Affiliate since: 06/08/2012, Power Rank: 99999999

For the most part, I treat my CSA's as if they are my own PSA's. I assume that they might not be looked after by their sponsor, and may need a lot of help and guidance.

However, I don't feel as 'obligated' to them, so it makes it easier in many ways. I feel that I can help them out with their questions, without having to live up to some promise that I made to them.

Affiliate since: 06/08/2012, Power Rank: 99999999

You are asking about 2 different skill sets; blogging, and promoting.

You should first learn how to blog, and get yourself a proper self-hosted WordPress account. You need to know what your blog will be about, and who you are writing for. Write in your native language, and don't try to sound like an expert, even if you are one. Write so that people can feel comfortable reading about you. Pick a topic that interests you. Your subject should be something that you can prattle on about for days, and not get bored with it. Unless your intention is to have a private members-only blog for your downline, your blog should be about you and your interests. Keep the business stuff off the front page.

Set up a simple Google Adsense account, get Google and Bing analytics, learn how to submit your site index, and get your site crawled. Also, you should learn about using auto-responders, and general web marketing concepts. Don't forget to set up Facebook, Google+, and Twitter accounts. Pinterest may also be applicable, depending on your blog topic/niche.

Once you can get your blog to rank, and attract a few readers, you can start thinking about promoting something like SFI. Usualy, you start off with a light introduction to such a topic, letting people know that you're involved in it, and how its working out for you. These types of posts may be suitable for adding an SFI or TripleClicks banner to the bottom of, but don't overdo it. Make sure that you use a tracking code for your banners. Be enthusiastic in your posts, and don't go into details about issues you're having. A great way to introduce people to your TripleClicks store is to promote something that you genuinely like in one of your blog posts.

At some point, people will start to click on your ads for SFI, and some of them will actually sign up. Since you used a tracking code, you will be able to identify which ad the people signed up from. These people should become your closest allies in SFI, since they got to your blog through a common interest. You can look at setting up a members only section of your site, or adding a forum for your downline. You can even set up a seperate sub-domain for your group. Get some PLR or MRR materials and put them in your members area. You can find some good ones in your TripleClicks store, so that means you can set an example to your downline.

Have fun with your blog!
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You are asking about 2 different skill sets; blogging, and promoting.

You should first learn how to blog, and get yourself a proper self-hosted WordPress account. You need to know what your blog will be about, and who you are writing for. Write in your native language, and don't try to sound like an expert, even if you are one. Write so that people can feel comfortable reading about you. Pick a topic that interests you. Your subject should be something that you can prattle on about
...more

Affiliate since: 06/08/2012, Power Rank: 99999999

No matter what forum you are visiting, by providing good answers and being helpful to other forum members, people will take an interest in you. All you need to do is have a good bio with your SFI or personal site link in it. Most forums will provide a suitable place for you link.

When people are discussing programs, and looking for information about specific types of business opportunities, you can bring up that you are an affiliate for one of the biggest systems online. If they want to know more, encourage them to visit your forum profile, where they can link to your SFI page, or in some cases personal website.

If you have your own website, be sure to use that as your forum profile link. Not all forums like affiliate ID's. Always respect the other forum members, act professionally, and don't ramble on about nothing just to be heard.

In other words, don't sell SFI, sell yourself. Let people come to you, so that you can guide them through the sign up process, and get them off to a good start with their new business. In this way, your are more likely to recruit active members to your team, rather than collect inactives that do nothing.
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No matter what forum you are visiting, by providing good answers and being helpful to other forum members, people will take an interest in you. All you need to do is have a good bio with your SFI or personal site link in it. Most forums will provide a suitable place for you link.

When people are discussing programs, and looking for information about specific types of business opportunities, you can bring up that you are an affiliate for one of the biggest systems online. If they want
...more

Affiliate since: 06/08/2012, Power Rank: 99999999

You get 'big traffic' by paying for it. You can pay in cash, or take the time to learn how to drive traffic for free, but either way, you're paying for it.

Before doing that though, maybe you should think about the quality of the traffic more?

