When I started my first online business I?ve spent about 100$ in first 3 months and earned just 5$ (It was my only sale during period of 3 months!). And I really wasn?t lazy! I worked about 25 hours per week placing ads, participating in discussions, submitting to search engines and directories, studying various promotion tutorials and so on. Now I?m in online business for 2 years. I?ve tried a huge amount of different programs, and now my income varies from 2 000$ to 5 000$ depending on how many hours I work. In this article I?m going to give you some advise how to start your online business and don?t fail because of common mistakes.

First of all let?s figure out what online business really is. It?s selling. It doesn?t matter what to sell: some service, some product or an opportunity to earn money. Mostly what you need to do is to find customers. And it?s not so easy as it seems. Here I?ve got some tips how to be successful in finding potential customers:

Myth No. 1: How much you earn depends on how hard you work

If this were true, then physical, blue-collar workers, who have been working hard for years, would have been wealthiest people on earth. Of course, this isn't true. They form most of workforce and vast majority of middle-class.

If you witnessed your parents coming home tired from a long day's work in your youth, you probably learned that money wasn't a sufficient reward for all that effort. People who work "just" for money often have debts because they comfort themselves with whatever they can buy, beautiful things they lack when working.

Myth No. 2: Being paid for something you enjoy isn't work and you shouldn't ask for money for doing something that is enjoyable.

Check this with millionaires. They all have so much money that they don't need to work anymore. Nevertheless, they work for other reasons, challenge, satisfaction, fullness of life, activity, fun ... and all are connected to a love for their work. If there was no joy in doing a certain task, they would do something else that would make them much happier and that enables them to realize their dreams.

In fact, if you don't enjoy your work, you will never become wealthy doing it! However, just because you enjoy your work doesn't mean you shouldn't get paid for it - in fact, that is ultimate goal, to get paid for what you already enjoy so it never feels like you are at work!

Myth No. 3: You need to be in right line of business to amass wealth

Do you think so? This must mean that all people who are involved in same business are millionaires. Of course, this isn't true. In each business there are winners and losers; winners abound, even in businesses that consist of distasteful (to most) or "impossible" work like sweeping streets, collecting trash, working in a factory, pumping gas, selling newspapers, etc. On other hand, there are just as many "losers" in businesses like selling real estate, management or being a stockbroker.

Myth No. 4: You need right education to make a fortune

Are most educated people really wealthiest? Not at all! In this case, university professors would be wealthiest people on earth. Ask them about their salaries, if you get opportunity. The truth is vastly different - wealthiest people are those who can convert their knowledge (or education) into money, in best possible way. They can be highly educated people (like inventors, scientists, etc.) or almost ignorant.

Being formally uneducated does not equate to poor performance on job or inability to form a strong enough vision to carry a person to success - they can easily be experts without having a formal education.

Myth No. 5: It used to be easier