Don't Believe Everything You Read

Perhaps one of the biggest reasons so many people are unsuccessful at getting their websites ranking well is that they believe everything they read on the Internet. Think about that logically for a minute: if SEO information was readily available to everyone on the Internet, then everyone would be in competition with everyone, and there wouldn't be a need for SEO experts.

This is why it really bothers me when someone asks for my help then doesn't want me to do my job because they "read online that it doesn't work". Well, guess what? I know what I'm doing! That's why you hired me!

So how do you learn what SEO tactics work, and what ones don't? It's easy...the most effective way is to join an exclusive SEO community such as SEO Book. Aaron Wall has incredibly valuable information, and offers many tools to help you with your SEO quest.

Web Marketing Now and SEO Revolution are 2 more great resources for useful and effective SEO tactic information.

Trial and error are options; in fact, that's how a lot of us find out what works and what doesn't.

If you don't want to take the time for the learning curve, hire someone who knows what they're doing to do it for you. This is great for those who want quick results to improve their business.

Just remember that about 99% of information freely available on the Internet about SEO is bogus.

Tips for Blog Commenting

Wow! It has been a while since I've posted anything on here. Sorry, faithful readers! I will try to be more diligent from now on. :-)

I wanted to comment today about blog commenting...you have no idea how many *spam* comments I read on a daily basis...now blog commenting can really help you build your site up, both with links and with getting visitors to your site. BUT site owners aren't going to approve you if your comment doesn't lend any value to the post.

The purpose of blog commenting is to engage the audience, and encourage discussion on the topic at hand. Leaving generic comments such as "Great post" or spamming with a generic

Hey I just bought a spiderman costume for my kid and he loved it!

well...let's face it; this comment lends absolutely NOTHING to a discussion about the price of tea in China. And, it's not going to inspire people to visit your site either...but if you leave a comment on a post about dobermans, and you mention something specific from the blogger's entry and say something related to what the post is, you should be able to get your comment approved.

Sometimes you can even get away with using a keyword instead of your name; this will only work IF and ONLY IF your comment offers value to the discussion at hand.

Personally, I delete any and all comments left on my blogs that have nothing to do with my post. If there are links in the comment, I delete the entire comment. If the comment doesn't specifically mention something I said in my post, I will delete the comment.

So yes, blog commenting can help you build links and get visitors to your site, but be smart about it. Before you begin typing, think about what type of comment YOU would want on your site.

Make Money Fast Online!

If you want to make a lot of money, and make it fast, play the lottery and hope for the best...if you want to build up some residual income, there are many ways to do so. It all depends on WHAT you want to do.

Fast Online Money Making

A fast way for you to make money online is to sell things...are you a crafter? If you enjoy making crafts, you can make money fast online by selling them. You can open your own online crafts store or sell at many of the craft shows. Check out the following link for more information on where to sell your crafts.

You can also open an affiliate store, such as an amazon store. Once you get it set up, all you have to do is drive traffic to it! Again, you won't make fast online money with this method either. But, it does have its benefits, and can really provide you with some good online income later.

Another option is to find some dropshipping products...then put them in a store on your own website or sell them on Ebay. Unfortunately, while this, too, could be a good source of online income, it won't make you fast money online.

Make Fast Money Online Writing

If you have any skills at writing, you can write articles to make some fast money online. Sites like Helium, Constant Content, or Associated Content all offer pay for articles.

Check out this post for earning fast money by writing for Helium.

You won't make a LOT of money with these sites, but you could make enough to give your monthly budget a little boost.

How NOT To Make Fast Money Online

There are many sites out there (and opportunities offline as well) that claim you can make thousands of dollars your first day...all you have to do is pay them $40, or $99, or even $300! Guess what? These are SCAMS! Really, anything you do to make money online will take some time to build up.

Do not do "paid surveys" or any get paid to read email, or get paid to take offers type of "work". Even if you do get paid, you aren't going to make fast money online...it will take a few months to get to the minimum payout, which is usually around $25 or $35.

In short, if you find anything online that promises you can make fast money online, be sure to do a Google search on the company, and ensure that it's not a scam. Check sites like the Better Business Bureau or Snopes as well; searching any offer you find that claims to make you fast money online will save you a lot of money in the long run!

Looking to Make Money from Home???

If you really want to make money from home, you really need to visit oDesk!! I have been SO busy with my jobs I have gotten through oDesk that I haven't had enough time to write on my blogs.

Make Money From Home

ODesk is the best opportunity for making money from home that I have found, and I've been looking for years. The best part is that oDesk doesn't charge you, the provider, for searching for work! All fees are charged to the buyer, which in my opinion, is how it should be. Let's face it, if we are looking for work, we may not have the money to pay exorbitant fees!!

