The most that one had was 7 postings. And yet Business opportunity section had 50 postings. Probably more by now. So many people trying to market stuff in a forum that almost no one is monitoring.

Out of curiosity I clicked on business opportunity link. I was scanning links and one stood out to me. In amongst offers and get rich quick schemes, there was actually someone asking for advice!

My curiosity was piqued! I clicked on link to see who this was. This is what he posted in thread:

"Hi. I'm new to internet and am looking for a good business opportunity. Does anyone have any advice."

Suprisingly, after a month of being listed in business opportunity section, he had only gotten one reply.

Actually, I suppose it's not that wierd if you think about it. Many people are willing to peddle their wares to forums but not too many are willing to become an active participant.

One person responded with a short and simple message telling him to go to website of some MLM program. Some MLM program that he was probably a member of.

Not that I'm against MLM programs, mind you. Some people swear by them. I don't, but some people do. (If you don't know what MLM is, just do a quick search on google for it. You'll find out right quick.)

Anyway, I just had to reply. Maybe it was because this kid reminded me of me when I first got involved in internet marketing. Maybe it was because I hate seeing another human being lead like a lemming down a path where 95% of them wind up falling off of a cliff.

Anyway, I finished typing my reply and sat back and looked at it. I realized that this was kind of information I wish I had before I got started in internet marketing.

So with that being said I have posted my response to his query below.

Enjoy, Shaun

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Hi,

I just saw your posting on forum.

My name is Shaun and my handle in forum is FoeHammer. Feel free to look up my profile.

If you are looking for a good business opportunity I'd actually suggest staying away from what looks too good (at least to start). And I'd definitely suggest you stay away from anyone who would just throw out name of an "opportunity" without giving you one scrap of advice or direction afterwrads.

The worst thing a marketer can do is push what "looks good". You need to do a little marketing research first. And it's not that difficult to do. I know of a program that can get you off to a great start. (Bear with me. I can go on when I get on a role).

Follow this URL: http://our.affiliatetracking.net/wordtracker/a/9593

This will take you to a site called Word Tracker. This is an awesome utility for marketing research. It is essentially a huge database with every search that has been done within last 60 days on every major search engine by anyone who uses internet. That means that you can enter any term and see exactly how many people on internet are intrested in it by how many searches they did for that and similar keywords.

I would suggest a topic that you are personally interested in.

Let's face it, if you like golf then you are probably not only one who likes golf. (Well, maybe you are. I've heard it said that men never really play golf. They just use it as an excuse to leave house and swear. ;) Anyway, just market to people like you.

So, first compile a list of most searched for terms in their database. I personally would discard any word with a count of less than 500 searches. But use your own judgement. (P.S. They also have a weekly newsletter with top searches done on net in that week. They offer this service to people who subscribe to their wordtracker service.)

Next you run what they call a KEI analasys. (Don't worry, they have manuals for this kind of thing too.) You don't have to do anything, they'll do it for you.

Basicaly they score every keyword on a scale from 1-400+ based on a) How many searches are done for that keyword and b) how many other businesses are competing for that keyword.

This is how keywords are scored.

458 Words

Here's a few things I've discovered along way that you will like about owning your own home based business.

1.You Are The Boss How many people endure a Boss that undervalues your contribution to organization? Or one who takes credit for your work. More than you might think! Own your own business and you are boss! You take credit win, lose, or draw.

2. Work The Hours You Want That's right! Suppose your spouse works late shift, you would rather be home during daytime to take care of children. And you would prefer not putting children into day care? If you are self employed, you can easily re-schedule your work to fit your family situation.

3.No Long Commute A friend once spent 4 hours commuting to work each day. Talk about stress. She was tired before work day began! Say goodbye to long commute when you are self-employed. Your longest commute might be from one bedroom to your home office.

4. Goodby Office Politics. Have you experienced office politics? The co-workers positioning themselves with power figures to move up in organization. Say goodbye to office politics!