The 6 Best Ways To Make Money Online, Part 1: Building an Opt-in List

Now that we've looked at the best places to find something to sell online - affiliate and network marketing programs - it's time to learn HOW to sell.

In a previous lesson, I told you that the 6 best ways to sell online and make an above-average income are:

1. Build an Opt-in List
2. Sell your products with Google Adwords.
3. Build small niche sites
4. Build a large, content website around a theme
5. Sell on Ebay
6. Create a product and start your own affiliate program

Let's get even more basic. If you've joined a network marketing or affiliate program, the top 3 promotional methods are to: build a website, build a list, or use pay-per-click advertising, such as Google Adwords.

(We'll talk more about creating your own products and how eBay fits in a later lesson).

I consider #1, building an opt-in list, to be the single BEST WAY to make money online - bar none! And that's true no matter what you are promoting.

My MLM Millionaire training website gets thousands of visitors every month. That website has hundreds of pages and makes many product sales every month.

But guess what? Promoting to my opt-in lists earns me a LOT more money than my website, and it's a lot easier. Most years, I earn a six-figure income online, and well over half of that income comes from my list.

Building an opt-in list is much easier than building a website. And it requires a lot less knowledge.

You don't have to know anything about html. You don't have to know how to FTP pages up to your site. You don't need to know how to install scripts. You don't need to pay for web hosting. You don't need to worry about getting traffic to your site (just because you build it doesn't mean they'll come!) And you don't need to worry about optimizing your site for the search engines.

Don't get me wrong - having a web site AND an opt-in list is a terrific one-two punch. My website gets me a lot of subscribers to my newsletters. My list gets me a lot of visitors to my website.

But if I could have only one, I would choose the list every time. The money you can make with an opt-in list - and in a much shorter time - cannot be stressed enough.

Do you realize that there are many top earners online that you have never heard of? They make so much money from their lists that they have never even bothered to build websites.

If you are really serious about making money online, then building an opt-in list should be a #1 priority. You need an opt-in list of people who are interested in whatever niche you have chosen to market to.

Your list will give you a ready-made group of prospects who have already shown they are interested in products in your chosen niche. If you know how to work your list, you can
email these people over and over and over again.

In the next few lessons, we're going to talk about HOW to build yourself a large and profitable opt-in list. And then, how to EFFECTIVELY work that list.

This is the kind of information most people get wrong, and is why they never make any money at email marketing.

Again, you can easily earn a six-figure income on the internet using email marketing. Learning how to build a good opt-in list and how to effectively use it is CRITICAL to your success.

You won't do it overnight, but there are some easy ways to get a jumpstart on the process.

We'll start talking about the HOW in the next lesson!

Finding Stuff to Sell Online: A Final Word

Now that we've looked at the best places to find something to sell - affiliate and network marketing programs - let's talk a little bit about the process.

If you've gone to some of the affiliate networks I've told you about, and looked over a few network marketing programs, one thing should be very clear to you: you have a LOT of choices.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of different products and services available for sale online in just about every category imaginable!

Many newbies immediately go out and join every affiliate program they can find, and sign up for free test drives of dozens of network marketing programs.

This is the WRONG way to go about it, and is going to waste a lot of your valuable time. You'll make a lot more money if you pick one small niche and concentrate on it. Choose an area that not everyone and their grandmother has a website on.

Internet marketing products are just about the WORST product newcomers could choose, simply because it is so overcrowded. Plus, there are lots of gurus with a lot more experience and name recognition selling those types of products.

You'll do a lot better in the smaller, less crowded niches. And you'll do better by choosing products and programs that are all in that niche, or related niches.

I see too many newcomers slapping up websites that are nothing more than a bunch of links to a bunch of affiliate programs that everyone is promoting. You've seen them - a page with the heading: "Here are the 10 best internet marketing products you should buy."

These sites are a total waste of time. You'll never get them indexed in Google, since there are many thousands of much better sites with actual content in the Internet Marketing Category. And much better salesmanship as well.

Don't even think about building a website until you've done some careful research and thinking about a niche that doesn't have a lot of competition.

Fortunately, I can point you to a terrific resource that will help you do just that - and save you a lot of research time. It's called Strike it Niche.

"Strike it Niche" will introduce you to 70+ high-profit, low-competition niche areas that you can consider building a whole business around.

