I’m sure like me, you’ve had plenty of Internet business ideas. Hey I think EVERYONE has probably mused about the idea of working online. The ability to work from anywhere, when you choose, as long as you have a laptop and an Internet connection. Nice dream right?
For a lot of people, it’s not actually a dream, but one thing is for sure, it is not what you expect.
Building an online business takes months of hard work. I honestly thought I would be earning a few thousands dollars a month within my first six months, and it actually took me closer to 2 years. There was a massive learning curve.
What’s great though is that I made it. I now know that it really IS possible to have an internet business, and in today’s post I’m going to cover a few different ideas that you can try if you really do want your own business.
My methods really aren’t the only ways. In fact, I’m sure there are other ways out there that might be faster. I WILL be putting emphasis on my way of earning money online though, because it’s what I know, and what I can share the most with you about.
The First Thing You Need To Know
A LOT of people are scammers. There are literally hundreds of “make money online” scams out there. When I think how many people have lost money to one of these hyped up “You’ll make money overnight” products, it makes me shudder.
Fortunately for you there’s a rule of thumb; if it sounds too good to be true, it is.
These scams even tell you they’re not like all the other scam products out there. With a bit of skill though, you’ll be able to identify the ones that are scams. Or you can check out a site like IveTriedThat or OneMoreCupOf-Coffee where scams are routinely reviewed and exposed.
The Second Thing You Need To Know
I know what I’m talking about (for the most part). After all, you’ve found this post either because you found my site in a Google search, or because you’re already one of my subscribers and you know me. In either case you can assume that I at least know how to get a site ranking in Google, so therefore I should know a thing or two about making money online.
I’m not a “guru”, and I’m nowhere near the richest person online. I’m not even “rich”. I’m definitely not going to show you a picture of a yacht.
One thing for sure though is that if you read the rest of this article, look around my site, or follow any of my training, you’ll get some quality insights into making money online.
The Final Thing You Need To Know
What works for one person might not work for another. I failed at about three or four different methods that I KNEW others were successful at, and I succeeded at a business idea that I’d seen plenty of others fail with. That’s just the way it goes.
I fully encourage you to just jump in and see what works for you (except the scams..). Try enough times and with enough learning along the way, and you’ll get there.
3 Internet Business Ideas For You To Get Started
I don’t want to throw too many ideas out there and overwhelm you, so let’s stick with three. If you’ve tried all these and failed, then perhaps you can go back and try one of them again 
#1 – Internet Marketing
As the only way I’ve ever made money online (and quite a lot of it), this is always going to be my number one recommendation. That’s what this site caters to, and that’s just who I am. You can read a bit about my story, and get started on your own story here.
What is it in a nutshell?
It encompasses a wide range of things, but essentially Internet Marketing is where you own a website, you get visitors to that website from Google searches or paid advertising, and on that website you recommends products/services to people. You make money by selling those products or earning commissions from the product vendors. Or you can just put Google Ads on the site and earn when people click them.
Usually sites are built on specific topics known as niches. If you have a site about cycling, cycling enthusiasts will visit it, and make some purchases based on what you recommend.
It’s a very straight forward and easy concept, and with my help you can get started pretty easily. The only thing it takes is time and hard work.
I’ve made a guide on this site that walks you through the whole start up process.
# 2 – Selling on eBay or Amazon
This is where you source products and sell them on Amazon or eBay. It’s similar to Internet Marketing in that you’ll be better off sticking to a niche than trying to sell all kinds of things. The main difference is that you don’t need to have a website, you can just rely on people finding your products on Amazon or eBay.
The major downside though is that you need to actually own the products yourself. You don’t necessarily have to handle the packaging and shipping (Amazon has a fulfillment service for this), but you’ll need to make sure there is inventory to be sold.
With Internet Marketing this isn’t an option.
If you DO have something you can sell, then this might be your better option. Read this guide to selling on eBay.
#3 – Offering Services On Fiverr, oDesk, or Elsewhere
This isn’t strictly a “business” as such, but is a great way of earning money online as a freelancer. People can make a thousand dollars and up once they’ve built up a reputation or a list of clients.
At sites like oDesk, eLance, or Fiverr, see if there’s anything you can offer.
You can offer all sorts of services:
– Writing
– Photoshop and other graphic design
– Editing
– Video Testimonials
– Transcribing
– Many many more.
This option has some great pros and cons. The pros are that you can start earning almost immediately, whereas IM and selling on Amazon will take time to build up.
The cons are that your earning will likely be lower, and you’ll always be exchanging time for money. With IM, once everything is set up and running, your income can be pretty much passive. Quite a few times I’ve earned over $100 while flying to/from a vacation 
I should fly more now I think about it…
Why Not Try A Mixture?
One thing I did when I was starting out with IM was do some freelance writing. It helped me hone my writing skills, which reflected in better articles on my sites, but most importantly it let me earn a bit of cash while I was waiting for success with my IM business. I think back when I was just starting out, having some cash to invest in my business and also knowing that earning online was possible was a MASSIVE motivation for me.
If I was to recommend anything to you, I’d say you should get started with Internet Marketing (learn how to do all that here), and if you need cash urgently, do some freelance work at Fiverr or oDesk.
Drop me a comment if you have any questions about either of these things.
Additionally, I’d love to hear what other ways you have heard about for building an online business. Don’t throw your scams at me though.
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