Make 10 Million from Home with Almost No Work - True Story

Make 10 Million from Home with Almost No Work - True Story
Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 9:40am by Linda Buquet

When you read the title I bet you thought I was going to rag on another hype-filled eBook, right? Well this story is not pie-in-the-sky sales letter copy - it’s for real! “From 10 Hours a Week, $10 Million a Year” was published by The New York Times yesterday and it’s about one affiliate marketer that makes 10 Million a year from home, working only 10 hours a week.

I’ve blogged several times in the past about Markus Frind the owner and creator of the phenomenally successful dating site PlentyOfFish.com. His success and income are widely publicized and he’s a true success story for our industry.

I knew Markus worked from home like most affiliates do. I knew he worked alone, until recently, when he hired a single employee. What I didn’t know is that he only needs to work about 10 hours a week to keep his site going and the revenue rolling in. So it’s interesting to me to see how he leverages his loyal user base to help him manage the site.

The other thing I REALLY like about this particular version of the ‘Markus makes 10 Million’ article is that it talks about his affiliate marketing revenue and says his affiliate links are the “most profitable of all.” Almost every other Markus article only talks about his Adsense revenue and I know there is no way he could make that much from Adsense alone. I knew lots of his income was from affiliate marketing, it was just never highlighted in any of the articles I’ve read. So it’s nice to see affiliate marketing share the limelight with Markus in a mainstream publication like the New York Times.

RadAFFILIATE LINKS: High Powered Template Driven Affiliate Profit Sharing Software:

RadAFFILIATE LINKS: High Powered Template Driven Affiliate Profit Sharing Software:
Rad Affiliate Links is designed to give you all the tools needed to rapidly begin generating referral income by adding referral links into your affiliate program software oferred by affiliate programs from companies like LinkShare.com and CommissionJunction.com. Our affiliate program software is designed to enable the immediate ability to begin generating affiliate referral income from profit sharing web sites. Rad Affiliate Links is simple to deploy and easy to manage from a web-based administrative panel. One can manage all aspects of the affiliate script including the creation of an unlimited number of affiliate categories and sub-categories, rotation of an unlimited number of affiliate banner ads, storefronts and text advertisements. WAIT!!!... THAT'S NOT ALL!!!... GENERATE EVEN MORE INCOME by "featuring" the affiliates that pay the highest referral income in a separate category. Featured affiliate links are also displayed at the top of each affiliate program category to generate even more referral income.
ONE HUNDRED PERCENT CONFIGURABLE!!!... You can control the look and feel of your Rad Affiliate links site by creating a different look for each category entered via the administrative panel and extend your branding across all aspects of your web site.
Rad Affiliate Links gives you the tools you need to create a thriving community of affiliates that will no doubt begin to generate referral income for you immediately. No lengthy development process. No need to hire programmers to install your software. WE DO IT!!!... FREE INSTALLATION!!!... Once payment has been received, we install, configure and set up your affiliate software to run in under ten minutes
Server Requirements

Web Server: Unix
Operating System: Linux
Software:
Apache
PHP 4.3.10 or better.
PHP 5.0.0 or better
MySQL 4.1.7 or better (with permissions to ALTER tables).
Valid and fully functional domain name where script will reside.

PLEASE NOTE:

RadAffiliate Links is 100% stable for those using a windows server running Apache.
RadAffiliate Links WILL NOT work on a windows server running Microsoft IIS web server software.
In a constant battle to prevent piracy, to protect your investment, to enable the administrator to have secure access to his admin panel, RadAFFILIATE LINKS contains encrypted code in the admin panel login page along with a small portion of our proprietary code in the scripts accounting software. This encrypted code WILL NOT affect your smooth operation of the software NOR any modifications you may want to make to the software. Altering or attempting to decrypt said code is in direct contravention of the License Agreement and removal of encrypted code WILL affect the operation of your software.

FREE UPDATES, FREE INSTALLATION and UNLIMITED SCRIPT SUPPORT FOR LATEST RELEASES!!!...
As long as the "Powered by: RadScripts.com" is kept in tact on your site.

"Powerful New Software Let's You Peek Under The Hood Of Any Business You Please To Swipe Their Top Performing Affiliates!"

