Monday, October 30, 2006

SNAFU

Just a few weeks ago a typhoon hit our country bringing down powerlines and telecommunication sites, so electricity was not available to major cities and rural areas, as well as cell phone signals and internet connections. Last night another super typhoon just landed and it was much stronger than the one from a few weeks back.

The same typhoon that gave my entire family the FLU and cursed both me and my wife with acute bronchitis. I just got back from the doctor and he said I got something called pnuemothorax or something like that, I really dont care what happens to me since I have a high threshold for pain but I really pity my wife, crying at night time because she can't sleep due to coughing constantly, and just hurting almost everywhere. I never thought that couging can have so many complications, like putting stress on your abdominal muscles, the pelvic area, and can even crack your ribs.

I don't know WTF is happening to me and my family but I hope this shit ends soon.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Downline Building

Why do you think so many companies are creating free membership type cards that when used will save you money? All the major airlines and other companies have some form of a prospect list. They do this so they can send their customers special offers, track their spending habits, reduce their inventory and use Just in Time ordering so they only order what they will need based on the statistics they gather from their customers. It saves them money and it allows them to make more money.

With this said, the method of business building that has worked for decades and maybe even centuries is to build a prospect list, so lets talk about an opt-in or prospect list for a minute so you can realize the value of this aspect of your business. No, the Internet has not been around for decades or centuries, but a prospect list is just as important to traditional businesses as it is for online businesses. Your prospect list can be a goldmine. You can buy leads and send them a message directing them to what is called a capture or landing page. (This is simply a page where you give prospects a little bit of information and the goal is to get them to agree to receive additional emails from you)

You dont even have to wait until you have a product to start building your prospect list. Everyone has a story to tell and you can start telling your story to people so they can learn from your mistakes and expertise. Not everyone has the marketing experience I have, so I can offer my expertise in this area. You might have a background in accounting or painting, or collecting old bottles. So you use that information to form a bond with others on the Internet with similar interests. Remember, when you are dealing online, you are dealing with nearly a billion people and out of a billion people there will be thousands who have similar interests to you.

Make every day count. Do something every single day toward building your list. The best way to ensure your success online is to build your prospect list. Stop waiting for people to contact you and go out and find them yourself.

Build your own prospect list! I don’t care if you are promoting dildos, paper clips, can openers or socks with holes. Without a prospect list, you are dead in the water. You cannot buy a prospect list, you have to build it yourself. You can buy leads, but you have to get those leads to give you their name, email and other personal information which gives you permission to send emails to them and then you send updates, announcements, special offers, etc.

You don’t blast them with an ad a day, you don’t blast them with the latest and greatest product or service; you don’t blast them with anything! You nurture them and educate them on who you are and how you can help them and you build trust in them. You make sure you have answers to their questions and you support them however you can. Eventually, they are going to buy something from you because you have gained their trust and you are there to support them. You cannot make money overnight and you cannot build a prospect list overnight. It takes time, it takes patience and it is going to take some money.

Sending people to your affiliate sales page so they subscribe to get information from the company you are selling for is not the same as building your own prospect list. You need to have 100% control over your prospects and not leave this to someone else. For this you will need an Ad-free Autoresponder and a landing page so people can subscribe to get more details from you. This gives you total control and then you can do as we mention above and start educating and getting to know your prospects.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

The Top reasons forex traders fail

Forex trading is a difficult proffession and few traders have consistently made money in this business.

The most common thing that happens is that a new trader comes into the market and doubles his/ her account in 1 month. The next month ,the same trader has no funds to trade the forex market and blames everything but themselves for such a turn around.

These are the common reasons why traders new or old fail to make a living off the market.

1. Believing the forex hype

One of the biggest reasons traders fail especially new forex traders believes the hype of traders making $1 million from an account that started with $500 in 3 months. I can assure you that that is as rare as two people having the same fingerprints.

You will find most forex blogs and sites speaking about how George Soros who broke the Bank of America and encourage a new trader to do the same.

