Are you considering starting an Internet Business from home? As the economy has caused chaos and insecurity to many families, many people are starting an online business from home. With an Internet Connection allowing us to reach a large audience online many are seeing an online Business as an opportunity to save themselves from the current economic troubles that have plagued us the last several years.

If you have been looking for that perfect opportunity for any amount of time, you have already seen the promises of quick money, and automated systems that promise no work and easy income. The fact is none of the claims are true, and you need to beware of what is fact and what is fiction. While an online Internet Business offers a large range of income benefits, the fact is the industry is not automated, nor should you expect to become wealthy overnight.

So how do you know which Internet Business is right for you? Finding a business model that best fits your needs, wants, and expectations is critical for you overall success. Do not let anyone else tell you which business is right for you, use the guide below to choose one that will fit you.

Internet Business Guide - 10 Steps To Find The Right Online Business.

1.) Goals - Your financial goals are going to play a large factor in which business model you choose to run. What are your monthly income goals, and what is the commission structure of the Internet Business you are inquiring on. Having your goals properly structured before you start researching Internet opportunities will assist you in find the right model for you.

2.) Interest - When looking into a business model, outline what aspects you find interesting. Really define what interest you about each level. Is it the products, services, or maybe it's the commission structure. Write down your interest levels and be detailed on why they interest you. Your interest should play a large part in choosing the Internet Business that fits you.

3.) What Does Not Interest You - Lets be honest, there is always an aspect in every situation, which may leave you uneasy, or concerned about. Be clear about what bothers you about the business model. This has two benefits for you. If you have a concern you need to bring this concern up before you join any Internet opportunity. Usually you will feel better about the situation after you have gotten clarification on the concerning subject. In addition it will also help you when you start your business to answer any concerns someone else may have.

4.) Cost VS Earnings - Every legitimate Internet Business will have a startup cost. The only time there is no capital startup is if you are applying for an online job. How much is the business going to cost you to startup? How many sales do you need to generate to earn back your capital. If you have to earn numerous sales to gain profits, this would be concerning. However, if you can earn your money back in one or the most two sales, it is suggested to be a better return on your investment.

5.) Online Training - Starting a online business is probably new to you. Find a good online mentor, or coach that can help to assist you with learning how to successfully build your net biz. The good news is qualified mentors will train you if you join their business with them, and there are no additional fees attached to get the training. Make sure you research the online business coach as much as you do the Internet opportunity in question.

6.) Time Investment - How much time does it take to build your business the right way. Many times people are working a full time job while they work their home business. Having clear understanding of how much time, and what your task are during that time will allow you to maximize your time to the fullest.

7.) Past Experience - Do you have any past experiences that you could bring to your business. Outline your skills, and see if any are in alignment with the Internet opportunity that you choose.

8.) How Long Before Profits - This is the dreaded questions by most mentors. The fact is no one can predict the amount of time of your first sale to be generated. But you can ask for average time. It is suggested to set your own goals and ask your online mentor if it is reasonable to achieve those results.

9.) How Long Have They Been In Business - How long has the Internet Business been in operation. While new Internet opportunities immerge monthly, it is suggested to go with a business that has been online for a year or more.

10.) Testimonials - Testimonials are critical to show validation to your business and also that of the mentor in question. It is important to check the testimonials out. The key rule is for them to be more then 10 and they should provide a few video testimonials and written testimonials with pictures.

When starting an Internet Business many people will have a wide range of emotions. Most are excited, but are nervous over their new opportunity. Finding the right Internet business is critical to your happiness, and overall success with your new business. Having a clear and concise outline of what to expect at the beginning of your Internet opportunity will give you the foundation to have a long and profitable career.

Megan Vaillancourt is a well respected online mentor.

With over eleven years experience she founded and created the top business mentoring team Mentors 4 U

Megan and her Online Business Mentors are responsible for training some of the top online business owners in the industry.

Megan has helped 100's find the right Internet Business Model, and has high success ratios in assisting people to earn money from home.

To get a free gift showing you how to find a legitimate home based business and how to profit Visit her link below

Starting an Internet Business the right way

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Megan_Vaillancourt

Hello Apprentice Internet Millionaire!

So you are thinking of starting an Internet Business are you? Well welcome to the most powerful Market Place in the World, the Internet, the World Wide Web. With 1.6 billion people online it is not surprising that this is indeed the largest market place in the world.

I'm sure that if you have found your way here then you will have no doubt done an amazing amount of research on how to start your Internet Business Education. Or, you are seriously still searching on how to get the best Education to ensure your success in your new adventure into "Internet Business Entrepreneurship".

