http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/my-life-before-and-after-audio-books.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/my-life-before-and-after-audio-books.html Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500 No doubt about it.

I am a book lover.

I love books and have been reading since I was a kid. My parents made sure they instilled the love of books in me.

Reading was fun to me. It was something I would do, not because I had to get good grades in school, but because I just loved to.

Like you would expect, I carried this love for books into my adulthood.

Now that I have two kids, I still read. My love for books is so great that I am on my way to instilling the same love into my kids too.

I used to try to read to my kids EVERY night before they go to bed, no matter how tired I am.

I didn't expect it to, but I always get very tired while reading to my kids at night. In many occasions I have even fallen asleep before my kids right while I'm reading to them!

Deep within me I could see that there just wasn't any way I could keep up with the habit of always reading to my kids each night.

I was still battling for a way out when I discovered AUDIO BOOKS!

Eureka... the savior had arrived.

Six weeks after my first contact with audio books, my dilemma has ended.

I have added many more hours to my life because of audio books.

How?

During the 2 hours my kids nap, I listen to an audio book.

An hour after my kids fall asleep, I listen to an audio book.

Total time gained with audio books is 3 incredibly educative hours in the afternoons and in the evenings.

Secondly, instead of spending the 1/2 hour reading to my kids each night when I am tired, I play an audio book for them instead. Somehow I discovered that they seem to prefer the audio books to my reading.

I think I heard my daughter mumbling about how the voice from the audio book is "more awake than mom's". This shows you how sleepy I get at certain nights while reading to my kids.

Now... aren't audio books wonderful?

If you have had similar problems to me, you can gain back your time by taking advantage of the amazing value of audio books.

The fact that most of the best-selling titles now come in audio book format make it far more interesting.





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Juliette Lee is the editor and CEO of MyAudioCompanion.com. To find the best audio book titles, please visit http://www.myaudiocompanion.com. Sell audio books from your website and make 20%.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/the-history-of-audio-books.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/the-history-of-audio-books.html Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500 It's really amazing that you can get the exact value listening to an audio book while doing your normal chores as you would reading it.

Certain experts even say information sinks in more when we are not paying direct attention to them.

But when did this audio book phenomenon really start? In other words, what's the history of audio books?

From all indications, audio books look like a very recent invention, right?

WRONG!

It is very easy to make the assumption that audio books are a recent invention because of the mention of CDs, downloadable digital formats, MP3s, PDAs and other technological jargons each time audio books are discussed. But audio books started a long time ago.

To know how long audio books have been, it is pertinent to understand exactly what audio books are.

Forget about any other jargon you have heard, audio books are simply books that are recorded to be heard, instead of read.

That being the case, such recordings of books in audio formats have been around for a very long time. If you want to be specific, it is safe to say they were first introduced over half a century ago.

It could even be longer, if you include the Library of Congress recordings made especially for the American Foundation for the Blind and distributed free throughout the U.S.

However, according to Robin Whitten, the editor and founder of the only magazine which is dedicated solely to the audio book industry:
Audiofile--http://www.AudioFileMagazine.com, Caedmon (now a subsidiary of Harper Collins Publishers) can be credited to have started the recordings of literature as far back as 50 years ago.

Going further, he said Caedmon was just a small company way back then in New York, which started recording the audio of great authors and poets of the 1950s. Specifically, he said one of the earliest recordings were by greats such as Dylan Thomas, T.S. Eliot, Fitzgerald and Robert Frost.

What happened then was that they were simply recorded while doing their own works and made as vinyl records.

But these early recordings can arguably pass off for the first collection of audio books ever.

However, the transition of these book recordings into audiocassette tapes didn't happen until the late 1970s up to the 1980s. From thence, it blossomed until audio books in audiocassette tapes came to be accepted by all and sundry.

For whatever reason however, the audio book phenomenon didn't really kick off until the 1990s.

And with the transition from audiocassette technology into CDs, more people have become interested in audio books.

With the advent of the Internet and its paraphernalia, audio books have now transited from vinyl records, audiocassette taps and CDs into downloadable digital formats that can be listened to with a desktop computer, laptop computer, PDAs, etc.

If you are still interested in "going back in time" you can get the original book recordings that started this audio book industry.

Impossible?

Not really.

Some of those early 1950s analog recordings by Caedmon which were performed by the greats of those days can be purchased today on the Internet.