Forex trading is a tough business and it is unlikely that one is going to do the same thing soon.

2. Demo trading in forex

Now that you have decided to start forex trading, the next thing one is encouraged to do is open a forex demo account. The brokers will offer you an account with anything from $5k to $100k to open a fake trading platform for you so that you can hone your trading skills.

The biggest reason this should be avoided is because trading is 80% your mental attitude.

A demo account will allow you to stay in trades and make a killing in the market. It is a well known fact that many traders start trading a demo account and make money that they can't believe. Immediately after doing these demo trades for 1 month. They open a real trading account. And all of a sudden, they are in a losing spree.

Real forex traders know that there is more to trading than just placing trades in a demo platform and the biggest reason for trader failure is the fear of loss. When a trader sees his real account losing 10 then 20 then 30 dollars they are likely to close otherwise good trades.

However because they were not using their funds demo trading, they kept their positions.

My solution is to open a real trading account with Oanda and trades of $1 account sizes until you are comfortable trading. It makes no difference if you are trading 100k or $10 accounts, the human emotions in losing money are the same.

3. Under funding your forex account

Now that you have demo traded, you decide to fund your account with $500 to trade a full lot account.

When deciding what to buy, when to buy and what quantity to buy of a product in your house, one always looks at how much money they have.So why is it that the forex trader wants to avoid doing that?

Very many traders have failed due to not properly funding their accounts. In our series about forex money management techniques, we discuss some of these forex money management techniques.

If you trade a full lot with an account size of $500 it means that you only need to lose 50 pips to lose your whole account. I can assure you that will be very likely.

Traders need to fund their trading accounts adequately.

4. Lack of proper forex training.

Forex trading is a profession, not a game.I don't know of anyone who can go see a doctor who has not completed school. So what makes the new trader believe that he can know everything there is to know about forex in 1 month?

Very few traders even know how moving average is derived or even it's pro's and con's. How do they expect to interpret a technical indicator is they can't understand the language? It's like Spanish translator in the UN who cannot understand French. How is he supposed to interpret?

Fundamental traders who just place stops and targets have never heard of price spikes that never get filled that have and will continue decimating trader accounts. It would not hurt a fundamental trader to know exactly what the employment report is saying, would it?

It takes time to learn any profession and with forex, it is very important to take your time learning exactly what you are doing.

5. Choosing your forex trading system

Take your time to choose your forex system and stick with it.

Your first problem is choosing the forex system that works for YOU not the whole world and you should be able to do that following point 4 above.

The next problem is a problem even for more experienced forex traders.

When a trader goes through a rough period of draw downs in their accounts.The natural thing to do is to look for "mistakes" in your system or method and even start looking for a greater, better, new perfect system. The only problem is that it doesn't exist.

Many have found themselves after months in the wilderness of looking for the Holy Grail forex trading system, always going back to the one they started with.

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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

6 Questions To Ask Before Becoming Involved In An Online MLM Business

Everywhere you look on the Internet these days, someone is offering a "fantastic new" Internet business opportunity. Many of these, of course, are built on MLM models.

Some of the questions asked (or which should be asked) by people unfamiliar with MLM and/or Internet businesses and Internet marketing are:

1. What is an MLM business?
2. Is an MLM business even legal?
3. Can I make money with an MLM business?
4. Should I get involved with THIS online MLM business?
5. What do I need to do to be successful in an MLM business - online or offline?
6. Having looked at the items above, do I still REALLY want to do this?

WHAT IS MLM?

MLM stands for multi-level marketing. Simply put, MLM means that the business allows its distributors or representatives to recruit others into a downline. The "recruiter" then collects commissions from sales made by downline members as well as personal sales. MLM is commonly linked with network marketing which is marketing done essentially by word of mouth. In the U. S. some well known MLM network marketing companies are Avon cosmetics, Shaklee supplements and home care products, and Ameriplan health care plans.

IS MLM LEGAL?

