By Denise Hall (C) 2003

The internet is a vast world of information, products and services for everything imaginable. Can average person truly become financially successful? How do you even begin?

First, find a service or product that interests YOU. If you believe in what you are doing it will be reflected in your business promotions. Never try to sell something that you wouldn't buy for yourself.

If you don't have a product of your own there are plenty available for you to purchase online with resale rights. Be careful here, though. There are plenty of scams available, too! Always do your homework and check out any program before making a purchase. When in doubt, use your instincts to guide you. If it seems like it's too good to be true, it probably is.

But doesn't it cost money to operate a business? That's advantage of internet. It costs much less to run a home based business on your computer than it would to open up shop in a "real" store or office. It's also much more convenient because you can work around your other activities.

I recently surveyed many people who operate internet businesses and asked how much they've spent on their programs and advertising. Most have spent less than $50 to start their businesses and between $20 and $50 monthly for advertising. That's certainly very low cost! Some do everything for FREE!

After choosing your products or services, how on earth do you promote it? The internet has millions of websites. It's easy to get lost. Research is key to answering this question. There are many places to advertise for free or very low cost. All you need to do is look around internet.

Join safelists and newsgroups, such as Yahoo and MSN groups. They are completely free of charge and normally allow daily advertising. Keep in mind that you must join groups whose purpose is advertising business opportunities or products. Don't join a craft or cooking group and try to advertise your business. That's considered SPAM.

By Denise Hall (C) 2003

Have you ever wondered how "the big guys" earn so much money on internet? Sure, some of them have huge advertising budgets, which puts small business owners at a disadvantage.

But some of biggest names today started out just like you and me. They had low advertising budgets and fumbled their way around internet trying to get visitors to their websites and sell their products.

Even though they had terrific products, they couldn't sell them if no one knew about them. They put on their thinking caps to find easiest and least expensive way to get visitors and make sales.

They finally came up with a plan that would benefit not only them, but others as well. If they could get other people to promote their products and websites, they could earn more money.

And so, Affiliate Programs were born! What a concept! A better way to get visitors to a website and sell more products!

They offer their visitors opportunity to "partner" with them, often for free, to help sell their products. And many of them offer two-tier affiliate programs.

So if I sign up as an affiliate I can get others to sign up under me as my sub-affiliates. I earn a commission for sales I make directly to my customers. But I also earn a smaller commission for sales that my sub-affiliates make.

It's a winning situation for everyone! The "big guy" made money because he sold his product. However, he might not have made that sale if it wasn't for my advertisement. And I made money because I advertised his products.

The concept of affiliate programs is really not so new. It's similar to selling cosmetics or other products for many well-known companies.