Opportunities abound and the only real problems are deciding that you want to make money online and then finding out how to go about it.

My observation of people tells me that there is a large majority who have no interest in taking control of their lives and making a living without working for someone else.

I am still working and have dropped hints to colleagues regarding the internet, working for oneself, even just suggestions about being able to afford nice holidays despite the recession.  For a moment their faces light up, they may even make some sort of positive comment.   Then the shutters come down and the excuses start.  Sometimes they are just wistful and say that those things only happen to other people.  Some people actually get belligerent and claim that the internet is a ship of fools and no-one makes anything.  My favourite is a lady who looks to the sky and says 'look at that pink pig, what a wingspan'.

They are all entitled to their own opinions, but that's mostly what it is.  Opinions.  They have seen the internet and think they know all about it.  They don't see how you can make money on it, and they are not prepared to find out.

Internet wealth doesn't go to these people because they don't believe it is possible.  Now, I am not about to go all 'The Secret' on you and say that you could make a living online if you just have the right thoughts (though it couldn't hurt).  It's just that the internet is like the real world.  You don't go to an office claiming to be an accountant if you have never looked at a balance sheet in your life and don't know your capital from your interest.  The internet is the same.  You need to learn the skills necessary to get the income coming in.  

And there are so many ways to learn.  Affiliate programs that provide training you can use to build a downline.  Courses that tell you how to sell other people's products to make money.  Information that will show how to market your own product (whether you are publishing an ebook or selling vitamins) via the internet. And new information products are added every single day.

Using the internet requires skills and you need to decide what you need to do and then find the right information - obviously anyone just starting out is going to be a stranger to safelists, autoresponders, on-line payments, website creation and everything else.  At a first glance it is really bewildering.  But a logical approach and some simple research (OK newbie - say 'Google') will bring up a plethora of options.  Check out the websites, decide what relates most closely to your needs and get started.  You may not pick the best product first time, but you will learn something from every site you look at and many of them are reasonably priced so your 'mistakes' won't break the bank.

The real question is are you the sort of person who wants to work for someone else and trust them with your future?  Or do you want to learn something new and take control of your own life?