For example, recently I was able to browse the Internet thoroughly and found the original recording of "The Lord of the Rings" as read by J.R.R. Tolken.

You can find that classic you have always dreamt of in audio book format if you search hard enough on the Internet.







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Juliette Lee is the editor and CEO of MyAudioCompanion.com. To find the best audio book titles, please visit http://www.myaudiocompanion.com. Sell audio books from your website and make 20%.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/tips-for-a-successful-affiliate-marketing-business.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/tips-for-a-successful-affiliate-marketing-business.html Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500 Now that you have decided to take the plunge and set up a business for yourself, you need to insure that you do all of the right things. Affiliate marketing businesses do take the risk away but you still need to conduct this venture as you would any other business. If it is your sole source of income you'll want to give it your all and make it as successful as possible. In this article, we will look at ways to get your business going and make it successful. By following the advice in this article your affiliate marketing business will get off to a great start and stay that way.

The first golden rule of any business is to identify the demand. With affiliate marketing programs you'll likely be giving a range of products to sell. Check out the demand of these types of things. You should try to stay away from trendy items. They'll sell like mad one minute but you'll be giving them away the next. You want thing that you know people want and need. That way your long term sales objectives will get met.

Next is don't limit yourself to just one product. Try to offer a variety of things. Many affiliate marketing programs offer a selection and it is best to go with these. Basing your business on one product may work in the short term. However, someone will eventually come along with something better or cheaper.

Third, you need to set your business apart from others. You need to establish what makes you and what you offer better from others. What do you offer that sets you apart from other businesses? You should always use tact when talking about your competition. Putting them down or being rude will only backfire on you. Talk up the advantages that you offer and leave it at that.

Forth, you should definitely insure your home business. Everything can be fine one day but life can always take a funny turn. Accidents can happen to anyone. Ask yourself what will happen if one of your products hurts someone. Today, people can be sued for just about anything. Make sure you are insured incase the worst happens.

Fifth, you should always do your best to ensure fast and efficient service to your clients. However, there will come a time when there is a glitch. You need to keep your customers informed and aware of what is happening. Things happen that are beyond your control. Most customers are very forgiving if they are made aware of this. Keeping your customers in the dark could result in loosing them for good.

Finally, keep your customers happy. The happier they are the more likely they are to come back. Offer your customers incentives such as savings on their next purchase. It may cost you more but only in the short term. Keeping your customers happy will result is them referring you to others.

Affiliate marketing businesses are easier in the fact that they minimize risk. Everything else is like any other business. You need to work very hard to keep your customers happy. You need to set yourself apart from others and protect yourself against the worst. By following the advice in this article you will be giving your business the best possible chance for success.




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Juliette Lee is the editor and CEO of MyAudioCompanion.com. To find the best audio book titles, please visit http://www.myaudiocompanion.com. Sell audio books from your website and make 20%.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/what-is-affiliate-marketing.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/what-is-affiliate-marketing.html Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500 Affiliate marketing is many things. Affiliate marketing can provide the necessary tools for the creative and hardworking individual to venture out on their own. Affiliate marketing can provide the opportunity to earn money doing what you are good at. Affiliate marketing can allow someone to use their skills and expertise for there own financial gain, rather than the financial gain of another person or entity. Finally, Affiliate marketing can get people started in their own business enterprises with nearly no cost or risk to themselves.

Affiliate marketing can do all of those things and more. First, Affiliate marketing is perfect for the independent hardworking individual. Many of us are stuck in day to day jobs. We work incredibly hard and receive little reward. There is nearly no incentive to work harder. When you work in the field of affiliate marketing, the world is your oyster. You paid by your performance so the harder you work, generally the better of you'll be. When you work as an affiliate, you are working as a representative of another company. However, your reward is directly linked with what you produce. If you’re someone who frequently gets good results at work then this could be a great opportunity for you.

Next Affiliate marketing can provide the opportunity to earn money by doing something that you are good at. Those that have a knack for sales and marketing are perfect for affiliate marketing. Those that are creative and used to hard work can also make an excellent living. Your skills will be used to work for you. If you have a natural knack for these kinds of projects then why not have them increase your bank balance and not someone else? As an affiliate, anything that you do to increase sales or traffic if it is internet based will benefit you and you directly. The company won't get rich while you stay poor. You're the one who will reap the rewards.

