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How to Find the Best and Real Affiliate Programs on the Internet

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Affiliate marketplaces are a really good place to kick off your affiliate career, and find products to promote. They act as coordinators of the affiliate web between merchants and affiliate agents, as well as responsible for payment processing from the customer to the agent. There are two ways to find a product or an affiliate program, first one is by either contacting the merchant directly, browsing websites or seeing what other affiliates in your niche are promoting, second one is signing up in an affiliate marketplace. Both are kind of unsettling decisions to make, specially questions of trust.

The fears surrounding affiliate programs you have as a new affiliate in the big wide affiliate world are really rational fears, specially considering all the bad experiences newbies have. It is a necessary thing to do know certain basics on the market and how it runs before you embark out of sheer excitement on marketing activities. We are, in the article, attempting to answer a fundamental question of what are the things you must be aware of before joining or signing up for an affiliate business.

These are three things to look for in an affiliate program: (We are using Clickbank as an example, an affiliate marketplace that is considered by most affiliates to be the best and most reliable).

1-Commission: Low commission is not worthy of your time and effort, even as a beginner affiliate, this depends on the price and quality of the products you are promoting. To know whether the commission is low or high, let’s take commission in Click bank as an example, the minimum commission is 60%, knowing that most products’ prices range between $30-$70, it means a minimum of $18 per sale guaranteed in the platform. There are few exceptions of course when the prices are higher than $70, which is only positive.

2-High Gravity Rating: This basically means that the product in question is selling well, so you as well will get a good sum of money out of selling it. The gravity rate is determined and based on sales made by other affiliates. Never take on an affiliate program with low gravity, unless you check the sells page in case of new products.

3- Reputation of Product and Marketplace: This is a crucial thing, a profound research is needed before you sign up for anything. It can make your experience so traumatizing or put you off affiliate marketing for a while to sell untested and unreliable or harmful products, moreover, if the platform where you work will not pay you at the end of the day.

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Source by Raymond R Johnsen

Views: 0

January 5, 2020
Top Network Marketing Company – Why Are the Products So Expensive?

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I’m sure you’ve heard this question before, Why are top network marketing company’s products so expensive?

This is one of those ever-present questions that networkers and direct sales people will continue to encounter (probably) forever–and there’s always more to it than meets a simple answer.

One key is not to side-step it. There are good and genuine reasons for legitimate, premium-priced products–and of course there are over-priced ones as well. Honesty is best, as always, and I’ll endeavor to give you the general truth with my answer to the question.

Special Products at Special Prices

First, the products available through top network marketing companies sales and distribution model are mostly what are called “specialty” items. They are higher priced products to begin with, having more costly ingredients and more complex designs or formulas; they are simply more expensive to make and package. Some well-known non-network marketed examples are Clinique makeup and fragrance products, Apple computers, iPods and iPhones, Armani clothing, Mercedes and Lexus automobiles.

Unless you’re dealing with a scheme or a scam, these premium products outperform their cheaper, off-the-shelf counterparts, giving consumers more and better benefits. Since they have greater value, they cost more.

If these products are being outsourced by the networking company (produced by a “third-party” vendor/supplier), they tend to be manufactured in smaller production runs that do not allow for all the optimal low-cost advantages of buying and making in the high volumes mass-marketers enjoy. The manufacturing processes are more complex and exclusive. The profit margins are higher. This results in a higher quality product with more attention to detail and quality control.

The reason manufacturers and marketing companies select network marketing and direct sales is because these higher-priced products are of higher quality, and they therefore require special methods of distribution and sales.

Simply put, they cannot compete with the lower-priced, lower quality “commodity” products, which are sold based mainly on discounted mass-market pricing and brand awareness alone. Think Wal-Mart and Costco.

Specialty products are “education-intensive.” They need greater explanation; for example, what formula, ingredients and/or processes makes the product more expensive than those mass-market goods available through direct response marketing (such as the Internet and mail-order) or retail chain store sales. Many require demonstration.

Mass-market products depend on advertising, promotion and merchandising at “point-of-purchase,” all of which are required to get consumers’ attention, let them know the product exists (to create “trial” especially if it’s “brand” new), and to give them enough compelling reasons to purchase and keep on purchasing.

Going head-to-head with nationally advertised products, many to most of which are heavily discounted and sold at the lowest price possible, is a tough game for just about all smaller businesses to win. Imagine trying to sell vitamins or nutritional beverages or “prestige” cosmetics against a major manufacturer selling through Wal-Mart, or a natural toothpaste against a tube of Crest® through Kroger or Publix supermarkets.

