The promise of an easy income online is proving a great temptation for those looking for a way out of the economic crisis. However, most of those who invest in affiliate marketing or internet marketing products are wasting money they can ill afford to spend.

The internet is an amazing tool that can give you access to millions of potential buyers and the marketing hype makes it sound so easy. Get your affiliate link, promote it and see the cash rolling in. The reality of course, is that it is much harder than that to make the huge numbers touted by most of the gurus. They have much more experience, huge lists to promote to and the funds to invest in advertising to promote the products.

Which is not to say that the products they promote are a scam. The problem is that taken on their own, they are not enough to generate substantial income. They may give you the theory, but you then have to invest time and more often than not money, to move on to the next level. For the unitiated, this is enough to make it seem like a formidable task and the ebook gets filed with all the other unused tools they have accumulated. Or perhaps they get past the first step and plunge straight into pay-per-click advertising spending hundreds of dollars with no affiliate sales made.

There is an art to advertising. You need to target the right keywords, at the right price. Your ad needs to be good enough to get that crucial click through, which means basic copy writing skills - more learning and another step on the ladder to those elusive millions.

And how do you choose the right affiliate marketing material? There are so many different gurus offering similar information, it can be difficult to know which one best suits you. There are several key points you should look out for when evaluating any internet marketing product you are thinking of buying:

• Do they offer a free report? If so sign up for it. All you will be asked for is name and email address, which you can unsubscribe later. The free report will give you an idea of writing style and the sort of information you can expect.
• How many pages is the ebook? If the ebook is called XXXX Report it is likely to be relatively short and no more than 20 pages long. These should be used to add to existing knowledge and not taken as a manual for online success.
• Look for products that are a ´formula´, ´blueprint´ or ´university´. The name implies that it is a more complete product that will take you through the A-Z of that particular speciality.

You should also avoid buying all the latest software that comes on the market. Yet another unnecessary expense. Directory submissions, article submissions and more can all be done for free and it is not essential that you get an all singing, all dancing software to do it for you.

Above all, if you really can not afford to spend money on several different products then don´t! You can learn a lot of what you need to know by searching online - the difference is of course that it will take you a lot longer, but it will be free.

Over 95% of those who are looking to make a living online fall into the desperation trap. They are desperate to make extra money, spend money on a product to teach them how to do it and finally waste that money by not using the information because of lack of confidence, time or resources.

If you want to venture into making a living online, take your time, make no impulse buys and focus on one thing at at time. Research a money making opportunity, find out what is involved, the competition you face and decide to focus on it, or discard it and move on to the next one. Only when you are sure you have found your niche should you invest in it!

Buy-To-Let also known as pay-for-itself-property for the initiated first timer.

The theory is that you buy a property, furnish it and as if by magic it will pay for itself as the rental earnings will cover the mortgage.

Who is to blame? Estate agents who exaggerate the rental potential to get a sale; or rental agents for promising to get six months worth of bookings a year; or even owners who use the property for friends and family in the peak season when they are most likely to get rental clients.....

Regardless of what anyone may tell you, as the ´investor´you must take the necessary steps to ensure that your buy-to-let is a success and not just a financial headache.

Myth: I´ll buy cheap furniture because it will just get ruined

While it would be crazy to spend a fortune on quality furniture, it pays to go for the medium range furniture if you can afford it. Cheaper quality usually means you will have to replace it sooner with no long term cost savings.

Also, the most successful business is built on repeat business and referrals and rentals are no different. The nicer your home looks, the more likely you are to get returning clients.

Myth: I don´t need to use a rental management company

Trying to save money by not using a rental management company could well cost you more money in the long run. Who will keep an eye on the property and let you know if there have been any leaks, breakages or worse robberies?

You also have to consider that if there are any problems with the house you may have to try and co-ordinate builders, plumbers and other tradesmen to have access to the house. How easy do you think that will be when you are in a different country?

Property Management does not necessarily mean using the services of a large expensive company. ´Property Management´means that you have someone - be it a professional company, a friend, cleaner etc. that is willng and able to visit the property on a regular basis, check for any problems, co-ordinate tradesmen and give access to the property for your rental clients.

