Not long ago, books, tapes and programs were all
rage telling how easy it was to make money in mail order. The ads are still running, and a few people are still reaping rewards. Remember guy making money from his kitchen table, wearing only his shorts?Now playing field has changed. Now it is Internet that offers lazy way to riches.
Thousands of folks bought books, and failed to get rich. The Internet will also fail to deliver expected riches to millions of hopefuls.
But if you learn closely-held secrets of online success, YOU can be one of few who profit.
Well, that is what they would have you believe. Truth is, secrets are easy to discover. So easy that I will tell you some of them right now. And over next few issues, I will uncover all that you need to know to really make Internet work for you.
The Internet is a 24/7, 365 day shop, just bursting with customers. Actually, it is more like a giant Arts & Crafts fair. You've got to get customer's attention, while thousands of other stalls are doing same. Once you have attracted them, they look at your stall. If they like what they see, you get chance to go into sales mode. At any time their attention can waver and you lose customer.
************** If you do catch them, and they like what they buy, and you were polite, helpful and courteous, then next time fair is held, they will head straight for you. **************
The Internet is exactly like that.
The good news is that making money from Internet doesn't have to be a full time occupation. You can run a business in a few hours a day without risking your day job. Most of hard work can be automated, and there are hundreds of web sites offering free or very inexpensive software solutions for problems you don't even know you have got.
So why is it made to sound so difficult? There is a lot of technical jargon out there, and it gets in way of developing a clear understanding of what you need to do. Once you have progressed along learning curve, everything gets a lot simpler, but in initial stages, you just have to grit your teeth and read everything you can lay your hands on. Go to www.google.com and type '"internet marketing" ebook' without single quotes.
You will be presented with dozens, if not hundreds of free or 'for sale' ebooks. Buy some. Get free ones and read, read, read.
There is no substitute for knowledge.
Here is a list of 6 questions that will lead you to decide how you can start making money with your own web site. It is not exhaustive: new ideas are being developed all time, but it covers bases:
> Do you want to sell hard products or digital products?
> Do you want to sell your own products, or someone else's?
> Do you want to concentrate on selling one product hard, or spread over a wide range of products?
> Do you want to accept payments online, or let other people deal with money?
> Do you want to capture email addresses so that you can sell to them later?
> Do you want to run an affiliate program?
Let's look at these one at a time.
>>> Hard products, or digital products?
You can probably sell anything on Internet. However, if you are looking to run a business in your spare time, digital information products are easiest to handle. Why? Simply because there is no inventory to worry about, it is all in computer files on your hard disk. Also, products are delivered directly to your customer, instantly.
>>> Do you want to sell your own products, or someone else's?
Your own products can be most profitable. If you write an e-book and sell it for $25, who gets $25? You do. All of it. Every last cent apart from a small commission to credit card company. 'But I can't write an e-book,' you say. Sure it can be difficult if you have not written anything before, and you may think you have nothing to say that people would pay good money for. You are wrong! You do have a book inside you. Almost everybody does.
Ken Evoy's outstanding book, written with Monique Harris, *Make Your Knowledge Sell!*, will open your eyes and get you writing anything from a four-page report to a full sized book.