"Powerful New Software Let's You Peek Under The Hood Of Any Business You Please To Swipe Their Top Performing Affiliates!"

In Under 3 Minutes, Discover And Ethically 'Copy' The Entire Marketing Strategy Of ANY Online Business! You'll know exactly which keywords are making them sales. You'll be able to see their highest converting web pages. And you'll even snag a list of ALL of their best affiliates.

If you're ready to explode your online business then please read this VERY important letter for all the exciting details...



From: Brad Callen
Indianapolis, IN
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Dear Friend and Internet Entrepreneur,

I don't think it's any secret that the most successful online business owners have their affiliates to thank for that.

These guys with their armies of marketers pushing their products to anyone who'll listen... yes, there is no doubt that this kind of "help" can lead to explosive sales and profits.

Imagine for a moment if you could peek in these big time maketers' rolodexes and snag the personal details of all of their top earning affiliates, so that you could put their affiliates on YOUR team, selling YOUR products for you.

Think that would take your business to another level entirely? You're right. It would.

But, aside from doing something illegal, you could never pry those rolodexes out of their hands, as they are guarded like Fort Knox.

Until now that is... yes... what was once impossible is now easily achieved. And what I am about to share with you could have a bigger impact on your business than anything else you have ever seen online.

More in a moment... but first...

Who am I and why should you listen to me?

My name is Brad Callen. You may know who I am already and were referred to this site by someone that already owns and is benefiting from the product I'm about to tell you about.

But, for those of you that don't know who in the world I am and wonder why the heck you should believe and trust what I'm saying, let me prove to you that I'm one of the "good guys" that you should get to know, like, and trust.

First, let me preface by saying that I don't like talking about myself, my earnings, and what I've been able to achieve online, simply because it typically comes off as "bragging", but, because of the many dishonest people out there these days, providing solid proof of income claims is critical as we near the end of 2007. (Sad, but true)

Anyway, just know that I don't say this to brag, by any means. I say it only to provide proof that I do know a thing or two about making money online.

On to the proof...

1. I've been marketing online since early 2000 and am consistently bringing in bi-weekly pay checks like the one shown below. (I know that check probably seems unrealistic to you right now, but trust me, if I can do it, anyone can... and I know you've probably heard that before too, but it's honestly so true.)



2. I am the creator of 3 of the top 4 Clickbank.com products of all time. For those that don't know, Clickbank.com is the world's leader in digital, downloadable products. There are roughly 25,000 products being sold in the Clickbank marketplace to date, and I am the creator and owner of 3 of the top 4 products in the entire marketplace.





That should speak wonders about the quality of products that we provide. It's the creation of great software products that I enjoy, rather than the actual selling of the product.

Most of our sales come directly from "word of mouth" referrals. I pay very little for advertising and let our thousands of happy users tell their friends about us...

I believe very strongly in giving, giving, and giving some more and it will come back to you ten fold.

3. I'm 28 years old and I actually have the choice to not purchase things like fancy cars, jets, and big bayline cruisers. Instead, my wife and I are able to give freely to charities and organizations that we believe strongly in. Anyone that knows me will tell you it's just not my personality to purchase random things for the sole purpose of saying, "Hey, look at me and my latest toy. Aren't I cool..." To me, that is NOT cool. What is "cool" is helping others that need to be helped.

4. I've been debt free since the age of 26 and that includes owning the home of our dreams, both of our 2007 automobiles, paying off our college debt, and whatever else I can't think of off the top of my head.

I wake up at 9am each morning, again... by choice, and am able to work from my home office as much or as little as I want each day.


My home office - A whopping 20 steps from my bed :-)


And if that's not enough "real-world" proof that I'm one of the guys you can and should trust, feel free to stop by one of the Elite forums (Affiliate Elite, Keyword Elite, SEO Elite) and say hi. I frequent those forums daily to both help and just mingle with our users and would be happy to meet you.

Ok, enough of the introduction, let's get back to the point at hand, as I said very briefly above...

Why Affiliate Programs Suck

Why Affiliate Programs Suck
January 6, 2008 at 1:52 pm · in Internet · Comments

Okay, if I asked you what brand of coffee I liked most… you’d know the answer. I’ve been proselytizing it for several years now. I’ve sold more of it to people without ever taking a bounty or asking for something in return. I just like the coffee THAT much.

