If you have absolutely no experience with any online business all this can be quite confusing.
First, how do you find a legitimate online business? In order to be an online business some product or service must be provided. There are continually online moneymaking schemes where you simply send a given amount of money to someone somewhere above you in the scheme. Even if these are called gifting schemes to keep them from being illegal, they are not online businesses. They will not legitimately support you for any length of time.

Look for a product or service you genuinely believe in, because you will be using it yourself as well as promoting it online. One way is to select a product category, such as online marketing information or health products and look at all the online businesses you can find that provide that product or service.

There are essentially three different types of online businesses; network marketing, affiliate programs and sales. In a sales business you promote something online that you buy wholesale or make. You then ship it to customers when they buy it. In an affiliate program you market a product or service for the company that produces it and get a commission for each sale. They ship the product. In a network marketing program you promote the product or service and also recruit others to do the same. You then receive a commission on the sales of those you recruited and those they recruited.

Network marketing programs are often the most popular with newcomers because there the upline, or sponsors have a vested interest in your success and are there to help. These systems are set up in a variety of ways so that you may have two or three people in the level below you and may be paid on the sales of differing numbers of levels below that. They also have different ways of handling your recruits once the given number of levels below you fill up. Be sure you understand the system and compensation plan of any online business you are considering.

Another very important aspect of the business is how you will recruit people. In some online businesses recruiting involves several telephone calls to interested prospects. Do not choose a business like this if you have telephone phobia. In other online businesses most people sign up or buy directly from the web site. In still others paid marketers do the sales and signups for you. These are more expensive to get into, for obvious reasons. Select a recruiting and sales style you are comfortable with.

When you have found the product, type of business and education you want, sign up for the online business. Then stick with it. Despite many of the advertising claims you have seen, you are highly unlikely to make a fortune overnight. You are even highly unlikely to make a fortune in a month or two. You need to build the business. You can probably get someone to buy from you or sign up from you in two to three weeks, but you will not reach the full potential of the business in that time. Stick with it for at least six months, doing everything you are told by your sponsor or the educational program.

If you have absolutely no results in the first month, talk with your sponsor and find out what you did wrong. If you keep promoting the online business for a few more months and do not see continuing results, seek out one of the many educational programs online that will teach you, independently, to market your home business. Learn all you can from the free sites, then perhaps sign up for paid assistance if you feel you need it.

One estimate is the 1.25 million people are seeking an online business. With a little effective promotion some of these people can be drawn to your site. Persistence pays off. You will make money if you keep promoting and keep learning.

Company

The company is important because of course you want the business to be around for a while and you want to feel safe that you will get paid what you have earned. When researching different businesses, here are a few things to consider:

“…… you’ve GOT to take a look at this online business!!!!” All you’ve got to do is get TWO people who want to earn $1000 a week! You know two people don’t you!?!? Then they get two people into their online business, and THEY get two people and it just explodes and pretty soon you don’t have to do ANYTHING and you can quit your job and do nothing!!”

Your gut instinct tells you this online business sounds unbelieveably good (you don’t know how right you are) but you sign up anyway. With that comes a monthly autoship of $100-$300, but who cares? Pretty soon you’ll be making three times that in a week!

6 months later, you’re disillusioned, your online business is severely in the red from your once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity and you’ve only signed up 6 people into your business and 5 have left as quick as they came.

Been there, done that … I’m slightly ashamed to say, except I didn’t even sign up anywhere near 6 people in my online business!!

What is opportunity? How do you recognise it? What separates reality from fake? When does that gut instinct tell you it’s real?

What most people don’t realise is that all the things they’ve been taught for their online business do work to a degree. It’s just that most of us will NEVER master the skills required to do them effectively. That is what separates real opportunity from fake opportunity, now listen carefully;

* REAL opportunity is something YOU can do.

* FAKE opportunity is something a very talented, skilled person with an amazing skillset can do … you can’t right now, or rather, not you until you’ve spent years mastering those skills.

Some of the things people try and make money through an online business are;

* writing their own ebook and selling it online.

* network marketing, travel, health, fuel, and more health…

* selling other peoples products as an affiliate marketer.

* stuffing envelopes (don’t even go there)

* selling things on ebay.

* creating a product and selling it online, eg: a boardgame etc…

* and many other minors

Here’s the other side of the online business coin;

* there are thousands of ebooks out there, great ebooks that aren’t being sold because the writer doesn’t have the marketing knowledge to do so.

* 98% of network marketers fail due to been taught a system which the companies KNOW doesn’t work, but it sounds much easier than REAL network marketing.

