Online business – What it’s not and what not

As I said in my previous post, I only became involved with this a little over two months ago. It's been a hell of a ride, and, although I am learning fast, I am by no means an expert. But I think I have learned enough to offer a few pointers.

"Stay home with the kids and get your share of this $60 billion market – Take surveys and make $20 - $120 per hour. You don't have to know anything and you can work any hours and times you want, fire your boss, sit on your ass on the beach in some Caribbean island, work a couple of hours a week and make a six-figure monthly income, blah, blah...., just send me your $nn7 and start making money 90 minutes from now". It seems like the prices of all the programs nowadays end in '7' – most popular are $97 and $197, they can go up to $1997 of more, and a couple of days ago I got an email about the latest, hottest one for $7.

Sound familiar? If you believe any of it, having lived in the San Francisco Bay area for the last 40+ years, I know of a couple of beautiful bridges you can buy real cheap; just send me your $27 and you will see exactly how in 30 seconds. Right!

A couple of years ago, I paid, I think, $35 for exclusive access to a list of companies from which I was going to collect between $25 and $150 for each 10 minute survey I completed. And how could I say no? I also got free bonuses totaling $500+ in value. Now I know that $35 was probably the biggest transaction ever made by the 'guru' who sold me the package.

So, is it possible to make money online? I think, yes. But it's not going to happen the way a lot of gurus – read 'bullshitters' – would have you think. You cannot get a haircut by phone; you cannot take pills and lose 30 pounds in the next 30 days while you continue to stuff yourself with cheetos and beer sitting in front of a TV watching that crap that we call news or shows. And you cannot download some files, build a web site from a template in 10 minutes, put it on a server and have $2,500 deposited in you PayPal account 3 hours later, as some of these bullshitters would have you believe.

However, if you are willing to pay your dues – to put in the time and effort it takes to learn a few basic things and set things up correctly, you will make money. You can even get to the point where things will run on autopilot and you will have time to expand your business and take it easy once things really get going. It is not that difficult. But you will have to work for it; if you are lazy, don't waste your time and money, it ain't gonna happen.

Can you get good, qualified people to help you with this for a reasonable amount – an amount that a small endeavor can justify? Yes, there are some. In the next post, I will give you a list of names of people I recommend, and tell you why and what they have to offer.

Ciao for now.