A First Foray Into Making Money in the Stock Market

It all began 3 years or so ago when my insurance and finance company offered me 16 free trades with their brokerage.

It sounded like fun, although I knew absolutely nothing about the stock market, didn't even really know what a stock market was. So I took the bait, sent them $500, and I was a "trader". And I made sure everyone knew it, too. I researched companies to death, requested info packages in the mail, called public relation departments, all to purchase 5 or 10 shares of their stock. Great fun. Then I began reading books about investors. Warren Buffet, Peter Lynch etc. etc. and I was hooked. The 16 trades lasted me about 2 months and when it was over, I was almost $100 richer. Sweet. Just playing around, easy money! So they write me an e-mail telling me my free trades are up and from now and forward, that will be $20 a trade please. I'm not a genius mind you, but even that math didn't add up to me. That next $100 will cost me $320 leaving me with a $220 deficit. Nope, I'll have none of that. Way too smart to fall for their scheme. Now I'm looking around the Internet about stocks and trading. Good God, there is a whole universe out there. A whole other world. Brokers and blogs and services and...well, a lot of stuff. And it all looks so FUN! Then, and then I see the "free 2 hour stock market class in your city". Well, if it's free, what have I got to lose?

I guess the proper word, the one they used anyway, was seminar. The "seminar" was hosted at the best hotel in town, here that's the Hilton, and was actually very professionally done.

I arrived, not knowing what to expect, but absolutely knowing what I wanted. Them to teach me, in two hours mind you, how I could get rich fast and easy. And to my surprise, they did! Well, almost. I had to come back for a weekend course, and it was there that I was to be enlightened on how easily I could make tons of money, just like all these guys had, by just clicking the mouse when the arrows turned green.

I was dizzy, intoxicated by visions of wealth. Quit my IBD subscription (I didn't), I won't need it anymore, they told me. Hell, I was thinking, I can even quit my job.

But why then..isn't everyone doing it? How exactly did it all work? Remember "if it sounds to good to be true..". Come back for a whole two day seminar, and we'll show ya. By the end of that two, really two and a half days, I had so much time invested, I may as well give them the $2000 they asked for to get me to subscribe to the web site. So I did. They showed me a whole lot of stuff I already knew from all the books I'd read. So I gave them another five, to teach me about options. They gave me a book, (an online book, and let me watch some guys trade stocks live for a month) that explained what an option was. But...for another $5000 I could learn how to use option strategies. But I'd had enough. Fool me once (fool that I am), fool me twice, but three times. Not you guys, I'll go somewhere else for that. And I did. (To be fair, the website this particular company offered was actually a very useful and valuable tool. I used it for 2 years and once I figured out that the green arrows weren't the fountain of wealth, I made some use of it. Just not $7000 worth)

I went to services, guys that told me what to buy, when to, different methods, etc. etc. All to no avail. I just couldn't make any money. I didn't really lose money, except the money I spent on services, but stayed pretty even in the markets for a year or so. The people at the services were making money, but not me. Why, Why, Why.

Secret of Writing Successful Online Stock Trading Newsletter

Creating an online stock trading newsletter can be a great way to advertise your services and build your trading business. However, in order to make your efforts a raving success, there are a couple of things that you have to keep in mind. Following is a step-by-step guide on how to go about it.

Set Your Goals
First, you must set some specific goals. Before you start your efforts in writing newsletters and distributing the same to your target audience, you must ask certain questions to yourself. For example, which type of format is the most suitable for your newsletters? What subjects or topics you want to discuss in its content? What are your strategies and methods to deliver these newsletters? How frequently do you want to write and send newsletters to your readers? Answering all these questions genuinely will let you know how to succeed and achieve your goals through online stock trading newsletter.

Do Thorough Research
Depending upon whether you have planned to send newsletters out on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, you can decide about the length of the content. For example, if it is a daily or weekly newsletter, you should try to keep it short and sweet. Use the writing policy of "less is more", which means writing short articles in a way where every sentence counts, and despite its small content, it must have value for the readers. On the other hand, you can write longer articles for monthly newsletters, but it must be packed with good volume of information. But in either case, make sure that you do a thorough research of the data and information that you want to include in your online stock trading newsletter.

Get Subscribers
A newsletter that has great content, making it an excellent resource for stock traders is not worth the efforts and time you invested in creating it if you don't have subscribers for that. You are definitely not writing it for yourself. Therefore, the next step is to advertise the newsletters aggressively. For example, if you have a website with good traffic, you must know how to encourage the visitors to sign up for the newsletters. Offering free gifts can be a good idea on every sign up. The free gift may include a free ebook. The more subscribers you have, the better are your chances of success.

The most important thing is that you must know how to monetize your online stock trading newsletter. For example, once you get good volume of subscribers, you can encourage the readers to purchase your products (if you have any). If you don't have your own products to sell, you should focus on attracting advertisers to generate revenue from your newsletters.

Earn Money With Stock Photography

Do you love taking pictures? Do you carry your camera with you wherever you go? These hobbies can help you have extra money. There are many ways through which you can earn extra income with the use of photographs. One example is Stock Photography. It is a method of uploading pictures online with no upfront payments or fees. You can earn a certain amount each time a user views or downloads your photos. You can have the pleasure of uploading as many photos as you desire. This means having greater chances of earning more!

There are several websites that offer stock photography, like iStock, Shutterstock, and many more. How does a website like this work? These sites take photos from you and vend them online. The most common way that you can earn through these sites is by selling copyrights or by royalties. These stock photography websites have a wide range of clients and buyers. Examples of buyers are magazine owners, publishers, and many more clients who constantly seek quality photos. They pay you in exchange of their privilege to use your photo, but the photo can still remain on your account and others can still view and use it. You can also get royalties every time one downloads your photo and whenever someone views it. Each of these websites has its own methods of creating an income. If you are interested to join any website on stock photography, make sure that you read their terms and conditions beforehand.

People can sell photo the old and traditional way, like meet ups and personal arrangements. However, this online stock photography offers you wider coverage and bigger access to buyers and clients from all over the world. With these websites, you can still go on with your passion and hobby while continuing to be a photographer. If you love taking pictures and carrying your camera with you, now should not be the time to stop that hobby. You can take brilliant pictures from anywhere, at any time and upload them to your stock photography account. Instead of keeping it stocked in the memory or your computer, you can surely make good use of your photos and grab the chance to earn more.

If you have the talent in taking excellent photos, make an investment out of it. Stock photography is a convenient way to have extra money with your photos. Keep on taking those snaps and keep on uploading them online. You need a lot of quality shots to make sure you earn a considerable amount of income. You can make your photos outstanding and marvelous to attract more buyers and viewers. With stock photography, you are not only earning money, but you also continue to do what you love best. It is a fun way to make money.