Overwhelming Internet  and its Opportunities

The other day I was thinking how incredible life is and all the things that happen on a daily basis to each of us, its amazing how we even survive the everyday stress, job, kids, business, life, retirement and well the list goes on. This was brought on after my Affiliate website from Amazon was terminated because of a bill signed in July 2011 the Governor of California. I am sure many of you are aware and for those not familiar, it was a bill signed into law related to Taxes charged on products purchased through Amazon…yada-yada.

Well low-n-behold, this was initiated by no other than Wal-Mart; it seems they spent over 750 Million dollars to get this bill singed into state law, and they are trying to push it into Federal law. Wal-Mart is going global with their website and I guess they don’t like Amazon and there no Tax charge, well at least here in California…I am sure it is happening in other states, but I am not completely read up on it. But my topic is not really solely related to this, I was thinking about how incredible the Internet has made it easy for anyone to market their product or service, the sad thing is that it also allows imitation products and services to be in the mix and well some that are not so computer trending can be taken for a bad financial ride or experience.

With all the Social Media networks out there, My Space, Face Book, Tweeter, Blogger, and well a huge list of these networks, not to forget to mention all the affiliate programs out there that company offer, you know what I am talking about, such as Amazon, Target, etc and even a whole lot of smaller companies that are not recognizable and well with any of them people are taken for a ride financially. Some folks put there money, time into these programs or opportunities and end up losing or simply making a smitten.

Now, wait don’t get me wrong, there are affiliate programs and business out there that really do make you money, then thing is that with most folks, like 97 percent, sort of like the stock marker, these folks simply give up after the first 6 months…so obviously these folks make it there new job or duty to outs the company that took there money or time. But in reality, any business requires patience, consistency and most importantly time. But you need to be careful on how you spend your time and make certain that you spend only an amount of money you are willing to give up, because most of us can find an extra little change to do some minor marketing online, it is a matter of wanting to or better said wiliness to do so.

The thing is that I was thinking about the internet, the opportunities seen through out and how impressive we have come along over the past decade. Now as I was thinking, I know that there are legitimate businesses out there that require actual leg-work that can also make3 you money, but those actually require money on our part and many of us don’t have a large amount of money to invest. If you look closely, seriously and think about it, it really does take money to make money. The amount you spend dictates the amount you will make. Small investment gives small residuals; large investments will give you larger residuals/income. The same is with labor dedicated to the opportunity; smaller amount you dedicate provides smaller returns, as well as larger amount of labor dedicated will give you larger returns. The thing is if you work hard for say three years maybe longer or less, depending on you and the product or service, then later in your life/business it will mean that you will work less – maybe, if you properly set things in place. I don’t know…I know many, many have started and failed in a business, I have done hundreds through out my 20 year span of attempting businesses, many failed maybe because of me and others failed simply because the system, product or service was not good or not brought in at the right time…who knows – everyone has there own story to tell.

Now, I have a few I run, and I talk about them in my blog, I created a separate tab/page for it, but that’s not why I am here, (I keep going off on a tangent) my thing is the whole internet, social networks and well how it is slowly becoming a whole bunch of red tape; now this coming November there will be something, on the ballet, regarding the overturning of that bill sign in July regarding the taxes…maybe I am not to informed, I am reading as much as I can, All I know is that I lost my affiliate (Amazon) website which in turns means one avenue of money that was coming in for my family…what can I Say.

Now, the good thing is that my other affiliate website I have, mentioned here in my blog, are not affected, which is fantastic and like I said some income is better than nothing…even with the minimal effort I am putting into it. I think the only bit of advice if you are looking into any affiliate business or other opportunities is to do your research, and make certain you have these 2 things; Time, and most definitely important some kind of free cash flow you can dedicate to driving (marketing) customers to your product(s) or services, because without either of these variables…any business will not make it…straight and simple. The opportunities are out there it’s a matter of finding one that fits your style or better said your personality. Just don’t get overwhelmed with all the information you will or might see, 97 percent of what you see is false, finding the other 3 percent is the job, but if you can find one, and only one opportunity that works…why not do it…but remember patience, consistency and time will be your friends. Its amazing as what you’ll find and I am still amazed each day, at seeing the same infomercial selling the same idea seeing a decade ago…just a another younger hustler making it look amazing and easy…hmmm.

