His words provide inspiration because Disraeli exhibited patience and preparedness long before he reaped the rewards others enjoyed.  He was (and still may be) the only British Prime Minister of Jewish heritage and achieved social recognition even though he was not wealthy like many of his political peers and was often at odds with some politician or another.  We can take note of his words because he lived accordingly, waiting patiently for many years for opportunity to come his way.

If you can dream it, you can do it. – Walt Disney

Many people are familiar with some of Walt Disney’s various accomplishments— pioneered the animation field, created Mickey Mouse and the world’s first synchronized sound cartoon, held the patent for Technicolor for two years, Academy Award-winner (48), Emmy Award-winner (7), Oscar Award-winner (26), winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, creator of the first full-length animated musical feature (as well as numerous other classics), first to present full-color programming, inventor of the multiplane camera, etc.—however one of his most inspirational characteristics was his vision.  Walt Disney had the ability to see something that didn’t exist yet, harness his energies, and turn his vision into reality.

Disney supervised and orchestrated the acquisition of 43 square miles of swampland –twice the size of Manhattan Island–in the middle of Florida. He planned to build a “Disney world” of entertainment which would include an amusement park, resort hotels, and his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT). Crazy?  Not to Walt Disney.  In fact, people willingly sold him their property thinking it to be near worthless.  Eventually he used dummy corporations and cooperative individuals to avoid a burst of land speculation that could derail his dream project.  In return for leading economic development in central Florida, the governor gave Walt Disney the authority to establish an autonomous quasi-government giving Disney full control over building codes, zoning, planning, and the like.  Walt Disney World required $400 million and 9,000 workers to build, and Walt Disney passed away before seeing it completed, but it doesn’t matter—Walt ‘saw’ his dream come true long before any of us did.

Following in the footsteps of successful people is a great way to get started on your personal path to success, however, searching a little deeper to see what makes them ‘tick’ can provide you with even more motivation.  From time to time your friends at Black Swan Management will give you a sneak peak at what makes us tick, and the lessons we’ve learned from individuals we admire and respect.  Like the great Zig Ziglar once said, “success is not a destination, it’s a journey.”  So enjoy the journey. We are.  As always, happy investing.

About the Author

Anthony Sills, M.B.A. formerly traded FOREX from the Atlanta Financial Center and has worked for stock advisory services, brokerages, Fortune 100 companies, and national banks.  Mr. Sills is currently a licensed loan officer and freelance writer.  You can reach him at anthony@BlackSwanManagementLLC.com

Keys to Success (Part One)

Feb 5

Posted by admin in business, business startup, internet business, investing, Leadership, mindset, mitigating risk, real estate, stocks, strategies, wealth | No Comments

“I do not have superior intelligence or faultless looks.  I do not captivate a room or run a mile under six minutes.  I only succeeded because I was still working after everyone else went to sleep.”
- Greg Evans

Why do some people ‘’make it” and others can’t?  What are the secrets to success?  Why didn’t all of that schooling teach you anything about money?  For the last 20 years, I have been observing and studying the lives of successful individuals and I have noticed some commonalities that may provide some insight for those of you looking to increase the odds of success in whatever endeavor you may be pursuing.  I will be talking about these insights in this series, which we at Black Swan Management, LLC like to call The Keys to Success.

Anthony Sills, CEO
Think about the last time you really accomplished something big . . . what was it? Why were you successful?

Some people believe that success is really about being in the right place at the right time, and they’re (kind of) right. But that’s not really success; it’s more of a mirage.  Successful people are in the right place at the right time…but not by accident.

Everyone wants success, but few find it.

Each year hundred books are published about your lack of success. And each year these books promise to get you on the right track for a life of achievement. Millions are spent on training materials, seminars, and courses. And while some are no doubt beneficial (I have read hundreds of these books and gone through dozens of these courses personally), much of the information is destined to collect dust on a shelf in the closet or to be sold as a used book at a garage sale for most people.

And the majority of the people who buy these programs and literature fail. Why?

They want to be successful….just not bad enough.

Think about it.  If you ask 100 people if they would like to be a millionaire, or if they would like a new car, many of them will say ‘yes’ but if you ask the same 100 people if they would be willing to work an extra ten hours a week to get that $1M or that new car, how many would say ‘yes’?