Specialty products are perfect for the person-to-person, information-rich education, demonstration and service oriented methods of network marketing.

And that’s where the important second aspect of network marketing’s “higher price” comes in: the added value which you as a “distributor” add to the specialty products you sell.

Added Value Added

Network marketing and direct sales representatives add significant value to the product they sell and they are well paid when they do so successfully.

We reach consumers with the awareness of new products and services that ads and merchandising–no matter how persuasive or promiscuous–would not be able to reach out and touch. And by virtue of our one-on-one, personal relationship with these buyers, we appeal to them with a level of trust and service no mass-market, retail product advertiser could hope to compete with.

The extraordinary level of service Network Marketers provide is not available when buying through mail order or retail outlets. It is a real and tangible benefit, part of the product’s value–and its price.

For example: Someone tries a network marketing anti-aging health product. It’s personally presented for them–either in person or via mail–with a host of educational material about the product: scientific studies, article reprints, even books or tapes explaining how the product was made, how to use it, its unique features and its benefits.

Within one to two days, the network marketer again contacts the person to follow up, asking how they are doing, checking to see that their customer is following use directions properly, make recommendations, etceteras. These service calls continue daily, bi-weekly or weekly until the customer is satisfied and happy.

The network marketer will also continue to send informative and educational material such as updates from scientific literature. He or she will also let the customer know about other products the company offers that this particular customer with his or her unique needs and wants might also enjoy.

This is an extraordinary level of service that is a real and tangible benefit for the consumer. This kind of personal and knowledgeable attention is not available when buying through the Internet alone, or mail-order or most all retail outlets. It is one of the things network marketers are paid for and it is part of the product’s value–and its price.

Are there cases where the above education and service are not offered? Of course.

Are there products that do not have special ingredients or qualities that support a higher price? Sure.

And are there times when a network marketed product is simply more expensive to pay for the multiple-level commission structure? Yes.

Back in the early 1950s, a dog grooming service was opened in New York City to serve people living in the exclusive Park Avenue, 70th and 80th Streets area. They charged $25 to shampoo and clip a dog. They had no customers. Then they jacked-up their prices to $250 per visit–and were an instant success. The Cadillac Seville, when first introduced in test-market showrooms priced at under $10,000, bombed; at $14,000 the very same automobile became an instant best-seller.

Value is a perception. The relationship between quality, benefit and price, i.e., value, is in the mind of the consumer-beholder. Businesses price goods and services according to what the market will bear. Successful marketers come up with just the right mix of value-benefit-price.

The majority of network marketing direct sales products are of the genuine higher-quality variety, not available in stores, special in ingredients, design and making.

Most offer the convenience of in-home or on-line ordering and to-the-door delivery. They are also special in terms of…

Marketing and Customer Service

The network marketing “sales person” adds value to the product through his or her education, service and sales to the customer.

All of this has its price. And according to consumer trends and the explosive growth of network marketing direct sales companies and their products worldwide, more and more people every day think it’s worth it.

What’s the truth about the price of products offered through network marketing? Are they too high? And if so, why?

The full answer to this one is complicated. If you need a short one, mine is:

High? Usually, yes.

Too high? Sometimes… yes, but generally no.

So, if they are high, why? Let’s start with looking at what kind of products we’re really talking about here.

The Truth is, Specialty Products Cost More

Network marketing is predominantly a “specialty products” business: The products we sell most often tend not to be the type you’d find in supermarkets, drug stores or any other mass merchandiser. They are not the kind that combines the lowest possible price for the least acceptable level of quality. For a conventional retail parallel, look at the products in a natural or health food store, beauty salon, boutique or upscale department store.

Specialty products cost more to make. The ingredients are unique and high quality and production is low quantity–the amounts manufactured usually are not great enough to take advantage of the economies of scale enjoyed by big-time, high-volume, mass-market producers. So these products more expensive–both to make and to buy.

Also, specialty product makers usually cannot depend on major advertising to increase sales: they don’t have that kind of money. So they have to use more expensive forms of distribution, such as small, individual retail outlets whose profit margins are higher than mass-market stores and chains.

Profit Margins and Markups

Here’s an example: a discount chain drug store might be able to markup a bottle of vitamins that normally sells for $3.00 wholesale for less than the normal 33 percent retail profit margin. And, because they buy in large volumes, they’ll get the product for less than $3.00 to begin with.

A natural or health food store might buy that same product at the full $3.00 wholesale price, and use a markup of 50 percent to get their full 33.3 percent retail profit margin.