I don’t know, I found what works and I am building or working on building more cash flow so I can invest on a few other businesses that I know work, but require more free cash flow. Also, a bit of advice, if you partake in any Social Networks, please be careful on what you post, say, or comment on, because it has become a new thing that employers are now looking at, they will or some will actually check to see if you have some sort of social page out there, then they will see what type of things or people you relate to…which could mean no job…something to think about.

My Perspective:
The internet can be overwhelming, full of information, content, ideas, and opportunities, just make certain to find something that fits your personality, because there out there it’s a matter of finding the one, maybe two that work…and if at all possible try the different methods of driving your business or marketing it, people have some great ideas that works, it’s a matter of finding the one marketing method that works for your products or service. That’s why I say try them out, research before using third party marketing firms, most of them simply do what you can do yourself others work. I found what works for me, it’s cheap and it does what I need it to do. Keep an eye out on the net, take the time to hone your internet marketing skills, but remember make time for your life, family, friends, and/or kids, having a balance between life and work will remind you of why you are doing what you are doing.

Thanks for reading, good luck and remember; patience, consistency and time will be your friends. Till next time Latino Man signing off.

Re-branded Ideas

I wanted to touch a bit on this, it is something I have come to notice, but I am sure that others have already found this out. Now, for the past 20 years I have search for some type of business that I can work hard at and of course start to make money but of course work less. I know that with any business you need to work hard for three to five years, but once established, and if you have the right individuals in place to continue running the business, then you can stop working as hard.

Now, I have done everything from Don Lapre  to The Cash Flow Industry, to vending machines to selling on eBay, to signing up with Affiliate programs and well the list is incredible and let me say some of the things I mention to work, they take time to build, but of course time is and has always been the essence for any individual to want to make money…any many of us…try and find shortcuts or just simply don’t have the patience to stick to it…this is play and simply true.

Now, I have come to notice that many things or business opportunities have come around once again, you see those famous “Info-mercials” selling an idea, and dream or opportunity, how ever you want to see it. The thing is that they are simply the same thing offered 5-10 years ago, with slight modification to fit today’s’ internet world of getting information out to the masses and of course a new salesman pitching the idea.

Now, this is not only true to business opportunities, but to fitness programs, I have noticed that these PX90 and Zumba and many others are really only remakes of old work out programs created in the 80’s or 90’s, of course once again they change it up with a few different moves, or equipment maybe has moved forward, but they are the same, different name and of course a new salesperson pitching the program.

The thing is with the ever growing population there is always someone believing, dreaming and purchasing these products or services or ideas. And what happens is the cycle begins, the user will try to cut corners, or simply give up after 6 months or so…the only difference now is that with the internet, people can voice their un-happiness and the fact that they got scammed…never really to think if it was completely the program or them, but the cycle continues and there is always someone climbing aboard the cycle. You’ll see that in another three years or less we will see a new face on that noticeable business opportunity or fitness program.

I wanted to point that out, I know times are extremely tough for many people and trying something new right now that costs anything is probably not the best choice or simply put we can’t afford it. But if we as an individual put a small amount of effort, consistently for more than 3 years on something that is a good opportunity, and then the income will follow. I was thinking with some affiliate programs out there that cost nothing, except the cost to advertise and that can be $50 bucks a month or so…and an actual physical business, where hard labor is required or better said…body movement is needed, then you can build it, stick to it for at least three years, then find the right people to help maintain/run it then maybe we can establish something that will allow us to live comfortably on our retirement years…because we can’t count on Social Security or our 401(K)….we need to establish a little some more….only saying.

My Perspective:

Look closely at what you might purchase in regards to anything, business opportunity or fitness program for that matter. It could very possible be that an old business opportunity one pitch 5-10 years ago, with some slight modification but the same idea…I come to realize that these are only real gimmicks and those behind the pitch person are the ones making the money…now don’t get me wrong…some business out there are legitimate…seriously…the thing is that in order for them to work…you need to be patient and most important consistent. Remember anytime you start a business get a business license and a fictitious name and deduct the any expense [legal] that you incur form the business from your taxes…it can be done. Maybe a business name that is high level, s that it can be used for other business idea that you do or find, after much research, these are my suggestions and have worked for me….so like I said I am sharing what I do and learned…I am not offering any tax or legal advice simply sharing an idea.

