INTRODUCTION

As you read these words, there are millions of people making a full time income on the internet, working part time hours from the comfort of their own home. These people set their own working hours, live where ever they choose and have a ton of spare time to spend with their family, friends and simply do things they love to do.

Does this sound like something you would like to be doing? Of course it is, why else would you have bought this guide!

Well rest assured, you have made the right decision by buying this guide. Because you are about to learn everything you need to know to get started on your internet business and be pointed in the right direction towards online business success.

In this guide, you will not only learn the basics of starting an internet business. But learn of the many different online business models you can choose, and even analyze over 50 successful online businesses you can imitate!

But before we get started, just so you are as existed as I am about doing business online. Here are some of the main reasons most people decide to start an online business:

• It takes very little money to start

Unlike a business in the “real world” , an online business does not need a lot of start up money. All you need as an idea, a domain name, internet access and hosting…all of which can be had for under $100!

• You choose when you work

Who says you must work from 9 to 5 everyday? People who are NOT Internet Business owners! The Internet Business is the biggest proof why the statement “working from 9 to 5” is no longer true. With an Internet Business, you don’t have to wake up in the wee hours of the morning so that you can get to work by 9am, anymore. You can start work at anytime since you are your own boss!

• Work from the comfort of your own home

Where you put your computer is where you will be working! And since you’re going to be working from home, you’ll be saving at least two hours of your time each day by not having to travel to and from your work place during rush hours when everybody else is going to work or heading for home. That means you’ll be saving at least 730 hours a year! Wouldn’t you shudder at the thought of wasting 730 hours a year doing nothing productive?

• With the internet, the whole world is your market!

By sitting in front of the computer, everyone in the world is now within your three feet. You leverage on free or low-cost software and hardware and the Internet Infrastructure, all of which when combined will give you leveraging power that far exceeds any conventional business, allowing you to achieve more and more with less and less work!

• You can fully automate your online business If properly set up, some Internet Business models can be fully automated
• No need to work 8 hours a days every single day

Once you can automate your Internet Business in some way, you can use the time you saved to start another Internet Business, improve your existing business, or spend anyhow you like. You just spend the time online checking your mail religiously, promoting and expanding your business – all in front of your computer. And there is absolutely no need to spend even more than four hours online.

• Spend more time with family and friends

Owning an Internet Business gives you the privilege to have more time to spend with your family, or watch your children grow up. This is what most busy parents crave for. If you are one of them, then you will do well to seriously consider starting an Internet Business.

• Your online business can be all about your hobbies and passions

Now, this is my favorite reason for anybody wanting to start an Internet Business! The Internet Business allows your passion and dream to come to life, which is also the most important component of businesses of any kind.

• Online businesses have very little expenses

Believe it or not, some Internet Businesses can be set up and running at zero cost, if not very low. Other Internet Businesses can run with monthly operational expenses so low that they are negligible!
may as well throw into the stock market if you’ve got such a huge appetite for risk!

So, you can rest assured you won’t find me recommending products or services that cost thousands of dollars, the amount of money which you

• You can have more that one!

Since the cost of setting up and running an Internet Business is so low, and you can automate their operations, you can operate multiple Internet Businesses as a one-person Internet Business owner. You don’t need to hire employees since your Internet Business system is doing most of the job, if not all. It works 24/7 for you. It won’t call in sick. It won’t give any excuses. And it definitely won’t blame you if it ever had worldly problems!

• The internet is a huge market (the whole world) and it’s getting bigger as you read these words

According to the Computer Industry Almanac, there were 934 million Internet users up to September 2004; there will be 1.07 billion in this year. Now, is there any doubt that a 934 million-user pool is a very attractive target given the leverage you have on the Internet?

Given all the wonderful reasons for starting your own Internet Business, I am sure that by now you have already made up your mind whether starting an Internet Business is for you. If you have decided that it’s for you, then

BASIC FUNDAMENTALS

Let’s start this report with some definitions of frequently used terms so that you’re clear as to what I’ll be talking about later on in the coming chapters. If you’re not familiar with computers and Internet, then read this chapter carefully. I’ll be explaining in simple English so I’ll strip off as much technical jargons as I can so that any ordinary person can understand complex and technical subjects.

Let’s begin, shall we?
• What exactly is the internet?

The Internet stands for Integrated Network. The Internet is a GLOBAL network of computers with hundreds of millions of computers all over the world all linked to each other. Your computer can easily access to the Internet one of two ways:

• Through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). An ISP doesn’t provide any type of content; it just provides a connection to the Internet.