To the consumer, buying at retail, here’s the difference: $3.99 at the drug store and $4.50 at the health food store.

And then there’s “what the traffic will bear.”

There are sexy boxes of imported chocolate that go for $38.00 each, and poly-bags of 50 mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups you can get for less than $3.80. If your taste tends towards expensive, you’ll generally pay more–in “margin” percentages to middle-people and in total dollars.

Let’s look at a comparison of one single product offered through the conventional manufacturer-to-retailer distribution system and the exact same product sold through network marketing.

$$$ From Conventional Manufacturer to Consumer

We know specialty products cost more to make; again, the ingredients are unique and high quality, and the production is low quantity, so they are simply more expensive.

Manufacturers speak of “Cost of Goods” (CoG): that’s the figure that a product costs the company to make, including overhead, ingredients, packaging and labeling, sales commissions (such as broker’s fees), etc.

The very minimum a manufacturer needs to sell that product for is double, or a 50 percent margin. Considering that most competitive businesses operate on a six percent pre-tax profit, that leaves them 44 percent to pay for everything else. So, the $2.00 CoG product they make, they sell for $4.00.

Now, some manufacturers sell direct to retailers–not many, but a few do, and when they do, they’ll take a higher profit margin to pay for the Cost of Sales (CoS).

However, most manufacturing companies deal through distributors, who charge for warehousing, shipping and selling the products to retail stores. Normal wholesale is a 25 percent markup, which you get by multiplying the purchase price–plus freight if not included–by 1.33. So, our $4.00 item would be sold by a wholesale-distributor to the retailer for $5.32. (Again, plus or not freight costs which can run 10 to 15 percent additional.)

To achieve a 33.3 percent profit margin, the retailer has a 50 percent mark-up–or higher. Our $5.32 product ends up on the shelf at $7.98.

Now, this is the minimum scenario–not what normally happens except in the more strongly competitive markets. It’s not the least bit unusual to find the manufacturer selling that $2.00 CoG product for $5.00 or $6.00… the distributor working on 35 percent instead of 25 percent… and a retailer – especially from a specialty market segment–look for a 50 percent profit (i.e., a 100 percent markup), instead of “only” one third.

And if all of that were true, the retail price of the product through that sales and distribution system would be more like $14.95.

$$$ In Network Marketing Direct Sales

Let’s work this one backwards (because that’s how most of the numbers are figured for your commissions).

If the networking company’s product sells to consumers for $15.00 it will have an average retail commission to the networker of from 20 percent to 40 percent. So, using a 30 percent retail commission, the company’s “wholesale” price to the mlm distributor will be about $10.50.

Let’s say that your company pays out a full 50 percent in “downline” or organizational commissions. That means that the company’s lowest from-the-warehouse price for the product would be half of wholesale, or $5.25.

That’s right in the ballpark for specialty manufacturing, distribution and sales.

It’s a Question of Value

There is also a greater value, beyond the “specialty products” issues of ingredient quality, cost of manufacture and so forth and that’s the education, information and service delivered by the person-to-person distribution network.

Learning the product’s proper use, additional uses, history, all about the ingredients, etceteras, is all part of its value. And products offered through word-of-mouth network marketing have more of this “added value” than any others.

This last point begs the question:

“Are products purchased through network marketing higher priced to make up for the compensation or commission payments to distributors and their networks?”

Can they be? Yes.

Are they… usually? No and Yes.

In an authentic, intelligent, sincere and sensible network marketing direct sales company, one that’s well-managed and directed… a company that understands that the financial health and well-being of the men and women in the field MUST lead their mission, decisions, strategy, policies and procedures… no.

But that new ostentatious corporate headquarters in the prestige location… corporate jet… an army of “distributor service” personnel… rock concert “conventions”… $50,000 “big name” keynote speakers… resort vacations and incentive cruses to exotic locations paid for by the company… luxury car allowances… are all expenses that need to be paid for. Where does that money come from?

Directly (in terms of potential commissions that will not be paid out to people) or indirectly (in over-priced products and/or inflated charges for marketing materials, self-replicating websites, business building tools and trainings), the money comes from only one place… the men and women in the field.

“So… do network marketed products cost more?” Sometimes yes and other times no.

Can they be more expensive than similar items of equal value offered in a conventional market such as a retail store? Yes, they can.

In fact, you can find numerous examples of both conventionally retailed products and networking products of similar sizes, shapes and qualities at prices that vary by as much as 30 to 40 percent or more.