Thanks for reading and till next time…there are real opportunities out there…just remember stick with it, start low in marketing costs and be patient. Good luck and Latino Man signing off.

Trying to Make Ends Meet

You know I am certain many of you have been in the same boat or are in the same boat I am. This whole affiliate programs are such a pain. I come to realize that they are the exact same thing that was available 5-7 years ago, just under a different name. Kind of like these workout programs…Zumba, PX90 Insanity, and so on.

The ones that are legitimate or better said that actually provide you with some residual income do so very slowly. I have since 2007 being doing an affiliate program that you see me talk about here and like I mentioned before it’s nothing to write home about…it does pay for itself in regards to marketing and I have a little left over, which I have put right back in to see about increasing my income and of course as with anything results are extremely slow. Yah I know there is no such thing as a quick rich or income producing scheme or program out there…making real money takes years and well sometimes times get rough and people get desperate and make some bad choices…I have done so many times over…and only this program has actually returned something. Anyhow, why I am posting on this is I come to realize that truly the only way to make good money and get ahead is to actually have a physical product or service that you provide, then work hard for 2 – 3 years and build clientele and a good support team to continue your business…that’s the only way to really get anywhere.

I know it sounds crazy and possibly extremely simple, but it’s tough. I mean I could see my affiliate program generating income, the kind of income I would like or close there to it…in 3-4 years more. It sounds horribly long to make something happen, but 8-10 years to get there…well…so far so good and it moving along, but I am in need of something now…more meat…and potatoes. I mean I work hard…very hard all day long not just for me but for someone else…they are getting richer and I am just getting older. So, my thought was to open some kind of physical business that actually takes hard labor, once I build enough income I can then make the money work for me…like many millionaires do. But in order to make money work for you need money  and you need more than 1 million…I am sure there are many out there thinking or disagreeing with me, but come on look at the affiliate programs with the exception of some…and don’t take my word for it…many out there are just gimmicks and mirrors of other programs only taking your money.

The affiliate I have been working on did not ask for any money it is FREE, only thing you have to do is drive traffic to it…yah I know that’s where the money comes in but be realistic…you need to spend some money and some of your time to make money…at least for now while you build that big lump of money to invest accordingly.

I will share next time some insights I read about investing, I got from money magazine…they are simple and make sense.

My Perspective: Research the affiliate program, never do anything that asks for money upfront…even if it is 19.95 for an information packet, they are schemes…you know it, they know and I found out the hard way…many times over. Look, build a site or a Blog and signup with free affiliate programs, add widgets to your site and advertise your site…$50 bucks a month is really all you need to get started, I mean $50 a month for advertising…and it will eventually build…it will take time…but it will build. Don’t take my word for it, read and think about the program and what it offers the User or visitor, it needs to be a name brand and offer a good incentive, most importantly it needs to be free…then just drive visitors/traffic to the site.

Worst thing is, if you have a Blog is to write different stories or thoughts and it will take away maybe 15-30 minutes…maybe less…writing a quick posting…it’s fun and there is so much information out there that people don’t have time to visit all the sites so you having information on your site from many sources is a huge plus…and people will come back often to visit. So you will never run out of content for your Blog or site.

Thanks for reading and till next time, take care and hang in there, Latino Man signing off.

Trying to Find Other Income

You know like many of us we try and find some kind of legitimate way of increasing our income or maybe replacing the income we currently make. But, withal those affiliate programs on the net, Avon, Amway, and other business opportunities…it seems that once you find something that is real…bam…it turns south. Now, I have tried everything…for the past 20 years, yes…placing little ads in newspapers, to selling in the swap meet, to vending machines to Amway, to Real Estate to loan Processing…well the later two actually do work and I am active, but of course times are rough and that doesn’t come in as easily as before.

But the thing is whenever you find something…that really feels good or that you researched for months and feel man this could work…then you go head in and a few months down the income starts to dissipate, making you wonder what is going on.