* 95% of affiliate sales are made by 5% of the affiliate market, a staggering 95% failure rate.

* Money from envelopes? You’re kidding right?

* A recent survey showed that over half of the 3,500 products surveyed on ebay had no bids on them at all! Only 175 items out of the 3,500 had more than 1 bid on them. Not as hot as what people make it out to be is it?

* creating physical products takes thousands of dollars in design, production costs, advertising, you have to have reasonable capital to even THINK this is a good road to travel down.

I’ve written writing ebooks, I’ve been involved in network marketing, I’ve tried being an affiliate marketer, stuffing envelopes, selling on ebay, never tried creating my own product though, knew that would be too expensive.

NONE of those online businesses worked.

Why?

Because each of those online businesses required SKILLS. Skills that take YEARS to master, and those that have mastered them become extremely wealthy. I’ve spent well over $20,000 on courses and some of the top training courses around and learnt ALOT! But what I eventually realised was the time taken to master these skills is immense!

The fact of the matter is that most people in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s don’t have the TIME or the MENTAL ENERGY to sit down and learn how to write a sales letter that people just HAVE to buy off if they read it. That takes YEARS to learn and many more years to master.

Many many people are ALMOST successful, because they are good, they are brilliant, they are talented, but they just fall short. The reason why is they CANNOT get other people to do what they do in their online business. Not happening…

The vast majority of people don’t have the required skills to be successful, skills like; * knowing where and how to find the right prospects.

* writing great sales letters that make your prospects foam at the mouth to get to your product.

* designing a website that ‘draws’ a person into wanting to know more.

* setting up autoresponder emails, sequences, and timings.

* closing people on your product, knowing what to say when they say no, or are not sure it they want to buy it.

* knowing how to upload information onto websites.

* buying and registering domain names, then setting up killer websites under that specific domain.

* Writing articles, press releases, and blogging effectively.

* the expensive and ever-changing Pay Per Click Advertising.

* where do I stop?

The time taken to learn all these skills is incredible, the cost … more than a little, and the effort … huge!

People don’t know how to do ALL those things I just listed! A select few do, and they reap the golden rewards. But for joe and joette average – no way!

People are different, some people can do some things really well, others they fail at miserably. A great webdesigner is often TERRIBLE at selling things. A great salesperson has NO CLUE how to set up an autoresponder sequence. Your online business requires ALL of those skills.

What would work best for people is a system! This system would do EVERYTHING that I’ve talked about, it would free you up to just point people in the direction of it through techniques that are simple, proven and effective. This system would need to have a good track record. It would have to have statistics and conversion rates backing it up, and it would need to do everything by itself.

It would need:

* great sales letters.

* fascinating and informative websites.

* a masterful follow up system.

* a way to close people without being pushy or using cunning sales tactics.

* an easy system of attracting people to these websites and sales letters that doesn’t involve talking to people or hassling your friends and family.

That would a REAL opportunity because EVERYONE could do it, right? It’s not an opportunity that looks great but the skills required to be successful in it are incredibly difficult to master, that’s a FAKE opportunity, when something is NOT what it appears to be. Don’t be fooled…

To be a super affiliate, follow their advice. They are experienced and can give good advice. Concentrate on a niche. You don’t need to try to sell everything. Keep focused on one thing at a time. Get yourself moving. Start with a few strategies and build on that.

Promotion is the key. Search engine and the web is usually the best way. If you are confident then you could try pay per click. However, make sure you understand this well. Some affiliate lose profits this way.

Be sure to know who your market is. You can develop more trust. You will build trust over time. People need to trust you. Your sales and business will grow stonger.

Don’t be afraid to diversify your business. Be certain to join several merchant programs. Be cautious with merchant agreements. Associate yourself with more than one merchant to increase your market share. You can protect your business this way.

Be sure to keep on top of current trends in the market. Be prepared to change if you need to. The world of internet marketing is continually changing. Be willing to change. You must make changes as needed.

Finally, just don’t give up. It is true that many of these affiliate marketing plans may fail. However, Its not the lack of ideas. Don’t give up too quickly. All businesses take time to get going. Be focused and determined. Try to promote your business everyday. If you keep it up you will eventually start to see results.

Its great to be your own boss. You use your skills to your own benefit. Affiliate marketing takes a bit of work. You need to build it up like any other business. Keep your eye on the prize. Affiliate marketing is a great business opportunity. It takes hard work to be a super affiliate.

One way to start making money online would be to become an affiliate of a program like simple sites big profits. You can earn commissions promoting the sale of such electronic products fast and easily through clickbank in this case. You can read more about it at simple sites big profits review.