Make Money Online or Build a Business?

With more and more of us using computers across an even broader age range, it's obvious to see why we might consider ways for our new shiny piece of technology to earn its keep. Whether it's by a popular online auction site or any number of sites promising quick riches, it's easy to see why making money online has such appeal:

• it can be quite anonymous - you can set up relatively cheaply and promote other people's products (you don't even have to produce your own products or hold stock)
• there are no age restrictions - so the internet has massive appeal to those in-between jobs, those with a family or people looking to supplement their income, to name but a few (incidentally over 70% of US households are looking to start a business from home right now)
• there are no 9-5 restrictions, so you can work the hours to suit your present lifestyle
• the internet truly has a global audience, although not everyone will want what you have to offer
• Internet marketing is a process, so it can be learned at your pace in your spare time
• the Internet is not gender specific - in fact women have a better eye for relationships which is key to any sort of relationship marketing, and essential online
• there's a lot of free information available, meaning anyone who takes the time, can learn anything they need to succeed

I'm sure you can think of many more.

What does Google think?

I just typed 'make money online' into Google and it returned 2,430,000,000 results!

So you can see there's a lot of interest here. But this creates a big problem. With those numbers where do you start?

Good question.

Sounds like there are a lot of folks out there with solutions. But who do you trust? This is why the get rich quick crowd do so well because there are so many choices. Those in search of how to make money online are easy prey for the quick riches solution because I suspect they think most of the hard work has already been done for them. I thought this myself initially!

This 'thinking all the hard work has been done for you' kind of attitude leads to a kind of not taking this 'make money online' thing very seriously. Even worse, making money online for the newbie is seldom regarded as a business.

Sound silly? It's not.

Why having no business experience matters

Many people who embark on the trail of internet success for the first time, seldom have any real business experience. Ask any successful business person and they will quickly tell you that success depends on systems. Think Franchises like McDonalds - systems that work wherever. The sole trader who does the work himself rarely has the know-how to look beyond their own way of doing things. Think of your business as a system of ways of doing things then scale the systems. This is important.

And the internet takes a whole lot more commitment to succeed especially if you're planning to do-it-alone. You can just walk away if things don't work out especially as there's no-one watching you, and you can just quietly quit if you want.
 
I've found over the last 13 years or so that online products and services fall broadly into two categories:

1. make money online (get rich quick)
2. legitimate products (many of which don't offer you everything you need to succeed. In other words there's an up-sell - usually a cheap initial product followed by more expensive products later usually culminating in an expensive monthly membership site).

Don’t mistake movement for achievement

It’s easy to get faked out by being busy. The question is: busy doing what? If you've succumbed to some of the 'make money products' you're likely to discover that most don't deliver on their promises. The next question is how long are you going to follow this approach before taking the time to do some proper research?

This might be a good time to ask yourself why you want to make money online in the first place.

What type of income do you want to create? Short-term or long-term? How about both? Serious or keep buying into the get-rich-quick offers?

Only you can decide.

You're already working so why not start doing it right? I've bought many products over the years but the one which lives up to its promise I stumbled upon quite by accident whilst working on another project!

It's a company called Site Build It!, or SBI and it shows you step by step how you can turn any hobby, passion or skill into a viable online business. What you probably don't realise is that almost any topic can earn money with a website (the get-rich-quick sites don't tell you that do they?)

Put your brain and motivation to good use

You don't need programming skills or web design knowledge, an existing business or a product to sell (a common question, just your knowledge and motivation. SBI has all the tools you need, and they take you step by step and teach you how to use everything - even helping you find the perfect topic for your site; how to build it, get traffic to it, and how to make money with it, no matter what it's about!

Sound incredible? It's not!

Have a look at the Video Tour to get an idea of how it works (or the Quick Tour if you're in a hurry).

Dig into this information and spend some time learning about how you can make real money whilst building a real business. This is undoubtedly the best way of doing it; make money online and build a business! 

The late Malcolm Forbes said "The biggest mistake people make in life is not making a living doing what they most enjoy."

Now you have no excuse!