Now, I found a few online opportunities that I believe the concept and business plan made sense, the thing is if you don’t have the money to start your own business and you try and piggy-back on someone else business…that seems to always never work for us trying to find something.

So yah the business concept looks solid, but you need 50 to 100 thousand dollars to get started…so how many of us have that laying around. So you entrust yourself and spend say 1500 dollars to get into the business, the thing is you need to count on someone else for the majority of the process…then you really can’t see what you are really making…it becomes tough and all of a sudden you are left with the short end of the deal…you thought would make you some money.

I am currently running an affiliate business, and I started about 3 years ago, you know what…it has taken me just a little over three years to even start seeing some kind of checks in the mail. Yah the affiliate program is actually paying for the marketing and I have a little left over…ok…nothing to write home about…but I am talking about 300-500 dollars a month…but maybe by the time I retire I will be able to have at least 600-1000 dollars a month..Not rich but that little income can sure come in handing when I am living in a 1 bedroom apartment…ok…well you know what mean.

So my point here is there are some programs out there that do work, but they certainly are not going to get you rich quick and possibly not rich at all, but you will see some income…why…because 97 percent of the people that try it out give up after the first 6 months to a year…so unless you stick it out like I did, you won’t see a dime, but if you set it and forget it…you could eventually see 300-500 a month after 3 years on a 60 dollar a month marketing budget…yah that’s what I was spending up until recently…I now spend 300 a month and some months I am left over with 150-200 dollars. I am eventually going to put that back into the marketing and see if I can also increase the income coming in.

The thing is I really want to make certain I have money when I retire, sure I have a job now, I have a 401(K), I have my Real Estate license, which I do close 1 or 2 transactions a year, yah I am have this business online and yes it is giving me some income, but I would really like to rest easy that when I retire I will have some nice income. Ok, I am not asking to be living in a 10,000 square foot home or vacationing every year to an exotic location, but just having income for something. And most importantly I really do not prefer to have to work when I am 70 years old…not looking for that.

I just wished if someone did find something that could be shared among individuals and still make a nice income…say 3000 a month…and yes it should take work on our part, but if you put in the time…you should see a return on your investment and time. Having a business that works, and sharing to the world, but then really only allowing them to make smitten while their business makes even more money off of your hard work…really sad and well it happens, which it shouldn’t.

Ok I sound like a huge complainer and probably only venting, but you know…over these many…many years I come to find I am not the only one. People are wiling to work if they can truly make some residual income. Where can we find a business like that, or where can we find an individual that is willing to take on 5-10 people and their money and make it work…that would be fantastic…and possibly a great way to make money.

In the meantime, right now the business I have, is working….slowly but it is working and I would highly recommend it…it’s free and with a shoe-string budget of 60 a month you can begin building…I say building the business to eventually provide you with residual income. If you are interested, click on the Tab above named Income and read about it…it doesn’t cost a thing and only takes a few minutes to read…plus I tell you about the marketing I use and works for me.

Hey I appreciate you reading my blog and till next time Latino Man signing off. Remember it’s out there, we’ll find it…things will be ok.

Business – My Income Opportunity is Finally Paying Off

Once again…welcome to another of my posts, today I actually get to look back at one of the business I have been working on since February of 2006.

Today’s post is about a web-based income opportunity that is actually giving me some income.

Now, I am not here trying to sell you anything or asking you to signup for anything, this post is just a little reminder to me that there are business opportunities out there that will actually give you some income…ok…it may not be nothing to write home about, but hey if it is not costing anything to run, right now, and it is paying for its own marketing and giving me a little “extra cash” for that piano lesson for my son, then hey it was well worth the wait.

Let me start from the beginning, February 2 of 2006 I found a company that allows you to own a piece of a website business that is well known and all you have to do is advertise it…get it out in front of the world-wide-web (people). Not only do they offer one website, but many websites that you can promote (advertise) and make some money. I’ll get to there names in a minute…now I know that there are all kinds of methods out there to advertise, but I will let you know the methods I am using right now that are working for me and those that I tried and just wasted my money on.