MLM itself is a perfectly legal way for a company to distribute commissions and create a large sales force. The problem is that many unscrupulous companies and individuals have used the MLM model to promote illegal or quasi-legal "products". As a result, most people equate the term MLM with illegal schemes such as the "Make $90,000 In 90 Days" letter, the "Lawyer Brown" or "David Rhodes" letter, or other pyramid or Ponzi schemes in which the only "product" is the opportunity to get others to send money for the opportunity of making money with the pyramid scheme.

Usually, the single most important deciding factor, although not necessarily the only one, in determining if an MLM proposal is legitimate is a simple question. Is this company selling an ACTUAL product or service? Remember; just because an MLM company is legal DOES NOT necessarily mean that it is a good place to invest your time and money. Do your homework.

CAN I MAKE MONEY WITH MLM?

Absolutely. Millions of people around the world are participating in MLM network marketing ventures and making money...many making LOTS of money. I have two personal friends who became millionaires with MLM companies...Excel Telecommunications, and Ameriplan dental plans. However, an MLM opportunity is just that...an opportunity. There is no guarantee that anyone WILL make money with MLM or any other business opportunity for that matter. Success in any business venture depends on a lot of factors, and for all its apparent simplicity in most cases, a multi-level marketing business is just that...a business. Most failures in MLM come from the same reasons that other small businesses fail; lack of information, lack of education about the business, unwillingness to act, lack of motivation, and so on. Check out the website of the Small Business Administration at http://sba.gov/ for more detailed information and guidance.

IS THIS THE RIGHT MLM BUSINESS FOR ME?

Most people entering into an MLM network marketing business ask one question; "Can I make (lots) of money with this?" A better consideration is the fit between you and the company. Not to be sexist, but a macho dude kind of guy may feel silly trying to sell Avon cosmetics, although Avon is a huge company with lots of successful male and female representatives. In this example, Mr. Macho may feel more comfortable linking up with a more traditionally male oriented company such as Amsoil synthetic motor oils (which has many female representatives), or a gender neutral company such as Ameriplan dental plans.

The best thing to consider before jumping into a relationship with a company is your own personal likes and dislikes. I, for example, am passionate about health and fitness, so it is natural that I have gravitated towards those types of companies. The second consideration is how you feel about an individual company's products or services. Would you use them yourself? Would you feel good recommending them to others even if you were not allied with the company?

HOW DO I BECOME SUCCESSFUL WITH AN ONLINE MLM BUSINESS?

In the offline MLM network marketing world, you start with a good company in a field you are passionate about. You learn the product and use the product. Don't try to "sell" the product. Then you sell yourself. You become a valuable and effective member of the community. You broaden your network of friends and acquaintances. You let it be known what you do, but do not force the product down anybody's throat and do not give a sales pitch unless you are asked to. You DO feel free to offer constructive advice within your field of expertise, and you should become an expert in your field, and give honest appraisals of your positive experiences with the product or service.

With an online MLM business, the steps are essentially the same. Your website will usually do a lot of the selling, but you use forums, articles, linking, ads and search engines to accomplish the same things as you would do off line.

DO I REALLY WANT TO GET INVOLVED WITH AN ONLINE MLM BUSINESS?

The bottom line is that you will not know until you try. However, starting an MLM business, or any new business, involves risk. If you dive in with both feet, quit your job and give it 1000% you may soar to the top or crash and burn. If you hang onto your job for the paycheck, benefits and the social and professional security it provides, you will be limited in your ability to grow your business. This does not mean the business WILL NOT grow; it just means that it will grow more slowly. Even the best business may not grow in leaps and bounds if you can only work on it for five to ten hours a week.

In most cases, there will be a lot of self-doubt and uncertainty even once the project has begun. There will be lags and slow progression due to learning curves, inexperience, nervousness, and the inability to work full time on the business. Therefore, production of income, or any other indicators of success, may be a long time coming. However, many network marketers have achieved great success with the use of two simple tools; time and perseverance.