So, you’re about to hear me say something I never thought I’d say:

Screw you, Peet’s Coffee.

I logged into my CJ account this afternoon to check on some stats, only to discover that my earlier Peet’s Coffee and Tea affiliate application was declined. This, in a tidy little nutshell, is why affiliate programs suck.

Affiliate programs completely ignore and devalue branding.
Affiliate program managers are typically morons hired straight out of college (if they even went to college) who have no idea how to manage relationships, or who are afraid to dig in and help balance the workload.
Affiliate programs tend to favor search engine gamers over smart placement with valid content.
Affiliate programs are akin to free advertising.
Affiliate programs are a pain in the ass to manage en masse.
Every single affiliate program network is beyond a kludge.
Affiliate programs offer no value add for each affiliate.
Affiliate programs are a commodity.
Affiliate IDs aren’t foolproof - they can be hijacked and are too often circumvented.
Am I going to stop drinking Peet’s? No. Am I going to stop recommending Peet’s? No. Am I pretty damn upset that Peet’s declined the application? Hell yes. Can Peet’s rectify this situation? Likely. Does somone important at Peet’s care? Doubtful. Would I bother to promote the affiliate links actively were I ever to be accepted? Who knows.

Affiliate programs

Affiliate programs
Affiliate programs are the ideal way to make your web site profitable. There is such a huge range of web affiliate programs now available to suit you and your site. Check out our web affiliate resources section for the best information on affiliate events and how to set up your own affiliate program or affiliate management. See our new affiliate forum, articles or affiliate program blog for affiliate program news, information and comments.
AffiliateGuide and AffiliatePrograms have partnered to bring you a comprehensive affiliate newsletter - Sign up Today!

Hillary Clinton's surprise win

The bounce back

Reuters
RARELY have pollsters and pundits been so wrong. Riding a wave of momentum from the Iowa caucuses, which he came from behind to win, Barack Obama had every reason to expect a second victory over Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday January 8th. Almost every poll showed him in the lead, and some gave him a double-digit advantage over Mrs Clinton. But the famously ornery voters of New Hampshire reminded the chattering class that it is the ballot-boxes that matter.

Mrs Clinton won a narrow victory—with just 39% to Mr Obama's 36%, or a difference of about 7,000 votes. She had long been the front-runner in the state, before Mr Obama's Iowa momentum pushed him ahead of her in polls. But no matter: the narrative is now one of a scrappy comeback for Mrs Clinton.

What accounts for the turnaround, and the polls' awful predictive ability? One is that in New Hampshire independents can vote in either primary. More than expected may have voted in the Republican primary; perhaps they thought Mr Obama had the Democratic vote locked up. (Mr Obama does much better than Mrs Clinton among Republicans and independents.) Women also voted heavily for Mrs Clinton, in contrast to female voters in Iowa. Perhaps a moment of emotion, when she almost cried on Monday while answering a question about the stresses of the campaign, made her seem more human to women. And Bill Clinton's efforts, in which he angrily said that the media had unfairly scrutinised his wife while going easy on Mr Obama, could have resonated with New Hampshire voters who don't like being told for whom to vote by journalists.

The race now moves to Nevada and South Carolina. John Edwards finished third in New Hampshire, as expected, and plans to continue fighting. His hopes now depend more than ever on South Carolina, which borders his native North Carolina. But Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton will still take most of the limelight: he among the states with large black populations, in particular, who were enthused by his victory in snow-white Iowa. Polls give her a lead in Nevada. Both will then pour money into “Super Tuesday”, when almost half the states in the country vote, on February 5th.

The Republican primary did not defy the polls. But it nonetheless provides a fascinating story ahead of the South Carolina contest, and the February 5th states. John McCain repeated his 2000 victory in New Hampshire, with 37% of the vote to Mitt Romney's 32% and Mike Huckabee's 11%. In 2000, Mr McCain was ground down soon after by George Bush's powerful Republican establishment machine. But this time, the machine has no candidate. And so the race remains open.

Mr McCain remains loathed by many at the top of the party, for voting against George Bush's tax cuts, for campaign-finance reform and, more recently, for co-writing a bill that would help illegal immigrants gain American citizenship. So while New Hampshire's unusual voters pulled him through, his path to the nomination is far from clear. Mr Huckabee will hope to reprise his Iowa win in South Carolina, which like Iowa is full of religious Republicans.

