Still, perhaps that whole idea is just a myth being perpetuated by established online businesses that depend on new blood buying into their 'get rich now' Internet marketing ebooks, courses, and programs.

Not that I would tell you anything about that if it was true. Not until after your credit card payment went through anyway.

One last thing that proves Internet to be a level playing field is that you can be your own boss and work your own hours. It's true also. You may never have sold a thing in your entire life, but if you put CEO, President of Marketing, or Chief Public Relations Officer by your name and name of your company, then that's what you are.

Still, what was that old line about too many Chiefs and not enough Indians? I don't know. I mean Chiefs play football and Indians are a baseball team, so how is that supposed to make any sense? Oh yeah, there is more players on a football squad than a baseball team isn't there?

Honestly though, Internet is a level playing field, if you approach it from right slant.

The truth about Internet is this...

Well, I'd tell you, but if I sent complete, unadulterated truth through an email it may cause entire cyber structure to collapse. Either that or powers that be would just sensor it and replace it with something generic, so you'll just have to call me instead.

My number is 555-555-5555

While payment services normally have reduced fees, they do have higher "per transaction" costs so you'll have to do some math to find out if this is a good idea for your business. Just take an "average" invoice amount from a sale and multiply it times 12 to get a base total to work with. Now, add in your 12 months worth of fees for statement, monthly access, discount percentage, per transaction cost, etc. This is your "example" total. Do same with several payment services using their costs to see which one, over time, would be less expensive for you.

If you were paying a $15 statement fee, $20 monthly fee, 3% + $.35 per transaction and $25 monthly gateway fee, your annual expenses would be $742.20 for an average transaction of $50.00. Your annual fees for a payment service with 3.5%, $1.00 per transaction and a one-time $50.00 set up charge would only be $83.00 per year. [Savings of $659.20 per year.]

3) Re-evaluate Your Long Distance Costs - Competition is small business owner's friend! With hundreds of long distance companies out there, you can drastically reduce your charges instantly. Again - use 'Net to search for inexpensive long distance service. A business owner I know changed from a MCI "program" to one of those 10-10 companies and reduced her per minute charge from $ .07 to $ .05. Depending on volume of calls you make, some programs offer rates as low as $ .03 per minute. [Estimated savings of $20-$30 per year for 1,000 minutes.]

From just these three little things, we've saved an estimated $802.60 per year. That's enough to make anyone's spreadsheet sing! Go through your list of costs and you will most likely find other expenses that can easily be reduced with a bit of research and a phone call or two.