• Through an online service (e.g. America Online, Microsoft Network, Prodigy, and so on). An online service not only connects you to the Internet but also provides content such as daily news, stock quotes, football scores, and information resources.

Once you have an Internet Access account, to log on to the Internet you need to get your own PC (Personal Computer) with a modem. Most new computers come ready with a built-in (internal) modem.

Then all you need to do to access the Internet is to connect your home phone line to the modem, and dial an Internet Access telephone number provided by your ISP. A program in your computer will enable you to access the Internet once you dial in.

When you are connected to the Internet, you can easily send digital files and information to another computer in the network within minutes. The faster your PC and Internet connection is, the faster you can send your files.
With your computer connected to the Internet, you can easily and efficiently share information with other users FROM AROUND THE WORLD within seconds or minutes. If you can share information easily and efficiently – you can easily market your products or services to others and make money in the process at a very low cost!

You can set up a system on the Internet to send marketing information to your prospects 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, because the Internet doesn’t sleep, and its users are all over the world, each living in a different time zone! This system consists of primarily your Website and E-mail.

• What is a domain name?
Basically, your domain name is the internet address of your website, it looks something like this:

www.yourname.com with the same address. Your domain name can also be your Internet Business name.

Once the domain name has been selected and registered, no one else can register the same domain name just as there can never be two houses

• What is a website?

A website can act as a brochure or sales letter but in electronic form, viewable only in your computer. A website can also act as your physical business premises.

Your website displays your products in the form of photos or illustrations and words that describe what it is. People can browse your website for the products you carry from any PC with an Internet Browser without having to go there in person to see them.

• What is a web browser?
An Internet Browser allows your visitors to view your website.
• What is email?

An e-mail is mail in electronic format and hence, Electronic Mail. Instead of sending a letter to your friend by writing it on a piece of paper, putting it into an envelope and sticking a stamp on it before going to the post office to post it, you compose an e-mail in your E-mail program and when you’re ready to send, you click on the button SEND.

• What is web hosting?

The host of your website is the server. Your website sits on the hard disk of a big computer called a server that is connected to the Internet

24 hours a day. The server can also host other websites simultaneously.
• What is an autoresponder?

An Autoresponder is a computer program that acts like your answering machine for e-mail messages from your friends. You can write out your message in advance, like the following:

Once you’ve turned your Autoresponder on at your email address, anyone sending e-mail to your e-mail address will automatically receive your message above – without any need for you to send it manually!

A Sequential Autoresponder is a computer program that will AUTOMATICALLY send out MORE THAN ONE prewritten e-mail address that has been set to followup with different messages in sequence. You can specify the interval between each pre-written messages and as many e-mail messages as you wish.

• What is an FTP program?

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. An FTP Program enables you to deliver digital files to your website’s host directly from your own computer through the Internet so that your website can be ready to be viewed by your visitors. This program is also enables you to edit and delete existing web pages and images.

Here is an “INTERNET DICTIONARY” to help you understand more about the internet: BBS – stands for bulletin board system. BBSes work just like the corkboards you see in hallways, kitchens or recreational rooms in almost every business. You can pick up a message of interest or leave your own.

The following commonly used short definitions give you a general idea of the many resources and tools currently available.

cybernaut – you are one if you use the Internet often.
download – transmission of information from a source on the Internet directly into your computer.

e-mail – the electronic mail is probably the most used feature on the Internet. You can send out friendly letters instantly.

encrypted message – a message that has the scrambled so that no one other than the desired recipient, who can unscramble the message, can read it.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions.
flame – to send someone a nasty note.

file – computer documents that you work with. You can send files over the Internet to just about anywhere in the world.

java – a computer programming language for the distribution of digital information. Because Java can “talk” to any computer operating system, it is ideal for something so wildly diverse as the Internet.

log on – connecting to the Internet. mailing list – an e-mail list of people who want to get information about a specific subject (e.g. person, place, products, services, etc.).

lurk – reading and understanding the posted messages in a newsgroup before posting your own.
nettiquette – from net and etiquette, it simply means good manners on the Internet.

newsgroup – a place where individuals post and retrieve messages, except that these messages concern a single topic. You can read or join with your own news, views and comments.

snail mail – term referring to the slowness of the postal system compared to the speed of e-mail.
URL – Uniform Resource Locator. Also known as website address