All I wanted to do figure out how to make a decent income from my computer, so that I could spend some time trying to figure out what it was that I really wanted to do in life.

One of these late-night gurus was pretty compelling. He was advocating a program about how to use direct marketing so that you could "Get Rich In Your Underwear," or something like that. So, I ordered it.

Despite the cheaply printed paper and the poor grammar, I actually found a lot of value in what that program had to say. Much of it was written prior to the internet, which was interesting because it took a little imagination to figure out how to apply old principles to new business opportunities. That's when it hit me:

-The key to success in an e-commerce world is to use old principles of salesmanship combined with the new advantages of the web!

How many times have you decided not to follow up on a website because there was no phone number to call for follow up information?

How many times have you been beaten down by pop-up and pop-under advertising while trying to escape a web page?

Direct Sales has to do with making your prospects come to you, so that you get the HOT leads that are ready for what you have to sell them. The internet is the place to publish and syndicate your own intellectual properties. Truly, this is the greatest possible combination.

First of all, you need to have a solid product. This is easier than ever before thanks to the internet. In a future article, I will discuss at length just how to put together a great product to cater to a special niche of people that you know very well. For now, start by spending some time taking inventory of yourself. What do you do well? What do you know how to do better than anyone else? Everyone's an expert on something, and you'd be amazed at just how much you really do know once you begin to become aware of yourself.

One of the primary principles of Direct Sales is to put together small, well-placed advertisements in order to gain an immediate foot-in-the-door with prospective clients. There are many important things about this statement...many of which need to be repeated. Small means small. There is no need to write an entire essay. If you want a good example of what I'm talking about, just do a few Google searches and see which pay-per-click ads stand out to you. Why?

Next, they must be well-placed. This cannot be overstated. How many books are there right now that talk about using Google AdWords and AdSense? Enough to make life really expensive for those who are late coming to the party.

In my next article, I will be discussing just how to use tried-and-true methods to create your own successful online organization, how to locate and place well written ads, and how to turn your computer into a virtual ATM.