The only sure rule in product pricing the world over is, “What the traffic will bear…” No matter what distribution and sales route the product travels. It’s not so much a game of “Let the Buyer Beware,” as it is and always will be…

“Let the Buyer Be Aware.”

Factor in the at-home shopping convenience… the customer service… the satisfaction guarantee… personal attention… education and information–and in today’s increasingly competitive global marketplace, the “aggressive pricing” posture being taken by more and more networking companies around the world–along with the generally superior quality of the products available through network marketing and direct sales…

… and I believe a growing number quality-conscious consumers will agree with me, top network marketing company’s products represent outstanding value.

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Source by John Milton Fogg

Views: 0

January 4, 2020
The "Key" to Writing Great MLM Success Stories

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Wouldn’t it be great if your MLM success stories could be remembered and shared by those who read them? Most of us are not natural storytellers and it’s hard to craft a good story. However, there is one key that can help make your stories more successful. This key ingredient is a skill that you must learn if you want to make connections with the prospects. You don’t have to be an extrovert to be successful. What is this key to creating successful content that resonates with your readers?

Empathy is the key to great MLM success stories.

Empathy is the key to MLM success stories and to life. It helps builds relationships through trust, compassion and understanding. This umbrella used to be in great abundance, but with technology and society determining the course of everything, it has fallen away. Back in the day, people used to connect in the real world, by having barbecues, going out to dine, and hosting parties. This trend has fallen away, because of environmental issues.

Your MLM success stories is a chance for you to build a connection with your prospects. When a story fails to relate with a reader, they will find something else that is more “in tune” with them. This is a disaster for authors and businesses that use content marketing. A bad story is like having bad public relations. People will not forget the story. This is a serious issue that can close doors forever, the difficult to overcome bad press would take a few pages to discuss. If you have a boat load of money, you can overcome it a lot faster than one that has to do everything on a small scale. It seems like it’s an impossible task, but it may require some significant changes on the tactical level.

How you can use empathy in your MLM success stories?

Empathy is a viable tool to build personal relationships and every MLM success story has that opportunity to do so. The key is writing the content relates to a certain issue that your ideal reader has. Most MLM success stories do not focus on the right elements, they focus on the outcome and the cause, but if you focus on the relation between all the elements. Your stories have a better chance to help your marketing. If you can relate and not be fake about it, the reader will likely stay with the story and engage with you further. They may engage with a simple action, but it is better than abandonment and you don’t want prospects to abandon your content.

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Source by David L. Feinstein

Views: 0

January 4, 2020
Why Chargebacks Are A Good Thing In Multi Level Marketing

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Charge backs are a good thing in multi level marketing. In fact, I would go as far as to say that if you are not with a company that offers charge backs, there is a possibility that your company might not be around to pay that passive and residual income that you joined this industry to obtain.

Now, I'm sure I've probably confused a LOT of people by that statement so let me elaborate.
First off what is a charge back? A charge back is an event that occurs when you are involved in a situation where you are being paid advanced earnings. If the earnings that you are being advanced do not earn out according to the company earnings schedule, a charge back occurs and they take the unearned difference out of your next commission check.

How in the world is less money a good thing?

Understand something; I'm not saying that receiving a charge back is a good thing. What I'm saying is being involved in a company that offers charge backs is a good thing.

In order for a company to offer charge backs to begin with, you have to be in a situation where the company is paying you advanced earnings. This is a very common practice in the insurance world, but is relatively unknown in the multi level marketing realm. An advanced earning is when the company pays you upfront money based on the assumption that the customer you signed up is going to remain a customer for a set number of months.

That is a very powerful concept.

Imagine if you applied for a job and the employer told you that upon accepting you into this position, we are going to pay you 12 month's worth of salary upfront. This is because we know that the large majority of people that we hire stay with us for at least 12 months and we want to motivate our employees with as much income as possible. Now you can take as much of an advance as you want up to 12 months or you can not take an advance at all if you choose. The choice is up to you.

How many of you would call that a good situation?

Well, that's exactly what advanced commissions are. The company is paying you for signing up a customer a set number of months in advance because they know that their average customer is going to remain a customer for at least that amount of time. If your company is doing that, it is considered a very good thing. This is because your company trusts that most of your customers are going to remain customers for a very long time and are putting their money where their mouth is.

If the company is right, and chances are they are if they have been around for any length of time without running out of money, that means that you have a great opportunity to earn passive income as well as residual income for years and years to come .