Whatever your reason I am glad that you stopped by, as the Internet, Business and Education are my passion and I would love to share some essential knowledge with you. Competitors are stunned at the comprehensive nature of our platform, education and resources.

Click here for some important must know information

Before you venture into the wonderful world of Internet Business let me share 3 critical points you need to be aware of. In my opinion if you get these three things right then you will be on your way to success. Mindset ~ Education ~ Set-Up! I call these the "Vital Statistics"

Mindset is the first vital statistic you need. Before you even think about an Internet Business you need to know and understand the real reasons behind your decision.

So many people think of the Internet as a Market Place where people can just turn up - set out their wares on the trading floor go out to play, come home at the end of the day and find a bag full of money waiting for them. Doesn't happen! Period! At least not on your first day
So don't expect it, no matter what anyone tells you. So, time to get your Mindset right.

If you are seriously looking for an Internet Business then Education is a must and your mindset must be....

• Yes I REALLY want to have an Internet Business!
• Yes I REALLY want my Internet Business to be successful!
• Yes I REALLY understand an Internet Business is a real business and I have to work at it!
• Yes I REALLY am prepared get educated, to learn the ropes and commit to my success!

Education is the next "vital statistic" necessary for your success. Sure some people can get on the Internet and fluke it... although I can tell you not many do and if they do it is usually very short lived.

What I can tell you for sure and certain, is that the "Internet Business" gurus that you see and hear about, are very " Dedicated Business Owners". They have a very clear and concise Mindset. They are not an "overnight success" story. They are men and women just like you and me and they have made it "their business" to get educated!

They made it "their business" to learn the skill sets necessary to be successful Internet Business owners.

Now for some really great news... I know many great Internet Business Entrepreneurs, that are willing to share all of their secrets of success. The wonderful thing about owning an Internet Business is that nothing is a secret.....the more you share the knowledge... the more your business will grow and the more money you will make. And isn't that what business is about at the end of the day? Work for Profit!

So, time to get your Mindset right - time to get Educated and time to Set-Up your new Internet Business.

Set-Up I call this the "Vital, vital statistic". Many years ago when I was teaching children basic learning skills I used a very simple analogy that was easily understood. This analogy stands true for everything we ever learn and I'd like to share it with you.

It goes like this:

Q: "If you were going to build a brick wall, where would you start?"
A: At the bottom of course! Now that was pretty simple wasn't it?

Ok now each brick in our wall is a little piece of knowledge, something new that we learn each and every day. Just another brick placed in our wall of knowledge.

Q: "What happens if we miss a piece of knowledge? That brick of information needed in our wall."
A: Simple we'd have a hole in our wall, wouldn't we?

Q: Ok, so now we have gaps in our wall ~ guess what's going to happen?"
A: That's right our wall of knowledge is going to fall down isn't it?

This is such a simple lesson for all of us... we all know that education builds upon itself.
We know that we need to learn the basics and we know that we that we need to build on a solid foundation. We know that we can't go to University before we've been to Kindergarten.

Yet, how often when it comes to the Internet and setting up a business, do we hear that little voice in our head saying, "I know this, I can skip this step, I don't need to read the instructions, I can side step that part, it's not important!"

Like I said, Set-Up is the "vital vital statistic". Get this wrong and you have to go back and start over again, or, more importantly you get frustrated, you lose both time and money and then you truly understand the old saying "learn by your mistakes".

So what we have covered today is the basic education principles of Internet Business.

To have a successful Internet Business you have to have the right:
• Mindset
• Education
• Set-Up

My theory is why "learn by your mistakes", when you can learn all of the secrets, tips, tricks, strategies and "know how" from successful Internet Business Millionaires,

If you want a successful Internet Business with a built in "Education and Marketing Platform" then learn from successful "Internet Business Millionaires" and get it right the first time.

Yours in success

Pam Carroll

© Pam Carroll 2010

Pam Carroll is a business coach and mentor based out of Sydney NSW, Australia, Pam assists serious entrepreneurs in building a profitable online business with multiple incomes streams. Her team has assisted hundreds of people in generating profits that exceed $250K or more in their first year. For more information and to contact Pam, visit: http://is.gd/b645x

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pam_Carroll

LUS Fiber is ready to provide Internet service to business customers in about 20 percent of the city of Lafayette, officials announced at a Wednesday news conference.

For the past several month, the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Center has served as a test site for the service, and so far, the results have been positive, LCVC Executive Director Gerald Breaux said.

"With the speed it has, it's really taken a lot of worry and uncertainty off of our backs," he said, adding that his office is running about 25 computers at any one time. "It's helped our staff manage their daily routine much, much better."

