Notice it’s illusions about starting an online home business, not delusions. That is, it’s not your fault if you misunderstand the implications of starting such a business because these illusions are fed out to you all day and every day, on the internet, television, in books and magazines.

1 It’s easy. If it were that easy, everybody would be doing it. For instance, think about putting up a website (which is not the first thing you should think about anyway). You need to have some knowledge of, and some ability in, using an HTML editor, even if it is WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) to lay out the site, perhaps use graphics, put in a sign-up form linked to an autoresponder, and writing for your visitors. All this is learnable and best done by taking action but it’s only one small part of what you need to do.

2 It’s a way of getting rich fast. This is highly unlikely – the odds are stacked against you. Most businesses don’t last past 5 years. Let’s take a figure of $100,000. To get near to this, you’d already need to know exactly what to do. In fact, have some experience in how to go about it. If you wanted to be an Olympic athlete or a world-class boxer in one year, the likelihood of doing it would not be great. Think of the dedication needed, the knowledge needed, how much guidance is required. Rather than fast, think of building a business over a period of years. If you get past 5 years and are still going and succeeding, then you’ve done well.

3 Everything is automatic. A lot of online home business opportunities push this aspect. Yes, you can automate much of your business – the more the better as it frees up time and energy. But you still have to work on your business both to maintain it and to make it grow. Things change fast on the internet so you have to be aware of what’s going on in your marketing area. You could easily be overtaken and you wouldn’t even notice. You need a relationship with your customers and be able to constantly analyse your business to keep improving.

4 Once you have a website up, you’ll have lots of visitors. Unfortunately, your website is not even a dot on the web. Imagine being light years away in the universe and looking back to the earth – you wouldn’t even see it. That means your site has to be set up to attract search engine traffic. Not only set up actually on your website, but there’s also off-site work to do, advertising it in various ways. This is a whole subject in itself.

5 You don’t have to deal with people. This is true to the extent you may not see people face to face. However, the basis of having a log-term online business is having long-term professional relationships with customers, subscribers and visitors. These are the people who will and could pay you money. You develop relationships through your various kinds of sites, your newsletter and emails, and perhaps a forum.

An online home business requires work, organisation, vision, planning and providing valuable products your customers want. All of this is possible if the illusions are left behind.

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I’m sorry…but you have to be joking if you think internet marketing (however you think of it) is an easy way to make money. If you do think this, you’ve probabl been reading, or looking at, three basic kinds of website and offers that can mislead you. These are:

      get-rich-quick sites
      sitting on the beach sites
      Last month I was in debt…sites

Get-rich-quick sites and offers  can get you into an excited and dreamy state of mind. They always used to have pictures of cars (usually red Ferraris), mansions and, often, palm trees or some desperately attractive scene. And once they’ve got your imagination going and your hopes, which is really key, they make an offer which promises to make it all real. In effect, what they’re doing is claiming they can make your dreams come true. Well, who wouldn’t want a Ferrari and a mansion?

The trouble is, which they fail to mention, that nobody can make somebody else’s dream a reality. Only you can make your dream a reality. Anyway, everybody’s dream is different, even if it has similar contents. So, they pick the most common and most glamorous parts that everybody can identify with.

Usually, it’s pure, or almost pure, hype.

You’ll find less of this now but they’re still around. As you get more accustomed to sales sites you come to see such sites as a bit “scammy”. (However, there are one or two sites a bit like the description which are very good ones.)

Now, you might think “sitting on the beach sites” would be just the same. Similar scenery perhaps – although some have used more realistic beach setttings. 

However, the big push here is about how the internet is an easy way to make money. In fact, it’s so easy you can spend most of your time sitting on the beach, after doing an hour or two’s work (after you’ve had a lie in – no more alarms for you!). Or you could even spend all your time there, including “working” on your laptop, while the money pours in.

You’ve heard the saying, “If it sounds too good to be true…” The basic problem is you’re going to have to spend many hours a day working on your computer to earn a decent living. You can’t do it while you’re half-asleep. Of course, if you do make more money, then you can have more holidays etc. But you still need to be on top of your business – even though you can automate a lot.

Finally, the “last month I was in debt, slept in a car, was homeless, etc” can tell true experiences, and can be both heart-shattering and inspiring. It’s to make you think, “Well if he (usually a he) can come back from that illness, experience, distaster…then nothing could stop me”. It’s great to feel that, but think about HOW that person managed it. Where did he get the computer from? How much money did he have, from where? Who helped him?

Here’s a “secret”, so whisper it and keep quiet about it. Very often, people who make it look as if the internet is an easy way to make money have had mentors or coaches. And not just any mentors (notice the plural) but top ones. And they have or are paying thousands of dollars (perhaps a month) for this help.

Then, they have worked very hard to set things up and get their business going and growing.

So, being on the web is not an easy way to make money in a lazy sense but being organised, spending some money (not necessarily thousands or even hundreds) and gaining knowledge and experience, can make it appear as if it’s easy.