Linda Thanks for the invite and the info. This sure to help a lot of people.

Hi Linda, My name is Heather and I'm pretty new to Adland. I have been "chatting" with Peter and he recommended that I post my story here on your forum. He said it would be best for feedback. Ok, here goes. My sister-in-law approached me about a year ago to try these skin care products that she was selling. I wasn't really interested because despite the fact that I'm all tattooed, I am freakishly protective of my face and what I put on it. (I can always hide my tats under clothing.) Anyway, I agreed to try the stuff because in the 16yrs I've been with my husband she has NEVER asked me for a favor. Long story short....I feel in love with the stuff and have continued to use it. About 3mos ago she tells me that if I become a consultant that I can get a BIG discount on everything that I purchase. At first I was skeptical because I am not a salesperson and really wasn't interested in becoming a salesperson. She says don't worry, you don't have to sell anything, just sign on as a consultant and you get the discount, if I decide to try to sell the stuff...fine, if not, I still get the discount. Ok, I sign up. Money gets VERY tight around here so I decide I'm gonna try to sell the stuff, (This is in the beginning of September)but I have NO idea what I'm doing and I'm up all night making and printing brochures and flyers to hand out and searching the web for cheap advertising...........HELP!!! Almost 30 days later and I'm just as lost as on the 1st of the month.... Sorry to ramble, but that's my story. Any suggestions would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Hi Linda, Great information, I have questions. What do you mean and how would you mask a URL ? Is it like using a redirector? TinyURL ?

Hi FJ: You could use a place like tinyurl - but I don't recommend it. The reason I don't is that if they have any server problems, your links won't work. But, there's an even easier way. That's just to add a modifier in your link. Like this: A normal link looks like this: [a href="www.somewhere.com"]Click here[/a] A masked link looks like this: [A HREF="url" onMouseOver=" window.status='Mssg Here!'; return true" onMouseOut="window.status=' '; return true"]Click here[/a] In the place where you see "mssg here" - just put the text that you want to show. For example, if your destination url is xyztraffic.com?id5968 -- a normal link will SHOW that as the destination when I put my mouse on the link. With a masked link, you put "click to visit" or something similar in the "mssg here" part, and your affiliate id link won't show when people put their mouse on the link. Also note that I've used square brackets instead of the pointy html ones so that the code would actually display on the page. : ) Linda

Hi Heather! Welcome to Adland (and my forums, too!) Want to hear something funny about people? As consumers/shoppers, most of us love to buy stuff and hate to feel we're being "sold." And... as workers/sellers, most of us love to make money and hate trying to "sell" someone. Know what the trick is? To make sales without having to feel like you're selling. But, figuring out how to do that is the trick part. Do you mind if I ask a couple of questions that will seem odd? No? Oh, good! 1) In your profile, you say that Family, Reading, Home Decorating, Entertaining and Skin Care are your interests. You also mention that you have tatoos. Of all those things... and others maybe that aren't listed, how would you rank your interest and enthusiams? Make a list of things you enjoy, with the "most" at the top, and the ones that are lesser at the bottom. 2) How comfortable are you "talking" online. As in, are you okay with chatting in a forum like this? Could you do that for a half hour every single day? Once you tell me those two, I have an idea that might surprise you. : ) Linda