The Internet for business will be offered in areas where residential customers can also sign up for Internet, telephone and television service through LUS Fiber. Lafayette Utilities System Director Terry Huval said all areas of the city should be ready for service by next June, several months ahead of schedule.

Businesses will be able to choose from three different upload and download speeds for Internet service. A connection of 10 megabits per second will be $64.95 per month, a connection of 50 megabits per second is $119.95 per month and a connection of 100 megabits per second is $199.95.

The service includes e-mail addresses, a ZoneAlarm security suite and access to a 100 megabits per second peer-to-peer Intranet. Customers can also purchase static IP addresses.

"The thing that has been the driving force behind this always has been economic development," Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel said. "I want to thank the people of Lafayette for their confidence and thank them for their entrepreneurial spirit by doing something to promote economic development."

The press conference also included a demonstration comparing LUS Fiber's Internet speeds to that of an unidentified other local provider, which appeared to show LUS Fiber's connection to be significantly faster, even when handling large files such as videos.

Patricia Parks, public affairs specialist for Cox Communications, the other major Internet provider in Acadiana, noted that in the past four years, Cox Business has invested more than $12 million in its commercial fiber infrastructure in Lafayette and Acadiana.

"Not just in Lafayette, but across Acadiana today, we have fiber customers who are experiencing dedicated speeds of up to 100 mbps," Parks said. "Our fully-redundant fiber ring allows us to connect multiple locations of any business within the region. This allows Cox Business to serve all businesses with a private fiber network to serve all of their locations in Lafayette, Acadiana, south Louisiana and throughout the national Cox footprint."

LUS Fiber is ready to provide Internet service to business customers in about 20 percent of the city of Lafayette, officials announced at a Wednesday news conference.

For the past several month, the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Center has served as a test site for the service, and so far, the results have been positive, LCVC Executive Director Gerald Breaux said.

"With the speed it has, it's really taken a lot of worry and uncertainty off of our backs," he said, adding that his office is running about 25 computers at any one time. "It's helped our staff manage their daily routine much, much better."

The Internet for business will be offered in areas where residential customers can also sign up for Internet, telephone and television service through LUS Fiber. Lafayette Utilities System Director Terry Huval said all areas of the city should be ready for service by next June, several months ahead of schedule.

Businesses will be able to choose from three different upload and download speeds for Internet service. A connection of 10 megabits per second will be $64.95 per month, a connection of 50 megabits per second is $119.95 per month and a connection of 100 megabits per second is $199.95.

The service includes e-mail addresses, a ZoneAlarm security suite and access to a 100 megabits per second peer-to-peer Intranet. Customers can also purchase static IP addresses.

"The thing that has been the driving force behind this always has been economic development," Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel said. "I want to thank the people of Lafayette for their confidence and thank them for their entrepreneurial spirit by doing something to promote economic development."

The press conference also included a demonstration comparing LUS Fiber's Internet speeds to that of an unidentified other local provider, which appeared to show LUS Fiber's connection to be significantly faster, even when handling large files such as videos.

Patricia Parks, public affairs specialist for Cox Communications, the other major Internet provider in Acadiana, noted that in the past four years, Cox Business has invested more than $12 million in its commercial fiber infrastructure in Lafayette and Acadiana.

"Not just in Lafayette, but across Acadiana today, we have fiber customers who are experiencing dedicated speeds of up to 100 mbps," Parks said. "Our fully-redundant fiber ring allows us to connect multiple locations of any business within the region. This allows Cox Business to serve all businesses with a private fiber network to serve all of their locations in Lafayette, Acadiana, south Louisiana and throughout the national Cox footprint."

AT&T Inc.'s (T) wireless business again posted strong gains in the third quarter, but businesses and consumers alike continue to shun fixed-line phone services.

The Dallas telecommunications giant benefited from the first full quarter of sales of Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone 3GS as new customers and existing subscribers snapped up the smart phone. But the weak job market and the increasing move to wireless or cable-powered phone option meant a weaker traditional phone offering with no change in sight.

"Wireline voice continues to be a problem for the company," said Todd Rosenbluth, equity analyst at Standard

If you are interested in starting your own online business but do not know where to start, the following information may be helpful. Start out by doing a search on your favorite search engine for 'work at home' opportunities. This will seem overwhelming to you as there are thousands of ads that will come up.

Since you do not want to waste time, how do you weed out the scams and find the legitimate opportunities? If the website does not offer enough information, does not have contact information, demands a large investment or makes unrealistic promises, move on.

When you do find a program that interests you, pay attention to the product. Is it digital information or a physical product? If it is something you have to promote to make money, you need to have some knowledge of the product in order to convince others to buy it.

