In the online world, there are plenty of business opportunities that you can take advantage of. But is the one you are looking at legitimate? Here is part 2 of some of the things you should be looking at.

Watch out for hidden costs and other tricks

Many business opportunity sites try to entice you to join a program without fully telling you how much it will cost you up front. The most common tactics are:

The free (or very low cost) trial. Here you are told that you can get your very own money making website, training, or tools for nothing or just a tiny cost. The problem is that once the trial period, which can vary between a few days and a few weeks, runs out you will be dinged a hefty monthly fee unless you cancel. Many people have reported that they were still charged even though they had called to cancel and needed to call the company several times to get these charges reversed.

Hidden fees to join that are not disclosed up front. Some business opportunity sites tell you that all you need to get information and join is to pay a relatively small amount of around $50. The problem is, once you pay that fee, you quickly realize that in order to truly take part in the opportunity and earn money, you would need to make additional investments which would often run up into several hundred or even thousands of dollars.

Incessant pressure to “upgrade”. You may be allowed to join a site for free or at a very low cost. But then, as soon as you sign up, you will be incessantly pressured to take the “premium/platinum/gold/big boss/etc.” package. They will tell you that by upgrading your membership, you will get even more opportunities to make money that you wouldn’t have with the free option. This is a widely used marketing tactic called an “upsell” in which you are baited with a free offer and then constantly pressured to upgrade/

Ask yourself, do you really NEED to join this site?

Many business opportunity sites promise you things such as: free hosting, free website templates and building software, access to “exclusive” information such as lists of wholesalers and “top secret” money making training courses. Are these really worth the $99.95 a month that you are being charged? While, I admit, it may be convenient to have all these tools in one place, anyone with a bit of time and resourcefulness (things that you will need anyways to succeed in ANY business) can put together their own toolkit.

Think about it: a webhosting account with unlimited websites costs less than $10 a month. Free web design software and website templates are available to be downloaded all over the web. Very often, the “secret” money making techniques are the same ones that you will find in online business forums for free and the “exclusive wholesaler lists” are little more than links to well known sites such as AliBaba or iOffer.

If you work with email marketing at all, you know the hardest part is getting your subscribers to trust you. Everyone gets a lot of spam, and as such, most people are predisposed to deleting a newsletter rather than reading it. If you keep a few simple things in mind, you can ensure that they’ll read your emails rather than deleting them.

Be Consistent

If you want your subscribers to trust you you’re going to have to give them a reason to do so. In other words, you’re going to have to keep the promises you make, and you’re going to have to be clear about what those promises are. If you promise your subscribers a coupon for 25% off of all of a certain type of item, make sure that all the items that are supposed to be included in the sale are going for the sale price. If that same sale excludes certain items, be sure to state that clearly in your email. You want the customer to get the exact same message from the email and your site.

Style Counts

If your emails look nice, and are easy to read and understand, your subscribers will be more inclined to read them on a regular basis. Make sure all of the important information is presented near the top of the email. Also, make sure the title of the email is attractive to the reader. Remember, presentation and style matter. If your subscribers

Personality

Make your emails fun, and interesting for the reader. Don’t just send the same boring advertisements and discounts that everyone else is sending, instead, come up with an entertaining way to deliver your message. If your customers are entertained by your newsletter, they will find it easier to trust you. Additionally, they’ll be more likely to open and read each email you send out. If they expect to find something enjoyable in the email, they’ll be far more likely to open it and read it thoroughly.

Email marketing can be hard. Most newsletters get lost in the sea of spam that floods into everyone’s inbox. If you keep the tips above in mind, you’ll be able to get your subscribers to trust your emails. As their trust grows, so to will the rate at which they open your emails,a nd click your links.