Reasoning Theorems of Success

The latest craze online is buying private label rights to various products.

The concept is a great one; you purchase the rights to something and then you’re free to edit it, put your name on it, and basically do whatever you like with it.

Sounds great right? Wrong!

There are a lot of problems with Private Label Rights products

The main problem is that most people who buy them will never use them. Sure it sounds like a great deal, but if you don’t have a plan to use the private label rights product and put it into action, you’re just wasting your money.

Once you store it away on your hard drive, it’ll be stuck there.

This applies to resale rights as well…only purchase what you plan to use immediately or in the very near future.

Aside from that, my main gripe with private label rights is that they’re usually complete junk!

Whatever you do, please follow this advice: If you are not a programmer or have extensive knowledge with scripts or software, do not purchase private label rights to them!

You’ll most likely be stuck with a non-working copy of a software product that will require a lot of money to get working.

You could also be under the impression that it works and then your customers will be upset and asking for refunds left and right

Be smart. Only purchase what you plan to use at that moment or in the near future, and don’t buy scripts or software unless you’re comfortable with programming (or have someone who can handle fixing them and can help you with support).

This can seriously damage your reputation, and as an Internet Marketer, a good reputation is extremely valuable. You must protect it at all costs.

Do your homework. Make sure you are buying private label rights to a quality product that has potential, not some piece of garbage that you will never use.

Stick with what you’re comfortable with, and private label rights will allow you to create some great, unique products!

Steven Schwartzman is a veteran Internet Marketer who has created many profitable businesses and continues to help others acheive their financial goals. He is currently offering a limited time free e-mail consultation. Steven Schwartzman

You’ve launched your voice-over business. You market your demo. You network. You audition. You get gigs. Now all you have to do is get paid.

Union or Non-Union?

For AFTRA and/or SAG union talent, getting paid in a timely fashion is a benefit of union membership. It’s built into the union contract. Union talents fill out a form at the session and then submit it to a paymaster (someone contracted with the union to handle talent payroll). The paymaster ensures that the talent is paid within a time period specified by the union contract.

Non-union talent and financial core talent doing non-union work are totally responsible for collecting what’s owed to them. Financial core, if you aren’t familiar with the term, refers to less than full union membership. Financial core union members have paid the portion of dues and fees dedicated strictly to collective bargaining, excluding any activity not directly related to collective bargaining. You might call it “union lite.” Financial core members do not have voting rights and cannot hold elective office in the union, but they also do not have to abide by union rules and regulations.

Types of Clients

So, what payment policy should you, the non-union talent, adopt? Just as the Internet has changed the voice-over business by making the home voiceover studio possible, the Internet has changed collection by making it possible to take payment electronically. PayPal is just one of a number of the online options that make requesting immediate payment possible, instead of sending a paper invoice through the postal system and then waiting for a paper check to be sent to you. But before discussing methods of accepting payment, let’s look at the various types of clients out there and the payment policy that may best apply to each one.

Most businesses base their payment policies on assessment of risk. Assessing the risk you take with a client usually is a matter of simple common sense. If an individual contacts you through your web site and asks you to narrate a wedding video or tribute to a deceased relative, then probably it would be wise to request payment up front before delivering the voice over. If the individual balks at paying up front, then you can agree to voice the script, play the voice-over down the phone line to prove you did it, get paid, and then deliver the voiceover.

Working with ad agencies and production houses usually means giving up a little control of payment terms. You can request payment up front, but most ad agencies and production houses expect to be invoiced. You can put “due on receipt” on the invoice, but that is often interpreted as “30 days net.” There are some excellent ad agencies and production houses out there that pay promptly, but very often you will have to wait 30 days or more for payment. Be aware: many smaller ad agencies and production houses have adopted a policy of not paying you until they get paid. In the ad biz, this means you can wait a long time for payment.

(On a personal note, after waiting a year for payment from a small agency for a VO I’d done for a local electronics and appliance retailer, I finally reached an agreement to accept a color television in lieu of cash. A couple of months later, the retailer went out of business, a victim of serious negative cash flow! Did the ad agency ever get paid? Good question.)

Doing voice work directly for mid-sized to large corporations usually means having to bill on a 30-day net basis. This means, in essence, that you end up offering 30 days credit interest-free. The good thing is the risk of not getting paid is usually low. Will some companies push payment out 60 days and even further? Yes, but again you’ll eventually get paid.

Payment Options

So, let’s go through the individual types of clients and your payment options.

For individuals, request immediate payment. As described above, play the completed voiceover down the phone to prove it was done and then ask for payment. Once payment is made, deliver the voice over.