A crucial component of any business is the support you receive. Does the program you are interested in offer you support and guidelines before, during, and after your investment? Or do they take your money and leave you on your own?

If there IS an investment required, always proceed cautiously. Is the cost reasonable and does it fit the program requirements? Can you get a refund if you request it?

Can you really make money from the program? Never waste your time or money on something that makes unrealistic promises of quick cash for no work. Any business requires an investment of work and time to build an income.

Make sure your expectations are realistic. It will take time to start earning an income. If your business requires you to market a product, develop a marketing plan. If it does not work, be flexible and try something else.

Listed below are some legitimate online work at home opportunities:

*Affiliate Programs: Considered by many to be the easiest way of making money online, being an affiliate means you are promoting products owned by other people. You make your money by referring customers to their website.

Affiliate programs should not charge any start-up fee. Make sure the commissions are generous, at least 50%.

*eBay: The largest online auction site, drawing millions of people every day, is one of the easiest and most profitable ways of making money online. It is the first place most people check when they are looking for items, both new and used. You can sell almost anything you can think of.

Make bargain hunting your new business. The best places to find items to resell on eBay are garage and yard sales, estate sales, local auctions, and newspaper classifieds.

*Paid Surveys: There are hundreds of companies online searching for people to take their online surveys. Do your research and take your time to determine what companies actually pay you cash and what companies enter your name in a drawing for prizes. This can be a very lucrative business.

In addition to the above opportunities, there are many other possibilities.

*Work-At-Home Directory Listings: There are many legitimate work at home directories available online now. One of them is WAHM (Work At Home Moms). This is a very good place to start. Their site offers job listings, helpful articles, message boards, and classifieds.

*Company And Corporate Websites: All major corporations and companies have their own websites. If they have a website, there will be a link for jobs. You may have to spend some time searching, but it will be there.

*General Employment Sites: There are many websites for general job searches (monster.com, careerbuilder.com, etc.). Just do a search for JOBS and you are on your way.

*Online Newspaper Classified Ads: Nearly all newspapers have their own websites. Check out their classified ad section. You can also do a general search for 'newspaper classifieds' and you will get hundreds of links.

The only requirements to finding a job online are time, commitment and perseverance. You must stick with it and stay focused. There ARE jobs out there. Hopefully, the tips listed above will help you in your search for legitimate home-based jobs.

Debra Gropp makes money on the Internet by doing everything from paid surveys to working for affiliate programs. Her articles pertain to the subjects she is most interested in, online income opportunities, diet, fitness and health-related information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debra_Gropp

Earning money quick at home doesn't require business experience, computer background, and big capital to invest. A computer with internet connection is sufficient and a shoestring budget is required to run a business online. Anyone can do this, including you. I will show you the 5 simple ethical ways to earn money quick at home on the internet.

First find a hot product that your market demands. Visit forum that is related to the product that you are going to promote and find out what are the discussion topics are about, identify the problem from the forum then find a product that people need for solution. A good product should be able to solve their problems, otherwise there is no reason they will want to buy from you. So find the problem first then find the solution.

If you do not own the product or service that people want to buy you can promote product that created by other.

Secondly you can find any available product that you want to promote from a merchant. This is known as affiliate marketing. Affiliate program is a profitable business since the merchant pay out commission ranging from 50% to 70%. So it is not necessary to have your own product to sell. In order to sell other people product you have to join affiliate website to become partnership with the merchant. The major affiliate networks are 'Commission Junction', 'Clickbank', and 'Associated Program'.

The third way is to get a squeeze page to collect the name and email of your visitors for further contact. A squeeze page or a website purpose is to get your customer to fill in their email. You can write articles about the product you are promoting and convert it into a report. Distribute the free report to your customers in exchange for their contact detail. You can sign up for a marketing system that includes a free squeeze page.

The fourth way is email marketing. You can implement email marketing by using an auto-responder to collect your customers email in order to get more sales. An auto-responder is part of the squeeze page that acts as a gate keeper so visitors must give you their name and email in exchange for the free report. Its' main task is to collect the email of your visitor and build a list of people who are interested in your offer. The auto-responder works as a follow up system to keep your customer in contact for building business relationship.

The final way is to get a proven marketing system that can help you to generate more sales. A good system is that anyone can use efficiently. Many systems are being offered by many professionals some of them work but some don't so how can you be sure you won't get scam by these people. I suggest you to take an overview look into their system before you decide to join. A proven marketing system should be based on simplification, easy to understand, no complication, no computer background required and most importantly a newbie can use it efficiently to earn money quick.

