Can You Make Money Being Online? The Pro's And Con's Of Making The Leap

Here's a question for you, can you actually make money being online? And more importantly, can you make enough to actually live off it? Sure we've all heard the get-rich-quick schemes online. But is it really better versus having a brick and mortar shop?

It's good to weigh out all of the positives and negatives before you jump into an internet business. Making money on the web might not be as simple as it first seems.

Here are just a few pros before you decide to make money being online your fulltime priority:

• You can work at your own time and your own pace. There's no 9 to 5 schedule, no morning traffic and the best thing of all is you can wear your comfy pajamas to work! You're your own boss.

• Setting up shop offline takes a fair bit of investment. From renting a storefront to business permits, keeping stocks and day-to-day expenses, you'll soon find that having a physical store can easily add up the costs. But creating a site and keeping it updated is relatively inexpensive. However it's good to note that much of the money you will be investing is on advertising.

Here are the cons before you start to make money being online:

• It requires a good and stable internet connection and server. This one is fairly self explanatory.

• Advertising online can be tricky. The same tried and true rules offline don't necessarily apply online. In a brick-and-mortar business it might be enough to have a couple of posters or a newspaper ad to draw in the customers. But online it's a totally different ball game; your competitor isn't just the shop at the other side of the street. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of similar businesses all wanting the same key audience.

If you look at both brick and mortar and online businesses, you'll see that they have something in common. Hard work gets results both online and off. People fail not because they lack the motivation. People fail because they expect results right away or fail to properly plan their businesses. It's naive to think that just by setting up a website you can sit back, watch sales skyrocket and start to make money being online. My colleague once said that just setting up a website is like throwing a hook and bobber into mud puddle. No bait, no line, no rod, no fish. It just doesn't work that way. The same can be said if you decide on a brick and mortar shop. Success online takes time and effort. Persistence, creativity and a good business sense pave the way to reaching your business goals both on and offline.

By: Doug A. Kramer

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