I am sure you have read these ads. It all sounds so alluring. I have found out the hard way that it is not that simple. Yes people are earning extra ordinary incomes from home based online businesses. It is a wonderful way to make a living, and while I am not trying to discourage any one from pursuing the dream, I would like to open your eyes to some of the pitfalls that can end up discouraging the strongest of wills and save you from some wasted time and expense.



If your just starting out, or have been trying for a while, be careful and do your homework. The internet changes very quickly. What used to work just a short time ago may not work today. These are some of the things I believed worked before but have not worked for me. I am assuming you have a website, or you are promoting an affilite program.

#1. Promoting a product without a sqeeze page or capture page. Chances of someone buying on the first exposure to your site are very slim. You have a much better chance of making a sale if you can get their information and build up a relationship with them. Get a good autoresponder and follow up with your prospect with a series of emails.

#2. Promoting someones direct link. Even if they buy You have no chance at a second opportunity if they buy the offer or do not buy. Same reason as above. Remember you spent time and probably money to aquire the prospect. Get their information.

#3. Ad blasters. Have you seen the ads? We blast your ad to 2 million search engines and websites. I have blasted for months with no results. I can not say this does not work, just be sure it is a legitimate service. I believe that the bulk of these ads go to FFA (free for all) pages. Many you have to confirm The submission in your email. The other problem is that even if your ad does get posted it is only visible for a short time, may be only seconds as other ads keep pushing your ad down, and paid ads get all the top exposure. I have had my email inundated with confirmation reply requests.

#4. Safelists. My experience with many safelists are that the only people receiving your ad, are on the list only to promote their own ad, and do not even open your ad. Do your home work when you are doing this type of promotion. Some do work.

#5. Buying guaranteed hits. Some are scams. Yes I received hits, lots of them. The problem is that I checked the ip address that these hits were generated from and found them to be porn sites. Why would a porn site be clicking on my site for a home based business opportunity? Yes I paid good money for that one.

#6. Free message boards. My experience with free message boards is that the only ones posting are other people advertising their home business opportunity.

#7. Guaranteed email delivery. Your ad along with a thousand other email ads. Who reads them. Do some home work and find out first.

#8. Free Classified ads. I do believe free ads can work. The problem I have found is that the shelf life is short lived. Each new ad pushes you down the page. Many times it only takes a minute or so to be down to page two and no one is reading page two. If you are going to advertise on a classified site ad prices are relatively inexspensive, and you don't have to repost every hour.

I am sure their are more I have not listed, hopefully you are getting the picture. A home based internet business can be the answer to your dreams, but keep in mind it is a business and should be treated as such. Let go of the idea that it is free or cheap. Actually it is a lot less expensive than a brick and mortar business, But you will have to do some work and you will have some expense. Hopefully this article will help you avoid some of the expense and frustration I have experienced.

To Your Success,

Timothy Duffett