Internet Based Business - 7 Ways To Avoid Credit Card Overload

There are loads of reasons why people decide to start an online home business and some of them include convincing sales copy and promised riches.

Sales pages are read and the emotions get excited at the thought of promises of riches with the least amount of effort) instill in us become more powerful than our logical mind that will very happily let us know that we really don't need it!

Our emotional response to a sales page is what hooks and the need to be lead by someone we hope will show us the way to a no-brainer cash cow with an endless stream of $100 bills is what has us whipping out our credit card faster than we can say compound interest!

You could try willpower as a method to stop this endless, expensive necessity to buy, but it can be easier said than done. When you are staring at a timer ticking down the seconds before the offer ends, or there is a fast action bonus that you have convinced yourself you need. Or even worse, the price is rising with every second that passes and the longer you wait the more expensive the product gets.

Resistance of any kind is futile.

And while these are all fantastic marketing techniques when you are the seller, they are an absolute nightmare when you are the buyer.

Your credit card takes yet another hit as you buy the latest piece of viral software or adsense templates. Your credit card absolutely cowers when you add the latest article site monthly membership fee, and it gasps for air when you add the new gurus coaching program onto to it!

Then the end of the month arrives, your credit card bill is sent to you in an envelope large enough to carry a bucket of water and you place it on your desk, under your pile of to do papers because you can't bear to open it.

Yes folks, when the marketing machine hooks you there is little you can do but give in and buy. Or is there? Here are 7 proven ways (and I know they are proven because I had to use them myself) to stop credit card overload:

1. Create a vision for your business. I always get back to this because for me it is one of the most important things. If you know you are focusing on writing info products you don't need the latest gadget software. If you have decided to focus on affiliate marketing, you don't need membership to the latest adsense templates. Focus, focus, focus with a vision for your business and whatever that vision is don't allow anything to come along and deter you from it.

2. Stop! Okay so the price of the product is increasing before your eyes, but stop anyway and ask yourself - Is this something I really need, and how will I use it within the next 24 hours?

If you don't know how you will immediately put it to use I would argue that you really don't need it right now. I have spoken to many people who have bought a product and have not gotten round to using it 6 months later (okay, yes, I am talking about myself again!)

3. Delete the email - don't even read it, when you are stronger (you will know you are stronger because you stop salivating when a new email offer arrives), open the email and unsubscribe from all these mailing lists you are on!

4. If curiosity really is killing you and you have to open and read the email then BEFORE you click that link to take a look, stop and let your logical mind take over.
Tell yourself you are only looking and before you buy you will read the entire sales page TWICE! That's the deal, if you end up wanting what's on offer you can only buy it if you have read the entire sales page from start to finish twice.

5. Read the entire sales page TWICE. Research has shown that long sales copy works. It's my personal belief that the only reason why they work is because we are too lazy to read them, so we go from the top of the page and the headline straight down to the fast action bonuses and hit the buy now link.

If you really think you need this product then read the sales page from start to finish at least twice. I recommend 4 times to be sure. If after reading it four times you are sure you need it then who am I to say otherwise!

6. Don't put your email receipts in a separate folder I watched a TV show recently that did an experiment. Two tables, with people who balanced out in weight, height and age - one table was fed chicken legs and the bones were left in front of them. The other table was fed chicken legs and the bones were removed from the table once they had finished.

The table without the reminder of how many chicken legs they had eaten (because they were removed from the table) ate 4 TIMES as much as the table with the chicken bones left in front of them.

Why am I telling you this? Well do the same with your online receipts. It is easy to forget about that $27 ebook, or $8 domain you bought. Leave all your receipts for that month in your inbox. Let them add to the number of emails you have. Never open them.

It is important they remain unopened and highlighted. You will be surprised at how many "purchase receipts" you actually accumulate and it definitely stops the spending!

7. Find yourself a business where you don't need any extras! Internet marketing is such a huge area that its easy to believe you need to buy all the latest products for your business.

Find yourself an online business that provides you with just about everything you need. That doesn't mean you never have to buy anything again. It just means that you need less and so can be conservative in your spending.

Credit card overload can become an occupational hazard for anyone working online, and running a home based business.

If you are a long-term internet marketing veteran who has managed to buy more than you have ever sold online, here's my advice - step away from the computer, put the credit card down and put your hands behind your head!