And each of these 70 areas can be further sub-divided just about indefinitely. "Strike it Niche" will give you ALL the details of each one: affiliate programs to join, keywords to use in your advertising, and much more.

These are complete business-building blueprints that will save you hundreds of hours of research and brainstorming.

I have to admit - I often spend time looking for these little niches to build small mini-sites around. These are much easier to get traffic to, and to make money on, then the overcrowded internet marketing area. It's not hard to build a small mini-site around a niche, add a few pages of content, add a few well-placed affiliate links, and then put Google Adsense links on it. These kinds of small sites don't take a lot of time to build, and yet they can make $500+ per month in profits. Just a few of these sites can earn you a full-time income (more about mini-sites in a future lesson).

As I was saying, I'm always looking for undercrowded niche areas online. But I had never stumbled across the areas covered in this terrific book.

So if you are still scratching your head trying to come up with an online niche to build a business around - do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of "Strike it Niche." You'll be glad that you did!

Then get ready to learn the 6 best ways to SELL online, which is coming up next!

Suggested Network Marketing Programs for Newbies

In the last lesson, I told you that I'd point you to 3 network marketing programs that are especially good for newcomers.

But before I point you to these gems, let me make one thing very clear: you should NOT just join any of these programs without doing your own due diligence. Just because another marketer recommends a program doesn't mean it is the right one for you. We talked about that in a past lesson.

Your most important job in starting a business online is to find what is going to work the best for YOU, not someone else.

You should also keep in mind that programs don't work all by themselves - they also require something of you. You can't just join a program, no matter how good, and forget about it.

Fortunately, you're taking this course. And in the lessons ahead, I'm going to show you the 6 best ways to sell your product or network marketing program and make an above-average income online.

RECOMMENDATION #1: Empowerism

Empowerism is a rare and top-notch company. They've been online for almost 7 years - longer than just about any other program I can think of. And they have a stellar reputation.

What is especially exciting about this company right now is their brand new "Double Your Money" RSVP Lead program. Members can buy leads and get double their money back on every purchase and each cycle. Their system is one of the biggest moneymakers I've ever seen.

That's right - every time you buy leads, you get TWICE as much back as you paid!

Best of all, you can make a lot of money without any sponsoring, without spillover, without making any phone calls, and without buying junky products you don't need. You can be a brand new, raw "newbie" and STILL make money with this program.

I've just put up a web site that will explain all the details of this exciting program. To get the scoop, just go to:

http://www.mlmmillionaire.com/Empowerism/

Empowerism has such a powerful program that it is my top recommendation at this time.


RECOMMENDATION #2: TRIM

Do you wish you could find a home business opportunity that would allow you to make a substantial living, while leaving you enough free time to pursue the things you enjoy?

NOW YOU CAN! A new kind of network marketing organization has moved to the forefront of the industry; one which harnesses the power of the media to help YOU build a customer base of tens of thousands.

Trim International is one of the best "Long Term" opportunities I have seen in many years for this reason: They are using TV and Radio infomercials to gather customers which are then distributed to the representatives.

What does that mean for you?

That you can build a very successful business - 100% from home - that has all of the BENEFITS of network marketing (...Like Leverage and residual income), with NONE of the familiar hassles (NO selling, NO cold calling, NO meetings, NO chasing friends and family, NO products to stock sell or deliver, NO monies to collect, etc.)

Trim International is a 6-year-old company that has successfully merged the power of mass media marketing (radio and TV infomercials) and the Internet into Network
Marketing.

They market a good weight loss product and other nutritional products. What is really refreshing is that their prices are VERY LOW compared to any other nutritional network marketing program I've ever seen. Other companies expect you to spend $50-$150 per month on their products. With Trim, you only have to buy $12 to qualify for commissions!

With the Trim system, you let the company do the marketing for you with their very successful radio and TV ads. You pay them for advertising blocks, they guarantee you a specific income for every block you place - always more than what you put in.

Plus, you continue to earn residual income from the customers they find for you.

Most of us absolutely HATE selling. That's one of the reasons I love the Trim opportunity - they do it for you, and they do a top-notch professional job that gets results! You pay them to advertise, and they develop customers for you. A win-win situation for you and for the company.

To take a closer look at Trim, just go to:

http://www.mlmmillionaire.com/Trim/

You'll note that for both of my first 2 recommendations, the companies actually provide the marketing for you. This is a terrific deal for newcomers who are not yet experienced marketers.

