It leaves many people believing that all passive income, and residual income streams are scams. This is not true.



Anyone starting an online marketing business or a work at home business will need to prepare themselves to become a celebrity. That's right, some of the most famous internet celebrities and gurus are work at home professionals like you or me.

Just ?google? the names sharon hurley hall, gracepub, familyfunandfaith, and other of these bloggers/freelance business professionals, and you'll believe that it took thousands of dollars and a PR company to create dozens of pages on the search engine.

The reality is, all of these people work from home, earning 100% of their income, and taking care of their families, from an Internet based business. You can too. These people did not spend hundreds of dollars, or hire anyone to promote their ?image.? Instead, they avoided some of the common mistakes made by most internet based businesses.

The first thing the business owner needs to ask, whether on the Internet, or in a store front, is how to generate leads.

Unfortuantely, to many focus on selling. Very few people buy on a single exposure to a product. The important thing is to get people in, make them feel comfortable and then make a sale.

Visitors do not convert into sales. Leads, visitors who have taken some action on the website ? other than buying ? will turn into sales. It is important to understand this before it is possible to avoid the common pitfalls.

We Generate Our Leads

Lead companies are not in the business of generating their own leads. They purchase mailing lists and resell them to unsuspecting business owners. These leads are often ?turned?. This means the client has been ?hit? 5 ? 10 times. Or, the list is several months old.

The company has generated all the revenue they can from these leads, so they are willing to sell them to companies at a discount price. The chances of generating a sale is very close to nil.

50 FREE Leads With No Obligation

These leads are not hot, have already turned down a similar offer, or are more than 72 hours old. They are cold leads. The odds of a generating a sale from these 50 leads will be astronomical.

The trick is to get you to sign up for these leads, so in effect, you become the next lead on the list. This type of offer is nothing more than a mailing list building scam.

Targeted Leads

These lead lists are very general. You have a home based business selling cat training ebooks to pet owners. A popup window asked pet owners if they wanted: to know more about pet insurance, a free sample of pet food, a pet newsletter, or some other pet related product.

You buy the lead expecting the leads to be targeted to cat training, or at least cats. Instead, the list may include all pets, even arachnids and salt water fish.

Fresh Leads

A fresh lead is less than 24 hours old. But, it is almost impossible to compile a list of leads in less than 24 hours.

So, to promise fresh leads, is offering a vague term to a new business owner who is unfamiliar with list marketing terms.

Also, some companies may suggest that the list is only 24 hours old, because they just bought it. However, the list may be several months old.

Millions of People are Looking For Your Product Every Day

This is stretching the limit. Millions of people, every day, would start including tribesmen in Africa within a year. It is impossible.

Conclusion

Lead lists are expensive. Take time to learn the industry jargon, and ask questions. Do not just fill in an online form and accept what you are given. Instead, deal with a live person, from an American company, that has a phone number listed in the phone book.

A little knowledge can save you a ton of money.