The recent opening of Google’s Knol has a lot of people thinking about what they can put on there. The theory is that Google pages should rank well. Early tests show that to be likely, and so many people are creating Knol pages to see what they can get.

I’m always cautious about these things. Creating a Knol page is working on something that you do not have complete control over. I have no doubt that Google will delete Knols anytime they feel one is inappropriate.

It is, of course, entirely possible that people will make money from their Knol pages. There are many people already making money from sites on Blogger and pages on sites such as Squidoo or HubPages. Some even do pretty well.

It’s a cheap way of creating web pages, which appeals to many a tight-budgeted marketer. And so many pages do get some pretty good traffic that this can be appealing.

But what you give up is control.

Don’t assume that just because you have legitimate information to share that someone won’t try to get you removed from a particular service. It has happened to many on Blogger, for example, and not just to spammy pages. It is possible for legitimate content to be flagged by competitors. Creating pages on a service you aren’t paying for means that you risk the account being deleted, sometimes with poor warning.

On the plus side, creating a Knol, Squidoo Lens or what have you means that you are listed on a site that may get traffic with less of your own effort. There can be a benefit to that, especially for keywords that you are having trouble ranking for anyhow, even if the links to your own sites are No Follow.

The key to these is to add to your own image as an expert on your topic. Create a good page and be sure to have links to relevant pages of your own. Not to excess, as the page you are creating should stand mostly on its own. But as a reference for more information or details that are related to the topic at hand, the occasional link to your own site can help to drive traffic.

Do it too much and your page will look more like spam.

Overall, there’s nothing wrong with creating pages on services such as these, so long as you build a solid core business that you have more control over. It’s rather like article submission in some ways. You’re spreading content out in the hopes of bringing in more traffic and income. So long as you are not relying on any one page or group of pages for your livelihood, you’ll probably do all right.

There’s been a lot of talk about Google’s opening of Knol for contributions. Not everyone is sure what to make of it or if it will be worthwhile.

And then there’s Aaron Wall’s concern with Knol and copyright issues. It’s a problem you will want to consider before publishing a Knol.

I have been seriously considering giving it a try for some of the areas where I’m having trouble ranking anyhow, but have plenty of information to share. If I’m not getting Google traffic for it anyhow, there seems to be some potential for me to benefit from this.

Early results from Search Engine Land show Knol pages are getting excellent rankings very quickly. This may not mean they will stick, but it’s something to think about.

And of course there’s the simple fact that I like having more control than that over my content.

I meet a lot of people who really, really want to make a living online. So they say, at least. But when it comes to taking a chance on a home business, the potential for risk throws them off.

This takes many forms. Some do so much research that they never get anywhere. Some refuse to pay for any resources at all, for fear of being scammed. Some insist that everything they do to start out their home business must be free. Wouldn’t want to take a risk, after all.

The trouble with that is that running a business is a risk. Sure you can do it all free, learn it all for free and even spend months studying up on how to run a home business before taking step one. But that’s not going to do that much for your chances of success.

Getting Past the Fear of Scams

Given the huge number of work at home scams out there, being concerned that you might get scammed when you decide on a home business opportunity is a legitimate concern. But that doesn’t mean you should let that stop you.

One of the tricks to avoiding the scams is to understand what scams in general look like. If it’s not clear where the money you will be earning comes from, it’s probably a scam. If you get paid for recruiting rather than sales, it’s probably a scam. If you’re earning money all out of proportion to the work or learning curve involved, it’s probably a scam.

In other words, if it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably a scam.

Some people do make big money in online business. Even in legitimate opportunities, they’re the exception rather than the rule. You could be told exactly how they do it, and as a beginner still probably fail at it. Some things just aren’t as easy as the pros make it look. That doesn’t make a scam; it means there’s more to it than you can see right away.

Planning or Procrastination?

It’s always a good idea to have something of a plan as you prepare to launch a home business. Trouble is, planning often becomes procrastination.

Plans for your home business can be very basic. You want to know what you are trying to sell and how you want to go about it. You need to know where you’re going to find the time to work.

Overplan and it’s going to take a lot longer to get things going. You’ll also find that many of the things you plan out change over time. Planning after a certain point becomes a way to procrastinate?

What is that point? If you’ve been planning and researching and planning and researching and still haven’t started your business, you’ve probably reached it.

Eventually You Have to Take the Leap

If you want a home business, really really want a home business, eventually you are just going to have to get started. There’s no way around it.

Yes, it’s a risk. Yes you may waste tons of time and however much money you decide to risk on your home business and get little to no return. If it were a sure thing everyone would be doing it.

But if you can stick with it, push through even when you feel like you haven’t made any real progress in months and the naysayers are really getting you down, you improve your chances of success. It’s tough, but that’s what it takes.

A good commission rate can be a big consideration when you’re looking at affiliate products to promote. A nice big commission sure feels good to get, after all. But the little ones can add up too.

In my experience, large commissions are nice. Sometimes very, very nice. But they don’t do a bit of good if you can’t make the sale. In fact, the one high commission product I do really well on is the one I understand the best. That shows in how I market the product. I’m enthusiastic and honest about it.

That’s what it really comes down to. Can you sell the product? Can you sell enough of it to make your efforts worthwhile.

