Best Ways To Make Money Online For Smart People
If you are new to the internet, you need to know some of the best ways to make money online. You also need to know how the system works so that you can enjoy the online experience. A lot of people are naïve when it comes to making online money. Now, everybody knows that people who work offline need to work hard and pay their dues before they begin to make big money.If this is true, then it makes sense to believe that the same thing should apply to the online investor. An overnight success is difficult to find offline. For the online investor, an overnight success is almost impossible. You need to pay your dues online before the online world begins to pay off for you.Article MarketingOne of the best ways to make online money is article writing. The whole concept of online marketing depends on fresh and original content. If you can write very good articles, you can earn good money on a consistent basis. The basic thing here is that you need to learn the ropes.There would be no point in writing great articles for peanuts. Begin by writing for article directories and create a portfolio of articles first. Your portfolio will give you the confidence to move on to high paying writing gigs. As a writer, you will have to expand your horizons.Do not rely on article writing alone to earn your living. Try your hands at blogging too. Some blog sites pay top dollar for excellent blogs posts. You can sign up with one or two of them and this will give you better options.Your Own BlogApart from writing for other people, you can set up a blog of your own. This is a long-term investment so do not rush the process. Create great blog posts, bide your time and think long-term. You can sell your blog in future or incorporate the blog into your website later in your online career. You can also use your blog/website for affiliate marketing and this is another money spinner.Website FlippingThe online world is not all about bogging and writing. There is a lot of money to be made in website design and website flipping. If you have the skills, you can design and update websites for clients. You can also pay experts to design websites for you. After you run these websites for some time, you can sell the website and make a tidy profit.You then set up other websites and continue the process. This is a goldmine if you handle things the right way and the great thing is that practically anybody can do this business.Forex TradingOne of the truly lucrative internet businesses is online Forex trading. A lot of people are scared of this business because it is possible to make huge losses if things do not go well. The beauty of Forex trading is that you need to learn the ropes and invest carefully. You also need to keep learning new Forex trading trends. If you are not greedy, you can make a fortune in Forex trading within 12 months.These are some of the best ways to make money online. Newcomers to the internet can try out these ideas. There is money to be made online and many smart people have realized this and are employing some of these methods to make a very comfortable living for themselves and their families.
Own Your Own Insurance Business
To start an insurance agency you will need to decide on going independent or being a captive agency. Some of the best known captives include Farmers, Nationwide and Allstate. Captives sell exclusively, or mostly, one brand of insurance. There are advantages and disadvantages of each so it is advisable to investigate both. Many states require an insurance company to sponsor your license application, so selecting a company is a good place to start. A property and casualty license is generally the minimum to start and allows you to sell auto and homeowners type policies (Laws vary by state). It is advisable to get additional licenses such as accident and health, and possibly investment type licenses (For example Series 6 and 63).For either choice many agents work part time first to get licensing, training, experience, and begin building a client base. If you have your own business your income will probably be straight commission. Normally you are paid for the sale of each policy and again every time of renewal. In my area 20 to 30 policies per month is considered good for new agents. This might pay you $2,000 to $3,000 depending on the type of sales. After you pay your expenses the income can be quite small when starting. As your book of business increases your renewal income will greatly increase your income.An option to building an agency from scratch is to buy an existing agency. Typically you will pay 2 or more times annual earnings. For example, if an agency has 1,000 policies that earn $100,000 annually in renewals, you will probably pay $200,000 or more. It is possible to finance an agencies purchase. This will generally require 10% or more for a down payment. SBA is the most common lender for this kind of loan. My company, Texas Capital Mortgage 281-537-7800, can help with business financing for Texas residents. (I have found that the mortgage business is a good compliment to the insurance business.)Obviously you need a lot more information to start an agency. I suggest spending a lot of time researching the business before jumping in. Read some books about the business. The larger companies have district offices where they can tell you about employment with them. The agent you buy your insurance from may be willing to share his experience with you. There is also a lot of information available online.Insurance is a great business but don’t underestimate the difficulty! After starting with Farmers full time, the first 1/2 year I lost 50K (much of this was start up expence), the next year I lost 20K, and this year I should make some profit. Some agents will do better or worse but this could give you some idea.
How Are Property Managers Using Technology?
Technology is increasingly playing a critical role in helping property management firm compete better. Technology savvy firms are using technology to run targeted marketing campaigns, to manage operations minutely and to generate and understand their operating numbers better.A recent study done by an independent organization to find how property managers are using the vast amount of technology available to them threw up some interesting findings:Businesses using technology better grow fasterNearly half of the companies surveyed grew their business over the last few years, either by revenue or by number of units. The companies that were able to grow their business in a recessionary economy made extensive use of technology. Over 60% of those growing businesses use property management specific software system such as Buildium, Appfolio, Maxwell Systems or Spectra. In general, those that were successful were able to: automate tasks, track online leads well and provide their tenants with online options.Great Software Equals EfficiencyCompanies who used property management specific software managed an average of 102 units per employee. Those that using generic software or spreadsheets only managed an average of 61 units per employee!! An integrated software suite frees up property management employees to do more tasks.These specific software are helpful to track rentals and lease renewals better. They also help manage property level data and business information more efficiently and present it in a readable and accessible form. Also most property management software integrates well with accounting software or has an accounting module. They give everything you need to take charge of your payables and receivables, maintain customer agreements and relationships, track your financials, and proactively manage your cash flow. Web based software’s help property mangers connect offsite and report in real time.Companies are struggling to Track Online LeadsMuch of the discussion on property management web sites is centered on online marketing and lead generation. However surprisingly, about 36% of property managers don’t even use computers to track online leads. Instead they rely on the tenant to mention it on an their application forms. In addition, 19% of the respondents don’t track leads generated online!This statistic is surprising given that tools like Google Analytics and sites such as Stat-counter have made it easy for even small firms to track origins of online leads and website visits extensively. They also have multiple reports to help determine the effectiveness of an ad campaign and keywords. Even banner based advertising can be tracked by banner tags.Social Media Use Widespread but Is It Effective?Despite the evangelization of social media over the last few years, the survey showed no sizable growth in business between companies who are using social media and those who are not. Social and business networking websites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are being increasingly adopted and are fantastic for networking. For example, LinkedIn has various groups for property managers which they can join and network with people and generate business.In sum, there is a substantial difference in doing business now and even five years back. It is not only property management, but all facets of real estate from the buying to selling to renting to managing that is turning to technology for answers to different business problems!