That was a pretty heavy indictment coming from a good friend. I had to sit down when he warned me that my internet businesses didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding. I thought I was doing all the right things.

I respected Jerry's advice. He was the one who pointed me in the direction of internet businesses as a way to make extra cash. And I always took his advice seriously because he had been very successful running his own home-based internet businesses. He was doing great and I wanted to tap into his success.

"What am I doing wrong?" I inquired sheepishly.

"Well," he responded, "you've made the classical mistake of many newcomers to internet businesses. You've satisfied yourself with setting up an exciting business opportunity. You selected a great turnkey concept where all the business programming was done for you. And you got yourself in business in a matter of minutes."

He was right. I had taken my time to explore a number of turnkey internet business opportunities, just as he recommended. I had carefully checked them out. I had picked a couple that seemed to fit together. They were consistent with my own interests. I felt good about my choices.

"But that's the easy part," Jerry explained. "And you dropped the ball by then sitting back and waiting for the money to roll in. You forgot about doing the most important duty of successful internet businesses. And if you don't follow through on that, you might as well dump your businesses!"

"So, what am I missing, Jerry?" I asked apprehensively.

Jerry sat down next to me and explained in very simple and direct terms, "You don't have a business if you don't have a customer!"

He showed me that my most important efforts had to be spent on sales and marketing. He pointed out that marketing prepared a prospect to become a customer. And selling was the way to close the deal.

"Until you master those important strategies . . . well, you've got nothing but an impressive business concept."

Jerry was absolutely right. The success of his own internet businesses could be credited to his unflagging dedication to mastering sales and marketing strategies. I learned what it would take to turn my own stumbling start into a success.

Well, that was a few years ago. But I followed Jerry's advice diligently . . . and it works! When you refocus your attention and efforts on this important internet business success guideline, you set yourself on the path to ultimate success!