Alexis Rodrigo

Twice this past week, I’ve two people have asked me for advice about how to make money at home. Now I’m not an Internet marketing expert by any measure. In fact, I’ve only had a monetized blog for eight months. On the other hand, I do know how to update and customize a Wordpress blog, redirect affiliate links and get a site indexed in Google overnight… which means I probably know more than most newbies, including my two friends.

One of them is an executive who wants to make extra money by blogging but has no idea how. The other is a single Mom who’s been unemployed for four months. I compiled a list of free and almost free resources for Internet marketing newbies for these friends of mine, but I’m sharing the list here – in case it’ll be useful to other work at home hopefuls as well.

Software And Online Resources

If you want to make money online, you need a safe and easy way to send and receive payments. I recommend:

Paypal

Allows you to send and receive payments, as well as send money requests. For the absolute beginner, Paypal will be enough. Eventually, you will want a more professional way of sending invoices, keeping track of expenses and doing some light accounting. For this, my recommendation is…

Less Accounting

Less Accounting is easy to use and you can use the free service, but with very limited features. As your online business grows, you ca upgrade to paid packages which start at $12 a month. If you want to get into freelancing, virtual assistance or other independent consultant work, you’ll need something like Less Accounting to bill and collect payment from your clients.

Google

Google provides plenty of free online software that’s just perfect for the online worker. Aside from Gmail, you can use Google docs, which include everything from word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software. Google docs also allow you to save a document as a PDF file, something which PC users previously had to buy special software for. Another great tool is Google reader. It’s an RSS reader that allows you to keep track of your favorite blogs, as well as news about your niche or target market. You will also want to use the Google keywords tool for doing market research. Really, what would we do without Google?

Open Office

Another option for Web-based software is Open Office. It provides online software similar to Microsoft Office, but this is completely free. I haven’t used Open Office myself but have heard good feedback about it.

Internet Marketing Education

One thing I wish I had known before I jumped into making money online was that the learning curve is steep. Really, I literally spent months overwhelmed with everything I needed to learn. I kept wondering, “Hey, I thought I was only supposed to work for two hours a day to earn thousands a month?” Don’t let the fancy sales pages fool you. Internet marketing is hard – unless you know what you’re doing. And you’re going to have to spend many hours and, yes, some amount of money, to learn how to become profitable online.

But, I suggest that beginners start with FREE learning resources first before investing precious dollars in any Internet marketing educational material. Why? If you buy the wrong course, you won’t be able to apply it. You have to have a good background knowledge of the various Internet marketing processes and business models before you can make a wise decision about which course to buy and how much you can afford to invest.

30 Day Challenge

This is how I began Internet marketing. It’s a step-by-step tutorial by Ed Dale and his team. It shows how to do market research, set up a niche website, put content, get the site indexed, add affiliate links and promote the site. Ed’s goal is for you to earn $10 within 30 days. Why $10? Well, after you make $10 it becomes a whole lot easier to earn much more. You’ve done the process, you know what it takes to make a buck online, you can then scale your efforts and make as much money as you want.

30DC is a great way for beginners to learn. As a member, you also get access to a forum, where you can get your questions asked. A forum like this or other form of group coaching is essential for beginners (or even non-beginners). Otherwise, no matter how clear the instructions, you’ll have questions and nowhere to ask them. There is also a paid membership, 30 Day Challenge Plus ($20 a month), but it’s for intermediate Internet marketers.

Self-Starters Weekly Tips and Click Newz

Self-Starters Weekly Tips is a forum about Internet marketing created by Lynn Terry, recently named “Affiliate Marketing Queen” in an Internet marketing conference. SSWT provides a lot of resources for complete newbies. Again, with SSWT, you receive group coaching and group mentoring from peers, many of whom have intermediate to advance Internet marketing skills.

An even better alternative is the SSWT Elite Forum. When I joined it cost a mere $5 a month – practically a giveaway, if you ask me. As a member of SSWT Elite Forum, you get tons of free Ebooks, special reports and software, including Lynn’s own “Fast Cash Strategy”. Lynn also organizes two webinars every week, one about Internet marketing, and another, a brainstorming session, where you get masterminding support for your ideas, plans and projects. The best part is, Lynn responds to every single post in the SSWT Elite Forum. She is one of the most patient mentors I have ever met. She is honest, generous, full of integrity. She is one Internet marketer whom I trust completely!

Unfortunately, the SSWT Elite Forum is now closed to new members. And I hear that when it does open again, the price will be higher than when I joined. But you know what, I think it’s still completely worth it.

By the way, if you’re going to be on the free SSWT Forum, you should also follow Lynn’s blog, Click Newz.

Work at Home Moms Talk Radio

Work at Home Moms Talk Radio is a weekly podcast and Internet-based radio show by Kelly McCausey, another one of my mentors. In WAHMTR, you’ll hear success stories of Moms who have succeeded in launching home-based businesses. You’ll also learn about how to avoid work at home scams, resources and tools for succeeding, and cool offers for work at home Moms.

Kelly’s heart is for the work at home Moms. She has helped – and continues to – countless Moms fulfill their dream of working from home. Kely offers home-based business guides and coaching at very affordable rates. She is not a hard-core marketer in the sense that she does not try to make as much money as she could. I’m sure she could be making much more money, but no, Kelly wants to provide valuable stuff and make it affordable to Moms. Go follow Kelly’s radio show and blog.

There are so many other resources for newbies out there, but these are the ones that I suggest you start with. Be prepared to get overwhelmed. Don’t worry, that’s only in the beginning. Before you know it, you’ll be well-versed with stuff like “cloaking affiliate links”, “Google rankings”, “PPC”, “E-mail marketing”, and many more.

Be prepared to work hard, become a student again but most of all – ACT on what you learn. You’ll be making money at home soon.

Lexi Rodrigo is a freelance copywriter and Internet marketer. She recently created TheSavvyFreelancer.com, a blog for freelancers who want to achieve wealth and freedom through freelancing.

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