But, that didn't happen. I got a horrible start.

Fortunately I stuck with it! Lots of people give up right here. I'm embarrassed to admit how bad of a start I got...but I'm going to tell you about it. Maybe it will save some newcomers to Internet Marketing the waste of money and time I went through.

When I first noticed Internet Marketing (IM) it was on my computer at home and I think I had typed into Google something like this... "how to make money with computer" or similar.

I wasn't ready for what happened next. How could anybody be?

Google came back with a first page of results (about 20) all practically shouting headlines like "Make 300 Dollars per day with Our FREE Website!"

There's thousands of these offers and a LOT of them are just set up to take advantage of people who need money for any reason.

Well, I fell for one. I think it was called (it's gone now...funny) "Incredible Wealth Membership" Lets call it IWM for short here.

For $49 dollars it offered me a FREE website worth $297 just for signing up.

I couldn't lose! Anybody would buy 300 dollar items for 50 bucks! So I did.

I can't believe I was ever this gullible but what else would explain it?

Here's the short version of what happened. I can hardly write this but maybe it will end up being somehow theraputic.

I paid the $49 Bucks. Then they told me I had to go to this Domain Name/Hosting outfit. I honestly didn't know what that was.

After quite a bit of confusion I had a domain name and a hosting plan purchased. It cost me about $100 bucks. But IWM told me they had hundreds of folks making darn good money...daily, with this website. And, now I was only in it a hundred and fifty dollars.

I hid this from my wife.

Now, remember that IWM had promised me great support. I would need it! But I didn't get it. I had to deal with them by way of "support tickets" and it took me quite a while to get that worked out. I mean it! I didn't have the technical experience to make getting support easy!

I started to smell something fishy, but I remembered they had a money back guarantee, so I felt ok... but uneasy.

I wanted to see my website! It wasn't there however. There were still things I had to do to get it up and running, so to speak.

I got an email with "source code" in it and an instruction I will never forget.

They said (I'm not kidding-they knew I was a total newbie)..."Just upload the source code to your URL with an FTP package!"

I stared at that instruction for some time and started getting mad. I had no idea what to do. I was a total beginner and they knew it. They said they were going to make it easy for me but, instead, it was practically impossible. For me anyway.

After a bunch of back and forth that took days I got them to upload it for me. Both sides were a little irritated by now.

After a bunch of other little hangups I had a website I could access but no way to alter or change it in any way.

Get this, the website sold memberships to IWM. Oh, my God...I suddenly got the picture.

I was expected to sell unsuspecting newcomers this thing that had caused me so much trouble AND that I knew virtually nothing about! I was out!

I asked for my money back and they became unresponsive and I never did get it back. At least two weeks had gone by with me getting nowhere but mad, and them getting my money!

I called the Domain/Hosting Company and asked for a refund. They said they could not refund the domain fee ($25) and that there a non-refundable set up fee for the hosting ($25) that would be deducted, also.

I just wanted out.

It's at this point that I'd like to say that what happened there is actually common. I've been in this business for a while now and I've learned a lot of lessons...and this is one of the lessons that I have learned.

Everyday, thousands of newcomers to Internet Marketing wash up onto the shores of the "Make Money Online" world. Ninety percent or more never make it further. They waste time and lose their money into the pockets of those scavengers who will pick them off and look for their next victim, fast. It's huge and it's every day.

But, and this is where it gets good and where I got to soon after my bad start.

I realized that there were any number of "programs" out there that would gladly take my money and give me an ebook. But only a few of them were really any good.

You see, Internet Marketing (sales by means of the internet) has (like all businesses) it's own technical language, it's own jargon, and it's own methods and, until you know what those are you are a prime prospect for people who just want to separate you from your money.

There are actually a lot of people in this business who are genuinely concerned with imparting a good education to those who want it. They're also in it for the money, but not in a bad way.

I eventually found my way but it was hard and longer than it had to be. Also my education in Internet Marketing was far more expensive than it had to be.

I ran across, early on, a sort of an Online Internet Marketing school and I joined it. I've had lots of education and training in my life and a lot of what I am is the direct result of that.

In this school I learned it all. The jargon, the techniques, the big picture. I didn't make any money but I learned how it is done.

I also learned that you need to know your stuff at least a little bit before you can start to find your way. That shouldn't surprise anybody but I am constantly impressed with how little I knew at first.

Now, I am up and running with an online business. I look back at what was impossible two years ago and now I see a lot of it as easy.

I guess two years isn't so long but I'll bet a headline like "Try Really Hard for Two Years and You might Make It" probably wouldn't sell well.

Now I know a dozen ways to make money online without much setup at all. I even teach people to do this now. I never thought that would happen.

In conclusion, I have to tell you, that the best way to get a good start in Internet Marketing is to avoid getting a bad start in the first place.

Thank you,

Riley West