Teaching Sells is a comprehensive course that teaches you how to make money teaching your passion. The way you do it is to set up and run a membership site.

What is a Membership Site?

It's any website that provides something of value to customers on a
subscription basis. For example:

* Sock of the Month Club: A knitting supply seller sends out a
new sock pattern and the wool needed to make it every month (this
is a real club - I know someone who belongs to it!)

* Discount Coupon Club: For $9 a month members get a whole
bunch of shopping discount coupons that save them far more than
their investment of $9 a month (again, this is a real club)

* Coaching Club: You provide access to individual or
group coaching via teleconference, "office hours", email or
discussion forum (sometimes referred to as a "coaching gym" for its
similarities to a physical fitness gym)

* Retreat Planning Club: Members pay a monthly fee
to receive access to your database of retreat workshop materials,
and perhaps supplies as well (this is an idea that I am
currently working on).

* Premium Articles/Videos/Podcast: You generate high value
content and listeners pay to access it.

A big part of the appeal of membership sites is the interactive
quality - unlike an ebook or CD set, clients get to ask questions,
connect with other enthusiasts and compare notes on their progress.
In the case of how-to or craft sites (like the Sock of the Month
Club), they even get to display their finished projects.

The ideas for creating membership websites are really endless -
hence the excitement that so many coaches, consultants and teachers
have for starting their own.

Think about it - what do you love to teach? How would you like
to make revenue each month teaching your passion? The power of the Internet and the relative ease of developing engaging multi-media content now
makes that possible.

FreeConference.com now offers a new FREE teleconferencing screen share tool that works like a webinar. When you signup you need to choose the "FREE/Beta ScreenShare" feature.

Several people I know have used GoToMeeting.com and think it provides a very handy tool at a reasonable price. It is easy to use and easy to set up. No prescheduling required. Another easy and low-cost option is StartVisuals.com. It starts up almost instantly and is very easy to use. It has also proven to be quite reliable for a low-cost platform.

I have attended meetings on Intercall.com (they used to be named Raindance.com) and on Webex.com and found they work fine also. WebEx has the best feature set for small collaborative meetings. It doesn't take long to learn how to be productive, and impress your participants.The last time I checked, though, Intercall cost more than GoToMeeting (and Webex was way more) for the same service.

When choosing a webinar service, try each service if at all possible -- there are differences which may affect your meetings.

Tip: You will need a decent upload speed to show your desktop -- 256kb up will only work marginally, 512kb works well, 1,000kb or better is excellent for most webinar applications.

Another thing to be aware of is that using VOIP (voice over internet, such as vonage or skype) can sometimes affect the quality of webinar reception. You may experience hiccups in reception if you or your participants use VOIP.

Here's a quick tip for all the freelance writers out there: check out Freelance Writing Jobs for daily updates on jobs for freelance writers. While you're there, you may also want to look at the very useful article listing 23 Places to Find Freelance Writing and Freelance Blogging Jobs. If you like what you see, be sure to bookmark the site. Better yet, subscribe to the feed so you get the freelance writing jobs delivered to you without delay.

If you've ever considered packaging your knowledge into an online training course, then you'll want to check out Teaching Sells.

And don't delay... I just learned that Teaching Sells is closing the doors to new members at the end of July. That means there's only 1 week left to grab a spot at the current price.

I'm a Teaching Sells member and I think it's a terrific training program for anyone who likes to teach and wants to make money online.

What does Teaching Sells involve?

Well, it's 10 multi-media training courses that provide a roadmap to building your own successful training program or membership site. All of the training is provided using screencast videos along with print material. We all learn differently, but as a visual learner, for me learning from videos is the way to go.

Why do I like it?

What I like best about Teaching Sells is the access to instructors who answer your questions.

So, for example, if you are trying to figure out whether a particular idea will be marketable, you can explain your concept and get feedback. Or if you're trying to do something techy and it's not working, the instructors are there to help.

Even though I already know how to set up a membership site (that's what I did with my BACC program, and the Step-by-Step Coaching Business program - both now closed), I still find it worthwhile to belong to Teaching Sells. That's because there is lots more I want to learn how to do - create video presentations, for example. And get better at using interactive tools.