The website(s) I am talking about are, Adult Friend Finder, Friend Finder, Amigos, Cams, Penthouse and well a lot more to choose from so that you can market. Now, I tried several of them over the last 3 years and the one I have noticed that is constantly giving is Adult Friend Finder, not saying that the others weren’t…it’s just that I decided to concentrate my efforts on this one. You might have a different choice, but let me continue. I joined, it was free to join, and I started to promote on Forums, Craigslist, Back pages, I bought visitors, I bought re-directed visitors, I bought signups, and I campaign though Yahoo Pay Per Clicks and Google Pay Per Clicks. Let me tell you…buying visitors or re-directing visitors or buying signups didn’t work for me, those so called marketing companies that market for you, they didn’t work for me either. I even had a company run a Pay Per Click campaign for me and that didn’t work for me…let me tell you I tried each one for 3-4 months…I gave them a chance…and it did not work…I spent lots of money…maybe not a whole lot but for me it was.

Now, the method of marketing for my online business, “Adult Friend Finder” is through Yahoo Pay Per Clicks. Google is ok, but I always had issues with the ad or campaign and I really did not like their customer support…not saying they are bad…it just wasn’t working for me.

I stuck with Yahoo Pay Per Clicks and I was spending for the first year about 99 dollars a month, now I didn’t see anything except 1 or 2 sales that whole year…the only thing I saw was my membership signups was increasing. About the 15th month I started seeing enough income to pay for the 99 dollars of marketing cost…give and take a few months that year where I had to put in some money. Now about 22 month or so into it…I started getting enough income to cover the cost of Yahoo pay Per clicks…so from month 22 to about 32 the campaign was running all by itself and it was paying itself…ok…please realize that I did nothing really except watch my Pay Per Click campaign key words (I’ll explain that later) during those 9-10 months.

Now, let me rewind how the business works. You sign up for free with this company, you market one of the many websites they offer…you get a number assign (web address link) to you so when you market that website and some one signups as a member you get the credit…which currently is $75 per sing-up…not bad. You set the amount of check you want mailed to you, it’s defaulted to $50, but you can set it to $500, $1000, etc. once you reached that amount a check is mailed to you…I believe it’s set for every 2-weeks…so a person visits your website, they signup for a free 14-day trial membership and if they like it…they convert into a full-time member…this is when you get $75 dollars for that signup.

Now what I did was…I went to Go Daddy and bought a web address for 2 years…and then re-directed that website link I was assigned to that purchased web address…my business so happens to be called 1AdultFriend.com. Ok…so I have Yahoo Pay Per Click campaign running since February 2006 and even though I wasn’t getting any income at the beginning but I did notice that my members count was increasing and well, the more I had the more probability there was for a signup. About 3 or 4 months ago I received a nice check…I had it set to a higher setting…I didn’t want to get $50 dollar checks. And shortly after that I received another nice check…well…I used some of that income to increase my Pay Per Click Yahoo campaign to $150-175 dollars a month, which I have been running for about 2 months and I have to say…the business is paying for that campaign and I have some left over to pay for that 80 piano lesson and that sports signup of $240…oh by the way I put some away…so…I am not rich…and it’s not a whole lot, but how I see it is, if this business is paying for its own marketing and it giving me just a little to pay for some extra curricular activities…its not a bad start. How I see it is, in another 3-4 months I should be able to increase my marketing budget to $300-$400 per month and still have a little extra left over.

Ok…I know it has been three years, and the first 2 ½ years I had to put in my own money…not a whole lot, but I did. But at this rate I calculated that in another 14 months (about May of 2010) I would have broken even…meaning I would have paid myself back for those 2 ½ years of investing my own money and from that point on…it’s all profit…well minus the marketing campaign cost I have through Yahoo Pay Per Clicks. I see that in another year and half I could be making some nice income…so with many trials and errors this business has taken me to build from February 2006 to about May of 2010 to build a real residual income for my household…keep in mind I have a full-time job, and a part-time job, beside a full time family…so my time on this business was no more that 1 hour a day or even less on some days…from day one.

