Hello To All;Below, is a article I read online (Success.com) by Darren Hardy. As you already know, I do not post self-help articles on my blog but this posting is perfect for today (the economy) and how many mindsets have been affected negatively. So, sit back, relax and READ this…not once, but twice! ENJOY!At a social function recently, 90 percent of the chitchat I heard were whimpers about

This is the third installment of the five-part “5 Not-to-Dos for Affiliate Marketers” series. If you missed it, you can read part one here and part two here.

You’re all grown up and you’re an affiliate marketer now, but when you were a kid, you often had to learn things the hard way — fire is hot, mom really gets ticked off when you color on the wall, dad goes ballistic if you leave your bike in the driveway and teachers give you really bad grades if you don’t do your homework!

You learned (eventually) that it was in your own best interest to give others what they wanted and keep yourself safe.

The 5 Not-to-Dos for Affiliate Marketers will also help you, as an affiliate marketer, give others (your customers, your visitors and the search engine bots) what they want and keep you safe.

The third thing on our affiliate marketers’ “not-to-do” list is…you should NEVER….

It’s a simple concept. Don’t promise a weekly newsletter and send a newsletter only when you get around to it. Don’t promise a new blog post daily and only post when and if you feel like it. Don’t promise a webinar that never materializes.

Your objective is to build a reputation as “dependable.”

When you tell your customers, potential customers, your opt-in list or your website visitors that you will do something…DO IT…and do it WHEN you say you’ll do it and HOW you say you’ll do it!

Occasionally, you’ll make promises that you can’t keep. But for reasons beyond your control; a speaker cancels at the last minute, a supplier doesn’t deliver on time, etc. When this happens take full responsibility for the broken promise, apologize to your audience and try to make it up to them.

Don’t make promises that you can’t keep!

NOTE: Even though Lurn, Inc. receives compensation for products and services promoted in our blog posts, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences about those products and services.

Here are four more work at home jobs I found today:

1. Regional Account Manager (Remote Work at Home Available
2. Movie News Writers (100% Work at Home)
3. 
   Tech/Gadget Blogger (100% Work at Home. Hourly Pay.)
4. 
   Benefit Coder (Work at Home)

Good luck in finding a great work at home job!

4 More Work at Home Jobs originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 12:10:06.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

If you’re one of the lucky ones who are getting an income tax refund this year, you can track your refund status online directly with the IRS.

The IRS cautions you NOT to try to track the status of your tax refund with any links or offers you get in your email. The IRS is NOT going to send you an email, and it’s a perfect opportunity for scammers to try to get your social security number and other private information about you so they can steal your identity.

The URL for tracking your tax refund status online is:

https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/irfof/lang/en/irfofgetstatus.jsp

You WILL have to give the IRS your social security number and the exact amount of the refund you claimed in order to check status. However, this page is secure and it is the ONLY page you should be using if you want to check your refund status.

Check on Your Tax Refund with the IRS

Checking Your Tax Refund Status originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 00:11:16.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Here’s what I’ve found today:

1. Experienced Healthcare Subject Matter Experts – Telecommute or MN
2. 
   Experienced Healthcare Fraud Analysts (Telecommute or MN)
3. Sales Reps (Work from Home) – Previous sales experience is preferred but not required. You must have high-speed internet access, an email account and basic computer skills. A strong commitment to sales success is a must. You will be hired as an independent contractor, not as an employee. The company is a member of the Better Business Bureau and has an A rating.

Search for More Telecommute Jobs

3 More Telecommute Jobs originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 14:37:14.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

The often faced dilemma of being an employee versus an independent contractor is important when it comes to filing your taxes.

Employers have an advantage in classifying you as an independent contractor as they don’t have to pay their share of Social Security taxes, unemployment insurance, workers compensation or benefits.

And of course, if you’re an employee your employer sends you a W-2 of your earnings, and if you’re an independent contractor and made more than $600 in a tax year, you’re supposed to get a 1099.

But what if you’re not so sure you’re really being classified correctly? How do you go about getting a determination and what impact will that have on your taxes? If you subcontract with others as part of your home business, are your subcontractors employees?

These issues are important to employees, employers and independent contractors alike when it comes to filing your tax returns. I’ve addressed them in:

Employee Versus Independent Contractor

Employee or Independent Contractor? originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 13:58:25.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

This is the second installment of the five-part “5 Not-to-Dos for Affiliate Marketers” series. If you missed it, you can read part 1 here.

“Not-to-dos” can simplify and shorten your affiliate marketing business “to-do” list. Knowing what NOT to do often clarifies what you do need to do and in what order you need to accomplish and mark tasks off your “to-do” list.

