Building An Online Business

Answering the age old question, can you really make money online? If you have to ask, you obviously did not realize the worlds largest companies are Internet super powers. There is more money being made online than in any other industry. So yes, there are buckets of money available online.

As in any industry, when the flood gates are open to wealth, so are the wagon trains of con men and scammers. For every legit opportunity there are 10 scams and 100 people trying to sell you a dream. If you buy the hype they feed you, then they are the ones making money online, not you.

So what are the legit ways to make money?

An online business is no different than any other business. You need a product or service and a way to sell it. The advantage of the Internet is that you can have unlimited people shopping your store at one time and manage thousands of cash registers with out paying a single employee. Having a huge store and staff will cost millions of dollars a year where a website may only cost a few thousands dollars to manage the same sales.

For this reason the Internet is extremely attractive to retailers and has become a major sales platform for most companies in addition to their chains of stores. Just as mega retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart has capitalized on the newest frontier, so can you.

You have to realize the Internet is now flooded with retailers, and although the chance of making money is still good, your about 8 years late. Years ago, you could sell toilet paper and have truckloads going out your door. But now you have to compete with big retailers that have spent millions of dollars developing their website.

So, don't try to compete. Come up with a unique product. Sell something that the big e-tailers can't. Something handmade, gourmet or uniquely you. Having a one of a kind product gives you complete control of the market.

More and more Americans are running home based businesses as second incomes. One of the biggest emerging markets is handmade crafts. With all the automation and mass production in todays world, many people look to handmade items as gifts during holidays and special occasions.

There is also big money in handmade furniture. Customers will pay a premium for one of a kind items for their home. If you can offer a quality product, you can sell it online.

If you are trying to sell widgets and there are 100,000 other websites selling widgets, your chance of making money is about as good as getting a hole in one on a par 5.

On the other hand, if you create a niche product, such as handmade earrings, engraved and customized for each buyer then you can own the customer base, name your price and maintain strong sales.

Another great market is the antiques or used merchandise market. Since items are rare or no longer being made, anyone needing parts or replacements for old and often broken items will be willing to buy from you.

It may seem crazy to you, but people are making loads of cash selling broken office equipment. Copiers, fax machines and such. If an office purchased a Xerox copier for 10,000 15 years ago, it may not be worth $15,000, but it is invaluable to that office. If you have used parts, generated from trash piles or discarded machines, you can put up items like the discharge tray for a XPF400-RW copier and people will search for it and find you. If you charge $100 for the part, the customer is avoiding spending $15,000 on a new copier and you made $100 profit less the $20 you pay a month to operate your website.

No joke, there is big money in junk and there always has been a great market. But now you can operate a high end equipment recycling company from your garage. Sell online and maintain a huge client base selling items that people are paying you to remove from their offices.

So the Internet is not only a great place for high end retailers, its also the ultimate market for the small business selling items that big retailers have no interest in carrying.

This is a massive hole for you to exploit. Find the items that are less than profitable for the big wigs and market it online.

Using FREE website hosting system like pageBuzz.com make your operating cost $0 and provide a gateway to millions and millions of potential customers.