Internet Income Opportunities: Winning or Losing Propositions?

Many people could use extra income. The same technology that makes the internet a vast potential income resource also makes it an ocean full of predators seeking one thing - to separate you from your money.

So where do you start separating possibly legitimate income possibilities from illegitimate, outright scams? You do your homework.

Research isn't just for school. It's the tool wise surfers use to surf responsibly and smartly. Before you touch the mouse and click your way to instant wealth, know where you're going.

What are your skills right now? Are you an excellent typist? Are you self motivated? Do you know a lot about certain things? Are you good at teaching others? How much time to you have to devote to an extra job? How much money to you have to invest in an online business? Internet business startup costs may be cheap but they aren't free.

Are you interested in selling online? Selling your stuff? Selling someone else's stuff for commission? Are you looking to step into a ready made (referred to as turnkey) business?

Selling items at auction is a good way to generate extra income without a lot of financial risk. If you choose the auction route, be sure to read the fine print - especially the fees. There are plenty of books available at the local library and online about selling on online auctions. Study them. One of the biggest mistakes sellers make online and offline is in purchasing products to sell that fit their own desires instead of those of the potential customer. Before you buy a bunch of inventory, take the time to see what people are actually buying.

Selling other people's products on commission is also known as affiliate marketing. Again, there are books available at the local library and online. The best affiliate programs come with training assistance and tools and resources to help you sell the products. It should be free to sign up to sell as an affiliate. Read the fine print - What are the rules for promoting the product? How much can you make? When and how will you get paid?

Should you decide you want a ready-made or turnkey business, be thorough in your research. Don't just click over to eBay tm and buy the first $4.95 ready to go website you find and expect to make thousands of dollars right away. The person selling $5 websites online is doing just that - selling five dollar websites. Don't be fooled when the seller states that thousands of people are searching for the product. Sure, lots of people are looking. Lots of people are already aggressively marketing to those people.

Projected potential earnings are just that - possibilities. Don't be misled by claims that the website is established. Websites aren't established until someone finds a way to get traffic to that site and convinces people to purchase the products. Opening an internet store may be cheaper than opening a brick and mortar store, but advertising can be expensive either way. Building an internet business takes time, hard work, and, yes, money.

If you're looking to earn honest, real income, don't waste time on data entry scams, get paid to take survey scams, mystery shopping scams (you don't have to pay to become a real mystery shopper) and such. Do your research. Know what fits your life, your time and your budget. Make sure it's something you enjoy. You're likely to be spending a lot of time at it.

When you have at least a general idea of what you'd like to do, it's time to get down to business. If you are looking at purchasing a turnkey business or a product to assist you in your online business, look at the sales page and start asking questions.

What Are the Promises? If the ad copy reads like it's too good to be true, it probably is. If the ad not only promises large amounts of money but also states an exact amount (Make a thousand dollars this week!) it's probably a scam. Click on the x, close that window and move on. If the promises sound reasonable, read on.

What's the Cost to partake of this terrific opportunity? If the cost is nothing but there are benefits, you'll probably be paying for those benefits at some point. This is often done by membership sites. You can join free and enter, but you can't touch a thing until you fork over some cash and upgrade your membership. If there truly are no fees involved, you probably won't see any real benefits. No cost usually = no income. Time to move on. If the price sounds reasonable, read on.

Who's talking? Who is making this offer? Is there a name, address and possibly telephone number on the website? If the seller is hiding or doesn't want to be found, you don't want to hand over your money. Get out. If the seller is provides contact information, try it out.

Does anyone answer email or the telephone? If you get no reply, hand over no money. If you get an answer, ask questions. Questions like:
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What do I have to do to make money with this product or service?
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What web and internet skills do I need?
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How much money can I expect to spend in order to make money with this product or service?
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Is there a guarantee? If so, what kind?
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What type of customer support is available? Does it cost?

You're usually going to have to sell something or recruit people to sell something in order to make money online. If you have no idea how to market products and there is no training or support provided, don't waste your money or your time.

If you get good answers to all your questions, there's one more thing to do. Open another browser window (or bookmark the page you're on so you can find it again) and see what others have to say about both the product and the creator or seller.

You can go to sites like RipOff Report or scamfreezone and see if there is any negative information showing. You can also type the name of the product followed by the word 'review' into any search engine browser. (Example: Site Build It Review)

Now that you've investigated the product's reputation, you can make an informed decision about whether to click on the buy now button or the exit button. Will going through all this guarantee a satisfactory outcome? Will your business attempt be guaranteed to succeed and leave you rolling in the money?

No. You haven't guaranteed yourself an instant internet fortune. You have, however, lessened the chances of immediate failure. You may have to read a lot of sales pages and exit plenty of them before you find a product or opportunity that's worthy of your time and money.

But that's okay. Better a bit of a wait than simply pouring your new business seed money into the pockets of a stranger poised to run with it.