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Archive for the ‘Affiliate Marketing’ Category

I have written a few reviews on SFI (Strong Future International).  They have recently changed their program and the compensation package so I thought it was time for another review.

As I have stated before SFI was the first Internet Business I became involved in eight years ago.  I promoted the opportunity and the products for the first five years.  I maintained an EA membership for most of those five years; which cost me approximately $30.00 or more a month.  Out of that $30.00 (which was my only sale) the most I received for one month was $20.00.

I don’t mean to imply that it is not a good program.  It is however a very difficult one if you want to make money fast.  It just won’t happen.

With the new changes at SFI it is somewhat more user friendly when it comes to training and accessibility of the products.  The Triple Click Program is basically a store where anyone can purchase products for their home or office.  You don’t have to be a member to access this site.  It is also the primary store for the affiliates to purchase the needed merchandise they need to continue with their Executive Affiliate upgrades.  Once you sign into the page you can also list things for purchase, so I can see where it would be attractive to many.

Their Eye Earn program is another way of signing up affiliates under you so that you can make money.  With this you have to purchase the Eye Earn package, display it on either you car, wear the shirt and then take a picture and send it to them so they can verify that you are advertising their product before you can earn any money from them.

There are several other programs within SFI where you could possibly make money.  The only program that I really benefited from was the IAHBE, which is now sold in the Triple Click Program.  This is a great learning tool that has tons of free books, articles, and advice on how to run a successful home business.  Anyone starting a home business could benefit from this site you don’t have to be a member of SFI to purchase the program; it is connected to SFI and they will encourage you to sign up for SFI but you don’t have to and it is $30 a month to stay with them, it is not a one time purchase.

SFI will tell you that you don’t need to upgrade to make money.  But in fact you really do.  You can make money as a free associate but it is questionable if it is worth your time.  I have 170 associates under me (that is after eight years of advertising), my upline support was non-existent, SFI support is there 24/7 but does not always answer your question.  If you are not an EA they will insist that you have to be one before you can make money.

As far as their compensation package I am still a little confused.  One person tells me I don’t have to be an EA to make money from my downline, while another tells me I do.  I haven’t been an EA for some time and refuse to spend $30.00 a month on the off chance I might earn $6.00 of it back from someone under me that will upgrade.  By the way I do have two EA’s under me at this time and am always there to answer their questions honestly.

You are suppose to earn 30% commission on any non-affiliate sale; if one of your personally sponsored affiliates purchases something from Triple Clicks you are suppose to earn 15% of that sale.  And on it goes until you are crossed eyed trying to figure out if they owe you money.

I would say that when SFI started in the 1980’s it was new and innovative.  It filled a void on the Internet for those of us who wanted to work from home.  The people who started then have made a fortune; I am just not sure it can be said of those who join today.  SFI provides “residual” income in that once you have made a sale or had one of your downline upgrade the income keeps coming in from those sources. As with any business you continually have to go out and find new sources to keep that income growing. There are many programs on the Internet that provide that also, SFI isn’t the only one.

So with all of this said you are probably wondering why I still promote SFI?  Strong Future International is basically a good program for the beginner to learn about affiliate marketing.  It will take you through advertising on the Internet both free and paid, it has some really great products.  Upgrade?  Not unless you can afford it.  Look through the Triple Clicks store at the products offered, if you can see yourself selling $30 or more each month then that would pay for your upgrade.  If you have the extra money each month to take $30 out of your budget to pay your own way then do so; but if you do not have the money don’t upgrade.

This program does have flaws still, but overall if you go into it with an open mind you can learn something about Internet Marketing.

To Your Success
Nancy Kraska
Webmaster

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Several years ago I joined SFI (Strong Future International) with the thought of making a living from that one company. After several years of struggling with the company and spending money each month to upgrade, I found that it did not live up to its hype. Not only did I not make enough from that one company to support myself, I did not make enough to pay for the programs upgrade each month. By this time I had several companies with which I worked that were earning money each month, so I dropped SFI as one of my main opportunities. Although I kept my membership I never upgraded again.

I am sure there are many people out there who have made money with SFI in the past and would disagree and say it was my doing and not SFI’s fault for my not making money. The trouble is I agree with them.

SFI is a great company. Unfortunately I had a sponsor who never communicated with me about how to get my business started. SFI’s training was foreign to me as I had never worked online before. Their training was disjointed for me and that combined with a lack of sponsor support contributed to my downfall. Not only did I not learn anything, but I became the same type of sponsor that I had. I did not communicate with my downline as much as I should have. Frankly, I didn’t know what to tell them or how to help them as I wasn’t sure what I was doing within the company.

So this gives you a little background on my past experience with SFI. Since joining 5 years ago, I have learned a great deal about Internet Marketing from various ebooks and other resources on the Internet. Including friends I have met through forums. With this arsenal of knowledge I decided to take a second look at SFI.