Which would you rather do? Earn 1 cent for every dollar you spend, or earn 1 dollar for every cent you spend?

If your choice is the former, then with a few thousand in your pocket you're all set to hire an expert to do all your traffic driving for you.

If you chose the latter, then maybe you should rethink the whole big traffic idea, and start looking for some quality traffic instead.
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You get 'big traffic' by paying for it. You can pay in cash, or take the time to learn how to drive traffic for free, but either way, you're paying for it.

Before doing that though, maybe you should think about the quality of the traffic more?

Which would you rather do? Earn 1 cent for every dollar you spend, or earn 1 dollar for every cent you spend?

If your choice is the former, then with a few thousand in your pocket you're all set to hire an expert to do all
...more

Affiliate since: 06/08/2012, Power Rank: 99999999

In my opinion, chasing VP is way over-rated. Sure, as a new person, getting that 1500VP seems really important. Clicking buttons isn't the best way to earn VP.

The whole purpose of SFI is to sell products. I know some people extoll the virtues of recruiting to no end. But if nobody sells anything, then nobody makes any money. Selling people on the idea of earning money online is easy. Selling real products is much harder. So we end up with people who sponsor masses of recruits who don't know a thing about what they should be doing. And all that those new recruits see is that they should be earning VP and sponsoring more bodies. Nobody teaches them how to sell the products. Some will learn on their own, a few will actually read the training, but most of them will end up thinking that by sponsoring a lot of warm bodies, they'll get rich. So to me, sponsoring is also a bit over-rated, especially if you're not selling products.

As you may guess from the above rant, I think selling products is severely under-rated. Most of the marketing material doesn't really touch on the idea of selling products.
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In my opinion, chasing VP is way over-rated. Sure, as a new person, getting that 1500VP seems really important. Clicking buttons isn't the best way to earn VP.

The whole purpose of SFI is to sell products. I know some people extoll the virtues of recruiting to no end. But if nobody sells anything, then nobody makes any money. Selling people on the idea of earning money online is easy. Selling real products is much harder. So we end up with people who sponsor masses of recruits who
...more

Affiliate since: 06/08/2012, Power Rank: 99999999

You have 5 points available to use. Your rating will be biased, because it is YOUR opinion of the sponsor. My suggestion is:

1 - Never hear from sponsor, doesn't respond to questions, is basically inactive.
2 - Get occasional canned emails, does not answer questions, is mostly inactive and doesn't seem to care.
3 - Repeat emails, not pertinent topics, answers questions, active, but not caring.
4 - Good relevant emails that are pertinent, gives great answers to questions, and seems to care.
5 - Goes out of his/her way to provide good timely information, enthusiastically answers questions, provides a personal touch to communications, and cares about me and my business.
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You have 5 points available to use. Your rating will be biased, because it is YOUR opinion of the sponsor. My suggestion is:

1 - Never hear from sponsor, doesn't respond to questions, is basically inactive.
2 - Get occasional canned emails, does not answer questions, is mostly inactive and doesn't seem to care.
3 - Repeat emails, not pertinent topics, answers questions, active, but not caring.
4 - Good relevant emails that are pertinent, gives great answers to questions,
...more

Affiliate since: 06/08/2012, Power Rank: 99999999

The best way to learn about advertising is to jump in with both feet.

Start off with free banner exchanges, safelists, traffic rotators, that kind of thing. There are lots of free ways to advertise! (Set up 2 gmail accounts, 1 for admin stuff, and 1 for all the junk ads you'll get in return...)

Split-test your ads. What do I mean by that? You run two ads that are the same, with only one difference between the two. The difference could be in the wording, the colors, the type of text, whatever. The idea is to see which version performs better.

Also, try to select different target groups for your ads. For example, you may think that young men may be most receptive of your product, but it may turn out that middle-aged men might be a better group. You won't know if you don't try to target that demographic group. So in this case, you use identical ads, but use a demographically segmented medium. (Facebook is great for demographic testing!)

If possible, use something like Google to track your ads. (You can find out more about ad-tracking by googling the term.) Try a few variations against each other, and compare the results. Using the better colors, fonts, and words, you can put together another batch of ads to test.