Recommendation #3 is a little bit different. This company offers you a way to build your downline in any other network marketing program, plus build several more income streams at the same time.

RECOMMENDATION #3: Traffic Oasis

Traffic Oasis is a program that "sells shovels" to miners.

Their product is fresh, high-quality, non-shared MLM leads. They offer both email leads you can prospect with an autoresponder, or phone leads. And one of the great things about the folks behind Traffic Oasis is they are constantly adding new categories. I've found that I get many more signups from a small number of Traffic Oasis leads compared to buying several hundred from someone else.

TrafficOasis also provides their own autoresponder system that will automatically import your leads for you and start sending out followup letters.

If you're a network marketer, Traffic Oasis membership will help you become more successful in any program you promote. But keep in mind that they have their own high-profit compensation plan as well:

- 3x5 Forced Infinite Cycling Matrix
- New Matrix Follows the Line of Sponsorship
- Never Lose Your Downline--They Follow You
- Extremely Lucrative and Fast Payments
- The Highest Possible Residual Income
- Infinite Powerline Earnings
- Instant Permanent Matrix Qualification
- FIVE different income streams in one plan!

Click here for more information about Traffic Oasis.

Finding Profitable Network Marketing Programs

(c) 2005 Linda J Bruton

I'm going to let you in on a little secret about picking a
network marketing program.

You might think that the programs with the glitziest
products are the best ones to join. They will often tell you
that their products practically "sell themselves."

Don't believe it! Nothing sells itself. No matter how glitzy
the product, you still must find people to buy them. You
still must find people interested in joining your downline
to promote them. Products don't sell themselves. People sell
products.

And what is often true about glitzy products is that they
are here today and gone tomorrow.

I've been in this business for 15 years and have seen a lot
of those kinds of products. When was the last time you saw a
diet cookie company? Ten years ago, they were all the rage.
There were 5 or 6 of them, but none of them exist today.

Now let me tell you a big "secret" about the programs that
last for years and years. And that people join and stay with
for a long time - even if they're not making money.

I've been a network marketer for over 15 years. And these
programs are the ones that have put hundreds of thousands of
dollars in my pockets over the years.

None of these programs have glitzy products. In fact, their
products are downright boring. What they have in common is
that their products and services are what network marketers
absolutely "must have" to be successful.

I'm talking about the lowly lead programs. And programs that
have autoresponders. Or a complete website-building package.
Or web hosting services.

You've heard about the forty-niner Goldrush days. The people
who got rich in those days were the ones who sold shovels
and gold pans to all the "get-rich-quickers" who were
pouring into California.

That's the very same principle at work here. No matter what
network marketing program you join - you MUST have good
prospect leads or you'll never be successful.

If you work online, you need a good autoresponder system to
send your sales letters to your prospects.

Leads and autoresponders may be "boring" products. But
unlike all the glitzy products that are here today and gone
tomorrow, you'll always have prospects who need those
services.

I joined my first "leads" program over 10 years ago - before
there ever was an internet as we know it today - and am
still a member. I haven't actively promoted that program in
over 5 years, and yet I still collect a nice monthly check.

Nowadays, I belong to 3 other leads programs. No, I don't
actively promote them all. I'm too busy making money with
the leads I buy. (Don't go away - in later lessons, I'm
going to show you how I make $50,000+ per year just from the
leads I buy).

Here are some of the advantages of joining "boring" programs
that provide an essential product or service:

1-If you want to succeed online, you have to buy these
products anyway - why not join a network marketing program
that offers what you'd be spending money for anyway?

2-Every network marketing program requires you to buy
monthly product in order to earn commissions. Why not buy a
product that is a tax-deductible monthly expense? Leads and
autoresponders are tax-deductible - diet cookies are not!

3-These programs are much easier to sell to others, since
they have to have them to promote their own programs.

4-No matter what else you promote online, these programs
offer you a second source of income. I recommend leads
programs to people in my other downlines. Why? Because they
have to promote if they are going to be successful. This
allows me to build 2 income centers at the same time. (We'll
go into multiple income centers more in a later lesson).

5-Members tend to stick with these programs, even if they
aren't making money, because they need the product or
service.

I'm going to point you to the best of these programs in the
next few posts, plus tell you about 3 programs that are
especially good for newcomers. So stay tuned!