Another thing that I've found worthwhile for my $97 a month is that the instructors are right on top of all the latest tools for creating content and marketing courses. I've actually saved money by letting go of some of my paid services in favor of equally-good free services that I've learned about through Teaching Sells.

I figure that if the membership program saves me even one hour of scratching my head each month, that's my investment recouped.

Why is it a no-brainer?

Here's why I think trying out Teaching Sells is a no-brainer:

1) MONEY BACK TRIAL: you can try it out for 30 days and if it's not for you, simply cancel. You'll get your money back, and you'll never be charged again.

2) DOORS CLOSE JULY 31, 2008, and...

3) PRICE WILL NEVER BE THIS LOW AGAIN

What people are saying:

"One of the most compelling and viable approaches to a real online business I've come across." -- Darren Rowse, ProBlogger and co-founder of b5 Media

"If you want to really start making money online, Teaching Sells will tell you exactly what you need to know." -- Chris Garrett, new media consultant and Performancing co-founder

"The strategies described made me stop and rethink what I knew about making money online." -- Daniel Scocco, DailyBlogTips.com

"Internet Marketing for smart people." -- Yaro Starak, Entrepreneur's Journey

Click here for more information on Teaching Sells.

Here's something for all of us who post stuff on the Internet to be aware of:

Online hangouts like Facebook and MySpace have offered crime-solving help to detectives and become a resource for employers vetting job applicants. Now the sites are proving fruitful for prosecutors, who have used damaging Internet photos of defendants to cast doubt on their character during sentencing hearings and argue for harsher punishment.

For the full story, go here.

by HomeBusinessWiz contributing writer Katja Bartholmess

Hello again, Home Business Wizzes!

In the last homepage booster we discussed the ways that fancy-shmancy web design can actually hurt your business. Today, let's look at the other side of the coin. I want to show you how even the simplest home page can help you land more clients - if you know the crucial homepage-boosting rules.

Today's booster recipient, Debbie Payne, launched her leadership consulting company at the beginning of this year. She maintains her own website (www.dpleadership.com) using an inexpensive html template, but is considering an upgrade to a more professional platform down the road. Until she does, let's explore a few ways Debbie can make her existing site more client-friendly and search engine-friendly without spending a dime.

And remember: my 7 point homepage critique is available to anyone with a company and a website. If you fall into that category and want to drum up more business, click here to get more info. There's no fee - just a suggested donation to a great charity.

As you read the following critique, ask yourself how these comments could be used to hotrod your homepage. Let's do it!

Google AdSense delivers great click-throughs and high revenues for one reason: the ads are targeted to what the user wants. (If you're new to Adsense is, click here for a beginner's guide to Adsense.)

How does Google know what ads to put on your website?

Google's robot picks out keywords on your page, gets a grip on what your website is about and delivers links that take users to sites that interest them.

That's great news... up to a point. As much as you want your users to click on ads that look interesting, you might not want to trust to a robot to pick those ads - and you might prefer to have ads on your page that pay the highest amount possible for each click.

But you don't get the choice. You can do lots of things to improve your AdSense revenue, from selecting the layout of your ad unit to choosing the color and size of the font, but one thing you can't do is slip into Google's database and choose the ads. If you could do that, no one would ever choose the low-paying ads.

Tricks of the Adsense game

That doesn't mean you can't do anything at all though. The fact is, some smart publishers have been noticing all sorts of interesting results after playing with their HTML code and changing some of the text on their Web page. And some of those results have been very surprising indeed.

For example, some publishers have found that placing keywords in certain positions on the page can have an immediate effect on the ads served. The owner of a site about recreation vehicles then would be able to do a little research online to find the highest paying keywords in his area and then - if he knew where those hotspots were - he could place those keywords in the right areas on the page. In addition to the usual ads about camper vans and RV's that his site would receive, the publisher could be certain that at least one of the ads was the highest paying possible. That's the sort of knowledge that's worth money in your pocket.

Why some areas of a Web page should be more important than others is a mystery well kept by Google's programmers. But some of Google's ad secrets are leaking out - and they're being snapped up by smart publishers who understand that knowledge and strategy are the key to massive AdSense revenues.

For more Google AdSense tips, visit http://www.adsense-secrets.com

Copyright © 2005 Joel Comm. All rights reserved