Please, I Want To Make Money On The Internet

by David Lim

I am currently running a website about home based businesses that I started a few years ago. It is a simple guide to home based businesses. It is basically an informational site and the main revenue is from ads and not from product sales.

Occasionally, I will get an email that will read something like this:

“Sir, tell me how to make money on the Internet.”

For the first year or so, I took the trouble to craft a few paragraphs as my reply, essentially repeating what I said on my website. I would also ask about the background of the sender, so that I may be in a position to better understand what he wants and what he can do.

I will not hear from them again. After a while, I got the feeling that the sender was looking for something that he could register to, pay the membership fee, do a few simple tasks, and make real good money.

Come to think of it, somebody did email me and told me he liked my site very much. And that he would very much like to join my site. It took me a moment before I realized that he was thinking that my site was some sort of business opportunity that he could join and make money.

I studied electronics engineering at a local college for 3 years. I did electronics design for a further 10 years. It is only after this period of time that the industry considered me good and experienced enough to be earning a few thousand dollars a month.

Many sites will tell you that you can potentially make a few thousand dollars a month if you work their program. Every single time, they will also tell you that anybody can do it and no experience is needed. In fact, they will tell you that an unemployed odd job laborer made $1200 after his first month on their program, or something similar.

The only thing I can say is, “Use your head.”

If somebody approached you on the street, and offered you $100 to deliver a parcel for him to a downtown address, would you do it? The errand would only take half an hour of your time, and he would pay you there and then.

I can only hope that you make some kind of excuse and walk away real quick. Actually, running will be a good idea.

You know that he is not going to practically give you $100 and that there is definitely a catch involved. He is probably hoping that you will stick around to find out and he will convince you into doing it.

The Internet has been called the most revolutionary development in the history of human communication, or the great equalizer, or the information superhighway. Whichever superlatives you use, the same rules regarding money still apply to the Internet. Money still has to be earned and competition for it is extremely keen. So, the sooner you get off “the roads are paved with gold” mentality, the sooner you will start putting in the time and work needed for a successful home business.

About the Author:
David Lim is the webmaster of a website about starting a home based business. He adopts a no nonsense approach and tells it like it is. If you are really keen on starting a home business, visit his site. You are welcome to reprint this article - but get your own unique content version here.