A Beginner's Guide To Make Money Online - The First Step

Have you ever considered getting into a home based business? The mere thought of trying to establish a stream of income on the Internet sends chills down the spine of most average human beings. Making money online is simply not considered possible for "the average joe" nowadays. There are 2 main reasons why people don't take the first step into online business. One is money - they think it costs too much (and in many cases it does). The other reason is knowledge, or should I say, the lack of knowledge? Most people don't have any idea how net business works. I mean, who knows how to get started making money on the Internet? It's a bit unclear isn't it? If you don't have somebody to take you by the hand and show you how it's done, then you are most likely going to bungle it, unless of course, you are an "Einstein". But take heart, it's not as bad as you might think. Today's Internet does offer many legitimate opportunities for building a realistic income right from your own home computer, and it doesn't require huge amounts of money or a degree in web-based business to get started.

So, how does a newcomer start the process of acquiring an online business? Let's start with finances. How much do we want to fork over? Just because it's cheap doesn’t mean you will be saving money. In fact, most of the time just the opposite is true, you will be wasting money. Stay away from eBooks and "how to" courses that you download off the net. Sure they are cheap, but you know the saying: "Ya get what ya pay for." Right? Well, there's a reason why they say that. It's usually true! And in a lot of cases these things are just outright frauds. With these products you will get your download and then a pat on the back by the seller saying "See ya later!", and then basically you're on your own. So, what happens when there's something you don't understand? What happens if you are unfamiliar with the terminology? What happens if you're like me and don't have the patience to plow through page after page of bone-dry reading? I can't count the number of eBooks, get rich quick schemes, and outright scams I have bought online. Then I sat there scratching my head, blinking like an owl, wondering why they didn't work for me. If you want to get into a worthy online venture you will have to make a moderate investment. Good news is, it will not necessarily suck your bank account down to the last drop. Almost anyone can afford some of the effective programs that are on the net these days.

Now let's get down to some nuts and bolts. To make any substantial amount of money online you will absolutely need to have a website. And what's more, you're going to need something to sell with your website. Now don't panic. You will not need to design and build your own website from scratch unless you really want to. In which case, I say go ahead and give it a try. It takes time and knowledge to build a good website from the ground up. But if you're like me and would rather let somebody else do the work, then there are plenty of nice opportunities on the web.

Bear with me, I'm going to rattle off a few things here. If you have ever heard the phrase “turnkey website", you may be familiar with one of, if not the premier way for beginners to make money online. A turnkey website is a website that is largely already set up and ready to go, with maybe just a few minor customizations needing to be made. Think of it this way, it's like a house that's already been furnished with everything you would need for living in it. All you have to do is move in and maybe rearrange the furniture or paint the walls the color you want. In a lot cases, these turnkey websites are provided by companys running their own affiliate programs. An affiliate program is where you enter into an agreement with a company to advertise a product or service for them and in return receive a commission from them when you sell said product or service. Thus, you would be an affiliate of that company. These turnkey affiliate programs are an ideal way for beginners to get started in Internet marketing because the buyer is set up with a fully functional website ready to make sales online; and the start up costs are relatively small. There are thousands of people making money online right now with turnkey website-based affiliate programs. Just Google "affiliate programs" or "turnkey websites", and see what you get.

Another way many rookies make money online are direct-sales programs. In direct-sales programs the new webmaster is given a pre-built website and a product to sell with that website. The product is entirely owned by the new webmaster. It's a little different than the turnkey method, in that you can actually set up your own web hosting and domain name for your new website. This is great because you can "brand" your website with your own unique domain name ( example: www.domain name.com) and optimize it for search engines such as Google, which in turn can increase traffic flow to the website and consequently increase sales. These direct-sales programs usually include training in marketing techniques and include a variety of internet advertising tools so the website owner can sell directly to the customer. There is no commission involved here. In direct-sales programs the wesite owner gets 100 percent of all sales.

One direct-sales program that I like for it's simplicity of design, in depth training, and responsive support network (online, email and phone), is called IPC Instant Cash. For the most part, it's a turnkey-based online marketing system and it uses the direct sell method. With IPC Instant Cash you get your own website and product to sell when you enter the program. Thousands of investors are taking advantage of this system, a great number of them being "newbies". If you are really looking for a home-based business that is suitable for entry level entrepreneurs, which furnishes a complete system, a decent product to sell, and an all inclusive training package, this program is a good choice. The IPC Instant Cash program walks you through the online marketing process and shows you exactly how to set up your website so that it can start making money online for you as quickly as possible. Many members make their first sale just hours after getting started. There aren't many programs that provide a complete package like this system does for slightly under $100. Another program I will mention is Profit Lance, which is set up to be more like an affiliate program. This system sets the buyer up with multiple affiliate projects, but usually takes longer to produce a realistic income because the payment process with affiliates is slower than direct-sales programs. This can sometimes be a problem for beginners who may be impatiently waiting to get paid. Affiliate programs sometimes take up to 60 days to pay their representatives. However, with IPC Instant Cash the reps are paid instantly through a payment process that is set up to deposit directly to their account.

The main thing to keep in mind when searching for a home based business for beginners to make money online with, is go slow, there are programs that do work. But in contrast, there are many scams, frauds, and get rich quick schemes that will separate you from you money so fast your head will spin. So be careful, perform your due diligence (Google is a great source of info on anything you might be interested in. Use it!). Don't reach for the first flickering jewel you come across, because some of those flickering jewels will burn you. Also, you will have to put effort into any online marketing program you choose, in order to get rewards from it. Sometimes it just takes time to learn the basics of online marketing, which causes a lot of newcomers to give up before they can reach that point of "critical mass." Unfortunately most beginners have unrealistic expectations of large amounts of money flowing into their account on day one. I have yet to find a program online that will speed down the information superhighway making large amounts of money for me while I sit back watching tv. Give it some time and keep working at it, don't give up! Lastly, remember this, you will have to take that first step if you want to get your online income stream flowing. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. If you do nothing, nothing will change. Good luck, and all the best!


Ken Stephens is a retired truck driver living in Nova Scotia, Canada with his wife Annabelle and their little dog Cassie. He has started up 2 successful Internet businesses to supplement his retirement income. Visit his IPC Instant Cash website at: Beginners Make Cash Online Or his IPC Program website at: Make Money Online With IPC Ken invites anybody seriously considering getting into an Internet business to contact him for an honest assessment. He would be happy to lend his experience. His contact information is listed on those websites.