Zero to Millionaire With Online Business Ideas

Here is another success story from a MOBE (My Online Business Education) partner. Last year Darren Salkeld was living in a small Canadian town and working as a construction worker. Watch this story to see how his life changed dramatically once he started his online business.   Do you think this is just an isolated case? Not at all. You also can make this change by following the training in the MOBE program. It's chck full of online business ideas. But you have to take action. The money will not come to your home based business unless you work at it. Good luck and keep going!

Is Social Media a Waste of Time?

You may hear people say they don't "bother" with any of the social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin or Pinterest. They will tell you that these are just for people posting cute pictures of their kids or funny cats. Social media platforms are not serious places for advertising or even posting informational articles or blogs.

 Let's look at some recent statistics to see if this opinion is true. First, here are some figures on the number of users from year 2010 as projected into year 2018 in billions.  
 To read more, click here.

 OK. You can see that there are lots online users of social media, but are they buying? Can we find useful, informative, educational material using social media? Here is one of the online marketing gurus, Jay Baer, has to say about this.
 

As Jay says, "Content is fire. Social media is gasoline." It's a different approach to help customers, not just preach to them. Companies have to get faster, smarter and more social through their advertisements. The people are there on the home screens. It's now up to the companies to tap into that gold mine of ready customers.

 Let's now look at online sales to access whether these people are ready to buy. Here's the information from Metrics.com, a good website to view with lots of very pertinent articles about internet marketing. Online spending in Australia is projected to increase by about $10 billion in the next 5 years. Online shoppers in Africa are 30% of the population due to the spread of mobile phones and faster internet connections. South Africa now has a rate of 51% of internet users who shop online.

 In the US the total for 2014 was $248.7 billion for online sales with a 10% increase forecast for the next 5 years , according to Forrester Research. In Western Europe, 2014 saw online sales totaling 14 billion Euros ($155.7) with a growth projection of 11% annually. Asia with China becoming a world financial power spent $525.2 billion in 2014, more than the US (almost double), according to emarketer.com

Not too many years ago most people shopped in their local stores complete with parking and weather problems, long lines, and wobbly shopping carts. Even when online shopping was available, people felt uncomfortable using their credit cards and giving their personal information to cyber-shops. That has all changed.  Read more here.

One of the areas that has lagged behind is big ticket sales. Most of the online sales are smaller items that can easily and quickly be delivered. However, there is a great sales potential possible (and a very lucrative one) if companies can figure out the logistics of delivery and possible returns. Now that people are more comfortable with shopping online, here is another area to pursue. I personally go to a store, find out what I want (size and model number), then go home and shop online with my shopping network, Dubli.com that will give me cash back savings. I guess you would call me a hybrid online shopper.

The Advantages of Sharing Inspirational Stories from Videos and Articles

Welcome to MyInspiredMedia - Sharing Inspirational Articles and Videos

If you share other people's videos and articles, is that stealing? Certainly not if you are giving them credit. This type of sharing of inspirational stories has been going on since the printing press was invented (maybe even earlier), but we just called it quotations or references. Who can write a research paper without those?

When it comes to videos, the originator of the video actually receives a higher ranking every time someone shares his/her video. In this video, Randy from My Inspired Media and Home Business Labs describes all the advantages to sharing content.

Do you know of inspirational stories that you would like to share?

What video would you like me to share, especially from MyInspiredMedia? Let me know by commenting below. Stay tuned for the next in this series to help you find a profitable online business.

The Danger of Kids Shopping Online Using Credit Cards

It's enough to worry about hackers stealing credit card numbers, although most sites have strong protection in place to prevent that now. However, the thieves might be living in your own house. Games in particular encourage kids to play more and thus order more. Think your kids are too young to figure out how to purchase online? Think again.

According to Quentin Fottrell writing for MarketWatch.com, some companies are now setting up sales so that every credit card user must enter the password for the card before the purchase is final. Hopefully this will curtail the thousands of dollars of "youth-purchased" goods that the companies will not refund.

Similar cases and research into children’s online gaming habits indicate that minors are spending more time (and money) on mobile devices. Last year, Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.11%   agreed to refund customers a minimum of $32.5 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission complaint that the company billed for millions of dollars of charges incurred by kids’ mobile apps without parental consent.

To read more click here.

It is certainly true that the children don't have a clue how much they are spending. It seems to me that there should be a limit put on purchases made at one time, if not by the online company at least by the credit card company.

How do these children get access to the credit cards? While everyone is careful with ID and car keys when they are out of the house, leaving a purse or jacket around the house is a common phenomena. Mom and Dad are sleeping in - you get the idea. Kids have watched their parents shop with cards. It's tempting to try to shop online - like another game.

So now you have been warned. We like you to shop online, but just remember to keep close watch on those cards. Likewise, it's time to teach children what adult things they can and can't use. Why not make it onto a game, like Disney's "The Great Piggy Bank Adventure" which teaches children about finances? Here is an iTunes downloadable version.