The Real Truth Behind Online Business Opportunities

Somewhere along the line people got the misconception that making money online was just as simple as could be and in fact it isn't even a real business. Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the main reasons 98% of online businesses fail is from that misconception.

The fact is that an online business is just as much a business as a brick and mortar business. An online business has a way to subtlety empty your pockets because the initial cost is nothing more than a membership or money making system, a website and some marketing. But man oh man can that add up quickly!!

Are You Only Hearing What You Want To Hear?

I've been on the web for over 4 years and I'm not going to feed you some "I made a gazillion dollars in 30 days" line. Most people fall for that though because it is just what they want to hear. It's EASY. Anyone can do it! Just follow these simple steps.... Even my 12 year old son is making money with this program....

These next statements are the ones you probably ignore or think that you can still make it work despite the warning.... Results & Earnings vary.... Earnings Disclaimer.... Individual results are not typical.... Any of this sound familiar?? If you've been trying to make money online for any length of time I'm sure it does

Is 30 Days Really Enough?

Now if you're done dropping $47 dollars on the next great money making program or eBook with a 30 day money back guarantee (seriously who in the world could evaluate the long term potential of a business in 30 days?) I've never seen or actually heard of anyone making any real money in just 30 days from scratch. If you know of someone or have done it yourself - congrats! Now I'd like to talk to the rest of us who are subject to the rule rather than the exception.

Chasing A Dream Is Hard Work!

What any business takes - online or off - is commitment, vision, determination, a willingness to learn and try new things and more than any of that it takes WORK!! There are no free lunches people. Now I'm not going to tell you that people don't make money like they claim to on those websites you've dropped your $47 dollars on, in fact I'd bet money it did work.

But let me point this out. If the method was actually sustainable and made money like they said it did then why are they selling it to you? Because they can make more money selling a dream than they can actually doing the work. And chances are that because they are selling their latest "money making machine" to the masses it will quickly lose its effectiveness. Or worse, it stopped working for them so they decided to squeeze a few more dollars out be selling it to you.

The Best Online Business?

Now there are some online businesses that are more resistant to the loss of effectiveness than others. Those are almost always companies or opportunities that have an offline element as well as online. An example could be eBay. If you have some item that you make or can get cheap and sell on eBay for a profit then that would be pretty resistant until people started copying you, which will happen.

Once the competition gets fierce you either have to find a new product, quit or beat people at their own game. If you are lucky and have an item that you can make or one that you can get cheaply the online honeymoon will be pretty short.

Affiliate Marketing Isn't As Easy As You're Lead To Believe

The same basic principle applies to affiliate marketing. If your are one of the first to sell the latest and greatest eBook or whatever you will make some money right up front but once the masses find out you've got a winner, get ready for some fierce competition. After all, everybody wants their piece of the pie. Now if you don't know what affiliate marketing is, I'll do my best to quickly explain. Affiliate marketing is basically marketing and selling someone else's product for a commission.

It is free to become an affiliate. Just surf the web for a while for some of your favorite products & stores. When your on the web page scroll all the way to the bottom and most likely you'll see a link that says affiliates or associates, such as on Amazon. There are also websites that are dedicated to affiliates like clickbank and commission junction to name a few. Now like I mentioned it is free to become an affiliate or an associate but most times, if you really want to compete you'll either spend time advertising or money and probably both.

So it isn't exactly free now is it? But the company who is actually selling the affiliate product gets some free advertising out of the deal.

No Traffic No Sales No Business

When you consider an online business one thing that won't change from eBay to Amazon and everything in between is traffic. You have got to have targeted web traffic to have any chance of making a sale online. You can have the very best product on the very best website and if nobody is seeing it then you will not make any money. Not one penny! It takes time and effort to build your traffic stream up and keep it up. It is another skill set you'll need to develop in order to begin getting your online business off the ground.

Now don't forget that everybody else who is trying to sell what you are selling is working for that same traffic so it takes some creative thinking and persistence to get your share.

Network Marketing Might Be What You Never Knew You Were looking For

In my experience I have found what is best is to have a business that is both online and offline. What I mean is I can sell my product or opportunity online as well as offline. I can promote my product offline or opportunity live and in person or I can promote it online. It's preferable to do all three but what's great about a business like this is if you don't have the cash to advertise online it is pretty easy and almost free to promote offline or live and in person - and you can make money doing it.

So what is this great business opportunity? It is network marketing. Network marketing always has a product to promote that you'll be able to promote and sell online and off. Good network marketing companies allow you to sign up cheaply and scale yourself up to a position that you are making money from. I'd avoid the ones that insist on a significant amount up front such as hundreds and even thousands of dollars. If they are a good network marketing company and have a good product then it won't take you long to get into a position where your business is paying for itself. And that is something that is hard for me to say with the other businesses I mentioned previously.

Finally whatever business you decide is right for you; make sure it is something you can identify with. Whether it is an opportunity or product or both, It should be something that you can stand behind and believe in something you would actually use yourself and should use yourself, that you would recommend to a friend or someone you think highly of. If you don't it will show through in your promotion efforts and your potential customers will see through it and go somewhere else.

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