I am happy to say that not only have they completely revamped their website from top to bottom. Their product lines through Triple Clicks and MaxMall have greatly increased the potential for making money. The upgrade process can be done for free now, you don’t have to pay for something that you might or might not need. The support for the novice marketer is greatly improved, so even if you join under someone who is non-communicative you have an excellent chance of success. Simply ask to be assigned another sponsor. Although the way the system is now set up, the sponsor becomes just that a sponsor. The training is completely done by SFI through a simple step by step program. The sponsor is there to steer you in the right direction should you have a question or concern.

I have always liked SFI, even though I didn’t promote it much in the last few years, but now I consider it my top program. This has become a program for the novice and experience marketer alike.

Caution: SFI will not make you rich overnight, but it will give you a solid foundation on which to build a successful Internet business. It was worth a second look.
To Your Success
Nancy Kraska
Webmaster

Having someone else decide your future does not appeal to people who like to decide their own future. These are the type of people who want to steer their own course for the future; being able to take the path any way they want. They want to follow their dreams not someone else’s and are ready to take an adventure that will last a lifetime.

This very mindset is the reason why more people are joining one of the most popular online businesses-affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing affords the individual an opportunity to decide their own future while helping others decide theirs. There are no time schedules, no commutes, and no one to tell you about the work that has to be done. The be an independent affiliate marketer you only need a desire to succeed in this type of business and you will achieve all you have dreamed about. Desire and time is all that is needed to follow your dreams.

So other than desire and dreams is there anything else you need to succeed in affiliate marketing? What do you need to do in order to be successful in this industry? First of all you need to be aware that there is a lot of competition, so you need to find your niche and strive to be above the herd.

Through my own experience I have broken it down to 5 essentials tools to achieve the satisfaction that only comes when you achieve your goals. These 5 tools are a must for anyone to have if they are going to stand out from the rest of the crowd.

1. Learn and be trained: For those who have never done anything like this before you will be in unfamiliar territory and it can be scary if you are not properly trained; you could get lost in the herd of affiliate marketers online. You will need to learn the tricks of the trade for every aspect of the marketing game. You will also need a to understand that knowledge will give you an advantage over others in this business.

2. Willingness to invest time and effort even if you don’t see results. Many times people give up too soon and the results are just around the corner. It might be several months before you will even see that first results in the form of profit. Patience and perseverance are important. It is those qualities that will stop someone from giving up after investing a lot of there selves into the business.

3. Self-determination. You have set the goal of success in affiliate marketing therefore you must have the ability to keep pushing yourself. Never having to say quit is a quality each and every affiliate marketer should possess, and the ability to motivate oneself into reaching new goals is an ability that would actually take an affiliate marketer to their set goals.

4. Discipline. Teach yourself to work each and every day with all the enthusiasm you can gather, then you are close to achieving what you have set your heart to having in the first place.

5. Optimism. Negative attitudes and hearsays have no place in an affiliate marketer life and in making that life better for himself and for everyone concerned. Never allow outside influences your attitude toward the business; because once you start a business, you must be the head of the company and the leader of all it entails.

The components to success in any online business such as affiliate marketing are varied, but the most important thing one needs to be able to make it big lies in the individual. It is the individual who has the ability to do everything that will ultimately lead to prospects, and the desire, which feeds his drive, is the fuel that will keep the affiliate marketer going.

Affiliate marketing is all about putting one’s destiny into one’s own hands. The right attitude is the key to being able succeed in an unfamiliar territory where peace of mind will be found.

When operating a home based business online there are basically there are two types:

• Affiliate Marketing
• Network Marketing

The first, affiliate marketing, provides an income for thousands of people all over the world. Affiliate marketing can best be described as a retailer. Like all retailers you will get paid a commission for selling other people’s products.

One of the easiest and most popular ways to make money online is affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing can be done without owning your own website. You don’t physically hold the goods or exchange payments or inquiries about any of the products. All any affiliate marketer does is promote the products, the rest is handled automatically at the wholesaler and you get paid commission at a set rate (70% is not uncommon) according to the product.

One of the top Internet marketing affiliates is Rosalind Gardner.  Her book, The Super Affiliate Handbook has everything you will need to know about making money online as an affiliate marketer.  A former air traffic controller, Rosalind Gardner now earns well over $400,000 a year as a “super-affiliate” by doing nothing more than selling other peoples products online.

Network marketing on the other hand is a business in which a group of distributors is used to build and expand the business. An excellent example of this would be Amway.  You not only make money on your sales but also on the sales of your team of distributors, or downline. Another name for Network Marketing is multi level marketing or MLM a system in which you can get paid on sales made by your team several levels deep in your downline. Multi level marketing is a completely legitimate business representation and should not be confused with pyramid marketing (which is illegal) where only the person at the top (usually the program owner) makes money.

Network marketing is a great way to build a significant income in a very short period of time. Choosing the right program and with a little effort anyone can make money easily and quickly with network marketing. In addition to making money fast, network marketing is a system that enables you to use time as a leverage to build a business that will pay you residual income for years to come.

The fastest and easiest way to make money today is through network marketing. With the advent of the Internet it is now possible to build a worldwide business very quickly, no matter where in the world you reside. The top network marketing company is SFI where network marketing is combined with affiliate marketing.

The easiest way of setting up a home based business that will earn multiple streams of income is to start your home based business by following an established model.