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.
Once in a while, my inbox will have an email with a single sentence that reads something like the one below:
“Sir, teach me how to make money.”
For the first year or so, when I do get such an email, I will give the sender a proper reply. Essentially, I will tell him that making money on the Internet is hard work, but very possible if he puts in the time and dedication.
I don’t think I ever got a second email. The sender was probably looking for a simple turnkey solution and I didn’t offer him one.
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 did electronics design for a living. I studied electronics engineering for 3 years at the polytechnic to get my diploma, and it was only after about 5 to 10 years of working experience that I consider myself good enough to ask for a salary of 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.
What I can say is, “Get real, people.”
If you were approached on the street and offered $100 to deliver a parcel to a nearby address, what would you do?
You will run away like you were planning to break a few Olympic records right?
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 charm you into doing it.
The Internet has been called the great equalizer, or the most revolutionary development in the history of human communication, 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.
