Earning Residual Income: Affiliate vs Pyramid Program

There is sometimes confusion about what exactly an affiliate program is and how a person can actually make money online and earn a residual income through one. Is a Pyramid program similar to an affiliate program? The truth about Affiliate program: 1. Affiliate is an internet marketing model in which participating webmasters (affiliates) promote a merchant’s products and/or services on their web sites to earn a commission for generating clicks, leads, or sales from a graphic or text link to the merchant’s site. You can participate as a direct affiliate through merchants, or as part of an affiliate network. 2. Affiliate programs offer a great way to build residual income. A person can be quite successful with an affiliate program if they work hard. They are not a scam and are a true way...

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Tips to Help you Build a Residual Income Business

Everyone wants to make money without doing much. “Work smart, not hard“, as they say. This is possible if you build a business that will give you residual income. There are different ways that you can build up a good residual business, and here are a few ideas to get you started. When you are looking for an opportunity, know that there are a lot of different options out here and you should be able to find something that will fit in with what you would like to do. You can find all sorts of opportunities by searching the Internet or finding forums where people are discussing these types of businesses. When you find something that you think would be a good fit, do a bit of research to make sure it isn’t a scam. Google its name, and see what type of information comes up about it. How To Build...

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Starting a Business in an Economic Downturn

In the current economic climate, it seems all we hear about is the bad news; people losing their jobs, companies going out of business, and banks failing. Oftentimes the overload of negative news makes us forget about the power of the entrepreneurial market in the US economy. However, entrepreneurs can be the answer to elevate this economy out of a crisis if we recognize and support their growth. We are certainly not the only ones to recognize this. A new study from the Kauffman Foundation’s Index of Entrepreneurial Activity shows that in 2008, new business formation increased, specifically entrepreneurship rates increased for the lowest-income-potential and middle-income-potential types of businesses from 2007 to 2008. An average of .32 percent of the adult population created a new business...

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15 Home Business Ideas that Thrive During Recession

Many people are fearful of starting a business during a recession. Times are tough, and people are curbing their spending, which makes the idea of starting a business in a downturn economy even more daunting. Here are some types of home-based businesses that thrive during an economic downturns and present opportunities for home-based entrepreneurs. Many people are fearful of starting a business during a recession. Times are tough, and people are curbing their spending, which makes the idea of starting a business in a downturn economy even more daunting. However, for many families and individuals affected by the recession (whether they lost their homes or their jobs), finding more ways to make a living or supplement income streams is a crucial need right now. Even for those still employed,...

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6 habits that will make you broke

It's still a week until payday, but your checking account is almost empty already. Where did all your money go? We all have our black holes, those money pits that seem to magically make our cash disappear. Here are six bad habits that will make you broke, and how to break them: 1. Window shopping It can be fun to browse the aisles and see what's out there. We all have our weak spots, like home goods, electronics or clothes -- even if you don't like to go to the mall. You don't even have to leave the house to window shop anymore; those catalogs, the Internet and commercials advertising the latest sale can be just as tempting. Window shopping is a bad financial habit that takes some discipline to break. Staying away from your favorite retailers and not requesting catalogs or e-mail updates...

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12 money mistakes you're probably making

Miscalculating your budget Research suggests that creating an annual budget instead of a monthly one works better, largely because we feel less confident in our annual estimates, so we tend to add more cushioning for unexpected expenses. In one study, college students underestimated their monthly expenses by 40% while overestimating their annual expenses by 3%. The best holiday deals and steals Overspending on housing It's almost impossible to get ahead financially unless you save a significant chunk of your income -- ideally, $1 of every $3 you earn. But many people get tripped up by their housing costs. Traditionally, financial advisers have encouraged buyers to spend about one-third of their income on housing. But for many people, especially anyone with student loan debt, child care payments...

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4 ways we keep wasting money

The prepaid debit card promoted by the surgically enhanced coven of Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian will no longer occupy tweener wallets. Recently the reality show trio yanked the MasterCard-branded plastic that bore their images following consumer group outrage and a threatened investigation by Connecticut's attorney general. Among the laundry list of fees attached to the card (which, a statement from the issuer showed, had only about 250 takers) were $99.95 for the initial card purchase and 12 months of fees, a $7.95 monthly fee after the initial purchase period, $1.50 for ATM withdrawals, $2 for bill pay (each item) and $9.95 for a card replacement. Even canceling the card would set you back $6. 1. Credit cards Any conversation about wasted money will inevitably turn to credit cards...

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Will your pet bankrupt you?

We have one really nice rug in our house: a Turkish wool number that my husband inherited from an aunt. That is, of course, the rug our new dog decided to eat. The pooch didn't complete his task, but repairing the damage set us back $500. That sum paled compared with what a relative could have faced in vet bills when her dog developed a series of serious but treatable ailments. The bills topped $16,000. Luckily, she had bought pet insurance right before the first diagnosis, and most of the bills were covered. Do pets make good gifts? Readers had similar stories, and not everyone has pet insurance to cover the costs. Diane Jarvis Powers of Thousand Oaks, Calif., looked into coverage after her dog's first surgery to remove strings from a rope toy that blocked his intestines, but decided...

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5 ways to trim your grocery bills

To help you get a grip on this tasty but often expensive cost of living, here are five ways to cut the fat from your grocery bill: 1. Make a grocery list and check it twice Going through your kitchen before hitting the supermarket is free, and a little planning can fatten your wallet by preventing expensive impulse buys. You might even save on gas by being organized, because you won't need to make a second shopping trip to buy those forgotten items. Use this free printable grocery shopping list to help you plan your next trip to the market. 2. Watch the price scanner Mistakes on price scans are common at the grocery store and can cost you additional dollars. A recent Consumer Reports survey found that 6% of respondents were overcharged at the grocery checkout, and no particular chain stood...

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How cheapskates do dinner

A $26 ribeye tastes that much juicier at $13, at least to me. So while some people shy away from dining-out discounts, fearing perhaps the scorn of their teenage servers, others like me won't leave home without one. "I try to go out only if I have a deal," says Tonya Ward, a stay-at-home mother from Winston-Salem, N.C., who clips newspaper coupons, surfs the Web for discounts and goes to kids-eat-free nights at local restaurants. One night, Ward even dressed her whole family up as cows, with black and white spotted t-shirts, to get a free meal at her local Chick-Fil-A restaurant. "I am never one to pass up a free meal," Ward says. But it doesn't take a costume to get discounts, provided you are willing to plan ahead, be flexible and use coupons and gift certificates unabashedly. And some...

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20 ways to save on a shoestring

Savings. When you hear that word, do you feel a clutching sense of guilt and inadequacy? If you're like most Americans, you must. According to a study of saving behavior by economists Steven Venti of Dartmouth and David Wise of Harvard, more than 75% of respondents said they knew that their savings, specifically for retirement, were insufficient. That's shocking, but not as remarkable as their discovery that how much you save has very little to do with how rich you are. Venti and Wise divided the 7,700 households they studied into 10 income groups. The top 10% of the lowest income group nonetheless had saved more than $150,000 per household. Meanwhile, middle-income folks, on average, had only $45,000 in assets. That's annoying and embarrassing, and it means I have no excuse for my inadequate...

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