While you're waiting for test results, you can look up what different colors are associated with different buying habits, how wording will change the response of your viewer, and how text styles will improve your results.

It can take a while, but you will develop an understanding of how you can best reach your target audience, and who they really are.

Split-testing is an integral part of effective advertising. Once you learn how to do it, it becomes easy to do, and doesn't take much extra effort.
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The best way to learn about advertising is to jump in with both feet.

Start off with free banner exchanges, safelists, traffic rotators, that kind of thing. There are lots of free ways to advertise! (Set up 2 gmail accounts, 1 for admin stuff, and 1 for all the junk ads you'll get in return...)

Split-test your ads. What do I mean by that? You run two ads that are the same, with only one difference between the two. The difference could be in the wording, the colors, the
...more

Affiliate since: 06/08/2012, Power Rank: 99999999

There is no ONE book that would be best for all SFI members.

So, where to start...

1. Think and Grow Rich is probably a good place to start. Its old, but it helps you to expand your mind. There are free copies online if you search for them.

2. The 4 Hour Work Week, or something like that, by Tim Ferris, great book, should be in your library. Some of the contents won't be applicable, but it does show how a person can offload most tasks associated with running a business.

3. The Secret, the book not the movie, has some interesting concepts about how we shape our own destiny. There's also some weird mumbo jumbo in there, but it will open up your mind as to what is possible. You should be able to find either the book or even the movie online.

4. The Bible, or Koran, or whichever is the main book from your religion. Also, ask your religious leader for some recommendations about your religion, and how you can apply business concepts. This may sound strange to some, but if you are religious, then its a great place to start.

5. Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Another oldie but goodie, check your library.

There are so many great books out there. I think the important thing is to understand that you need to change your self and your beliefs before you can change your environment. You need to expand your own horizons, get rid of your personal limitations. Also, once you break free from the attitude of only trying to make money for yourself, you will learn that there is reciprocity in the universe, and that by helping others, you will be helped in turn.
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There is no ONE book that would be best for all SFI members.

So, where to start...

1. Think and Grow Rich is probably a good place to start. Its old, but it helps you to expand your mind. There are free copies online if you search for them.

2. The 4 Hour Work Week, or something like that, by Tim Ferris, great book, should be in your library. Some of the contents won't be applicable, but it does show how a person can offload most tasks associated with running
...more

Affiliate since: 06/08/2012, Power Rank: 99999999

Banner exchange programs, safe-lists, a couple of blogs, Squidoo, Hub-Pages. A little bit here and there can go a long ways, and the price is right.

For paid ads, you can do solo ads or sponsor newsletters in the earn online field. Also you can promote TC products, and have people sign up from that.

Affiliate since: 06/08/2012, Power Rank: 99999999

An hour a day is adequate, but two to three hours will give better results.

30 minutes will get the basic To-Do List done, then another 30 minutes for writing stream posts, PSA or CSA Mailers, answering Ask SC questions, and perhaps a game or two. To get everything done in an hour means you're rushing things, and it takes a bit of practice to get everything done in so short a time.

After your initial one hour, you can start working on doing advertising, sponsoring, promoting, and all that good stuff. This is the more flexible part of the program. If you choose to use S-Builder or purchase PSA's To Go, then you won't need to spend much time worrying about sponsoring. You can instead spend the time working with your down line and helping them to grow their business. As your team grows, you'll need to work with some of them more closely, and help them to become team leaders.

Unlike other business opportunities, SFI does give a person a chance to develop a profitable business working part-time hours. This allows an individual to keep a regular job while building a viable income independent of an employer.
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An hour a day is adequate, but two to three hours will give better results.

30 minutes will get the basic To-Do List done, then another 30 minutes for writing stream posts, PSA or CSA Mailers, answering Ask SC questions, and perhaps a game or two. To get everything done in an hour means you're rushing things, and it takes a bit of practice to get everything done in so short a time.

After your initial one hour, you can start working on doing advertising, sponsoring, promoting,
...more