The internet is filled with offers to join free online money making programs. I told you last time that I think it's unrealistic to tell someone she can make money online with no investment. The good news is, however, that you can start a successful internet business with less money than you would think.

Based on my experience -- that is, what I've done -- you need 4 things to start a successful internet business. Your total start up cost will be about $150. This list assumes that you're using the easiest beginner's method of becoming a Clickbank affiliate to start your internet marketing business.

The four things you'll need to start you on the path to internet marketing success are a domain name, a landing page, a hosting account, and an autoresponder. Today, let's talk about why you need these things. Then next time we'll look at what each thing does for you.

Obviously, you can do affiliate marketing without any of these tools. You can simply drive traffic to your product's sales page using your affiliate link. But this does nothing to build your internet marketing business. Using this method, you are constantly in search of new customers. And, you have no relationship with any of your customers. They are all one-time buyers.

Your goal for your online business should be to build a list of lifetime customers. The best way to do this is to develop a relationship of trust with your customers. You can only do this if you know who your customers are and they know who you are.

As you can see, none of these four tools have anything to do with traffic generation. I did say last time that one of the biggest reasons it is near impossible to make money online with no investment is that it takes lots of time and lots of effort to generate traffic using the free methods.

But, both your time and effort are dramatically reduced if you use the free traffic methods and build your list at the same time, as these four tools allow you to do. No longer are you constantly searching for the new customer to make a one-time sale to.

Instead, once your traffic generation pays off, and you have a customer, she is no longer just a one- time buyer. You have her name and email. You have her request to send her information. You know she's interested in what you're offering -- she opted-in to your list.

Making additional sales to an established customer is a walk in the park compared to the effort it takes to acquire a new customer. As your list begins to grow, the money begins to come in faster and with less effort. Because of this, I recommend that you spend your money in the beginning building a list, not on paid traffic generation methods. Your list building tools are far less expensive. They are easier to use. When you start making some money you can direct your attention to the paid traffic methods. If you want to. If you need to.

But first let's just concentrate on getting one customer, showing that customer she can trust you, and marketing quality products to her. It will be so much easier to sell ten products to this one customer than it will be to sell one product to ten customers. You'll be amazed.

Next time we'll talk about what each tool does to further your internet marketing success.