For direct work with larger companies, ad agencies, and production houses, request immediate payment upon receipt of invoice. If they say their policy is 30 days, try for 15. For long-form voiceovers involving many pages and a large talent fee, try requesting 50 percent up front and 50 percent upon delivery of the project. Remember everything is negotiable. You can even barter for part of your fee. Remember how I received a TV in lieu of cash? Of course, keep track of your receivables (what’s owed you). When a client does not pay by the due date, send a statement. Make a polite but firm phone call requesting payment. Be proactive. Most people pay their bills. But for many clients your invoice will not be top of the pile, so to speak.

Payment via the ‘Net

Now, back to collecting via the ‘Net. PayPal is a very popular site for collecting or sending payments. Just visit www.paypal.com and sign up. Clients can pay by credit card or through electronic transfer from a checking account. You’ll receive an email telling you when the transfer of funds has occurred. This makes it perfect for collecting an up front payment. As soon as you receive the email, you can deliver the voiceover. www.worldpay.com and www.verisign.com are two other online payment processors you can check out, too.

Want to take credit cards? You’ll have to open a merchant account in order to accept them. It will cost you a fee to open the account, a monthly fee, a fee for each transaction, and a percentage of each sale. Do an online search for credit card merchant accounts and compare costs and services to get the best deal.

Direct wire transfer is a third electronic payment option. Set up a checking account used exclusively for wire transfers. You supply the client with your checking account number and the banks routing number, and the client transfers funds directly from his account to yours. It works well and can cost virtually nothing depending on the deal on the account you get from your bank. One of my TV imaging clients pays by wire transfer. I email an invoice out of my QuickBooks and usually the next day the money is in my account!

With a payment policy in place, you’ll gain greater control over how and when you get paid. Hey, it might be a really fun business, but it’s no fun not getting paid.

Happy collecting!

©Peter Drew

Peter Drew, a freelance voice-over talent and copywriter/producer with decades of experience, is heard on radio and television stations, corporate presentations, web sites, and messages-on-hold across America and countries around the world. To send an email regarding this article, please visit Peter Drew Voiceovers at http://www.peterdrewvo.com/

In today’s fast paced world, many small business computer consultants are wrapped up in their daily fire fighting activities at their client’s location and have almost no time to attract new opportunities or build strong strategic alliances.

One great way to keep a new business growing while building relationships at the same time is to join a networking club.

There are many networking organizations throughout the country, they can range from your local Chamber of Commerce to private networking clubs that their sole business is to run networking clubs and allow their members to create long lasting strategic relationships. Networking groups in general have in place, structured programs or agendas to facilitate members to introduce themselves and give their 30 second infomercial.

Your infomercial is where you can score big with new opportunities, and this is where most people that attend networking functions or social events sink. You only have thirty seconds to get their attention and make a lasting impression. You need to introduce yourself, give a quick testimonial and a very brief description of what your company does, and then, ask for referrals. Asking for referrals is the most important part of your infomercial. This is where most crash and burn.

What I often see by many people new to networking is they are too vague when requesting referrals; they have the tendency to ask for any company or anyone that can use their services. This might be what you really want or your product/service can work for any company, however, when I am listening and trying to help someone with sharing my warm contacts, it is hard to find just any company in my rolodex or Blackberry.

What is much more effective is that you ask for a specific company type, location or person, for example, my company IT Matters can work with any small business in Calgary. When I am delivering my requests for companies, I usually pick three industries and then deliver a very specific request. Let’s say I would like an Oil and Gas company, a law office and a dental office this week. My infomercial would be something like this:

“Hello my name is Stuart Crawford, and I am in charge of business development for IT Matters, a Microsoft Small Business Specialist and Certified Partner. Our clients love us because we take IT off their daily worry list. We provide computer and network support to the small business marketplace in Calgary. A good lead for us this week would be, a CEO or President of a small Oil and Gas company, a real estate lawyer and a dental office in Northwest Calgary”

Now what normally happens is that people listening to your infomercial are now saying to themselves, yes, I know the President at XYZ Energy, or my kids go to this awesome dentist in NW Calgary. By being specific in what you want, will increase your chances of walking out with some good leads. What also works well is when the person providing you with the lead makes a warm call to the party expecting your call to open the door for you. This works well in the early stages of a relationship in a networking club. Also, leads and great opportunities do not happen immediately, it will take some time to develop these strong relationships.

To find a networking club in your area, look up your local Chamber of Commerce or Board of Trade. You can also look up local meet up groups on http://www.meetup.com. Most cities have several different styles of networking clubs, check them all out, and do your research prior to paying your membership and find the one that fits the target market that you would like to capitalize on. Remember that some of the best ones do not cost you a cent.

Another tip is to make sure you follow up with everyone you meet at a networking function, exchange business cards with everyone, you never know who they know. The best practice is to have a templated email ready to go and get it out immediately following the event. People obtain lots of new names and companies at networking events and almost all of them never follow up, this will set you above the crowd, and open some new doors for you and your business.

The most important message about networking is - be memorable.