There is no ‘silver bullet’ to achieving your goals.  The real difference between those who ‘make it’ and those who don’t is HARD WORK.  The love of what you do, combined with your belief in what you do, will not determine your success. It will determine how hard you will work and how dedicated you will be to achieve it. Success just shows up from there.  Here are some suggestions from your friends here at Black Swan Management, LLC to get you started on your journey of personal development—and remember, the keys to success are hard work, belief in yourself and your abilities, persistence, and the determination to succeed!

  • You’re never done learning and school is NOT your only teacher. Most successful individuals are lifelong students.  What do they study?  Their craft, human nature, the world around them, history, business strategy, communication skills, and more.  If you are committed to achieving big things in your life you must also commit to staying abreast of developments in your field and learning how to be successful.  It wouldn’t hurt to know more than your competition either.  Comedian, Chris Rock only has a G.E.D. but he reads several newspapers every day.  Maybe that’s how someone with a high school education became one of the most successful (political) comedians.  If you think you’re not smart enough or you think you learned it all in school consider what Jim Rohn says:  “Formal education will make you a living. Self education will make you a fortune.”
  • Accept responsibility for your own success. Many people believe they deserve rewards before they’ve proven themselves through performance.  In fact, very few people accept personal responsibility for their success.  If you aren’t where you want to be in life ask yourself ‘why not?’  It’s not your spouse’s fault, your employer’s fault, or your family’s fault.  If you aren’t living the life you want to live it is no one’s fault but your own.  When you accept this universal law and come to terms with its implications, you will be light years ahead of where you are today.  Take a few minutes and think about problems you face in your life.  How many of them have you been blaming on other people?  Stop being a victim.  Grow up.  Take charge of your life and assume responsibility for your success and happiness.
  • Learn how to live with risk. I do not know anyone who has succeeded who has not been able to assess and take a risk and then live with the consequence – success or failure. Risk avoidance is a sure way to remain mediocre; being safe does not promote personal growth. Failure or making a mistake is not a bad thing; it’s proof you were exploring new ways to do something, and that’s better than safe success. We learn from our mistakes, not our successes. Really creative people embrace risk. They can sustain a high level of ambiguity; they do not need to know where they are. They do not mind being lost, for they call it just taking the longer, more interesting way around.
  • Persistence, Persistence, Persistence. Even when you don’t know how you will achieve your goal you must keep pressing forward.  Nothing says persistence like Ray Kroc, the kitchen wares salesman who in 1954, at age 52 and in poor health, began a new age in franchising, changed the American landscape, and, for better or worse, diets in much of the world.  If you don’t know, Kroc is the entrepreneur who became the national franchising agent for McDonald’s (which had one location at the time) and developed the system that would enable McDonald’s to expand worldwide. Missing the point?  Ray Kroc was no spring chicken when he began this phase of his career.  Many people doubted him.  He had disagreements with business partners, problems with franchisees, and many other challenges as he pursued his goal.  Did he quit? Of course not.  Today, McDonalds is the single largest owner of real estate in the world. It owns more property than the Catholic Church.  McDonald’s also serves more than 47 million customers each day all around the world! 
  • Discipline yourself to save money, even on the most modest salary. You will never ‘make it’ if you don’t have discipline.  And you will never become a successful entrepreneur, investor, or business owner if you can’t manage your money.  We at Black Swan Management, LLC believe wholeheartedly that one of the major keys to success is saving a portion of your income, even if it seems like such a small amount it won’t make a difference.  As The Richest Man In Babylon teaches us, a part of all you earn is yours to keep.  If you don’t save money, you are working for others, not for yourself.  Not to mention, you will be at the mercy of circumstance and other people which is a rough road to travel.

We’ll be discussing more tips and techniques for personal development and being successful in Part Two of The Keys to Success but for now just remember that, as Jim Rohn  says, “When you know what you want, and you want it badly enough, you’ll find a way to get it.”

About the Author

Anthony Sills, M.B.A. formerly traded FOREX from the Atlanta Financial Center and has worked for stock advisory services, brokerages, Fortune 100 companies, and national banks. Mr. Sills is currently a licensed loan officer and freelance writer. You can reach him at anthony@BlackSwanManagementLLC.com.