These are the 5 simple ways you can use to earn money quick at home on the internet. The main component of internet business is having a powerful proven marketing system without it you have to work out the hard way. I suggest you to check out my free ebook about affiliate marketing system that anyone can use to earn money quick ethically.

Get your free ebook about affiliate marketing system, you can download through the link here.

Author: Peter Sieneder

http://www.MyNicheCrashCourse.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Sieneder

Internet marketing has always been seen as an income supplementing source but most people who embark on this journey give up halfway or within first 2 months. Actually, it is not hard to make money online with your online business. All you need is to take some time to go through the following stuff before you start this business. Do not start this business with no direction or objective because having no direction is the cause of failure for people who want to make money online.

Here are the steps to follow:

1) Set up a business blueprint: When I first started in this business, I have an advice from a guru telling me to set up my business blueprint. At that time, I really don't understand how it can help me to make money online and I decided to give it a pass. I did not make a single cent online for the next 3 months. Then one day, I decided to sit down and think about my online business and I started to write out my blueprint including stuff such as what niche to target, how to drive traffic and many more. Within the next six months, I make a couple of thousands every month and I now totally appreciate the importance of a business blueprint.

2) Set up a timetable: You need a time table so that you can discipline yourself to get certain things done everyday. Ordinary thing done consistently can definitely produce extra ordinary results.

3) Set up your marketing plan: Once you got other stuff ready, you need to decide on how you want to market your website and products. Having a marketing plan can definitely boost your business as it helps to direct you to do certain things to build traffic everyday.

Now put these steps into practice and you will see the result soon.

Kelvin Lee is the founder of Internet Success Hub and Internet Product Review Club, a platform that provides informative help for internet marketers of all levels. For more Internet Marketing Strategies, audio mini courses as well as internet product reviews, visit us today.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kelvin_Lee

The internet today has made it possible to receive tonnes of online money without much struggle. While there are many scams and fraud sites that promise the world and don't pay much there are few high quality opportunities that allow you to make money from home provided you follow their marketing strategy and approach.

Things to be aware of

You should be mentally prepared to undergo training and coaching in order to start earning extra income fast. These opportunities on the internet will succeed for you only if you have the inclination to make money quick and if you are ready to go through the training and courses the sites offer. Only this way can you embark on a successful, tried and tested marketing approach that has worked earlier. It is very easy to make money provided you follow the prescribed method of selling your products. You must also make sure to do a background check on the company you wish to make more money with. Check on the internet for reviews and customer feedback. You can also ask around for opinions on the site. Also, if a site is charging you to set up an online store with them then you can be sure the site is a phony. Most online opportunities to make money today offer you bonus online retail stores when you sign up with them. That means, when you register with the site, ideally you are supposed to get your own dedicated online store free of cost!

How to sell products?

You need to look for an opportunity where they already have an existing affiliate network. This makes the job to make money at home easier. You do not have to hunt for affiliate programs and instead all the programs are listed out on the site. Most of the time these affiliate networks will be organized and categorized based on the product categories being offered. Usually, it is in your best interests to look for networks which have popular and in demand products. Only this way can you start to earn extra cash quickly.

Which products should the site have?

Ideally, the site that you are planning on registering with should have the popular products and those which are in heavy demand. This will increase your chances to make money from home much more. Try looking for sites that have products like digital products such as ebooks, software etc., travel packages, superior and high quality flash videos or even mentoring courses. These are primary products that represent the best cash value for your business. You can make money quick by simply selling and referring these products on your own retail store. The online money comes in immediately into your own account thus helping you to cash in your checks in the very same month! Money gets deposited into your account within seconds or minutes of the sale. That means, there is no more waiting to earn extra cash. It all happens within seconds of the sale!

Big Ticket To Wealth has an exciting range of products like digital products, travel packages and cutting edge flash videos which people can sell online. They even provide Master Resell Rights which means you can sell as many times as you want for as much price as you wish! That means you can make more money from the comfort of your home!

David Garn is a successful six figure earner and a top income earner in the home business industry. David works with entrepreneurs from around the world. He devotes the time, energy, and effort into his team and works with them to ensure their success.

If you have been around Internet marketing for any length of time, you probably realize that there are some people who are going to be successful and others who are not. If you are having a difficult time making money on the Internet, even if you are putting a lot of effort into it, perhaps you need to step back for a moment and take a look around. Analyzing what you are doing is one way of understanding why you are having a difficult time being successful. Let's take a look at a few of the things that can go wrong with our Internet business and see how we can correct them.