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Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Top 10 Due Diligence Myths

When doing research before investing in a unit trust, stocks or hyips, most ppl conduct some form of due diligence.. this passage showcases a number of due diligence myth that ppl shld take note of before investing

Are you doing your Due Diligence? Everyone in the high yield investing words speaks about this. You have heard it many times - “Do your DD and you’ll be OK”.

Is this really true? You have seen many high yield programs fail even after the best DD. There is never guarantee. But think about it, if you could avoid 99% of the mistakes that the Due Diligencers do, you’ll have 99% better chance to make successful investment.

Here are the top 10 mistakes and myths in doing DD:

1. Low paying programs are more reliable Low paying programs are just low paying. The low ROI alone does not prove anything and it is not advantage. The lower the program pays, the longer you need to be in profit, the bigger is the risk to loose. Of course you should spot the crazy paying programs as scams, but after that the ROI is not a criteria regarding program’s reliability.

2. The admin is honest (nice) The admin’s behaviour has too little to do with the investment program credibility. Surely, with good psychoanalysis you could understand if the admin is mad or dishonest, but even the greatest and gentlest admin is not indicator that the program is for real

3. There is a phone, the program must be legit Today you can get real but anonymous phone number for few hundreds of dollars. It could be call center, virtual office or other similar kind of service. You can’t track the owner of that number, therefore it is not heping you to track potential scammer. Very often the false investment programs give phone numbers with the only idea to gain trustand make themself look real.

4. There is an office, the program must be legit Getting an office is harder and costs more. But still it won’t help you trackign the thief. In many countries an office can be hired anonymously, and even if this option is not available, the thiefs use fake IDs (you can even purchase one online).

5. You can meet the admin, they are for real Yes, if you can meet the admin, you at least know he/she is a real person. Can’t they disappear though? See the previous item about the IDs.

6. The admin can show incoroporation documents, this proves they are for real Option 1: The incorporation documents can be faked. Ok, you can eventually check this and spot them out Option 2: The company can be real, but registered by phantoms. If you can’t track the person who owned the scam, you can’t do anything useful Option 3: Ok, there can be a real company. And even then they can scam you - the HYIP history shows several cases in which the program simply start reporting losses. You can’t call the authorities against such company - because when invested you have agreed that losses can occur.

7. The HYIP is paying for long time This is certainly nice unless you are dealing with a ponzi scheme. The longer a ponzi pays, the lower is the chance for you to win when joining. Ponzis have lifetime, you know. Paying for long time alone does not prove anything.

8. Offering managed accounts means they do really trade Offering managed account really proves that the company offers legitime investment service. But this does not prove that their pooled (or whatever they call it) HYIP is also based on real trading. A very clear indication for fraudient scheme is when the managed accounts are producing losses, but the HYIP keeps paying just fine

9. They accept bank wires, so they can’t run away They can run away if they want. I can name at leats 5 HYIPs which accepted wires, but this did not stop them to diappear. Using bank makes the things harder for the scammers, but not impossible

10. They have referal program, must be scam The affiliate marketing is one of the most powerful tools in the internet business. There is nothing wrong to offer referal bonuses for investors who bring other investors - this is a very effective advertisement method. The referal bonuses are red flag only when they are too high.

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HYIP Monitors - How they work

HYIP monitors are often used by HYIP investors as a form of guide on whether a program is a scam but there is something more to it than that.. some monitors themselves are corrupted.. read on to find out why

There are several sources of information about HYIP programs, though no one of them is perfectly reliable, you should use them all and know how to find the needed information about every certain program. Without the right information it may be much harder to be a successful investor.

One of the main sources of the HYIP information are the HYIP monitors. HYIP monitors list all HYIP sites and provide with some basic information about the program, as when it was started, how does it claim to gain the needed profit and what are the interest and fees, but also the most important information - if the program is paying or not. Some programs continue operating even after they’ve finished to pay their members and while experienced investor may always find out easily if the program still pays or not, newbie investors may sometimes lose money on such programs.