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Millionaire Mindset: How to Become a Millionaire

Jan 29

Posted by admin in business startup, investing, investment gurus, mindset, mutual fund, real estate, stocks, strategies, wealth | No Comments

How to Become a Millionaire

Lotto vs. Lightning?

Wealth creation isn’t as easy as buying a lottery ticket.  (Your chances of winning the lottery vary depending on which lottery you play, but as a rule of thumb you are still 6 to 45 times more likely to die from being struck by lightning than you are to win the lottery.)   In fact, winning the lottery will never make you wealthy!

Wealth is defined as “having wealth”, “being affluent”, and “characterized by abundance”.  Too many people focus on the money and not the abundance.  That is why most of the people who do win the lottery lose all their money and end up miserable.  In a 1999 survey conducted by the Consumer Federation of America and Primerica, 40% of Americans with incomes between $25,000 and $35,000 — and nearly one-half of respondents with an income of $15,000 to $25,000 — thought winning the lottery would give them their retirement nest egg. Overall, 27% of respondents said that their best chance to gain $500,000 in their lifetime is via a sweepstakes or lottery win.

“If Americans understood that their chances of winning a big lottery jackpot were 10 to 20 million to one but that they could accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars through regular saving, more families would put the $50 away rather than spending it on gambling or unneeded consumption,” said Joseph Plumeri, chairman of Primerica.

In our culture, there is a widely held belief that money solves problems. People think if they had more money, their troubles would be over. That’s not necessarily true.  There are two components to money. The first is the psychology of money (i.e.; how you feel about money). The second is the rules of money like tax codes, money allocation, etc.  The goal is to form a wealth creation plan that integrates the two components.

Research has shown that wealth creation has nothing to do with luck, education or intelligence. The truth is that wealthy people understand the principles of accumulating wealth and simply put them into action.  Like most things in life, wealth begins with a decision. You must choose to build wealth.  If you don’t control your money, money will control you! Controlling money simply means taking responsibility for what you have. You need to know where your money comes from, how much you have, and where it’s going.

Wealthy people use the “pay myself first” principle. They usually take 20% from their earnings and bank it or invest it in a separate account every payday for absolute emergencies. These untouched savings accounts earn compound interest (interest on interest) and their money keeps increasing.

Strive to increase your income and reduce your expenses.  Giving freely of your time, money and resources to those less fortunate contributes immensely to society and is your guarantee of receiving love, joy and peace. If everyone contributed in this way abundance would be commonplace.

Don’t believe me?  Here’s what some of the most successful business leaders have done.

  • First, you must do work you love and focus on more than money.  American industrialist, John D. Rockefeller, who defined the structure of modern philanthropy said, “The man who starts out simply with the idea of getting rich won’t succeed, you must have a larger ambition.” Sir Richard Branson, of Virgin fame advises “Have fun, work hard and money will come. Don’t waste time – grab your chances. Have a positive outlook on life. When it’s not fun, move on.”
  • Second, spend less than you earn & invest the difference. Sound too simple? Warren Buffett one of the most successful investors in history (and one of the richest men on Earth) says that “there seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.” Of course Buffett filed his first income tax return, deducting his bicycle and watch as a work expense for his work as newspaper delivery boy at age 13!
  • Safeguard your assets from loss and provide in advance for the needs of old age/retirement and the protection of your family.  If you make millions of dollars but fail to protect it you can still end up with nothing!  American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, and successful entrepreneur George Foreman has been quoted as saying “The question isn’t at what age I want to retire, it’s at what income.”
  • Work hard.  News flash—if wealth creation was easy everyone would be wealthy!  Becoming wealthy is a simple process, but not an easy task.  This is mostly because people are not committed to wealth creation and do not do what is necessary to become wealthy.  Andrew Carnegie, one of the most famous captains of industry, who went from ‘rags to riches’ claimed that “…the average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.”

Remember, when it comes to wealth creation and attaining the millionaire mindset, hope is not a strategy.  Follow in the footsteps of other wealthy individuals and observe the rules of money and you will be on your way in no time.

About the Author

Anthony Sills, M.B.A. formerly traded FOREX from the Atlanta Financial Center and has worked for stock advisory services, brokerages, Fortune 100 companies, and national banks.  Mr. Sills is currently a licensed loan officer and freelance writer.  You can reach him at anthony@professionalpenwriters.com.

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