Myth: I will get enough clients from the English-speaking market

You are missing out on a large share of the rental market if you do not target the Spanish simply because of the language barrier. Use an agency to attract the Spanish clients while you can generate business from English speaking clients with no agency fees.

http://www.Kyero.com offers free translation of all the core advertising phrases you will need - select all the terms you want to include and click the Translate button at the bottom of the page.

Myth: I can use it for holidays

The peak holiday seasons are exactly the times when you are most likely to get clients, and when you can charge the most for your property rental. If you use it for friends and family or personal use you are unlikely to get much income if any!

Myth: The letting agent will get me all the bookings I need

Even with the best intention in the world, a letting agent is unlikely to be able to get your property rented the whole year round. Not only will there be thousands of properties available for rent in the area, if you live on a large urbanisation you will also have to compete with possibly hundreds of very similar properties.

The only way to maximise your rental income is to run it as a business and that means advertising in as many places as possible.

Myth: I will make xxx amount from the rental

The clients may pay you xxx amount but you then have to pay the cleaner, the gardener, the repair man, the pool man, the rental management company, replace any broken items in the house, credit card booking charges.....

You should estimate that 25% of the rental income will need to go on various costs and charges associated with the rental.

Myth: I will get loads of leads from my website

There is no denying that if you have a decided website for your rental property it will help to sell it better as you can include detailed area information, maps, photographs and other helpful information. However, it is pointless having a website if no-one is going to see it. There are millions of websites advertising rental properties and publishing it means nothing unless you can it to the top of the search engine listings - neither an easy or cheap undertaking.

Use your website as an added tool to make your property stand out from the rest and provide more than just the basic information you are allowed to advertise on rental websites - not as your only advertising option.

And the best one of all...

Myth: The rent will cover the mortgage

You will need time to furnish the property, landscape the garden, get rental clients.....all of which could easily take up to a year during which you will have to cover the mortgage payments.

A realistic estimate is you may be able to let out your property for 12 weeks of the year which leaves a long 40 weeks with no income.

You should not consider a buy-to-let property if you are not able to pay the mortgage without any rental income - this is a bonus!

Working mothers are often criticized for not spending enough ´quality time´ with their children while having to juggle their job and looking after the home. However with planning, co-operation from their partners and a little creative thinking, there is no reason that working mothers can not keep connected with their children.

What children need is some of your undivided attention. This means focusing your attention on them exclusively while you ask how their day went, listen to any stories they have to tell you, even helping them with their homework. Even if you can only do this for five minutes a day, it will show your child that you are listening to them and that they are important to you.

Extra time with your children can then be combined with day-to-day tasks you need to do such as cleaning, cooking, laundry etc. If you have them help you around the house, you will finish your chores sooner, having more time and energy to spend playing with them. For example:

• Get the kids to help you cook the dinner - it will be great training for them and you can talk while you cook!
• Assign a household task to each of the kids e.g. making the beds, putting away the clothes - trying to do everything yourself will only ensure you are exhausted and less likely to be a fun mum If you have to do gardening - get the kids to help you.
• Not only will you be spending time together, they get fresh air and vitamin D!

It is important you are not seen just as the busy mum who never has time to do the nice things. Often the mother will work all week, then spend evenings and weekends on her second job - the home - while fathers, aunties and uncles get to do all the fun activities. Make sure you also take time out to do something outside of the house, even if it is just going to the park or the cinema.

Planning is also essential to creating those extra five minutes here and there that you can dedicate to your children.

• Do a thorough clean of only one room a week in rotation. Dusting, sweeping or hoovering and a quick tidy up of the other rooms in the house will be enough to keep the house tidy if you get everyone to help you.
• Plan your menu for the whole week so you only need to go shopping once - hours can be wasted with several trips to the supermarket On Sundays, wash, iron and put aside all the uniforms or clothes the children will wear during the week and the clothes you will wear to work.
• How stressful and time-wasting is it frantically trying to find something in the mornings when you are rushing to get the kids to school on time and yourself to work? You want to send the kids off to school with smile on your face, not leaving them with the image of you screaming ´hurry up, we´re going to be late!´.

There are many of these little tricks you can use to steal an extra few minutes that will be better spent with your children, but you need to use those that can be adapted to your particular routine and circumstances.

Guilt often goes side by side with being a working mother but all you need to do is the best that you can. The most important step you have to take before you can make any changes is to realize that you are not superwoman, nor should you have to be!