To be a successful internet marketer you need a list that you can market to and the bigger your list the more you can potentially earn. However, 58.1% of those surveyed said that they were not building an opt-in list. Here are the results of the list sizes for the 41.9% of those who were building an opt-in list:

a)0 - 56.9%

b)1-500 - 28.1%

c)501-1000 - 4.8%

d)1001-2500 - 3.6%

e)2501-5000 - 1.3%

f)5000 or more - 5.2%

So over 50% of those who were attempting to build a list still had no subscribers and of those who had a list, the majority had a relatively small list ranging from 1-500 persons.

The results to the question of how much money the average person was making online are as follows:

a)$0 - 51.7%

b)$1-$500 - 35.3%

c)$501-$1,000 - 5.3%

d)$1,001-$2,500 - 3.0%

e)$2,501-$5,000 - 0.6%

f)$5,000 or more - 4.1%

In other words, just over 50% of people online earn nothing on a monthly basis and 35.3% earn just $1-$500 which is hardly enough to retire on.

Just 4.1% of those surveyed earned in excess of $5,000 per month. Have you noticed the similarity of these statistics to the fact that just 3-4% of the world's population earn 97% of its entire wealth?

So what is preventing people from making a success online? One of the advantages of the Internet is that it is highly accessible and very affordable to get started. One of the disadvantages of the Internet is that it is highly accessible and very affordable to get started. This makes it a very competitive environment.

However, this is just part of the reason why the majority of people are failing online. The Internet is a highly technical environment and a rapidly changing and growing one. While there are certain fundamentals that will always hold true, the tactics are forever shifting. This is why successful Internet marketers are very strategic and they continually test and analyse what works and what doesn't and adapt accordingly.

The market can be very fickle as well. Just a small change on a website, for instance in changing a word or two in your headline, can produce either remarkable or very disappointing results.

Earlier I mentioned the importance of having a list but generally in order to build a list you need to have a website. Website building is a huge stumbling block for many getting started online.

I certainly wouldn't call Brian Tracy an Internet Marketer. He is more instantly recognised as one of the world's most renowned motivational speakers. In other words, much of what he does is offline. Yet he understands the importance of having a powerful online presence. He said in a recent interview that he spends about one million dollars per year on his website and has a team of five continually working on it.

Of course, few newbies can start with that type of capital and, honestly, you don't need that level of expenditure to create a successful website. However, website building and design, file transfer, copywriting are just some of the challenges that a newbie faces. It can be a daunting prospect.

You finally get your website up but we all know that it's not a case of build it and they will come. If you don't advertise your website then no one will even know it's there. It will be just another piece of virtual real estate lost in the wilderness of cyberspace.

You need traffic generation strategies but you have to be careful because the one thing that can cripple you is being accused of sending spam. This is why you not only need to build a list but it has to be an opt-in list, i.e. the people on your list have consented to receive information from you.

There is a landmark case going on right now that could forever affect the way Internet marketers do business. Val Burnett and Vincent Bryant are currently being sued for allegedly sending out unsolicited email to one person who had subscribed and confirmed to a safelist. Here's where it gets complicated.

They are not being sued by the confirmed paid member but by the domain owner of the email address used by the confirmed subscriber. The lawsuit is for $1,000 per email and a total of $80 million. Yes, marketing on the Internet can be like swimming in shark-infested waters even for experienced Internet marketers - hence the value of having a coach or mentor.

So you've:

1.Built a website

2.Generated traffic to your site

3.Built a list

But you still haven't made any money. This is because you now need to build a relationship with your list and you have to ensure that whatever you do offer them is great value for money and that you balance your sales pitches with simply giving value.

Is it any wonder that so few people are making money online? It may be simple but it sure ain't easy.