by Russell Marsh

It seems that lots of people are being sucked into the idea that you can quite simply make a lot of money by having a computer that’s connected to the Internet. Knock up a website and wait for the money to pour in. If I were you I’d re-think that strategy if it is your genuine intention to make money online.

It’s fairly obvious to everybody now that Of Course you can be successful in an online business and can actually make lots of money without ever leaving your home. The biggest separator between those online businesses that fail and those that make lots of money is not talent or special skills but rather effort and determination not to quit, especially in the early stages. Lots of hours will have to be put in, especially in the early stages but once some money is earned you can put some back into the business to automate parts of it and get some of that time back.

There are many businesses in a box on the Internet which you can join for a fee and they will more often than not include a website and various tools to help you run the business. One thing they will not include, and this is the vital part if you are to make any money, is the marketing that any business requires.

Anybody think of starting an online business should first of all take a tour of some sites like Infogoround, CarbonCopyPRO and a few others. You will find that most of the business opportunity sites use a lead capture page as the initial landing page. The single purpose of this page is to get usually your first name and your email address. This is purely because it’s been proved over time that most people will not get involved in a business on their first visit to a website so to increase the money making potential from all their visitors they want your contact info so they can market to you via an autoresponder and keep reminding you about the opportunity. Don’t be afraid to give these details, there will always be an unsubscribe link in every message you receive so you can stop receiving these ‘reminders’ any time you wish. Home businesses will hardly ever be money makers overnight so you have to be aware of this. Maybe joining under a leader who has already demonstrated that he knows the ropes is the answer. You can always be sure of great advice from him then, especially if he stands to gain from your success.

What a lot of people never think about is that although the Internet is all computers and zeros and ones it’s still all about people. You should get yourself a beer (or coffee sit back and think back over your life. What you might consider to be perfectly mundane knowledge you picked up at work could well be a serious money maker. I’m willing to wager that you dealt with a certain problem at work in a certain way that somebody else faced with the same problem would consider priceless information. Everybody has skills, the only trouble is we tend to undervalue our own.

A common route to making money on the Internet is to start by selling somebody else’s product or service. This is called affiliate marketing. There are web sites such as Commission Junction and Clickbank where it’s possible to sign up for free and get access to thousands of products that you can promote for up to 70% commission. If you’re taking people to your own page as a primer then there are lots of content sites and directories where you can get suitable content. The only important thing after that is to have a marketing plan. You need to get people in front of your offer or else it’s all for nothing and you won’t make any money.

The best and biggest tip I can give anyone is to make sure you have a business plan, action plan, whatever you want to call it. The Internet offers everybody the chance to make real gobs of money because the World is now your oyster whereas you used to be limited to your locality. Would you go to the Bank Manager to discuss a new business (offline) without a business plan? We know the answer is No so why would you approach the Online World any differently? Make a business plan and stick to it. By persevering your efforts will eventually pay off and you’ll make more than enough money to support your Family AND have a lot of fun doing so!

About the Author:

Russell Marsh is a leading Consultant for CarbonCopyPRO. Making Money without calling anybody! Russell’s personal business site is full of free information on how to make money online He is giving away FREE php websites to his Team. You are welcome to reprint this article - but get your own unique content version here.