Now, if your job paid you 12 months of salary upfront assuming that you were going to stay there for a year and you only stayed there for six months, shouldn't your job have the right to take back the other six months worth of salary that they advanced?

Of course they do.

It's the same with advanced commissions. If your customer does not remain a customer for the full advanced period, the company absolutely has the right to take back the money you did not earn.
So think about the product you currently offer right now in multi level marketing. How many months in advance does your company pay you every time you make a sale? If the answer is only one, then your company does not offer advanced commissions. What this means is that your product is not a product that the company can pay advanced commissions and not go out of business. If it was, your company would be paying advanced commissions because any smart company wants as much money as possible to go out to the people bringing in business.

Also keep in mind that in a company that pay advanced commissions, you can decline and go "as earned" if you want to. In that type of scenario there will be no chargebacks because you are being paid as the customer earns out by keeping your product or service. Also, when a chargeback occurs, they don't physically go into your bank account and take the money. They take the money out of your next commission check. This is a huge risk to the company because if you decide to write a bunch of bad business and then quit, the company is stuck and has no recourse to get that money back from you.

So if your goal is to make the most passive and residual income possible, does it make sense to align yourself with a company that has enough confidence in its product or service to pay you in advanced knowing that most customers remain customers for months and years to come?

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Source by Roosevelt Cooper

Views: 0

January 4, 2020
A Review of the Multi Level Marketing International Association Or MLMIA

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The Multi Level Marketing International Association or MLMIA domain was registered in January of 1997. This is an authority website in the Network Marketing Industry that has been around for a very long time. The website origins seem to originate from Irvine, CA and Las Vegas, NV. However the company says they have been around for the last 25 years although before 1996 they operated primarily offline. They are the official association for Network Marketing Worldwide. Their Goal is to strengthen Multi Level Marketing all over the world.

The Multi Level Marketing International Association or MLMIA serves its members in all 3 major segments of the Network Marketing Industry. Firstly they serve all Network Marketing Companies who sell goods or services through Distributorships. They also support all Distributors who sell these goods and services. Finally they support all the support companies who provide all these goods or professional services to these two groups just mentioned.

The MLMIA classifies themselves as a non profit trade organization. Their goal is to keep the Network Marketing Industry clean and are committed to keeping up with the advancements that occur within MLM today. This company has been founded and managed since 1985 by very successful people in Network Marketing. The main goal of the Multi Level Marketing International Association is the protection, support and promotion of individual MLM Opportunities. As a member, their goal is to continually educate you on what it will take to succeed in Network Marketing.

They do this by providing Advanced Industry Related Education which includes Annual Conferences. A membership with them also includes Authority Articles by some Network Marketing Industry experts. You will also have the opportunity to attend National and International Conferences. This is a great place to network and meet brand new people. This service also offers Industry Trade Shows and will even give you internet exposure. The Multi Level Marketing International Association or MLMIA also works with Accredited Colleges and Universities on the subjects of selling, marketing as well as entrepreneurship.

Once you get to the MLMIA website, they have a free newsletter you can subscribe to as well as a free audio you can listen to. They also can connect you to resources that will allow you to better compete out there in this tough industry. One of the most exciting functions of this organization is their Annual Convention and Expo which is offered in the spring of each year. Industry participants from all around the world come here to hear about industry trends.

At the Multi Level Marketing International Association Annual Convention & Expo you Industry Participants will get educated on important topics that will affect your success within the coming year and to network with your peers in a warm, friendly atmosphere. You will be able to grill your fellow Network Marketers and find out what’s working and what’s not working for them.

People enjoy getting educated by professionals and peers alike. They enjoy motivational messages as well as learning techniques that will increase their techniques by top Distributors around the world. No sponsoring or solicitation is permitted during these events. They also have other upcoming events like their annual Golf Tournament like play and dinner which will only set you back $100.00.

From what we can see this organization has been around for a while and have definitely put in their stripes. They get the Kings thumbs up and we have nothing but respect for this outstanding organization.

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Source by Brian Garvin

Views: 0

January 3, 2020
How To Calculate Sales Tax In Your Head

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If you ever have a basket full of shopping goods and want to get a rough idea of the sales tax you’ll be paying, here’s a guide for how to quickly and accurately estimate your tax bill.

This depends on the state you are in – some states have rates as low as 0% (no sales tax), all the way up to nearly 10%. You can determine your state’s rate by checking a receipt on a recent purchase. The total sales tax will be displayed and usually falls between 5 and 9%.

(1) Round your purchase to the nearest ten. If your purchase total is $476.99, round it to $480.