Finally, Affiliate marketing can get someone started in their own business at nearly no cost or risk to themselves. Many of us would love to work for ourselves. The two main reasons why we don't are money and risk. You need a decent amount of capital to start even a small business. The risk involved is also tremendous with more than half of small businesses failing in the first year. Affiliate marketing can get you started working for yourself. They handle all of the products and advertising and you just concentrate on selling. If yours is an internet based program, you concentrate on increasing traffic. Most of these programs are free or involve very low initial start up costs. You're paid according to how well you do regardless of how the company is performing.

If you have dreamed of working for yourself then affiliate marketing can be your dream come true. You can make money based on your hard work. You are the one rewarded for your efforts, not a boss or a group of shareholders. You don't have to worry about financial risk. The head company will take care of all the detail allowing you to use your skills to the best of your ability. If you're creative, hardworking and want to be your own boss, consider the world of affiliate marketing. Your skills and expertise could be increasing your bank balance, not someone else.




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Juliette Lee is the editor and CEO of MyAudioCompanion.com. To find the best audio book titles, please visit http://www.myaudiocompanion.com. Sell audio books from your website and make 20%.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/which-tool-to-use-for-listening-to-your-audio-books.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/which-tool-to-use-for-listening-to-your-audio-books.html Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500 The beauty with audio books is that you have more than one option for listening to them.

For those of us who like to be given lots of options for doing certain things instead of being forced to adapt to just one choice, you definitely have lots of options for listening to your audio book.

If you are someone who likes listening while seated on your favorite couch or seated on your desk, listening to your audio book on your cassette tape player (if the audio book is in audiocassette format, of course) is the option for you.

But if you have a desktop or laptop computer, you might prefer listening to your audio book from here.

Most PCs have Digital Audio Players for playing audio books. If your PC doesn't have any (very unlikely), you can still download them completely free on the Internet. The 2 best digital audio players that you can download free from the Internet include:

RealOne Player: It can be downloaded from their website:-
http://www.Real.com

Windows Media Player: It can also be downloaded from their website:-
http://www.Microsoft.com

But if you would rather listen to your audio book while doing your household chores, dancing, exercising, jogging, commuting to and from work, etc, then you would need portable audio playback devices that you can carry around and listen to, preferably with earphones.

With the ever expanding market of portable audio playback devices, it goes to show that more and more people are now using them, because of the wonderful benefits they provide.

The most common form of these portable audio playback devices are the normal audio CD players or CD-ROM devices. You can carry these around with you while you do your household chores, exercise, jog or commute to and from work.

The more advanced form of these portable audio playback devices for playing audio books, especially those for listening to downloadable audio books, include:

-- Audio-ready PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). Some of these PDAs include Casio CASSIOPEIA and Compaq iPAQ. Both can be pretty expensive, costing as much as about $500 for the Compaq iPAQ and about $400 for the Casio CASSIOPEIA.

-- Compatible Portable Audio Players. Some of these include the Creative's NOMAD Jukebox 3 and the SONICblue's Rio 900. These are cheaper than PDAs. For example, you can get the SONICblue's Rio 900 for about $250 from sites such as Sonicblue.com

Finally, like I said at the start of this article, whatever tool you decide to use in listening to your audio books will depend largely on "how" you prefer listening to your audio books.

For example, for the "young and restless" teenagers they can't do without the PDAs. I bet you wouldn't too if you were their age, right? But for the "aged and rusty" who just prefer the ease of being seated on their favorite couch, nothing can be better than listening to their favorite audio books from their "good old" cassette tape player!





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Juliette Lee is the editor and CEO of MyAudioCompanion.com. To find the best audio book titles, please visit http://www.myaudiocompanion.com. Sell audio books from your website and make 20%.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/benefit-from-50-books-each-year.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/benefit-from-50-books-each-year.html Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500 I didn't believe it the first time I heard a friend of mine say -

"I benefit from the reading of 50 books each year... in my spare time".

Knowing how demanding her time was because of her top position in her job and being a single mom, I was certain she was lying and I told her so.

Smiling, she insisted that it was the truth. I would have continued arguing with her until she pointed out to me that she didn't have to physically "read" them, but they were "read" to her while she listened... in her spare time.

Not giving me any opportunity to argue, she went ahead and played an audio book on her CD player for my perusal.

