The Right Thing

By Thomas
Posted Wednesday, November 17, 2004

When I first decided to do something that would earn money on the web, I didn’t know exactly where to begin. I had several criteria in mind. I wanted more than just a few extra bucks. I wanted to do something which would earn an online income. Here are the criteria that I came up with.

1. It had to be something that didn’t cost very much to start.
2. A great product to sell.
3. Good profit

I wasn’t asking for much. All I wanted was to start my own worldwide business on a shoestring and make a fortune. Right? I also wanted to do it from the comfort of home and with no employees to help. All kidding aside, I really just wanted to earn a decent income. Just the right thing. But what was the right thing for me?

I had attempted to self publish my own book on the web, but soon found that it was not that easy. Books are a great thing. Everyone loves them, but everyone sells them too. It‘s the same with e-books. There was the usual problem of getting the massive amount of website traffic. Also, when you sell a book or any tangible object, it must be produced and shipped. This is time consuming and adds to the cost of the book. Its not that easy competing with the big book sellers. Its not that I wanted something easy or get rich quick, but I did want something that worked on the web. Selling books was obviously not the right thing.

Now I turned to something less bulky and yet still profitable. The market for software, webtools and classified websites had long been saturated on the Internet. Although I signed up for several of these websites and have earned some income, I still kept searching for the right thing.

Referral programs were my next opportunities to investigate. These programs have much to offer. They are either free or low cost. You can add one or more to an existing website business. You can make a good online income with the right program. You can also belong to several referral programs at once. But which program or programs were right? Again, it had to be the right thing.

1. Low cost
2. A great product
3. Good profit

I joined several during the next few months, but I just could not seem to find the right one for me. Many were low cost or free to join, but the product was not right. Some had a good product or service, but they expected a monthly fee to be paid even if you could not sell anything. Nothing seemed to be working. I just could not get the right combination.

One day I was offered a membership in a new referral program. I checked out the website. It seemed too good to be true. I was leary of anything that offered so much for so little. I did all of the background checks. It was a legitimate company. Free to join and a low onetime fee ($25) to upgrade to affiliate. Fully refundable at any time. The product is an online community that pays all members a share of advertising profits. A pure Internet company. Nothing to make or ship. Just sign people up and they get paid for using the website. The more people I sign up the more money I make. Wow, could it be the right thing for me!

I joined while the company was still in pre-launch. I upgraded to affiliate. I referred others to the website and started making a profit. What could be better then using someone else’s company to start my own worldwide business. All my criteria were met. A great product , low cost, good profit.

If you want to succeed in anything you must do two things.
1. Develop a plan with your own criteria. What is the right thing?
2. Stay with it.

Just keep searching. Keep trying. Persistence pays.

Thomas
(http://beam.to/internetprofit)

About the Author
My name is Thomas. Age 45. I have been happily married for twelve years. we have one child. I work in the printing industry and as a part time internet marketeer.