(2) Know your state tax rate, and round it to the nearest whole number. This can be as low as 5%, or as high as 9%.

(3) Follow these tricks for estimating your tax and total:

5%:

(a) Divide your purchase total by 10, ie: delete the last zero in the total. So $480 becomes $48.

(b) Now divide by 2. So $48 becomes $24, your approximate sales tax.

6%:

Follow the steps for the 5% tax. Now, divide your original amount by 100 (shift the decimal place over by two), so $480 becomes $4.80, or about $5.

Now add this amount to the 5% sales tax: $24+$5=$29.

7%:

Same as 6%, but add the total divided by 100 two times. So $24+$5+$5=$34.

9%: Divide your total by 10, so $48. Now divide this by 10 again, and subtract: $4.8, or about $5, so $48-$5=$43.

8%: Follow the same steps as for the 9% sales tax, but subtract twice: $48-$5-$5=$38.

If you follow these steps, you’ll be able to quickly estimate the tax on any item you’re purchasing.

Here is another common mental math question: how can you quickly estimate, in your head, a fair tip for your waiter or waitress?

Most advice says we should give 15-20% tip. Here’s how to quickly estimate the top you give to a server.

Let’s say your restaurant bill is $53.

(1) Divide this by 10: $5.30

(2) Multiply this by 2: $10.60, or about $11.00.

(3) The halfway point between these 2 is the 15% tip, so in this case, about $8.00.

(4) The amount in (2) is a more generous 20% tip.

Pick an amount between (2) and (3) if your service was extra good.

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Source by Scott A McKinney

Views: 0

January 3, 2020
Starting A Business – Some Things To Keep In Mind

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There are many things that are required to run a successful business. To have a business that you can hang your hat on, I would recommend that you keep these ideas in mind.

1) Build something that you believe in

I learn a huge lesson from owning a company for 5 years. When you are in your dark basement thinking about why your business in not producing in the way you would want it to, there is only one thing that powered me forward, and that was the belief in my purpose.

2) Don’t aim for small changes, be radical with your improvements.

In today’s time, we have incredible products and services through entrepreneurship. I strongly recommend that you keep detailed statistics as far as marketing, profits, and costs. When you stay on top on your statistics, you can track the areas where you need improvements.

3) If you become successful, anticipate copiers

When an idea starts to see success, people all over the world are trying to get in on the action by copying everything you are offering. Although it is unfair, I recommend that you constantly find ways to separate yourself from the pack of copy cats.

4) Save your money, so it can save you later

Although this is powerful advice, it is very hard to do. When I had my start-up, it felt like it was taking all my money. One of the main reasons why my company is still standing is because I kept a strong savings account to cover my losses.

5) Rome was not built in a day

Starting a business from scratch is extremely time consuming. According to Forbes, most companies break even after the fifth year. What that means is, on average, most companies are straight losing money for five years and do not see profit to about 5 to

7 years.

6) Make sure you are saving your time

It is important to do some careful research on the industry you are a part of. For example, I am a part of the telecommunications industry and I made it a priority to look at the history of companies in my industry. I looked at they survival rates to determine if they can stand the test of time.

7) Consult with your loved ones

When you decide to start a company, your family gets the pros and cons with what comes with starting a company. If your family is opposed to taking the cons of starting a company, then it will make things that much harder for you.

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Source by Marc-Eddy Drouinaud Jr

Views: 0

January 3, 2020
Learn Options Trading – Option Strategy Basics

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Before you learn the basics about how to trade options and the strategies, it is important to understand the types, cost and risks before opening an options account for trading. This article will focus on stock options vs. foreign currencies, bonds or other securities you can trade options on. This piece will mostly focus on the buy side on the market and the trading strategies used.

What is a Stock Option

An option is the right to buy or sell a stock at the strike price. Each contract on a stock will have an expiration month, a strike price and a premium – which is the cost to buy or short the option. If the contract is not exercised before the option expires, you will lose your money invested in your trading account from that contract. It is important to learn that these instruments are riskier than owning the stocks themselves, because unlike actual shares of stock, options have a time limit. There are 2 types of contracts. Calls and Puts and How to trade them and the basics behind them.

What is a Call Option and how to trade them?

