I know a lot of people thinking that working from home and owning a home based business means that they don’t have to work very hard or very much. They believe that is enough to join to programs and all will run automatically, making money even when they sleep.

Do not take me wrong, you can make money in your sleep, this is true, but do not think you don't have to work to achieve this goal. Anyone who tells you that you can get something for nothing is a crook. Someone who says “we do all the work” is lying to you. On the other hand, anyone who tells you that to start a home based business you need thousands of dollars is lying to you as well.

Many programs on the internet offer free sign-ups, free products, and free websites to help an individual get started in a internet home business. This is fantastic, but before you will start to get customers, there are things that have to be set in place and then commissions will grow.

Like any other business, internet business needs an investment. However, visitors won't know that your website exists unless you advertise it. The internet makes business very easy and inexpensive Many high traffic sites on the internet will allow you to advertise your products on their site for a free, many search engines will list your site for free.

But you must pay in some places. For instance some search engines are unwilling to list affiliate websites. Then you must build a website that will cost you $20-$30. You will need a host. You will need to pay for more effective advertising. That will make about $30-$40 every month.

And there are a lot of things you should do yourself. The problem is: are you willing to invest your time ?

I can say that I spend about 2 hours a day online through the week working on my business. Of course, I could pay somebody else to do all the job, but I don't want to pay much. Let's see what I do :

   1. I build the website myself and maintain them.
   2. I advertise and submit my website to various search engines, directories, and other high traffic sites.
   3. I read an enormous amount of articles, reports, tutorials.
   4. I permanently evaluate my sites and make changes.
   5. I run a newsletter
   6. I answer to my customer's questions.

Some days I put in more time and some day's I don't work at all. But I know that if I am unwilling to invest my time...I probably not going to succeed.

Valerian Dinca is a freelance writer specialized in internet marketing. He thinks that internet offers a lot of home business opportunities

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