How To Leverage The Law of Reciprocity

We all love getting stuff for free. If you've ever been given something that is useful to you unexpectedly from someone else, even a stranger, you most likely felt an element of gratitude. You're grateful for that person's actions. Research show that this also develops a feeling of respect and appreciation for the gift giver.

Building Your Email List

As an online business owner, you unquestionably must give away valuable content, or physical products, to build your email list. Your email list is your most valuable resource. The people who are on your list a your prospects and future customers.

You may be thinking that if you spend a lot of time and effort creating an amazing piece of content, why should you give it away? Why not sell it? The answer lies in how the human brain works when you receive a gift. If you're new to email list building, you may be concerned that building a list of "freebie seekers" will lead to poor sales and profits. And that's a valid concern.

But our brains are hardwired to respond in a favorable way. Unconsciously, without even knowing it, your brain will begin looking for options to repay that person. This is known as the Law of Reciprocity.

When you receive something of value, either virtual or physical, without having to pay for it in some way, you automatically feel like you "owe" that person something.

Your Online Business and The Law of Reciprocity

You are beginning the relationship by giving away something for free, without asking for any money. Everyday your audience are bombarded with messages from businesses trying to sell them something that they don't need. But when you provide value, they see you as one of the 'good guys'. This is why people will be happy to join your email list in return for something they see as more valuable than their email address.

Always Provide Value

It's up to you to make sure that the resource, e-book, checklist or physical product is extremely valuable and useful to your prospect. If you give away something that is rubbish, this will reflect poorly on your business.

Make sure it solves a big problem in your prospect's life. You want them to come to know, like and trust you. If they see that you provide a high level of value for free, they will believe that you'll provide even better value foe your paid products and services.

You may think that producing a valuable resource will take too much time to create, research, write, format, publish and market. Don't worry, free resources are easy to develop. You probably know more about your market that 99% of your prospects. If you create an e-book and you offer it away for free, it becomes even more valuable. To learn more, download my Free Checklist: How To Write An E-Book: http://jonallo.com/ebook

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Step-By-Step How To Make Money Online

Are You Starting A Small Business?

Here are 3 directions that can help you succeed in today's digital business world. An online business can open the doors to a brave new world of creativity and marketing and provide you the ability to promote products at little startup cost and large potential for reward.

1. Affiliate Marketing: is a simple marketing arrangement by which an online business pays you the affiliate a commission for traffic or sales generated from its referrals, depending on the terms of the particular program. There are many types of online affiliate programs and the terms can be different from program, to program. The affiliate marketing concept can be applied to most any product from retail type consumer products that require shipping, to digital products that can be mostly automated.

Like anything there is work involved and nothing comes easy. Here are the pros and cons to take into account when thinking about starting an affiliate marketing business;

PROS: Affiliate marketing is simple to setup and you can become a reseller instantly with most affiliate programs. With low startup costs, you can earn a profit by selling just a few affiliate products in many cases. With affiliate marketing you have a very low operating cost and usually just occur domain name and hosting charges. Marketing costs should also be taken into consideration. With the ability to get started with limited-to-no-capital your risk is very low with affiliate marketing.

CONS: Affiliate marketing can be a lot of work, and in most cases you will face a lot of competition so you're not going to be bringing in money instantly, it can take time. Like any online business you need to build an online presence including your social media, content writing and basic search engine optimization. Simply said, affiliate marketing like any business, requires hard work, you can't just sit back to reap the benefits without the work.

2. Sell your Own Products: Choosing to sell your own products online can be very profitable and a smart decision. One of the first things you will require is a credit card merchant account to accept online payments and have the money deposited into your bank account. The products you sell are anything you create under your own steam. You can sell your art creations, paintings, writing skills, handmade items, and just about anything you have an interest in creating. Do some research and make sure you have a marketplace for your unique skill.

Here are some pros and cons to take into consideration when selling your own products online as a business;

PROS: Selling your own products and creations, if you enjoy creating the products you will be selling then typically you're going to enjoy the business you will be building. This might be the most important point factor to consider overall. Another benefit is low overhead because you yourself are the artist and creator of the product being sold. This can be an excellent side business to grow over time and one you can thoroughly enjoy.

CONS: Something that you put work into and enjoy creating really doesn't have much downside. One problem with selling your homemade creations is you can only produce so much. However that may be a good problem to have and you can then increase your prices to meet the new demand.

3. Virtual Assist Jobs: VA jobs or, freelance work. If you have any skills to offer like programming, writing, consulting, proofreading, language translation, bookkeeping, appointment management, record keeping, email marketing, client or customer follow up, telephone sales, tech support, customer service, research, social media management, social media setup, manage WordPress blogs, support ticket help, live chat assistant, data management and more.

These types of skills can start making you money quickly and using websites like freelancer.com your money is held in escrow so you always get paid. Freelancing websites like these also provide a vast network of eager companies and individuals that are actively searching for your specific services.

PROS: VA jobs, are easy to get started with freelancing websites if you're ready to offer your skills. Get paid easily for your service and you can set the rate you charge. Enjoy working at your own pace and build repeat clients and ongoing relationships. This is an excellent way to get paid for your time now, and not have to take the risks involved in growing a startup or online business.