Even though it is a good idea to analyze yourself, you need to make sure that you do not become a victim of analysis paralysis. This is where you analyze things to the extent that you and up not doing anything at all, usually out of fear of failure. Instead of trying to analyze every single step that you are taking, go ahead and make the step and then see what happens. Don't spend all of your time wondering why you're not doing something, just go ahead and do it and your business will grow.

Perhaps you are following the wrong system. If you have been working on something consistently and faithfully for a very long time and are having a difficult time getting it to go, perhaps it is a wrong fit for you. It doesn't necessarily mean that it is going to be wrong for everybody but perhaps it is something that you are better off leaving behind. You need to know when something is good and something is bad and then you need to know how to deal with them appropriately. Keep the winners and drop the losers, it is the only way that you are going to find success.

Finally, you may be having a difficult time with sticking to something long enough. There certainly is a lot of information out there and it can be distracting to us, even causing us to be unproductive. Once you have chosen something, stick with it and don't change tracks until you are certain whether it will work or not. It usually doesn't take all that much time to figure it out once you have put your mind to it. Choose the program that you're going to do and then do it.

When you work online from home one must beware of a process called Phishing. This is a fraudulent activity many cyber thieves resort to in order to cheat you of your online funds and products.

The process is simple and is designed to take you unawares. Though Phishing is an illegal activity and any one engaging in it is liable to be punished by law, catching the crook is the crux of the matter.

Phishing is an e-mail fraud method in which the perpetrator sends out hundreds of legitimate looking emails to unsuspecting people asking for personal details such as mother's maiden names, surnames, date of birth, credit card numbers etc. The intention is to gather personal and financial information from recipients. Typically, the messages appear to come from well known and trustworthy Web sites

Many online merchants have had their online payment processing accounts hacked only because they fell for one of the many Phishing tactics online.

A Phisher will send out hundreds of mails disguised as a message or even a page that looks like a payment processor page or an online bank login page. The content mail will probably try to fool the user (by asking them to login and change their password) into logging into their online account by entering their username and password.

When the submit button is clicked, instead of the account page being opened, nothing happens, or so many people think. What has in fact happened is that the password and username has been emailed to some distant account and may be used in a matter of minutes to log in and change the password of the account by the Phisher.

When you work online from home there is only one way to avoid this and that is to close all internet applications and log into your online merchant account site by manually typing in the URL of the site. Never click on an email link to go to your merchant account site.

summary

Businesses with online merchant accounts must beware of a process called 'Phishing'. This is a fraudulent activity many cyber thieves resort to in order to cheat you of your online funds and products.

Given the current state and outlook of our economy it is not surprising that more and more people are seeking to supplement their income through work at home opportunities. Many of us already have a full time day job, and therefore, the last thing we want to do is to get a second outside job that requires more commuting and more wardrobe spending. As a result, many individuals looking for relatively easy and convenient ways of generating revenues have turned to the Internet for this purpose.

As the need to make additional income is growing amongst average families, so are the home programs that are becoming available to people. The legitimacy of many of these programs comes into doubt at just a first or second glance. However, there are many opportunities and programs online that appear to be genuine on the surface. Therefore, this makes it even more difficult to distinguish between credible and legitimate money making programs and plain scams.

They are a few tips, however, that a person can follow in order to avoid being scammed:

1) Put the name of the company in a search engine and add the word "scam" next to it and see what results you get. You'd be surprised as to the amount of money and time that I have saved myself by doing this.

2) Put the name of the company in a search engine and add the word "forum" next to it. People who have tried the program and had a negative or positive experience with it will tell you all about it.

3) Check for positive references to the company in independent consumer review guides. Look for non-profit organizations run by consumers. Many times these organizations will have tried the products or services and can give you a better idea of they are worth, saving you money and time.

4) Look for companies that have clear refund and privacy policies documented on their website.

5) Avoid companies that ask you for an extravagant admission fee but do not give you the time to think about enrolling in their program. Legitimate companies will not and do not need to play with your emotions!

I have searched all over the web to pass by the typical ways to make money on the web- eBay, amazon affiliate stores, information marketing, affiliate marketing, drop-shipping, consulting, etc. But there is one that I want to focus on, because I do not believe it's a good use of time and energy.

Café Press- A background.

Café press was started with the idea that anyone could start an online store and customize things for people to buy- coffee mugs, t-shirts, knick knacks, other junk.

I am sure that there are people making a living off of café press, but I do not personally like this site. Unless you can generate a ton of traffic or have a "brand" of your own that people will recognize, this site is not recommended for the average "newbie."

