Is online/home business profitable? Definitely and it is getting larger by the day.
There were about almost 2 billion internet users at the most recent count.
In this climate, many people are rushing to purchase programs, software, systems, e-books and such like, believing whatever is promised from polished sales letters that are written by professional copywriters.
I came onto the internet marketing scene believing that I could make money easily just by purchasing some program and then waiting for buyers to turn up.
I was disappointed a few times and learnt some valuable lessons.
These lessons cover simple things and we all know about them but I would like to cover some of them again, just in case it might help someone else.
I call them the Four landmines to avoid in the online business journey.
These are: 1.
Impulse buying - Many shoppers buy without planning and this accounts as a major expense item.
No planning means no success for many in this type of business.
The internet is filled with so many offers that it is often difficult to say no.
A good way to approach offers would be to ask ourselves if we can really afford it and leave the offer for a day or two at least, to think and do more planning and research.
A lot of products are offered free elsewhere so it is better not to hurry.
2.
Credit Card Buying - Many online vendors now offer sales with PayPal or similar pay channels and this is great.
These are safe and allow a greater measure of security.
PayPal keeps the buyer's credit card details a secret whilst paying the seller/vendor for the product.
Some vendor websites don't make allowance for PayPal and ask only for payment by credit card.
This is risky and should only be allowed for well-known and trustworthy vendors.
Don't be fooled by security symbols at the bottom of the sales letters.
3.
Overnight Success Mentality - Its easy to be caught up in the hype and glamour of the big name "Gurus" and try to emulate their success overnight.
Online success have come to many "Gurus" through hard work and failures.
Take Ewen Chia, for example.
He started in 1997 and stayed up from 11pm to 3am every day for five years to learn and try different things until he be broke through and became known as the "World's No.
1 Super Affiliate".
So start small and learn new things every day such as Affiliate products, getting traffic, website building, offering good products, systems, etc.
There is so much to learn.
Be content with making small profits while you learn.
4.
Being Stuck with only one income stream - Learn how to break into different streams of income.
Success with only one stream is difficult and it's better to build more than one stream.
This is how successful marketers do it.
Of course, we should only start in one stream and build on that over time.
Some good streams are PLR businesses, affiliate link promotions with Ezines and other Channels, website memberships, and the list goes on.
If we avoid the landmines and keep pressing on, we will prevail and achieve some measure of success.