Make Money From Home with ODesk

As with any freelance website, with oDesk, making money from home carries a lot of competition. But with a little perseverance, you can be making money from home like you've always dreamed!

Unless you have a nice, fat portfolio available to list on oDesk (which I did NOT have) you will be competing against thousands of other freelancers with experience to back their claims up. How do you make money from home with these odds?

There are a couple of ways to ensure you make money from home working with oDesk. First, you have to realize that in order to prove yourself without an extensive portfolio, you will have to start out small. My first few jobs at oDesk, I only made $1.00 an hour. Yeah, that's not a typo, that's really all I charged!

Why did I charge so little (especially since I obviously wanted to make money from home, not lose it!)? I didn't have a portfolio, I didn't have references. So I had to start at the bottom, and on oDesk, you are competing with freelancers from all over the world, all trying to make money from home. So, I started my hourly rate at $1/hour. I also applied for any job I could find that I was qualified for. After 2 months, I had my rate up to $8 an hour, and buyers were inviting ME to apply for their jobs.

Currently, I am up to $10/hour, and I have been favorited by many providers. I have a high feedback score, which is why I can be more selective about the jobs I accept. So, my advice to you is to start off cheap...and don't be too selective about the jobs you take.

Once you have some successful jobs completed, with some excellent feedback, you will be able to raise your prices, and therefore make more money from home!

What Do You Want to Do to Make Money From Home?

Maybe I'm putting this out of order...LOL But, you have to figure out what kind of job you want to do to make money from home! There are many different categories of jobs available on oDesk:

• Web Development
• Software Development
• Networking and Information Systems
• Writing and Translation
• Admin Support
• Design & Multimedia
• Customer Service
• Sales & Marketing

And, of course, each of these categories has multiple sub-categories...you only need to choose which categories you want to work in to make money from home!

Do you have experiences with oDesk you would like to share? If so, I would love to hear them!!

Where to Get Products for My Store

OK, so you may have already seen my article on starting an online store. Now you are wondering what to sell. If you are selling your own creations (scrapbooks, woodwork, crochet, etc, etc...) then you probably won't be interested in this article.

If you don't know what you want to sell, or aren't sure what you should sell, then you are in the right spot!

The best thing you can do is to buy U.S. Wholesale directory and drop shipping Guide. This is a great book, with lots of resources for getting products to sell in your online store.

The book has products listed in categories, so you can pick and choose which category and which company to order your products from.

So What is Dropshipping, and How Can it Help Me?

Just in case you have no idea what dropshipping is, I figured I'd give you a definition. Dropshipping simply means you don't keep any product on hand; when you receive an order from your customer, you order it from your dropshipper, who will then ship it directly to your customer. Usually, the packaging is free of all branding, and some dropshippers even provide labeling with your company name.

Dropshipping makes you money, and saves you the hassle of carrying an inventory. This means you don't have to come up with the initial investment for stock, nor do you have to find room (or pay for room!) to store inventory that may or may not sell.

How & Where to Locate the Merchandise to Sell on eBay: Insider Information You Need to Know from the Experts Who Do It Every Day is another book that will help you find dropshipper information.

The bonus about this book is not only does it tell you where to find dropshippers and wholesalers, but also other places you can find stuff to sell! The book is geared towards E-Bay, mostly because that's the hot topic...but with the sources listed in the book, you can find a dropshipper for whatever products you want to sell.

8 Resources for Starting an Online Store

Do you want to start an online store, but don't know where to start? Here I will list several resources to help you start an online store.

Books About Starting an Online Store

There are many, many books available to help you start an online business. Here I list a few of my favorite books on how to start an online store.

	This book tells you step-by-step how to start an online store. The author, Jeremy Shepherd, provides real life examples, making his lessons on how to start an online store easy to follow and understand. Shepherd starts at the beginning (choosing what to sell in your online store), through advertising and making sure your online store stays in the green.
This is one of the popular "For Dummies" series...so far, every "For Dummies" book I have read to date has been awesome, and Web Stores Do It Yourself For Dummies is no exception. I recommend this book if you want to learn how to start an online store.
	Last but not least, I recommend Starting A Yahoo! Business For Dummies. I told you I like these "For Dummies" books! Anyway, this book will teach you how to start, manage, advertise and market your Yahoo! online store. This book tells you step by step how to create a Yahoo online store, then includes how to advertise and how to use the best images to sell more products in your online store.

Online Resources on How To Start An Online Store

I have compiled a list of websites that have valuable information on starting an online store. Here's some great websites to help you on your journey of opening your own online store:

• Here is a very helpful article on How to Start an Online Business from Small Business Computing.


• Another informative article on How to Set Up an Online Store.


