So many people want to get a piece of the business owner pie that they are willing to try anything to get it. The sad reality is that either they spread themselves too thin by taking on all the affiliates and MLMs that they can find just trying to make a buck or they get taken in by those companies that say “do this and you will receive a 6 figure income by tomorrow” or “help me sell my stuff by becoming an affiliate and you can start making a ton of money.”  They make it sound so good and so easy that you can hardly believe that you could be so lucky that you found it and you sign up for them.  Sorry to burst your bubble but if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Affiliate Programs

Affiliate programs can be great if you believe in what they are selling.  Meaning, you have tried it and you fell in love with it immediately and you want to tell the world about it and make a couple bucks doing it. But don’t expect to get rich from them.

You have to promote your affiliates just like you would with any other business that you would have.  It’s not as simple as getting the links and putting them up on a website and getting people to purchase it through you.  You have to remember there are several other people that are also affiliates of that company who are also trying to get money by spreading the word not to mention the company themselves getting purchases.

I am an affiliate of an organization and I get $50 every time somebody becomes a member of it by clicking on the link on my website.  It’s great when I get an email stating that I just got $50 and I didn’t have to do anything.  However, in the three years that I have been a member and had my link up on my site, I have gotten a total of $200.  That’s not a lot in three years but I love what the organization does and I believe it is worth it so I graciously keep it on my website. I could definitely make more from it if I promoted it but I don’t because that is not my main business.  I do not want to focus on getting money through an affiliate I want to focus on getting clients for my main business.

MLMs

There are some that are legit but the majority of them are scams and/or illegal. They are the biggest offenders of “become a member of my team and you can earn a six figure income immediately” type advertising.

There are two types of MLM companies – those that are legit and have complied with the FTC and state regulations, and those that have not. If you cannot ask for and promptly receive financial information on the company that is promoting it, and statistical data on success rates of the participants, then it is ILLEGAL.

Even the legal ones are generally fraught with problems. The very structure limits your ability to earn, even though they tell you it increases earning potentials. Most MLM and Direct Sales companies (there really ISN’T a difference – MLM means Multi-Level Marketing, so any distributorship or consultancy that pays you a commission on downline sales IS in fact, MLM), have restrictive policies that limit your ability to sell or promote well. You still have to work it like a business, and it still takes time to build.

The REAL truth about MLM is that if you cannot sell the PRODUCT, you cannot earn at it solely by sponsoring. In fact, companies that say you can, are ILLEGAL (it is against FTC terms, as it classifies it as a pyramid [Ponzi] scheme). Any MLM company has to have a product that can sell well. Otherwise, it folds. Health Drinks and Supplements are VERY hard to sell, in spite of all of the companies telling you theirs is revolutionary and that they “sell themselves”. They don’t.

Purchase A Domain Name And Make Money

Some people believe that they can purchase a domain name and then make money off the ad revenue but the truth is, the payment received is so low that they will be paying more for the domain and hosting then they will make.

A website will not make money if there is no traffic to it and a website needs content to drive traffic to it.  If there is no content there is little to no traffic to the site-hence, little to no income.

You can be an affiliate; part of an MLM, purchase a domain name and try to make money from it and have a regular service/product type business and you still won’t make enough money to be successful.  The reason for this is that you are spreading yourself to thin.

You have to pick one maybe two things that you are definitely passionate about and focus on promoting and making that successful and let everything else simmer in the background.  If you spread yourself too thin, you end up frustrated because it has been months maybe even years that you have been a part of them all and you still aren’t making enough money to get by.

When you decide on a business, make sure you thoroughly enjoy that business and you aren’t just doing it because that’s all you know or because of the promise of great wealth quickly. Do it because you feel passionate about it from the heart.

The truth about business (any business) is you will not get rich overnight from it.  I have said this many times before; just hanging an open for business sign over your “door” will not get business.  You have to work at it and promote it.

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