She explained that this was how she had almost any book she wanted read to her as audio books while she prepared for work in the morning, while she prepared her daughter for school, while she did her exercises each day, while she commuted to and from work and any free time she had on hands that didn't involve using her mind.

I was surprised, to say the least, that I could have been doing the same thing in my spare time.

From what this friend of mine explained to me, I knew I had to give audio books a try.

I did and was very impressed.

Now, I can proudly say I also benefit from the reading of up to 50 books each year.

Still don't think it's possible?

Fine, let's do the math:

For an audio book that takes 4 hours, you can have it read to you in just two days - 1 hour each day while preparing for work in the morning and 1 hour each day while commuting to and from work. That's 4 hours in 2 days.

So, if it takes you 2 days to have one audio book read to you, that will be 365 days in a year divided by 2. That will equal about 133 books each year!

That's over double the original 50 audio books we were targeting, right?

Audio books are indeed the secret formula that many people use to get the value from the best books they want to read. With audio books, you can forget the frustration you always had whenever you force yourself to read any book.

For the bookworms back in college that want to continue reading but can't afford the time anymore, you now have a solution in audio books.

Whether you want to use your PC, CD player, MP3, it is now possible and within your reach for peanuts.





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Juliette Lee is the editor and CEO of MyAudioCompanion.com. To find the best audio book titles, please visit http://www.myaudiocompanion.com. Sell audio books from your website and make 20%.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/tips-to-affiliate-marketing.html http://www.articletrader.com/internet/affiliate-programs/tips-to-affiliate-marketing.html Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500 Today, many of us want to pack up our jobs and be our own bosses. The idea of working for you attracts many. However, the reality of making it happen soon stops most. In fact the vast majority of us cannot get a business off the ground due to 2 main factors; the first being money and the second being risk.

Starting even a small business takes a fair amount of money. You need to buy or rent premises, purchase your stock and equipment and pay staff if you have them. You will also have other outside expenses such as advertising.

Risk is the factor that kills most businesses off. Even if you're lucky enough to get the capital to start, nearly 90% of all small businesses fail in the first year. If yours is one of the lucky ones, you have to keep reinvesting your time and money to build up the businesses reputation. It could be anywhere from 5-7 years before any significant profit is seen. Most of us cannot wait that long which is what makes affiliate marketing such an attractive offer.

Affiliate marketing involves you, working as an affiliate for a merchant or company. You sell either goods or services and you’re paid on how much you produce. There are no costs and no risk. You put in what you choose and are rewarded accordingly.

Running an affiliate marketing business is challenging. You'll have to work very hard to build it up. However, you'll be rewarded for your hard work not someone else. Getting an affiliate marketing program going may seem difficult. The truth is it is down to you and how much you want to put in. There is no sure fire way to success but there are some good tips that you can follow to make you affiliate marketing scheme as successful as possible.

There are literally thousands of programs for you to choose from. However, to get started you may want to choose something that you are familiar with. This product or service may not be the hottest thing on the current market or make you a millionaire, but you will come off more confident and sincere with something you know and believe in.

This will also help when it comes to creating your site. Something familiar will allow you to be personal and creative. Trying to create a site around something you know little about will soon become boring and tedious.

Working with something familiar will also give you the some experience in the program. You can always expand at a latter time when you are more familiar with how things work.

Another good piece of advice is to watch the number of banners that you put up. A site full of banners will make the site look ugly and put off potential buyers. Carefully place your banners and use them to accent your site. Stuffing it full will not help.

Remember, in the world of affiliate marketing there is no such thing as the perfect program. Any particular program will be stuffed full of varying testimonials. Some will be great will others will have not done so well. You need to decide for yourself and not be put of by a few bad experiences. In the end it is down to you and how much you want to put in.

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money and work for you. The risk to you is minimal and there is no start up cost. There are many great affiliate marketing programs out there and choosing the right one may seem like a daunting task. When you first start out remember to stick to what you know. Find something you know about and have an interest in. Make your site attractive to others and resist the urge to fill it with banners. This may end up having the opposite of your desired effect. Finally remember, there is no perfect program. Some will have success where others have failed. It is all down to you. Don't give up.




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Juliette Lee is the editor and CEO of MyAudioCompanion.com. To find the best audio book titles, please visit http://www.myaudiocompanion.com. Sell audio books from your website and make 20%.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>