CONS: There is much global competition for VA's and it can be difficult to be competitive with your hourly rates against someone in a country like India or Cambodia. Don't let this discourage you as many companies and individuals like working within their country for many reasons and be firm from the start on your work value and hourly rate.

Starting A Business Is Not Always Easy..

However;

Big satisfaction in being able to act upon your hunches, make guesses, and to simply - just do it. If you want to succeed in business you first must take some risk and spend money. Many business owners talk about owning a business as the key to job satisfaction. It's true, when you're the boss, you do own it. Not having to ask anybody can mean a great difference in the satisfaction you can achieve for your success. The first step is getting started with your merchant account then create a product page. Best of success!

Do you have a small business or product that you need to generate instant awareness for? Do you like to be in control of your marketing and message? Get a free consumer email list, and demo the powerful email marketing software platform today:

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Direct Selling - Should I Get Involved With Direct Selling?

Should you get involved with direct selling? Allow me to explain what direct selling even is and then I'm going to list a few questions you need to ask yourself before getting involved in any way with the direct selling industry. First, direct selling is essentially cutting out the middle man. For example, big retail stores carry thousands of products made by millions of companies, this would be normal selling. Direct selling involves one company selling their products to consumers instead of giant corporations.

Questions To Ask

1. Can I Really Be My Own Boss? - Be honest. Can you really be in charge of your own work? Can you really stick to the game-plan day in and day out? Do you have enough self-control to wake up each morning and get the ball rolling? Are you prepared to accept the daily hits that every business owner to ever exist has experienced? For many people, the answer to all of these questions is a capital NO. Look, do not get involved in direct selling if you are not able to do these things. You will end up wasting your time, money, and most importantly you could potentially lose your business building confidence! If the answer is yes, continue on with this article.

2. What Do I Really Want? - What do you really want? Write down a list of the top 3 things you really want! Take your time and think about it thoroughly. If you just want money and to be rich, you are getting involved in direct selling for the wrong reasons! I've never, in my life, heard a medical doctor say they only became a doctor because of the money! Doctors became what they are because they wanted to help people and the money for doing it isn't nothing to laugh at it either. It was a win-win situation! Look at direct selling the same way!

3. Do I Like The Product? - If you don't like the product itself that you will be selling, stop immediately! I understand this industry has high payouts, however, you will never see a glimpse of those payouts if you don't even like or enjoy what you will be trying to get others to buy. Let's think about it this way, if you are constantly informing people of a product that you are trying to sell although you personally dislike the product, you're a joke! You can either lie and say you love the product or tell the truth and say you dislike the product. Regardless of if you lie or tell the truth you are not going to get very many sells! Don't get involved because you want to be rich, get involved because you desire to make a great income level from helping others!

Conclusion

So, is direct selling for you? Do not rush this decision! Take your time, breathe and relax. This industry is not going anywhere anytime soon, far from it. Take each question one-by-one and focus on answering them thoroughly. The direct selling industry isn't easy, don't allow anyone to tell you otherwise! However, it's not very difficult either. Direct selling simply requires work and this shouldn't be a shocker to you but a lot of people don't want to do any more work than they have to... even to be rich.

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It's Never Too Late To Start A New Beginning

Do you think you're too old or too inexperienced to start your own online business? Success has nothing to do with age. Or experience. It has everything to do with determination and faith in yourself.

When you first start your own internet business, it can be frightening and even seem impossible, no matter what age you are or experience you have. It's the old dilemma about how can you get experience without having experience. But, when you start your own online business, you can make your own experience and prove your expertise with just a little work.

Why An Internet Business?

The number of people buying products and services online is growing every year. This increase in online spending being moved from conventional offline stores to the internet has produced an incredible opportunity for people of all ages and experience. The set up costs are low, the learning curve is quick and you can pretty much build a profitable internet business without any previous experience.

Start With A Business Plan

First, you need a clear business plan. You have to know what you're going to sell and who you're going to sell it to. These are all things that you can learn how to do. You don't even have to develop your own products and services. You can sell items that have been created by other people and they'll pay you a commission for every sale you make.

Build A Website (It's Not As Difficult As You Think)

You may be worried about the technological side of an online business. But there's plenty of help out there if you simply take the time to find it. If you can use a search engine to find something on the internet and send an email, then you're ready to go.There are forums and blogs, websites and videos which can bolster your faith in yourself and help you build a website much quicker than you think. If you do find it too complicated, you can outsource the whole thing for a very reasonable cost.

Provide Useful Content For Your Audience

You don't have to be an expert to start your own online business. You just have to know a little more than your target market and be willing to do some work learn more. On your website, provide your audience with content discussing the problems that your audience have and how you can help solve them. It's a great way to get traffic to your website and it's also a great way to demonstrate your knowledge.

Be Yourself

Set yourself apart from other marketers and stop telling yourself you don't have a chance. People have different styles. Everyone has an audience who will relate to the way that they conduct their business. Remember that people by from people they know, like and trust. Believe in yourself and your audience will believe in you too.

Regardless of your age, education, technical skills or qualifications there are no specific requirements for starting your own online business. But you might feel that you're too old, too young or too inexperienced. Take look at the 5 steps every online entrepreneur will need to take when creating a business on the internet:

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