The Story: I started a store based on an island theme, and although it was great seeing palm trees on all my stuff, the prices are pretty steep for some of the items, and it turns out to be one of those things maybe your uncle buys just to be nice. But people can't wear the stuff all the time... they already have a favorite coffee mug. Is it really worth all that time setting up a store just to have a few people buy things they'll never use again? I don't believe so.

Again, don't get me wrong... I'm not knocking Café Press. It's a great idea. But when you are getting caught up in ways to make money on the web, pass this idea by. You'll be happy you did.

But let me ask you, what kind of product has virtually no overhead and returns much greater than ANY physical good can? Information. That is how many more people are becoming wealthy on the Internet; in the sale and promotion of digital products. You can give and receive an incredible amount of valuable information about any subject imaginable through this medium.

As an action step, start researching the various business models concerning information businesses on the web. The three free ebooks I give away on my blog focus on information marketing, which is a much easier model to follow for the busy professional or those pressed for time. No pun intended.

If you are interested in starting a productive Internet and online business, there are four steps that you need to keep well in mind if you want to excel at creating a productive Internet and online business. By following these four steps, you truly will be well on your way to creating and developing a productive Internet and online business.

First, when it comes to developing a productive Internet and online business, you need to understand your market. By that it is meant that you need to do research to determine what targeted audience or niche market will be most interested in the products or services that you will be marketing through your online business enterprise.

Second, in the process of developing a productive Internet and online business you will want to craft a comprehensive business plan. You need a map to guide you in order to best ensure success.

Third, as necessary, when it comes to starting and developing a productive Internet and online business, you will want to retain all appropriate professional assistance as is necessary to support and assist you in furthering your plan.

Finally, you will want to take advantage of different Net marketing tools in the process of working to advance your online efforts. For example, you will want to utilize traffic generating techniques like link building and SEO. By following these steps, you will be able to develop a productive Internet and online business.

These shorts steps will help you as you develop your online business

The industry of web hosting is relatively new in the market - it was not in place fifteen years ago. In the past, websites were hosted by local ISP's or internet service providers. Only the larger companies had their own websites. However, things have changed dramatically. Today, not only the medium-sized and smaller companies have websites but also most individuals have their own websites.

A lot of businesses now thrive online and many individuals have their own websites, as more and more information become available on the internet. A lot of work-from-home businesses are catching on. Truly, the internet has and is continuously changing the business scene.

The impression that one would get from studying the latest trends would be that the web hosting future looks as bright as ever. Web hosting would certainly be a place of competition for market shares. Everyday, more and more businesses, regardless of their sizes, plan to build, improve and maintain web presence and visibility. These changes would be beneficial for the well-managed web hosts.

And because of this competition, the prices for packages continues to go down so that providers would be able to stay ahead of their game and to attract more clients. Although features matter a lot, most people still see the price first when searching for web hosts.

In the coming years, these providers would definitely offer services and features that would be beneficial to consumers, as doing so would make sure that their company would stay profitable and viable in an extremely competitive market.

Ok so what is internet marketing?

Most of you who are reading this are more than likely in this area of marketing, but do you understand exactly what you're part of?

Internet marketing is, in very basic terms the act of selling online, both to individuals (B2C) and to other businesses (B2B). Exploring the idea thoroughly and seeing how it takes place however is something we'll cover in posts to come. The main reason for this is that the internet is still young and is constantly growing. Internet expert Vinton Cerf once said that "a year in the Internet business is like a dog year... Equivalent to seven years in a regular person's life. In other words, it's evolving faster and faster."

Internet technology is always giving new chances for businesses to add to their sales strategy and content. Also, more and more people are buying computers off the high street due to the drop in recent prices; resulting in usage of the internet rising dramatically. As more people go online, the demographic is changing, and focusing sales efforts on the rich (who have disposable income at their finger tips) isn't the only goal of internet marketing. Today internet businesses must plan to sell to all economic levels.

The Use of the big search engines such as Google and Yahoo can provide sellers with an idea of what products people look for. This offers a big chance to know what is needed on the market. To emulate the advertisements shown on television or radio, markets use pop-up windows and advertising placed directly on a website. E-mail has proven to be a wonderful means of selling, but this usually only proves successful after a business has established a good relationship with the customer.

People are spending more time on the internet daily, and their numbers are growing. This is easy to figure out why: the easy access to the internet, added to the increasing ability of the internet to aid completion of tasks, has allowed for all manner of business to be completed with the click of a mouse. Many chores no longer need to be done by hopping in a vehicle and taking a drive. This means relationships are increasing through the internet, and as they grow, the internet sales have risen into the billions of pounds. Better technologies, and more traffic, are pointing to a future for internet marketing that is out of this world.

