Making Money Online-Can It Really Be Done?

 It's 5:30 am, up and moving...got the coffee brewing, face washed, teeth brushed and dog ready to go out for the morning walk, check, check and double check.

No rush hour traffic to deal with, saving some money on gas...the kids will be at school and I have about 5 hours of free time to make some serious money...(the mind goes full tilt while walking the quiet streets at 6:00 am.)  The sun rising warming my face and giving me hope and inspiration for my day of finding that job I wont have to pay a fee for and will be a reasonable income to sustain the time.

I have read that in order to have a successful "Home Office", you will need a computer with Internet access, high speed preferred, a scanner/copier and a fax machine or an efax account (preferred). 

So know you think you are ready to make some serious money, you have all the required equipment, you just need a little instruction...a starting point.

Hummmm...what do you want to be when you grow up?

 Our economy just plain sucks...it doesn't matter where you live on this beautiful planet we call Earth, if you are breathing you have been effected by job loss, home loss, vehicle loss and or debt, personally or within your circle.  For some it has been a lot worse.  What do you do?

Some people including myself, have turned to our trusted computer and the wonderful world we call cyberspace.  I can tell you that I personally have reseached 100's of sites that state "free" only to get in and find it nothing more than a useless attempt to gain my personal information in exchange for long winded testimonials and endless spam files.

And do not be taken by "Free Grant Money" schemes...if the government is giving away "Free Grant Money", the government isn't going to charge you to fill out the form.  I have researched this information in depth and I'm sure you will not be surprised by my findings.

I'm sure you have read many ads on how to make $5,000 and more a month with working only a few hours a day. I'm sure you also found these promises to be unrealistic and a waste of your time. Fill out surveys, play games, read ads and of course the "free grant money" ads that ask for a fee of upwards to $400.00 and of course you qualify.

My biggest "pet peeve" ads are the ones that are 6 pages and better, of useless banter and testimonials-they tell you nothing about the business, yet they want you to believe they are going to make you rich by you paying them a membership fee. Here is the best part, you usually get 5 Cd's of the same useless banter and testimonials you just read for free and you still have no idea what your suppose to do to make money.

Sound familiar...does this sound like day #1, maybe the 1st week, okay...the last 6 months. How many times did you whip that credit card out with hopes; this business will be different...I feel it, to be disappointed and let down.

Do work at home jobs really exist? Can I make money online in my pajamas? Can I really make my own hours and sit on the beach drinking Pina Coladas? Is cyberspace my future or am I destined for the 9-5?

Here is a way the government helps us "fly by the seat of our pants" people or better known as entrepreneurs in the way of a grant. The government gives grants to everyone who wants to attend classes on "how to start" your own business. www.sba.gov will give step by step instructions, free classes, resources and loan opportunities from micro to large construction loans through the Small Business Administration. All forms, addresses and contact information is on this website and it is free. An excellent resource to learn and get real opportunitys through the government. Don't pay 1 penny for a "free grant", they do not exist in the way they are being portrayed.

I need to step back for a moment and say one more thing about "free grants". The 1st word should say it all to you, so there is no reason to pay for it in any way. Some businesses have a monthly, semi annual and yearly "grant program" and do not charge a fee for accepting the application or letter, there are qualifications that require you to know what you want and were you see yourself or business in the future...mostly in the way of a business plan.

With that said, one of my favorite go to's for help, brain storming, honest feedback, business plan templates and a corner for the newest "grant" being offered. Idea Cafe is true to it's name, good support and wonderful place to express thoughts and ideas...even get feedback on a name for the new business. www.businessownersideacafe.com

Not ready to start your own business? Need more time to plan but need to make money today, with nothing to pennies out of your pocket? Well if you have the time and you have a passion or hobbie and thinking you might want to work doing what you love, then maybe an Affiliate position is more up your alley.

Becoming an Affiliate is free and easy. You have lots of support, free banners and are given an affiliate number to track all your sales. You just collect from 2%-16% and upto 50% of the sale. No shipping, no inventory...the checks come to you. So what is the catch. Marketing!

You will need your own website...many are built and are free, Microsoft live, yahoo and others have great free website offers. Here is the catch...hosting your domain and your domain name. www.godaddy.com charges $1.99 a year while yahoo is $9.95 a year, so have different features such as mailbox capacity and photo capacity, other websites ay give you a free website with free hosting. This is your business, you are the only one who knows what is going to be needed to succeed in your business.

Once you have your website up and running you will need to find affiliates that you want to market. www.shareasale.com is a free "affiliate resource" that lists company's in order of genre so you can put in a keyword and all info and statistics come up for your research.

Want to sell ebooks...how about clickbank, this site is excellent for the latest ebook affiliate and has everything you need to be successful from graphs, charts and statistics to help track your success.

Okay, that is actually the easy part. Time for the "work" so to speak. Marketing your website...yes, you build it, but for them to come, they need to know you exist. So sure, you can send the info to all your contacts, but you need more than 10,000 and more hits a day to make any money...10,000!

This is where those darn mailing lists come into play. The one everyone is trying to get off of including myself. This is where you are going to spend some money, because those lists are targeted to the people you want to reach. The amount of money you spend on this mailing list varies on the size of the list, so if you need 10,000 hits and more a day to make money...how big do you think that list needs to be. www.infoUSA.com/Mail_Lists, www.datadepot.biz, and www.ConstantContact.com are a few that I have had success with.

Running a successful online affiliate company is easy and hard. This is not a turnkey position. This is going to take more than 3 hours a day, 2 days a week type of job. You are going to need to spend a lot of hours, yes you will be able to work from anywhere, but it may take awhile to get the funds to live the lifestyle of the rich.

With all that is happening in our economy and the layoffs of many people, we just don't have the time or the resources to be scammed. I gave two examples of ways to be successful with some hard work and little or no money. Know what you need, what you want, dream a little dream and have some fun, don't worry about failure, it is part of learning.

"Failure is the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely."

~ Henry Ford

The World is yours and it is beautiful...