• Information on How To Setup A Yahoo! Online Store


• How to Start Your Own Online Ebay Store

Here is a video from E-how on how to create an online store:

How to Start an Online Store -- powered by eHow.com

Work at Home with LiveOps!

This is part 5 in the Companies that Hire Work at Home Employees Series. Please check out earlier articles:

1. Part 1 - Work at Home With Alpine Access


2. Part 2 - Work at Home With Convergys


3. Part 3 - Work at Home With Extended Presence


4. Part 4 - Work at Home With Internet Girl Friday


5. Part 5 - Work at Home with LiveOps

Work at Home With LiveOps!

LiveOps offers work at home opportunities in the following areas:

• Inbound Sales Calls


• Casual Dining


• Customer Service


• Insurance Sales


• Outbound Sales Calls


• Spanish & French Phone Services

If you have any of the above skills, then a work at home position with LiveOps might be right for you. It is important to note that if you get a work at home job with LiveOps, you are considered an independent contractor, or freelancer. They do not count their work at home workers as employees.

What does this mean for you? Basically, other than getting paid, a work at home position with LiveOps does not have any benefits. LiveOps work at home people do not get health insurance, 401k coverage or vacation time.

LiveOp Wants Work at Home Licensed Insurance Agents

If you are a licensed insurance agent, you should definitely check out a work at home position with LiveOps. A work at home licensed insurance agent with LiveOps takes inbound sales calls. There are several reasons a licensed insurance agent should consider a work at home position with LiveOps:

• First of all, the licensed insurance agent work at home position has the largest earning potential out of all LiveOps work at home positions.


• The second benefit a licensed insurance agent has is the network available on LiveOps. Share tips and tricks, and just chat with other licensed insurance agents.


• All calls from LiveOps' insurance clients must be taken by a licensed insurance agent. This means more time for the work at home licensed insurance agents to take phone calls.


• Because licensed insurance agents that work at home for LiveOps are considered freelancers, you will be free to take other work at home positions.

How Do LiveOps Work at Home Freelancers Make Money?

How much you make as a work at home freelancer for LiveOps depends...some of LiveOps' clients pay 0.25 per minute of phone talk time, others pay a base rate plus a commission, and still others pay straight commission.

If you choose to work at home for LiveOps, you are a freelancer; you will be responsible for your own invoicing, taxes, insurance, and the quality you choose to present to your clients. As in any business venture, the more you put into your work, the more you will make.

Requirements to Work at Home for LiveOps

Well, first of all to work at home for LiveOps, you must be at least 18 years old. You must also take at least one call every 42 days to retain your Independent Contractor status. You can work at home with LiveOps if you live within the 48 contiguous states.

When you apply to work at home with LiveOps, LiveOps will perform a credit and background check, so you must be able to pass both of those.

Work at Home with LiveOps Technical Requirements

Obviously, if you want to work at home with LiveOps, you have to have a computer, and the Internet. But specifically, what does LiveOps require their work at home freelancers to have?

• at least 1 GHz processor


• fast internet service; either DSL or Cable


• a minimum of 1 GB of RAM


• Windows XP or Vista


• Internet Explorer 7


• Java 2 Version 1.5


• at least 1 USB port


• the following Microsoft recommended system configuration settings:




• Windows Update should be set to automatically update


• Windows Firefall must be enabled


• active ant-virus software, also set to update automatically


• anti-spyware and Ad-Aware software




• a 1024 x 728 pixel capable monitor


• a soundcard & speakers or headphones


• printer

To work at home with LiveOps, you must also have a landline phone line separate from your home phone, and a corded headset. They support standard corded telephone service, as well as digital phone service offered by AT&T UVerse, Verizon FIOS and ComCast Digital Voice. All extra services, such as voicemail and call waiting, must not be on the phone line.

Work at Home with LiveOps Application Process

It is simple to apply for a work at home position as a freelancer with LiveOps.

First, you fill out their basic application. This includes some skill tests and a voice audition.

Next, LiveOps will review your work at home application. If your skills match those of LiveOps' current clients, you may be extended an invitation.

If you receive an invitation, you will be given some paperwork to fill out. LiveOps also performs credit and background checks on all work at home applicants. They will run these checks now.

After you send your paperwork to LiveOps, and they verify your credit and background checks, you will be added to the LiveOps Home business platform.

You will then need to complete online certifications before beginning work.

One downside with applying for work at home positions with LiveOps is that they do charge $50 for the background and credit check. Another is that you do not get paid during your certification times.

But, I encourage you to check out the work at home opportunity offered by LiveOps for yourself.

Question

Do you, or have you in the past, held a work at home position with LiveOps? Or perhaps you have applied for a work at home position with LiveOps? Leave a comment and let me know your experiences! Thanks for reading!