The number two item on your affiliate marketing “not-to-do” list is to…

The thing about black hat marketing techniques is that they seem like such GOOD marketing techniques. They’re not! Black hat marketing is sneaky, underhanded, and just plain dishonest.

In yesterday’s post, we discussed how the Internet actually functions more like a small town than like the vast, anonymous, and faceless place it appears to be. Your good reputation is your greatest affiliate marketing asset in your customer relationships.

The search engines need to see you as a “good guy wearing a white hat” as well. Your good reputation with the search engines will keep you in business.

If you employ black hat marketing techniques, the search engines WILL find you out, and you’ll experience the Google Slap firsthand. You’ll be OUT of business!

There are more, but three affiliate marketing black hat techniques you want to avoid are:

1. Web Page Flooding: You’ve seen the ads: “Create a 1,000-page website in 10 minutes or less!” This technique uses a script that instantly creates thousands of pages of keyword-stuffed content. It’s a black hat technique that might work, but one you’ll pay dearly for using when Google catches you.

2. Cloaking: With this old but still operative black hat technique, the visitor sees one page (designed to sell the product) but Google sees another (designed to please the bots). It’s a rather silly technique. Pages that sell to visitors can also be optimized for bots!

3. Doorway Pages: This technique is still used. A doorway page is a page that is designed specifically to get ranking by search engine bots. There’s an automatic redirect to the real page.

Tomorrow you’ll learn why your “word” should always be as good as gold.

• NOTE: Even though Lurn, Inc. receives compensation for products and services promoted in our blog posts, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences about those products and services.

As an affiliate marketer, every one of your workdays is ordered by your long, long list of things you should do to grow your affiliate marketing business. Your “to-do” list is probably getting longer at an alarming rate.

Maybe a short affiliate “not-to-do” list will help you organize and shorten your affiliate “to-do” list. This affiliate “not-to-do” list will, at the very least, help you prioritize your “to-do” list.

The first item on your affiliate “not-to-do” list is that you should:

Never Blow Off Customers

Your customers are the lifeblood of your affiliate marketing business. Without them you have no business.

So, your customers should always come first — no exceptions!

The Internet appears to be this vast place that’s not defined by or confined by walls, borders, or oceans. And it is. But the vastness of the Internet is deceiving. The Internet actually operates more like a small town.

As an affiliate marketer on the Internet you should remember that, just like in every small town or every neighborhood in America, your online reputation matters.

The speed at which information is shared on the Internet puts small-town grapevines to shame.

It’s true that sometimes customers can be a bit difficult to deal with. It’s also true that sometimes customers seem to eat up your time by asking questions they could find answers to on your website with just a little effort.

It’s easier just to avoid having an uncomfortable discussion with an irate customer. But it’s not the best thing to do.

That unhappy or dissatisfied customer knows other people. He WILL tell his friends and acquaintances if you blow him off. And his friends will tell their friends who will tell their friends … you get the picture.

There’s an old saying, “a happy customer is your best advertisement.” But the opposite is also true. An unhappy customer is your worst nightmare come true. And it’s in your best interest to turn him into a happy and satisfied customer.

Tomorrow you’ll find out why wearing a black hat is not fashionable, or even a good idea.

• NOTE: Even though Lurn, Inc. receives compensation for products and services promoted in our blog posts, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences about those products and services.

The work from home jobs that I’ve been posting for the week have now been added to the weekly job’s list. A total of 14 work from home jobs were posted throughout the past week.

Weekly Bonus Work from Home Job

Here’s this week’s bonus work from home job, which will be placed at the top of next week’s list:

3D Cad Mechanical Engineer/Draftsman – Part-Time Contract (Work from Home)
Small company seeking a 3D CAD Mech.engineer/draftsman with strong communication skills for design, blueprint, and prototype of plastic plumbing product. This work would be communicated via email/web from our California office to your home or office, during or after reg business hours.

This week’s bonus listing is from Craig’s List – Orange County, CA.

Check out this week’s compiled work from home jobs

This Past Week’s Work from Home Jobs originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 00:38:36.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Here are three more opportunities to work from home. I even found one for those of you from France (if you’re out there) who want to work from home.

1. Telephonic Health Coach (Work from Home) – A position with United Health Group. This position requires some evening and/or weekend hours. You must be able to work evening hours until 9:00 PM or 10:00 PM Central time; two to three times/shifts per week.
2. Blog Writer (Work from Home) – Topic categories include: home and product design, restaurants, food and drink, entertainment (movies, music, celebrity), tech (web, gadgets), travel, events, and style.
3. Internal Communications Writer – Paris, France (Work from Home) – Most of the work can be completed remotely but will require some onsite meetings. Only local candidates in the Paris area will be considered.

Today’s Work from Home originally appeared on About.com Home Business on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 09:17:56.

Permalink | Comment | Email this