by Kenneth Ang

Created on: January 04, 2010

Do you find it difficult thinking of gifts for your friends and loved ones during festive occasions?

You are not alone. Few people look forward to buying gifts at Christmas, for instance. Why do you think many resort to last-minute shopping, creating a frenzy every year?

What does this tell you?

If you are enterprising, you'll probably see a business opportunity. Can you imagine thousands of people looking for a solution to this problem? There is a huge market for a product or service that will make gift-giving convenient.

Well, you will not need to spend a lot of money researching a product or service. Many companies have already jumped on the bandwagon and have come up with innovative ways to give presents.

One very popular way comes in the form of coupons. It is convenient and can be purchased online. Gone are the hassles of going into crowded malls and standing in long queues.

So, how do you make money from this idea? Many of these companies have affiliate programs that pay people like you and me commissions for introducing customers to their business. All an affiliate has to do is to generate traffic for their website.

If you have a website, you can do this by placing banners provided by the company on your web page. When visitors clicks on it, they will be directed to the company's website, where the selling is done. The company will do all the work for you. You can also send emails to your mailing list, if you have one, or use any of the conventional marketing methods such as sending out postcards and leaflets.

The company will pay you a commission when someone buys from them or registers for more information. It all depends on the company you sign up with. Some companies even pay you a recurring commission when the customer you refer continues to purchase from them.

Since you are giving away free coupons, you increase your chances of generating more interest and will be able to send more traffic to the company. However, this does not mean that you have less work to do. Marketing any product or service takes time and effort.

Can you make $5K a week passing out coupons? Yes, and no.

No one can guarantee the amount you can earn from a business. So many factors are involved. The amount of effort you put in, your marketing expertise, the size of your mailing list, all play a role. In an online business, the size of your mailing list is essential to your success.

What many of the huge success testimonials do not reveal is that they have a large mailing list. Marketing is a numbers game. Since only a small percentage of visitors will respond to your promotion, if you have a small list, you'll have to work hard to build a larger list first.

The bottom line? The amount of money you earn depends on you. Every business has its success and failure stories. You decide on the story you want to tell. Just beware of scams.

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