& Scams 101 Where Do I Start?  Not a problem.... honest! As long as your I.Q. is fair-to-middlin' and you're not afraid of your mouse, you should be perfectly capable of learning everything you need to know to make money on the internet.... A little money or a
bushel of money.... I think most of us have heard about "cashing in on the internet revolution" and how the internet is cranking out "instant millionaires" and how you can "make money while you sleep".... and of course that's pure poppycock. Well.... almost. It's true you can make money while you sleep.... (last Monday morning, f'rinstance, I woke up $180 richer than when I went to bed).... but don't expect to make money while you sleep unless you work your hiney off while you're awake. There's no magic about the internet, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It's nothing like when the Bluebird of Happiness poops money into your purse (or so I hear). I fought a losing battle with my first web site for over a year and a half. I offered great products at ridiculously low prices. I accepted credit cards and set it up so the dumbest idiot could order. I listed the site with all the search engines. I even emailed a daily newsletter to a few hundred subscribers.... and I can count almost two years' worth of sales without even using my toes. I had absolutely NO clue what was wrong, and I was about ready to throw in the towel when I stumbled onto an internet marketing course that literally turned my life around. I'll get back to that in a
minute, but first I want to run through the questions
I see most often (snipped straight from emails that
have come my way):
"Can a total novice actually make money on the net?" Yes YES YES!! I was a total novice, and I'm still no expert.... but I have managed to create a reasonably successful web site and a decent monthly income. However, it wasn't INSTANT Income -- if you're expecting that kind of thing, you'd better go lie down for a moment and then go read the pages on "want to believe!" Odds are you can do the same thing (or better
if you stay focused like I don't).... but if you
shortchange yourself in the learning department, I
guarantee it will end up being one huge
disappointment.
"We barely get by as it is. I can't take the risk." Exactly how much risk can't you take? My total monthly overhead for Friends In Business.... steadily earning me between $1,000 and $2,000 a month.... is $17.95 (not counting internet access that I'd be paying for anyway). On the internet, you can run your business on a shoestring, and you can try out new ideas and test new products without betting the family farm. How many real-world businesses let you do that? Just don't up the ante and set yourself up for failure by listening to the people who try to sell you stupid stuff like "self-propagating web pages," an "internet business in a box," or space in a high-tech mall because "location is everything." That's not what internet marketing is all about. Successful internet marketing is all about
learning how.... and about working hard.
"But I don't have a product. I don't even have an IDEA for one, and I don't think I'm creative enough to come up with anything." It's too soon to even think about a product. Your first job is to learn everything you can about running a business on the internet. It's important to understand that most people don't get online to buy something.... they get online to find information. I've found that the key to success for the little guy is building a quality web site around your passion and putting "selling something" on a back burner until the time is right. We all have our own unique experiences to draw from. If you're already an expert in your field, then you're one step ahead of the game. I wasn't, but that hasn't slowed me down. I have enough workable ideas to keep myself busy through this life and the next. There's no reason you can't do exactly the same thing. What's that you say? You're not creative enough? Well until I discovered life on the net, I wasn't either. (If you don't believe me, try this: In high school, we had to do a report on anything we wanted. NO restrictions. Well, with only the whole world to choose from, I couldn't think of a thing, so I panicked and spent hours with my nose in the index of Encyclopedia Britanica. I ended up yakking about silkworms and humiliating myself in front of 45 sleeping teenagers. But I digress.) As you start to gain an understanding of what
makes the internet tick, focus on your own
interests instead of "cashing in on the internet"
and I think you'll amaze yourself. I know I
did.
"So where do I start?" You start by learning everything you possibly
can about internet marketing. The best way
to do that is by getting your hands on a copy of Starting
An Online Business for Dummies.
You can get it from a library, get it for your
Kindle, order it on Amazon -- but if you want to
start a business, THIS is the spot to start!
