They have read that about 600 million people have access to the Internet - and yet it is still in its infancy. Every month millions of newcomers and thousands of businesses are reported to be setting up online.



With the expanding audience in the form of Internet users, we now have a fantastic opportunity to be successful in online business.

Residual Incomes are made available to people from all walks of life. You can now make money online with simple and proven formula used by many to earn multiple streams of residual income. However it takes a lot of hard work and some financial investment. The following is a short list of 8 things you should be aware of:

1. MAKE A CHOICE OF WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SELL

1.1 Products

When you sell a product you can either carry out the whole operation of manufacturing or creating the products, handling orders, stocking and inventory management, shipping the goods, and processing the payments OR you could simply join some affiliate programs and market for companies that will handle all the administration for you. Your job is therefore merely to get the orders to the companies and receive commission as a result of your effort. The question we should ask ourselves is "What products should we sell?" We should all know that the item that has been recognized as the number one business product of the future is "information". Examples of highly successful information products are the 'how-to' and "self-improvement" e-books which tell the readers how to solve certain problems. If you are knowledgeable about a particular subject you could consider writing and developing your own products and delivering it via the many channels opened to you such as websites, newsletters, ezines and emails.

1.2. Services

One advantage of selling a service is that you can often generate a 'residual' income. It is possible to have a monthly passive income as long as the existing customers continue to use your service. But we should ask again "What types of service are suitable for online selling?" As the Internet boom continues the most obvious possibility is any service which could help companies in using the Internet in their business. An excellent example is a web hosting service whereby the host will provide the space to put up websites of others with the necessary tools to manage it while providing technical advice and service to their clients.

2. PREPARE A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

Don't start until you have made a plan that includes what the markets are, what products and services you're selling to these markets, how to acquire these products (and services), how you will market and sell them and how to get the money to pay for all these things. Like any other forms of work, you must have a plan for your Internet business. Set an achievable short term, medium term and long term objectives, prepare a budget and stick to them as far as possible. Carry out periodical checking to determine any deviations from the plan and take the necessary remedial actions.

3. OBTAIN AN E-COMMERSE PROGRAM

You must have the capability to accept orders, arrange for payment, preferably by credit card, and ship the product. Otherwise you should do as many successful Internet entrepreneurs do, that is, joining good affiliate programs where you need not worry about processing of orders, collection of payment, packing and shipping of the products as these would be taken care of by the merchants i.e. the affiliate program owners.

4. PREPARE A WELL WRITTEN SALES COPY

The content of your website should have attractive and hard hitting selling materials to persuade your prospects to buy from you while maintaining and keeping the existing customers. Copywriting requires some skill. If you can't do it yourself you will have to hire professional copywriters to do it for you for a fee.

5. BE PATIENT AND PERSEVERE

Building a successful business on the Internet takes not only a lot of effort and time, it also requires some financial input on your part especially for acquiring the necessary knowledge and to advertise your business. Don't be trapped by the "overnight miracle" and "become-an- instant-millionaire" hype and stories.

You'd be tempted with countless of seemingly very attractive offers and promises from the Web to help improve your business. Many of these would lead you to disappointment and frustration. You should persevere and re-invest your early profits back into the business.

6. GET YOUR LIST

In Internet marketing, always remember three very important words. They're...LIST, LIST and LIST. Also, do not forget the popular Internet adage, "The Gold is in your LIST!" This means that a big chunk of your time, effort and concentration should be directed to getting the right strategy to drive traffic to your site. Advertising is therefore of utmost importance.

7. DO NOT SPAM

Do not ever try to spam i.e. sending unsolicited e-mails to unexpected recipients under any circumstances. I get very annoyed when I find chunks of unwanted e-mails plugging my mailbox resulting in the e-mails from my friends and business associates being "lost" in the midst of these junks mails. The frustrating process of deleting them is enough to drive me through the roof! If you insisted on "spamming", you'd very likely have your name and registration terminated. It is therefore not worth the while because eventually your business would suffer.

8. KNOW HOW AND WHERE TO ADVERTISE

There are many locations where you can place an Ad such as newsgroups, forums, ezines, websites some of which you have to pay for while some are totally free of charge. It is possible to post your Ad to a mailing list, newsgroups, and also discussion forums using a signature file to promote your products.