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Where Do I Start Making Money and Where Does It Come From?

==> When Do I Start Making Money And Where Does It Come From?

I received an email during the week from a reader of a recent article "The 10 Most Popular Myths About Running A Home-Based Business Online". That article was, I admit, something of a vent which was long overdue and it struck a chord with many readers who wrote in to let me know that it described their experiences to a T.

One Internet-experienced reader wrote: "People ask the most amazing questions, such as 'I put up a web site. When do I start getting money and where does it come from?'"

Amazing but true. I kid you not, I get emails like this all the time. They're what prompted the article in the first place. So, in this article, rather than venting, I'll be a little more constructive and actually answer the question: Just how exactly DO you make money on the Internet?

1. The simplest - join an affiliate program (hell, join LOTS of affiliate programs) and spend your time and money advertising and promoting it to drive traffic to the you-beaut self replicating website every other affiliate gets. A la Amazon.com.

This is a VERY inefficient way of trying to make money online. And it will cost you a fortune before it yields a return. If it ever really does. If you're VERY lucky, you MIGHT just cover your costs.

(If you don't know what an affiliate program is, read "Affiliate Programs ... A Not THAT Easy Start To Your Own Online Business" at http://www.ahbbo.com/affiliateprograms.html.)

2. Create a content-based website, get traffic to it and use it to promote your affiliate programs. The trick here is to sign up for affiliate programs related to the subject matter you choose for your website. The idea is that, by creating a content-based website, you will attract targeted REPEAT traffic, thereby increasing the odds that someone will buy one of your affiliate program products. This is a MUCH better option than #1. and will save you a fortune on advertising.

3. Create a content-based website, get traffic to it and use it to sell your own products. Anything that can be delivered digitally is a good bet - software, e-books etc.

4. Do #3. above and establish your OWN affiliate program so other people can also sell your product in exchange for a commission.

Be sure to give them a you-beaut self-replicating website in case they're following plan #1. Hey - just because it won't pan out for them doesn't mean you still can't get the benefit of their hard work. After all, if you have several hundred affiliates, that's several hundred sales for you if each of them only makes one sale. And best of all, your army of affiliates is each spending a fortune on advertising so YOU don't have to! And just think what a valuable learning experience all of this is for them. You went through it so why not them, right? In fact, they'll probably end up THANKING you one day!

(OK, I'm getting a LITTLE facetious here, I admit. Back to being constructive ...)

5. Create a content-based website, get traffic to it and make your site visitors pay for access. You have to give them SOMETHING for free, of course, but keep the goodies on the top shelf.

6. Publish an ezine (electronic newsletter) and when you get 1,000 subscribers, start charging for advertising.

7. Do #6. above and create a website "home" for your ezine and include links to your affiliate programs/own products.

8. Do #7. above but make it a content-based site with stand-alone value with the intention of converting website visitors to ezine subscribers. Then revisit #6. Increase your advertising prices as your subscriber numbers increase.

9. If you have some special skill or training that you are employing in an existing business, create a website as a brochure for your services and attract business.

10. Do #9. above but make it a content-based website with the intention of converting site visitors into clients.

11. Join a network marketing company, create a content- based website to attract qualified leads and then link to your network marketing company's website.

12. Do #2. through #6., #8. and #11.. ALL of them. At the same time.

These are several of the main ways of making money on the Internet. I'm sure I'll receive mail letting me know of other obvious methods that I've overlooked. But you get the idea. Note that not a one of them involves slapping up a website and then sitting back waiting for $20 bills to spew forth from the CD-ROM drive. ALL of them require hard work in order to yield a return so, if you're one of the growing army determined to "make money with your computer", decide how you're going to go about it, roll up your sleeves and prepare to work.

© 2002 Elena Fawkner

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