But these two are not the only ones still in the race. Mitt Romney came second in both states, and won a small and little-watched vote in Wyoming. He can plausibly claim to be the only candidate who is acceptable to both religious and economic conservatives and has a broad geographic appeal: he has taken first or second in a mid-western, north-eastern and mountain state so far, and many polls put him second in South Carolina too. Repeatedly taking second place is not the most dramatic way to win, but as polarising figures such as Mr McCain and Mr Huckabee pull the party this way and that, everyone's second favourite may yet have a chance.

Mr Romney loosened up after his secondplace in Iowa, and many thought he won two debates held over the weekend before New Hampshire. Rudy Giuliani is also hoping for a late surge; polls still show him in the lead in Florida, the biggest state to vote before February 5th, and he still has nationwide appeal, although social conservatives distrust him.

Four men plausibly have a shot in the Republican race. The Democrats will almost certainly nominate either the first black or the first woman to a big-party ticket, after a see-saw race. An irony is that this year's front-loaded primary schedule, in which many contests were stacked early and back-to-back, was supposed to make it easier for an establishment candidate to wrap up a nomination and prepare for the general election. The Republican and Democratic bigwigs who dreamed up this scenario never had anything like 2008's race in mind.

Where “soft Islam” is on the march

Indonesia has some worrying radicals but it seems to be following Turkey, with Islamists moderating as they get closer to power

Magnum
IS INDONESIA, the most populous Muslim-majority country, undergoing creeping Islamisation? It is not hard to assemble enough recent evidence to give Western Islamophobes goosebumps. In late December a mob attacked and burned a prayer house in West Java belonging to Ahmadiyah, a sect deemed heretical by some mainstream Islamic scholars. Earlier in the month the country's Christian leaders complained that Muslim radicals, helped by local officials, had carried out a string of attacks on churches. Ten Muslim militants were jailed for attacks on Christians on Sulawesi island, including the beheading of three schoolgirls. In late November the religious-affairs ministry barred a liberal Egyptian scholar, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd (who calls the Koran a “cultural product”), from public speaking in Indonesia.

Behind many recent incidents is a vigilante group, the Islam Defenders' Front (FPI), which in September assaulted bars, cafés and hotels in Bogor, near Jakarta, accusing them of violating Ramadan. Another rising radical force is the Indonesian chapter of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, which wants a caliphate to rule the whole Muslim world. Last August it gathered perhaps 90,000 supporters in a Jakarta stadium. Its leaders condemned democracy on the basis that sovereignty lies in God's hands, not the people's. A not dissimilar attack on pluralism was made in a hardline fatwa issued in 2005 by the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI). This same semi-official body recently demanded the banning of the liberal Egyptian scholar.

In 2006 a poll found that one in ten Indonesians supported terrorist attacks like the 2002 Bali bombings if intended to “protect the faith”. Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the terror group behind the Bali attacks, is still running several dozen pesantren (boarding schools), putting who knows what into impressionable teenage heads. The Bali bombers are due to be executed in the next few weeks, possibly triggering a backlash by radicals.

This all sounds worrying. But Indonesia is a huge, varied and complex place, and the radicals—even though some have a semi-official platform—are a small and not very influential minority. Contrary evidence abounds: liberals as well as radicals are making inroads. They have won a big battle over a “pornography” law that Islamists proposed in 2006. It would have banned bikinis and short skirts, for non-Muslim women too, and prohibited the Hindu minority's traditional dances. But a public outcry forced lawmakers to strike out all the controversial bits—and it still has not passed in parliament. Two new anti-terrorist police squads have made much progress in arresting and breaking up JI's leadership. There have been no attacks on foreign targets for two years.

As Indonesia democratised after the fall of the (secular) Suharto regime in 1998, local authorities gained autonomy and became directly elected. Many seized the opportunity to pass sharia-based laws, stoking fears of Islamisation. However, Greg Fealy, an Australian expert on Indonesian Islam, says these laws, though successful in winning votes for the local politicians pushing them, have usually had little practical impact. He recently revisited one such district, Tasikmalaya, where he found “there were more schoolgirls wearing the headscarf but just as much gambling, prostitution and drinking as before.”