Pay Per clicks through yahoo explained…when you do a search on yahoo…sometimes you’ll see sponsored ads at the top or sides, highlighted in blue…well those are Pay Per Clicks. You sign up through Yahoo, create an ad, then associated key words to that ad, (those words or phrases you use to search the internet…those are key words). Then when someone types in a related key word, then your ad will appear at the top or close to the top maybe within the first 5 entries…depending on your bid, meaning what you are willing to pay to get a higher placing on the search…it could be $0.05 or $4.00 dollars depending…let me say I don’t think I have one key word more that $0.13 cents and I am getting visitors. You set the budget…you could spend 1 dollar a day, that is multiplied by 30 days…that’s what yahoo calculates you marketing budget…realize this like I did…the less you spend the longer it takes…if you could spend $200 a month for 18-22 months…you will build up your business quicker and it could start giving you sooner. Of course do what I did and spend 99 dollars a month and it took me nearly 3 years…and I still need to break even, which I will within the next 14 or so months.

Buy Visitors, re-direct visitors, buy sign-ups…well I tried a lot of different companies and many of them just took my money and honestly…I did a lot…I mean a lot…I never saw one membership signup with any of those companies….so do your-self a favor…and this is only my opinion and what worked for me….doesn’t mean you have to agree…but stay away from those companies that offer, visitors, re-direct visitors or signups…it s just throwing away your money.

Craigslist and BackPages…also work for a nominal fee…they’re not bad…I think I paid 75 dollars for 16 weeks to advertise in Backpages to appear on the top or as a sponsored website…Craigslist…I think there is a 1 or 5 dollar charge…not sure…I really don’t use them any more…but I got some signups. My best marketing venue is Yahoo Pay Per Clicks marketing campaign….that’s just my opinion and I am not getting any credit or money from Yahoo…I just truly like there marketing campaign it works for me.

My Perspective:
As with any business, it takes time…especially on line…yah many would have given up the first year or even after the first 6 months…but I stuck it out and it has worked out…I signup for free and I am actively marketing 1AdultFriend.com through Yahoo Pay Per Clicks, I started with 99 dollars a month and did that for about 22 months, then it started paying for itself for about 8-10 months…give and take a few months I had to put in a little of my own money and now I spend about $240 a month (8 dollars a day) and the website business pays for itself and leaves me a little something. I will continue…and let me say…this is like an investment…you know you could invest in stock and just as easily it could drop…so I see this as an investment. Even if the next 3-5 years it just keeps giving me enough to pay for its marketing and my sons piano lessons of 80 dollars…I truly believe that in 1 or 2 years on this road I will be able to generate enough money after marketing and taxes as a normal full time employee making minimum wage or a bit more…and it all done automatically…all I do is every so often check my keywords and their bids…this business runs day and night24/7 so there is always a chance anytime of the day to get a new member sign-up.

So, if you were ever thinking of investing in your future, again not that I am selling you anything, consider joining for free through www.1AdultFriend.com and set aside an investment of $30-99 dollars a month to market your website business using Yahoo Pay Per click or any other venue of marketing you like…and most importantly…I cannot stress this more…be patient…the business will not make you rich over night…but with time, maybe 3-5 years (maybe sooner) and hardly no work on your part…you could be surprised with monthly checks…for the rest of your life. $30-99 dollars a month marketing investment is not a whole lot…if you look close enough I am sure you could find a monthly marketing budget that will fit your life and remember its like investing in stocks…or commodities…you are looking for a long term investment…this website business will do that for you.

Hey I appreciate you reading this post, and all I ask is that you research this business…its solid and long term. Visit www.1AdultFriend.com and scroll towards the bottom and click on the Affiliate button”…get the information to make a sound decision…remember there is no cost to sign up. Your only investment would be about 30-99 dollars a month for about 2-3 years (you decide on that amount)…and then you should start seeing income to pay for the marketing… you not having to take out from own pocket…then maybe by the 3rd or 4th year you could start increasing you marketing budget and then by the 5th or 6th year and beyond you should start receiving a nice monthly check…I don’t know. It won’t cost a thing to research it and joining is free…if you decide to move forward the only cost would be for marketing…just a thought…visit www.1AdultFriend.com check out the affiliate section and thinking about it…I think if you join and move forward…you’ll be happy with your decision. If this is not for you…hey I understand…I just wanted to share one of my real life experiences…that’s all…and hope that maybe it could make a difference in someone’s life.

Take care and till next time or better said…till the next post.