A call option contract gives the holder the right to buy 100 shares of the stock (per contract) at the fixed strike price, which does not change, regardless of the actual market price of the stock. An example of a call option contract would be:

1 PKT Dec 40 Call with a premium of $500. PKT is the stock you are buying the contract on. 1 means One option contract representing 100 shares of PKT. The basic thought and learning how to trade call options in this example is you are paying $500, which is 100% at risk if you do nothing with the contract before December, but you have the right to buy 100 shares of the stock at 40. So, if PKT shoots up to 60. You can exercise the contract and buy 100 shares of it at 40. If you immediately sell the stock in the open market, you would realize a profit of 20 points or $2000. You did pay a premium of $500, so the total net gain in this options trading example would be $1500. So the bottom line is, you always want the market to rise when you are long or have purchased a call option.

Trading Strategy vs. Exercising and Understanding Premiums

With call options, the premium will rise as the market on the underlying stock rises. Buyer demand will increase. This increase in premiums allows for the investor to trade the option in the market for a profit. So you are not exercising the contract, but trading it back. The difference in the premium you paid and the premium it was sold for, will be your profit. The benefit for people looking to learn how to trade options or learn the basics of a trading strategy is you do not need to buy a stock outright to profit from it’s increase with calls.

What are Put Options?

A put option is the reverse of a call contract. Puts allow the owner of the contract to SELL a stock at the strike price. You are bearish on the shares or perhaps the sector that the company is in. Since selling a stock short is extremely risky, since you have to cover that short and your buyback price of that stock is unknown. Bet THAT wrong and you are in a world of trouble. However, put options leave the risk to the cost of the option itself – the premium. Learning or getting information on how to trade Puts starts with the above and looking at an example of a put contract. Using the same contract as above, our anticipation of the market is completely different.

1 PKT Dec 40 Put with a premium of $500. If the stock declines, the trader has a right to sell the stock at 40, regardless of how low the market goes. You are bearish when you buy or are long put options. Learning to trade puts or understanding them starts with market direction and what you have paid for the option. Any basic strategy you take on this contract must be done by December. Options normally expire toward the end of the month.

You have the same 3 trading strategy choices.

Let Option Expire – usually because the market went up and trading them is not worth it, nor is exercising your right to sell it at the strike price.

Exercise the Contract – Market declined, so you buy the stock at the lower price and exercise the contract to sell it at 40 and make your profit.

Trading The Option – The market either declined, which raised the premium or the market rose and you are just looking to get out before losing all of your premium.

Conclusion Basics

Trading Options carries nice leverage because you do not have to buy or short the stock itself, which requires more capital.

They carry 100% risk of premiums invested.

There is an expiration time frame to take action after you buy options.

Trading Options should be done slowly and with stocks you are familiar with.

I hope you learned some of the basics of options buy side trading, investing and how to trade them. Look for more of our articles. American Investment Training.

More on Options and Trading Strategies

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Source by Nick Hunter

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January 2, 2020
Ways to Make Money Online at Home

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There are many methods that you can use so as to work from home. The internet offers great potential in this area and more and more people are enjoying lucrative returns from online ventures. A home based business offers great comfort, especially when it supplies you with the kind of returns that you may have always wanted. Some of the things that you can engage in may be long-term or short term and they include:

Writing and selling EBooks

If your writing is great and you have great prose, then you may consider writing an eBook. The market has become saturated, so choosing a great niche is still important. Usually, the books that help people learn more about technical topics are still great sellers. This is an amazing way to make passive income. There are different platforms where you can sell the eBooks. It doesn’t require a lot of money, but you will need to invest time when writing and when marketing them.

Audiobooks

EBooks are losing popularity and people are now trying out the audio books. People today prefer the audio and visual as they are more convenient, especially when there are technical subjects involved. It is a smart thing to start out with an eBook and then turn it to audio buy using various resources. You can make use of royalty share program to get a producer so that you don’t need to use too much cash when starting out.

Create apps

Creating an app is technical and it is only best suited for people with such skills. It takes a significant amount of time. Apps can be a great way to make some income, especially if they are created in the correct manner. With so many people using smartphones today, you need a great app that will attract a great number of them. If you have money but no skills, you may choose to hire someone to assist in the creation. Market research is required if you are to come up with an app that will sell.

Mechanical Turk

These are usually the micro jobs that you can carry out for people. These are usually tasks that are very simple and they can be done by just anyone. They pay little but if you are able to do a lot of these jobs for people who pay well, you can be able to make some money online.

Gigs

You may have some sort of experience that is professional in different areas such as SEO training, web development, social media marketing, accounting, design and so on. You may handle different valuable services that you can up-sell so as to make money for every gig. There are different providers in this area and in such platforms; it is possible to sell a great number of products and services. Find out exactly what it is that you can offer people so as to start generating money.