For a lot of high cost products the answer is no, not unless you can find a way to stand out from all the others who really do understand how to sell that product.

The higher the cost of the product, the more sales resistance you’re going to have to beat down. You still need to be honest in what you say, at least if you want people to still respect you after making their purchase.

Fortunately honesty can make the sale rather than break it. If a product has a weakness, admitting it shows that you aren’t just in it for the money. You find it worthwhile despite whatever the problems may be.

When you’re earning less per sale you need to look more at your potential sales volume. Selling a lot of little stuff can be more profitable than selling a few big items.

This is where conversion rate comes in if you’re comparing two very similar products that will pay you different amounts of commission. Just as if you’re considering which kind of product overall to sell, you want to sell the product that is going to earn your the most overall.

For me, that includes looking at whether I’ll keep the respect of those I sell to. If I don’t, I lose out on potential future commissions from people buying other products from me. This makes quality as much of a consideration as immediate earnings potential.

And yet so far!

That’s the frustrating part. Financially, my family has been struggling since my husband was laid off in January. But between his unemployment payments, my earnings and his parents paying the COBRA coverage each month, we’ve been making it. But the unemployment is about to end, and the COBRA is really hitting the inlaws hard.

Rent in our area is high, but right now my earnings could cover all our regular living expenses. But what I can’t rely upon is that it would cover the COBRA too. Dratted stuff is $1200 a month.

What really drives me nuts is that by all signs I would be able to manage it all for next month with room to spare. But what about the next? And the next? I was at this level once before, and it didn’t last.

This time, at least, the income is a little more diverse. I have more sites actually bringing in money. The last time it was one that soared up high, and minimal contributions from others. I know that having a broader range of sites bringing in income increases the odds that now I will be fairly stable, but as it’s a recent phenomenon this round to be earning so well, it is hard to trust to that.

On the plus side of things, I’ve been working hard to bring my best sites up even higher, and of course getting my sites in general to do something. It’s hard work promoting a variety of sites, so it’s nice to see that I am indeed having some success at it.

The most torturous part is that one affiliate program I’m with doesn’t have online tracking. I know I’ve done well with it lately, since I just got a gift from them, but until my check comes I don’t quite know how well that is. Only the excellent pay keeps me in it.

And no, I’m not sharing it’s name!

I am looking at this as meaning that we won’t NEED financial help from family much longer, whether or not my husband finds a job soon. That, at least, is a good feeling. I almost have this thing beat on my own!

Now to bring it higher yet.

I admit it. I enjoy blogging for my business. It’s a great way to bring in regular traffic, recommend products and make sales. But not only is it not for everyone, it’s not for every kind of product.

Take one of my sites, for example. No blog, just information on the product. Earns in the $1000 range many months. My own efforts for it are much less than for blogs I have that earn less. The topic changes little enough that I’d be hard pressed to write about it regularly. It’s an obvious choice for a static site, updated only as needed.

But if you’re going to be adding information regularly, running the site as a blog or even just using it as a backend and making your site look like a static site is a very good idea. Blogging software combined with Feedburner or other services makes it easy to offer RSS feeds and email updates to your website. You get more chances to bring people back to your site. Why wouldn’t you want that?

The trouble with blogging is that it is time intensive. Sure you can hack out a quickie post in a couple minutes if you need to. But can you do it regularly enough? Will it be interesting enough? Will anyone even care?

Planning is Key

No matter which route you choose, you should work up a plan so that you know how much you’ll be working your site. Don’t assume that you’ll have the energy to do 10 posts a day, every day. That’s a tough schedule to maintain, especially if you plan on quality to go with that quantity. But even just a few posts a week can be enough to make a good blog.

Before you really try to get things started, write out a few posts. Don’t have them be on topics that must be posted immediately. Use them to fill in the blanks as you figure out a realistic work schedule for yourself.

It takes much the same if you’re planning a static site. A one-page site is suitable for some purposes, but not for others.

Draw People Back to Your Site

Since many sales are not made by the first impression, you need to have some way to draw visitors back to your website. On a blog it is easy to make prominent links to subscribe to the RSS feed or by email. Some bloggers even place the suggestion to subscribe at the bottom of each post. This is a very natural placement, as visitors will have just finished reading and may be feeling like hearing more from you.

But don’t give up on this with a static website. You can offer an ecourse that expands on your topic and keeps your offer in front of your subscribers. Keep the information useful to keep your subscribers reading.

It’s Up to You

Despite its many advantages, blogging isn’t the right choice for every business. It takes more of a commitment to regular content production, and if that’s not your business model it’s not going to work.

While I do much of my online work in affiliate marketing, and do pretty well at it, I do like to look at the other business options out there. I had been just considering dabbling in selling ebook on eBay when they dropped downloadable products, in fact.

I’ll admit to being a little frustrated by that timing.

But a new eCourse being offered by Brian McGregor looks quite interesting to me. He allowed me to review it and I must say it looks quite good. Actual paying students will get it a bit better, with the ability to contact Brian and ask him questions. He’ll even review auctions you run during the class. Quick feedback on if you’re understanding what you’re learning!

Hurry up and buy it during the prelaunch and you’ll save $300 off the full price. If this is your kind of business, paying $197 versus $497 should make plenty of sense. The launch is on July 7, so you do have to hurry.

Check it out now.