All HYIP monitors work in a very simple way, they just monitor all the HYIP programs and also sort them by payouts, age and their preferences. Lots of HYIP monitors also allow people to vote for the programs. While this is a great feature, some of the votes may be easily forged by the program owners themselves, but still the majority of votes are usually made by real persons, which were happy after they got paid. Also pay more attention too the bad votes.
Good programs are never marked with “not paid”, so if any HYIP monitor claims that the program is not paying, stay away from it. But even if the program is paying now, it may stop paying soon and turn to a scam. Look for more information about a program before considering an investment.

There are now hundreds of different HYIP monitors and most of them list hundreds of HYIPs, the competition is very high, though Goldpoll is one of the biggest HYIP protals. Other good HYIP monitor is HYIPs Analysis, where you can check an average lifetime of any HYIP program and estimate how long will a certain HYIP last.
HYIP monitors earn from the interest paid by the HYIPs, but also form referral comissions generated by their visitors who decide to invest in the program. Also every HYIP owner should usually pay around $20-$50 to get his HYIP listed. This money is invested aftewards into the program.

HYIP monitors are great to check the program and see if it pays, but they mostly list programs paying high returns, like over 10% daily and these HYIP usually don’t last long, so a lot of people get scammed by believing that the program is able to generate this kind of interest for a long term period.

Use HYIP monitors to find new programs, but also use HYIP forums and read HYIP articles to educate yourself more and to be a more successful investor.

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Friday, October 06, 2006

How Long Should You Stick With A HYIP?

Most people ask me when I feel is the right time for them to stop compounding/reinvesting and take their money out of a program. This is a tough answer to give. It all depends on the program that is invested in and the rate of return.

I recommend the following for the below 3 categories:

1. Low stable payers (Pays between 2-7% per week, 8-28% per month)

This type of program is probably one of the safer types around. More likely than types 2 and 3, these are actually investing funds in Stocks, Forex, or other stable programs. This means that they will most likely be around for quite some time. Even if they do end up as a ponzi, their lifespan will be much longer then types 2 and 3. I recommend that you Invest a sum of money and then compound half of your returns until you get back your principle. Once you have recovered your principle continue to compound/reinvest but this time at a rate of 60-70% of your returns. If the program sticks around, you should be able to profit quite a bit. Once you receive 250% return I recommend that you stop compounding and look for another program.

2. Mid range paying moderately secure program (Pays 8-16% per week, 32-64% per month)

This type of program is probably the most popular among investors. They feel secure since the payouts are not too high, but also feel like they are going to quickly make a return on their investments. Many of these programs actually invest in other programs, forex, stocks, etc, however many are just ponzi's. I have found that most of type 2 HYIP's are a mixture of both ponzi and investment program. They more then likely invest members funds in a variety of ways, but most of the time find it impossible to pay out such high returns with the revenue they are making. This forces them to become part ponzi and use some of the new members funds to pay off old members. In the case of the type 2 HYIPs, I recommend you compound/reinvest only 20% of your returns until you get your principle back, then once you get your principle back you simply stop reinvesting and just let the program run it's course.

3. High paying, relatively insecure programs (Pays Over 17% per week and over 65% per month)

These are usually the programs which are more then likely daily payers. For example 3%, 5%, 10% per day or even more are offered. 99.9% of the time these are atleast part ponzi, and will most likely end within 3 months. These programs begin with the admin knowing that he will have to run a part ponzi program to succeed. It is nearly impossible to earn such high returns in a short period of time like most of these programs claim. The higher the daily return the less likely the program will last. If you dare to gamble your money in such programs, I recommend that you only invest one time and do not reinvest or compound your earnings. The lifespans of type 3 programs are usually extremely short and those who invest right when the program opens are the ones who will walk away happy.
All in all these are just some of my opinion. Performance may vary. Stick to these guidelines and investigate HYIP's before investing in them.

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