Sell services professionally

There are other platforms that offer some great resources when it comes to the sale of professional services. With experience in a certain field, you can sell services on different platforms. Selling is difficult and getting reviews and building a track record takes time.

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Source by Shalini Madhav

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January 2, 2020
Better Customer Service Through Effective Time Management

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Being able to manage and prioritize is an important skill when servicing customers. Planning events, activities, and tasks on a yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily basis-that is, prioritizing time-can be rewarding from the standpoint of allowing you to be more proactive in preparing to deal with situations. Such planning can reduce your need to be a crisis manager. It is important on and off the job because, if you do not manage your personal life well, you may carry over personal stress into the workplace. This is not only inefficient; it is also unfair to your employer, peers, coworkers, and external customers.

After you have scheduled key events and tasks using some type of scheduling system (e.g., time management software, written planning system or calendar, or electronic scheduling device that can download information into your computer), review the information regularly to avoid forgetting something.

One way to manage events, rather than having them manage you, is to create a list of activities each day and assign a value to each based on importance. The key is to be consistent and prioritize each day. Some people make planning the last activity of their workday. When they arrive to work the next morning, they are ready to begin rather than spending time preparing.

Guidelines for Setting Priorities

Three guidelines can help you in determining what tasks to do first. These can help you create a realistic and achievable list of daily tasks. As you learned when you read about goal setting in other chapters, goals must be attainable. Use the following standards as a guide when setting priorities.

Judgment. You are the best judge of what you can accomplish in any given day. You know your strengths and what has to be done. When selecting priorities, remember that the ones having the most impact on customers and others should be placed high on your list. On the other hand, do not put so many priorities on a daily list that you will not get them done. If this happens, you might become discouraged and give up.

When you find that you have more high priorities than you have time, you may need to ask for help or guidance from your boss. Many times, simply asking for assistance helps develop your relationship with others. They feel respected and trusted by your gesture, as long as you do not abuse their help or appear to be unloading your tasks onto them. Also, consider other resources that you might use to accomplish tasks (e.g., technology, outside vendors, or customers).

Relativity. Assigning priorities is a matter of relativity. Some tasks and projects are readily rated higher than others. You should be guided by the question “What is the best use of my time?” Many people fill their daily schedule with frivolous or easy tasks and with tasks that they like to do. This produces a hollow feeling of accomplishment. They may get a lot done throughout the day and enjoy doing it, but they have not added a lot of value to customer service or aided in accomplishing organizational goals. Keep in mind when setting priorities in the workplace that your primary focus should be your customers and activities that support them.

Timing. Reality and deadlines have a way of dictating priorities. The starting time of a project or task also may establish priorities. Once you begin a task, there must be enough time to finish it. If this is not possible, you may have to re prioritize or seek assistance.

Be realistic about the time it will take to complete a task. Make sure that you schedule that much time, plus a little extra, on your daily planning sheet. Also, consider your peak time period for performance. Each person typically has a period of the day in which he or she has more energy and can get more done. Capitalize on your peak period and schedule high-priority tasks during that time, if possible.

Prioritizing System

To set up your own priority system, list all of your pending activities and then group them according to their level of importance. How you assign value to a task is not as important as long as you use the same format each day. Many people use an A, B, C system, and others use a 1, 2, 3 format. Here are suggested criteria for assignment:

Priority A-Must do or critical items. Some things must be done because of management directives, local, state, or federal regulations, importance to customers or clients, deadlines, or opportunities they provide for your success or advancement (e.g., state tax reports, actions requested by a customer, or application for a position in the organization with a specific cutoff date for submission).

Priority B-Should do. Items in this category are of medium value. Although they may contribute to customer satisfaction and improved performance, they are not essential or do not have critical deadlines (e.g., mailing an unsolicited information kit to a customer about a new product or developing a proposal for changing an existing system or process).

Priority C-Nice to do. This is the lowest category and includes tasks that are not a direct link to customer satisfaction. They may even be fun or interesting, but could be omitted or left undone. Postponing or scheduling such priorities until a slower time period will likely have little or no impact on customer service (e.g., meeting with team members to brainstorm ideas for a more efficient layout of cubicles, cleaning old e-mail files, or neatly lining up the products on a shelf).

Note: As you go through your e-mail and voice mail messages at the times you have scheduled throughout the day, prioritize them, and add them to your list of things to do.

The key to effective time management is to have a plan and work that plan. If you control your time, you and your customers both stand to gain from your efforts.

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Source by Bob Lucas

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January 2, 2020