Can You Really Make Money Online?

By Kevin Bidwell

Tom from Indiana writes: “Is it still possible to make money online or is the ‘internet gold rush’ over?”

"Make a Quick $100"..."$10,000 in 30 days"..."Parents discover $100,000 in cash stuffed in their son's closet."

Come on, are we really buying this stuff?

At some point we all wanted to believe. At some point we were fed up with the way things had been in our lives and we just wanted out. At some point we read these misleading ads and thought, "maybe, just maybe, this can be me."

But all the promises turned out to be empty.

So, here we are, left with a genuine question: Can a regular person, without a bunch of technical knowledge or capitol to invest, actually make a living--a good living-- on the web?

Today I want to answer that question by looking at some "regular people" who are making their living on the web and then look at the characteristics that make them successful.

Katherine is a frustrated astrologer. An attractive woman of 30, single with no children, she set up a site on astrology a while back with no success. But she didn't give up.

She had a passion for designer clothes and accessories, but she also had a passion for bargains. Many months ago her bargain snooping led her to an overseas wholesaler who bought designer goods off-season at a tremendous discount.

As she sported her new wears, her friends began to ask her to secure some designer goods for them as well. She was more than willing to do so--and made a nice little profit with each handbag and overnight case.

Pretty soon, she had more than amply supplied all of her friend/customers yet still wanted to sell more. With $250 of start-up capitol, she founded her online biz in Nov of 2001.

By January of 2002, her sales were over $30,000 per month and her profit was over $10,000.

Not too shabby.

Preston had just ended a 3 month stay in a mental hospital. To keep himself occupied while he was there he began making twisted metal jewelry. Upon his release he realized that he couldn't return to the stress of his regular job.

He decided to travel around Louisiana and Mississippi (USA) and sell his handiwork at flea markets.

Eventually, he got the idea to sell his jewelry online. Today he and his wife are selling almost $50,000 per month from their home.

Anthony was a skinny guy.

I first ran into him several years ago through a body- building contest we were both participating in. To win the contest you had to transform your body through building muscle and losing body fat. I lost a little fat and gained a little muscle--not enough to even place.

Anthony won.

He went from being a scrawny looking guy to looking like he just stepped out off the cover of Men's Health.

That success became the nucleus for starting his own online business--telling other skinny guys how to gain weight and look great.

Doing all of his own work and investing more time than money he grew a ONE PAGE SITE into almost $30,000 per month in sales.

Robert was making $275 per week as an apprentice floor installer. He didn't have enough money for food, let alone for his own computer--or computer business. Not only did he not have any money, he had never even turned a computer on!

Through persistence and a great product he is now earning over $250,000 per year.

I don't have time or space here to tell you about Gary, who earned almost $400,000 last year from his little Internet company that he started for less than $100; or Ken who brought in $300,000 last year; or Andy, whose thinning hair became the nucleus for a $600,000 per year business.

My point is this...YOU CAN MAKE MONEY ON THE WEB.

[If you want to read the complete stories on these Internet success's, they can be found by clicking here.]

Here are some things that all of these people have in common that will help you to be successful too:

THEY ALL HAVE A GREAT PRODUCT

If you sell only the things that everyone else is selling, you will likely fail. When you pick a product--even if it is just your twisted wire jewelry or your enjoyment of everything pertaining to trucks--you may just have a winner.

Pick a product or a market that no one else is effectively targeting. You will be amazed at the results.

THEY STARTED OFF SMALL

If you go into heavy debt to start your business, you will also have a much higher overhead and your tolerance for failure and setback will be lower. Most all of these people started out small and "kept their day job".

THEY WERE WILLING TO FAIL

Failure is the path to success--if you don't give up. For several of these Internet successes, their "success" came on] the heels of one or more Internet failures. Many of us are going to have a couple of "goose eggs" before we hit success.

THEY LEARNED FROM OTHERS

Almost all of these people had purchased and applied a web marketing course. The relatively small expense of this expert help--often recouped by the first sale--is far out- weighed by the long-term value of the information and insights courses like mine provide.

If you don't know what you are doing, find someone who does and imitate them.

THEY MARKETED THEIR SITE

You will not have any sales without visitors. Almost all of these people, when interviewed, can tell you with some sense of precision how many visitors come from what sources and how many of those turn into sales. Only marketers know this detailed information.

THEY AUTOMATED AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE

The routine tasks need to be done as automatically as possible so that the business owner can spend his time in marketing and developing new products. Automation is key to success and growth in business.

THEY KEPT COSTS LOW

Most of these people operate out of their own home. They have few--if any--employees. They use products that are low or no cost to produce and ship.

If you will imitate these 7 virtues, you too will find success on the net.

Kevin Bidwell owns http://www.All-In-One-Business.com and has helped 4,953 people start a business from home. Visit now to pick up your own free How to Start a Business from Home guide now.

Article Source : Make Money Online