Can I really make money online?

Yes! It is really possible to make money online! I've been doing it successfully part-time for the past several years in my spare time. I have a full-time job that I love, working in the Information Technology field but I enjoy the challenge of using my creative skills to build and develop online businesses that essentially run on auto-pilot for many months and sometimes years once they've been setup.

Using many of the software productivity tools out there today, literally anyone with little or no computer experience can start making money online. I'm not saying it is easy, but many of the tools allow users to create websites without knowing HTML, or professional graphics using templates and wizards without know to use complex and expensive graphics software packages. To this day, I still remember the amazement I had when I opened my first commission check for $65 back in 1999. For someone who was used to working hourly stocking shelves in a grocery store to pay their way through college, it was an exhilarating moment when I realized that there were other ways of helping to pay the bills. From that day on, I was hooked.

Ultimately, your success will depend on your own motivation and willingness to learn and experiment. It's a matter of rolling up your sleeves, spending time studying and educating yourself about internet marketing, and then jumping in and trying it for yourself.  Starting an online business is very inexpensive, especially when you compare it to the cost of starting a brick-and-mortar business. And you have the added advantage of building it in your spare time while your at your current job. However, for those very 2 reasons, you should make sure you approach it in the same manner you would if you were starting a traditional business. Make sure you do your due diligence, set aside dedicated time to focus on your business, and make sure you get the tools and resources you'll need to help you be successfully. One resource that has been invaluable to me, back when I first started and even today, has been Phil Wiley's, MiniSite Profits. It's material that you'll definitely want to read, take notes over, and then work on turning those ideas into profitable mini-websites. Remember, nothing will happen if you don't take action!

From my own personal experience, I know it is possible to make anywhere from $1 - $2,500 a month online. There are people making much more, but for me personally I've had months where my checks have totaled between those 2 extremes. Probably the most important thing I've learned, is to make money from several sources; affiliate marketing, Google Adwords, Google Adsense, Tell-A-Friend services like Focalex's TAFMaster, email marketing, selling downloadable information products, eBay, blogs, etc. There are many ways to make money online! Don't get locked into just one thing. Taking a diverse approach creates several sources of income, so that when one dries up you still have other streams of income coming in for you. The other thing I've learned from personal experiece is that the Internet and Affiliate Marketing is constantly changing and evolving. What makes money for you today, might not necessarily make you money 6 months for now. And that is what makes running your own online business so exciting and challenging. In the coming months and years, there will be new products and services that can make money for you online.

Hopefully, in the future I will have time to expand on the information above and to provide links to more resources and tools that I've found helpful in my online money-making endeavours. However, most of my time is spent continuing to develop my own tiny profitable niches on the Internet. With 42 domain names, I stay pretty busy! So if you've stumbled across this page in your quest to learn more about making money online, hopefully it will serve as a beacon and confirmation that it truly is possible. It's just a matter of setting your mind to it, getting the right tools and resources, rolling up your sleeves and getting to work. I wish you luck and success!

If you thought the information above to be helpful, feel free to drop me an email. If there is enough interest I'll continue to expand on the information above and let you know when it gets updated. Visit the contact page.

Below I've listed services and programs that have worked well for me. In my experience they have been reliable and professional in my dealings with them. I hope you find them just as useful.


Tell-A-Friend Script

TAFMaster offers a great tell-a-friend script that will make you money online each time someone uses it to share a one of your webpages with a friend. I use TAFMaster on a eCard/Joke website I run and they've always been very reliable and professional - Click-here for TAFMaster - Webmasters, build traffic and make $$$!

Webhost4Life (web-hosting)

With Webhost4life you can get webhosting for as low as $4.95 a month with unlimited transfer. Webhost4Life offers a variety of affordable hosting plans based on your needs. The thing I like the most is the Windows 2000 Server platform with ASP.NET and SQL Server. Also adding additional domains to your main account is only $15 for the year. This has worked out as a very affordable way for me to host additional mini-sites. Click-here to learn more about Webhost4Life

Powweb (web-hosting)

Poweb offers Linux servers with PHP and MySQL databases. They're prices are very reasonable. I pay for my webhosting by the year and get a 10% discount. One of the things I really like about Powweb is the support forum they offer. It's easy to get technical questions answered by other Powweb members. Special Hosting Offer! - $7.77/month!

GoDaddy (domain name registration)

GoDaddy is where I go for domain name registration. I've got all of my 42 domains registered with them. The reason why? Great service and great prices. $8.95 per year for a .com domain makes it extremely affordable. With some of their promotions and discounts, you can get even lower prices. Also once you log-in to your account the user interface to manage your domains is easy-to-use.

Other Resources