The formerly separatist region of Aceh was allowed, under a peace pact with the rebels, to introduce strict sharia. The move was popular at first, says Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group, a think-tank, but there was widespread revulsion when the authorities started publicly whipping miscreants. As a result the religious police were drastically reined in. Overall, Indonesians seem to prefer the idea of living under “God's law” to the practice of it. Indonesian Islam has always been distinct from the Middle Eastern kind, infusing influences from Hinduism and other religions. This will make it hard for fundamentalists to get far, says Muhammad Hikam, a political consultant.

Whereas a relatively small number of fiery militants and fundamentalists get most attention, Mr Hikam says that liberal Islamic scholars have successfully broken the link between religious piety and political Islam. Indonesians seeking a more overt expression of their faith, as many do nowadays, can still believe in separation of mosque and state. As the 2009 presidential and parliamentary elections approach, secular parties have been attracting voters by creating Islamic—but not Islamist—wings. The in-phrase, says Mr Fealy, is Islam Lunak, “soft Islam”. Pollsters are telling politicians that it helps to add a mild religious tinge to speeches about social justice and anti-corruption. But radical stuff, like preaching an Islamic state, is a turn-off.

Indonesia's two biggest Muslim organisations are Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)—whose long-time leader, Abdurrahman Wahid was president of Indonesia in 1999-2001—and Muhammadiyah, which together claim around 70m members. They indeed used to call for an Islamic state. Nowadays Masdar Farid Mas'udi, a senior NU figure, says all they mean by an “Islamic” state is a just and prosperous one. In some ways the two bodies have come to resemble Europe's mainstream Christian churches: “Catholic” NU stresses traditional rites and the authority of religious leaders, whereas “Protestant” Muhammadiyah stresses the primacy of scripture. As with Catholics and Protestants it is family tradition, rather than theology, that usually determines which group one belongs to. Both now accept Indonesia's secular founding creed, pancasila, which preaches religious tolerance (though you are supposed to believe in God).

Moderate success
Several of the country's political parties began life as the political wings of religious movements such as NU and Muhammidiyah. But the parties and their parent bodies have drifted apart, even as all have mellowed. In recent elections a more religiously conservative group, Prosperous Justice (PKS), has gained votes—but polls now show its support slumping. One reason is that it backed the pornography law and has suffered in the backlash against it.

Another, admits Zulkieflimansyah, a senior PKS parliamentarian, is that it has joined the (secular) coalition of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Its popularity has suffered because of tough policies such as cutting fuel subsidies. Mr Zulkieflimansyah sees his party as undergoing a desirable process of moderation as it “encounters reality”. PKS—like longer-established Muslim parties before it—is now having to ditch the fire and brimstone to transcend minority appeal. Rising younger figures in the party, like him, are more comfortable with this than its older generation, who studied in the Middle East. In general, the country's larger Muslim parties are echoing Turkey's ruling AK party—ditching Islamism while still appealing to the pious. Smaller ones still holding to a hard line may fare badly in 2009: Mr Fealy reckons that in 200 regional elections in the past two-and-a-half years not a single “sectarian” Muslim candidate has won.

Indonesia is, overall, edging away from radical Islamism. But the trend is not irreversible, and the authorities must avoid fostering fundamentalists by pandering to them. The MUI (the council of mullahs) and the FPI (the vigilantes) provide a lesson: both were created, for temporary reasons of expediency, by the Suharto regime but both have lingered to haunt its democratic successors. Mr Yudhoyono now seems to be trying to channel the MUI's radical enthusiasm into issuing fatwas against “deviant” Islamic sects like Ahmadiyah. But this only encourages the FPI to take up its cudgels.

Other, more important ways to make sure Indonesia stays on the path to democratic pluralism are to keep the economy growing and to boost sluggish efforts at reforming graft-ridden public institutions. High unemployment provides recruits for communal violence like that in Sulawesi—whether or not religion is the spark that ignites the tinder. Poverty, combined with disgust at corrupt officialdom, push some people towards the Utopian promises of groups such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir. In Indonesia, unlike most Muslim countries, the ideological struggle between various forms of Islam is being fought largely by democratic means. The violent and the intolerant are still at the margins and, while the country's steady progress persists, look likely to stay there.