Stuart R. Crawford is the Director of Business Development, at IT Matters Inc. (http://www.itmatters.ca), a Microsoft Small Business Specialist and Microsoft IMPACT Award Finalist 2005 - Network Infrastructure Solution of the Year. Stuart is very active in the Calgary Networking Community, where he is an Associate Partner with the Corporate Group of Allied Associates and volunteers his time to help other small business owners and entrepreneurs. He can be reached at scrawford@itmatters.ca

(or how I increased my monthly revenue while sitting at the beach in Africa…)

Last week, I read a very cool case study written by Anik Singal (sorry, can’t give you the link to the case study, it is available only inside his exclusive Affiliate Classroom, which I highly recommend, by the way http://www.membership-site-reviews.com/affiliateclassroom.html ) where he was explaining how last month, while being very sick, he still managed to create a 4800$ RESIDUAL income.

I found his report very cool, because Anik has a way with words, and he was telling exactly what I am trying to teach on my site about promoting or starting a membership site : it is one of the BEST way to create RESIDUAL income online!

I know many people, when they hear the word “residual”, they have a bad taste in their mouth, mostly because they have tried and failed big time in MLM, where they often promise you extremely high residual income but where in fact, only a few people at the top make real money. Been there, done that. I think every single affiliate marketer has been down this road at some point. Why? Because mlm is everywhere, and the recruiting is very heavy online.

But what if I could teach you a way to build REAL residual income? And what if I told you that you DON’T have to buy a starter kit…or to buy expensive products every month?

It is totally doable, and it wont cost you a cent. Let me explain.

………………………..

How to do it : make the best choice

………………………..

There are two types of affiliate programs online : the ones that pay a one-time commission, and the ones that pay a residual commission.

The difference? For the SAME EFFORT, the first option brings in a one-time income, and the second option brings in a MONTHLY income.

Think about it, if you had to choose, which one would you promote? Residual commission affiliate programs, of course!

Let me repeat this, it is extremely important : for the same EFFORT, you get paid EACH MONTH instead of only once!

………………………..

What is the secret?

………………………..

There are no secret… only one very interesting way to create that residual income : membership sites.

Membership sites are not for everyone, of course, but let me show you the two options you have (one for the lazy guy, another for the creative one!)

1. The creative option
If you have a real passion, in a profitable niche, you can create your own membership site. The one thing I hear a lot is “yeah..but people won’t PAY for content, there are so much free stuff online!”. This is absolutely FALSE. Why? Because time is money. Yes, there are tons of free content online, but in it there’s a lot of crappy content too! In our busy world, people are HAPPY to pay to get the real information quickly.

Of course, you have to offer great value for the money, but it is totally possible to create a very successful membership site. Many are doing it right now, and making real big bucks too!

Think about this : let’s say you start a site about info product creation and you decide to charge 27$ per month to your members. Well, once you have 100 members, you will be making 2700$ per MONTH! This is much better then doing 27$ once, when you sell an ebook.

Some will argue that it takes a real big effort to provide fresh new content each month. Let me tell you this : for my own membership site, I don’t do everything myself. Each month I set aside a part of my revenue and reinvest it in the site for fresh content. This way I can pay a few writers and specialists to help me out!

2. The lazy option
If you are not really interested in starting your own membership site, the lazy option is this : promote someone else’s membership site! You see, most membership sites has an affiliate program in place. Why not take advantage of it? The real big difference is that instead of getting paid once, as I mentioned earlier, most membership site affiliate programs pay you a residual monthly commission.

Think about this : if a membership site pays 50% commission to its affiliates, you get exactly the same share of profit then the membership site owner, and all you have to do is promote it!

………………………..

Conclusion

………………………..

By now, you should be convinced that promoting membership sites, or starting your own, is a great way to increase your monthly revenue. Even if finding those membership sites to promote is not easy, it is worth the extra research time!

………………………..

Hey… but what about the beach in Africa?

………………………..

Nearly forgot to mention it. Great headline don’t you think? Just kidding here. Well, it is totally true! I spent 2 weeks in Africa, doing a tour, and I stayed a few nights at a luxury resort on the beach. And while I was there, I did not have to worry about money, because I new that I was making some more even while I was away! Not only my monthly income is insured, it is always growing because my advertising campaigns are on autopilot!

Ok, I can’t guarantee you will make millions of money tomorrow by promoting membership sites, but you should really try it, it’s a lot of fun and you will be very happy you did, a year from now, when you will have a steady monthly income coming in

Your partner in online success,

Stephanie Hetu

This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box stays intact.

Stephanie Hetu has been working on the web as an affiliate since 1999. She owns her own membership site: a niche site offering dog training help to dog owners (with a residual affiliate proram, of course!). Her passion for the subject has led her to create a unique site about… membership sites (!) where she reviews tools to start a your own, and membership sites you can promote.
To receive her membership site reviews, subscribe here (there’s a gift with it!) :
http://www.membership-site-reviews.com/newsletter.html