And get a set of highlighter markers while
you're at it, because you're gonna want to take
notes! Approach it with an empty but open mind. Keep a list of every idea that enters your head, no matter how wild it seems. Later, you'll junk some and flesh out others. Don't think in terms of making money yet.... think in terms of creating a valuable resource. Give people a reason to come back day after day. Later.... after you've built your traffic to an acceptable level or created a thriving community.... you'll be ready to start introducing products or services. You can get your feet wet selling someone else's products, but the key to bigger bucks is creating your own. (Now don't freak out on me.... people will pay for information on anything and everything. Just concentrate on growing a great web site and interacting with as many people as you can, and I assure you, your problem won't be not having enough information.... it will be "information overload," and that is what you turn into products.) And what if you really can't come up with anything? Then you'll have to rely on some of the other ways you can make money from your site, like affiliate programs, advertising revenue, etc. Like I've said ad pukium, LEARNING all of this
is your key to success. Concentrate on that,
and the ideas will come.
"Isn't there a lot of competition?" Sure there is. Pretty much everything has been done before, and there's always going to be a bigger, fancier site than yours. Friends In Business is as simple as it gets.... but it works because it's based on community and trust. Sure there are bigger and better anti-scam sites out there, but I have a loyal following, and my little community is thriving. I've carved out my own niche in my own little corner of cyberspace.... and it will be unique and successful. A lot of people are worried about the
predicted collapse.... 35,000 e-commerce sites
reduced to 5,000 over the next couple of
years. I say, "Who cares?" Those are
the big fancy sites.... the ones that spend more
than they make. By doing my own thing,
staying small, and spending less than $20 a month,
I have nothing to fear from the competition or
from the "collapse."
"I don't think I could learn to do all those codes to make a web page." Of course you can! It's too early to tax your brain with that, but when the time comes, you just hustle on over to your local bookstore and get a copy of "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Creating an HTML Web Page" by Paul McFedries. And if you don't really give a hoot about learning HTML, then you download one of the free programs that does it for you. I use Seamonkey, but I'm probably a bit certifiable by now. When you get right down to brass tacks, this
is actually the easy part.
In a nutshell: YES!.... the average person who doesn't know diddly can learn to make money on the internet, but it doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen by itself. It takes a lot of hard work just like any other business, and if you go in blind, I guarantee you'll fall flat on your face like I did the first go-round. I can't recommend Starting An Online Business for Dummies strongly enough. If you have the time, you might prefer to spend the next two years reading everything you can find on internet marketing and trying to pull it all together yourself. That approach wasn't working for me, and one of the pitfalls of doing it that way is that "Internet Marketing Experts" are multiplying like rabbits. The problem is, a lot of them are people who have made a few sales and decided they're qualified to show the rest of us how it's done. These self-appointed gurus can eat up a lot of your time -- AND your dollars, too! I'm all for supporting your local library and going there to read a book. That's all I have to say, except that I LOVE working on the internet, and I get goosebumples just thinking about the day I can finally farm out all my typing and leave that life behind me. If you're willing to do the time, it might be the perfect business for you too.... but don't cheat yourself and skip that all-important first step: Learning how to do it right.. In the meantime.... If you're ready to reserve your domain name, click here and I'll tell you how to save a bundle. If you're in the market for a company to host your web site, click here and I'll tell you about the world's best web site host (who also happens to be one of the least expensive). HOWEVER.... (there's a "however" coming).... I recommend you don't do either of these things until you study Corey's Course, because.... like me.... you might find yourself going in a completely different direction.
If
the thought of tackling I have a couple of simpler yet totally *OUTSTANDING* options to suggest. Corey's company came up with a fantastic alternative to the giant 500+ page course. It's still *The Best" but reorganized, simplified, and presented in an amazing 1-2-3 style that calms even the most Nervous Netrepreneur...
And eBay. What can I say? It's still the EASIEST and FASTEST way to start earning money. Where else can you put your ad in front of millions of potential buyers for pennies and see the cash by the end of the week? But if you want to make serious money, you need to educate yourself. Sitting at your desk 12 hours a day listing thousands of products isn't the way to do it. If making a living on eBay sounds like your idea of heaven, I strongly suggest you save yourself a fortune in frayed nerve endings and make an investment in your future...
If I can
answer any questions or do anything to
help, please don't hesitate to email
me.... and be sure to visit the Message
Board before you
leave. There are several threads
in the archives about this "Ohmigod
where do I start!?" thing and lots of
nice people who have walked in your
socks.
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