Let's Cut the Hype: What Does it Really Take to Make Money on the Internet?

Copyright (c) 2008 Mark Albertson

The websites abound. The pop-ups pop all around us. Pictures of thousands made by internet "guru's" ... and, oh, by the way, you can too, if you just purchase their information and follow it to the "T". It's as easy as that, isn't it?

For many of us who have bought into the hype, purchase the program, product, software or website, and tried to follow their simple instructions to riches, all we find is a big credit card bill at the end, and, if we're lucky, a check for $8.66 from the company we've signed up to be the affiliate for. At the end of the day, our big list has 8 people on it, and we realize that we're not making any money. So did we get ripped off? Or did we do it wrong? Probably neither. The fact is that the information we purchased was, most-likely, great information. Did we do it wrong? Probably what we did was just fine. So, why aren't we making those buckets of money that we thought we were going to make? Let me venture a few guesses.

1. "I thought that making money from the internet was going to be easy." Come on, let's get real for just a moment. Nothing worth having has ever, ever been easy. A home-based internet business is just as much work as any other business. We just didn't put the effort into making the business work in a way that would bring us the income we wanted.

2. "I thought that making money from the internet was going to be inexpensive." Please don't ever believe anyone who says that a successful internet business is cheap. What they really mean is this: "Making money on the internet can be much less expensive than other businesses, provided your money is spent on the right things, and in the right way." The fact is, that anything you do on the internet these days requires an expenditure of money for advertising. You can't build a solid, good quality list without spending money. You can't get the quantity of visitors to your website that you want without spending money. The trick is spending the right amount of money on the right things. This, very often just comes from trial and error. There are plenty of sites, guaranteeing 25,000 visitors to your site for $39.95. Amazingly, though, if things aren't set up right, maybe 3 sign up for your list. That's a cost of $12.50 for each legitimate potential customer ... mighty expensive.

3. "I thought I could just set up the "website in the box" and go about my life, making money 24/7/365. OK, here is the cold fact. You have to WORK to establish a profitable internet company. Once the company is mature, you can relax a lot more than a traditional business (if you've set things up properly). But getting to that point is a great deal of work.

Does all of this mean that you shouldn't start an internet business, or if you have one that's not making money, you should abandon it? By no means. The internet is an incredible place to do business in a way that will give you flexibility and good income. But you must do the right things, in the right way. Don't give up - learn! Spend some time with a mentor or coach. Someone who has been successful and can help you wind your way through the maze. And work your tail off! The trick is doing the right things in the right way, so each an every effort made on your behalf results in progress and profitability.