This Getting Started Article is in 4 parts. This is Part 1 of 4 To view Parts 2, 3 and 4 please do an Author search on Go Articles for Natalie Williams The full, hyperlinked version of this article can be found at http://www.GettingStartedOnline.com

Intro There is an enormous amount of information out there about "How to Succeed online". Most of information is really good. However, it is long…. Very long. I've subscribed to so many 'email courses' and was excited when they first appeared I my inbox. I would read every word. Now, I delete messages before I even open them, because I just can't take so much information anymore. I have brain-overload. There's point when good information becomes too much information. You just don't need ALL of that to be a success.

Now that I am educating people on how to succeed online, I have taken all my information and knowledge, condensed it down and created a simple, step-by-step guide to get you up and running. I am personally doing everything in this ebook and will show you one way I make my living online.

This type of business is for those who:

-want to work from home -do not want to do "Sales calls" or have too much person-to-person contact -do not want to have to ship anything -are fairly well-versed in ways of a computer or are very willing to learn -have a lot of time to devote to their business and are willing to actually work! -would like a nice sized, steady income for doing something enjoyable

This type of business is NOT for those who:

-want someone else to do all their work -want to watch television while "Thousands of dollars" roll into their bank account -don't know how to turn on a computer and don't want to learn -are expecting to be a millionaire in a month, or even a year

There really are endless ways to make money on internet. You could open an online store, sell on auctions, sell some type of service (web design, secretarial, etc).. and each way has its' own long learning process.

This guide is zeroing in on one particular way. Through your own website, ebooks and affiliate accounts. I began my whole online venture in August 2002. I decided I wanted to sell on eBay and wrote a journal all along way detailing every experience, ever licensing procedure and every contact with wholesalers and drop-shippers. I turned that journal into an ebook and sold hundreds of copies through eBay. Everyone who purchased it raved about it for honesty and details. I had many request for second edition. I hadn't planned on a second edition…heck, I didn't even plan on first one, it just happened. I am a confirmed journal-aholic. I have written in journals since my youth, so keeping a journal of what I was doing was not out of ordinary. After seeing ebooks sold all over eBay, I created mine and it was best decision I ever made.

Anyway, with requests for a second edition, I decided to create a whole website dedicated to assisting people who wanted to sell online. I'm very big on researching and through months, I learned a great deal on business licensing, selling online, etc… So, Online Sellers Association was born.

The time came where I grew weary of packing, shipping and eBay tracking. I decided to try and succeed without having to ship anything. Realizing that my ebook sold quite well and I never had to ship it, just email it, I decided to look into ebook sales.

This research led me to "Affiliate accounts", 2-tier, ClickBank and on and on. I now know it is completely possible to make a living online with digital products.

Here is truth… IT IS WORK!! All these ads that promise you riches through selling ebooks while you sit back and money automatically rolls into your account are highly inaccurate.

I have worked harder than I ever have, my children complained, my marriage went through a rocky time and my house was a mess (okay, so it would have been a mess anyway, but I like to blame it on my business)…. However, I will say honestly that if you work hard, follow my guidelines and use your creative mind, there will absolutely come a time when you can relax, take a vacation and allow your sales to process automatically. I began my whole online selling experience on August 29, 2002 and as of today, September 2004, I am extremely happy with my progress and am getting more successful everyday.

I have sorted through mountains of information, affiliate accounts, ebooks galore and am now creating this very condensed version to assist people in jumping over mess and get right to point.

There are many ways to do most of this for free, however, when it's time to pay for something, I speak out and will explain why.

I am giving you a "checklist" of what you should do to accomplish goals, and I suggest you do go through it all, because I am not adding hype in this book. There will not be any parts you can just skip over.

Very Short Version: Here is what you will do to generate income from your free website. I am going to show you how to do most of this absolutely free. All it will cost is hard work from you.

1) Decide on a website theme. 2) Join affiliate programs that compliment your theme. 3) Create a free website filled with this information, affiliate links, articles, message boards, etc.. Gather visitors email addresses in one of two ways. a) Make your site free, but only accessible if they register b) Make your site freely available to public, but entice visitors to give their email address to receive a free ebook or other incentive. 4) Create a free ebook, also with your affiliate links, preferably an ebook that people can re-brand. Give this ebook away everywhere. 5) List auctions with added links to your ebook, website, about me page, etc.. 6) Promote everything on message boards, your website, newsletters, etc. 7) Create and send out a newsletter on a regular basis and in time, sell advertising space in your newsletter.