Well, I'm not here to convince you whether you can or can't make money online, however, I will share my personal business experiences with you.

First, I am a single, home schooling mom. I have a background in teaching and counseling. I could go out there and work if I wanted to, but I have chosen not to.

I have chosen to work from my home online because there is nothing more rewarding than having the opportunity to stay home and be available to my kids.

It's even more rewarding when you know how to make money online.

So what do I do?

I am an Internet Marketer. I have learned (and am learning) how to promote any business on the internet.

It's really not difficult to make money online if you know what to do and how to do it right.

Just as being a dentist, doctor, real estate agent or any profession requires you to learn a skill, it's no different for a home based business that you plan to work on the interenet. You must get the skill to perform your job right.

The reason most people fail in their home businesses is not because of the internet or even their home businesses. It's simply because they do not know how to market their businesses correctly.

Most people simply join an opportunity and then expect to make money. I have had to learn this lesson too.

Others fail simply because they really don't work their businesses and spend more time and money hopping from one program to another.

Just as a business off the internet needs traffic and people for it to prosper, your online business is dependant on driving massive traffic to your website. So the key to your online success is driving lots of traffic to your website.

Without traffic to your website, no one will know about it and you won't make sales (now that's another topic - After The Traffic Now What???).

Now, you don't want any kind of traffic, you want targeted traffic to your website, that is, people who are already interested in what you have to offer.

That's really all there is to it. Our job is simply to learn how to promote our businesses online, by learning how to drive traffic to our websites.

If we don't become good at driving traffic to our websites, we will fail miserably and will always be wondering why we can't make it happen.

There are literally hundreds of free and paid ways to advertise your business online. There is pay per click, ezine ads, article writing, forums, classifieds, press releases, SEO (search engine optimization), networking online, just to name a few.

If you don't know how to promote your business online, I would highly recommend a marketing system that not only will show you how to become an expert marketer, but will allow you to make money as well.

Visit: http://www.PowerHouseMarketingSite.com to see what I mean.

If I can just drive one key point across it's this: Learn how to market your business online, by driving traffic to your online business

Is it possible to make money online? Yes it is, but you have to know how to do it.


Lydia De Leon is a home schooling, work at home mom of two beautiful children ages 4 and 8.

With a background in teaching and counseling, she has opted to create her livelihood through a home based business which she markets online.

The main focus of her home based business is internet marketing.

Business is Business right? If you have an MBA you can run any business right? Wrong and let me tell you why. There are many folks who are quite good at making money on the Internet but the truth is only about 1-3% of the Internet Sites out there that sell stuff ever make any money or even pay for their site development.

Not long ago someone who knew of all my past business experience as an entrepreneur asked if I might review their business plan for an online business they were starting. Knowing that there is a big difference between real businesses and Internet businesses, I declined and stated;

I am not sure my feedback is relevant to any sort of online business models, websites which are used for generating money, that really is not my thing, I wouldn't want to give advice on that subject, I do not know anything about it to be reliable in my opinion. Yes, perhaps more than the average guy on the street, but there are super stars in that type of business who really know how to generate money online.

Why this stance you ask? Simple really, you see mostly, I am troubled by all the abuse, trickery, tactics and scammers out there online. It makes me very angry they ruining of the Internet. I believe that the Internet is the single greatest communication device ever created in the history of mankind.

I do not believe scam artists and hype selling of trinkets should even use this venue. I certainly hope this article is of interest and that is has propelled thought. The goal is simple; to help you in your quest to be the best in 2007. I thank you for reading my many articles on diverse subjects, which interest you.

The competition between online businesses is getting tighter as they all try to attract more traffic and generate more revenue. With fierce competition, how can you make sure you'll stay on top of the game? The surest way to excel in Internet marketing is never leave any stone unturned. Using all applicable online marketing strategies can guarantee you success and more money in Internet marketing. Here are some Internet marketing that is applicable to all online businesses:

1. Market your products and services to blogs, forums, and social networking site. Utilize these free online advertising tools that are great in driving traffic to your site. Post comments, opinions, solutions, etc. and include a URL that links back to your site whenever applicable.

2. Post articles on ezine. Come up with well-written, useful, and well crafted articles to build your credibility while increasing your web traffic through your web site's link posted on the resource box.

3. Utilize autoresponders, RRS, and press releases to make your clients updated with your site and products.

4. Take advantage of the traffic on your site by joining affiliate marketing. Not all your visitors will purchase your products but you can still earn from all of them every time they click advertisements on your site.

5. Fill your site with quality content so your visitors will keep on coming back. Quality copywriting can take your site to the next level as content is the very back bone of your business and web site.