If you want your web-based business to be an ample and consistent money maker, you need to make a thoughtful choice of your general approach. When I began my Internet adventures, there were no role models available, no one to help you create your marketing plan, and not many choices to available when it came to making money online.

Search engines were very simple and basic by today's standards. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was virtually unheard of, and there were few people promoting scams online. Pretty much everyone attempting online marketing was on his own.

Some tried, as I did, to set up online stores, or if they were more ambitious to create online malls. Most of these, perhaps all of them, failed - usually for lack of online traffic.

Certainly not one of my early attempts became a real money maker. The technology for secure online credit card transactions was in its infancy and what few visitors saw these websites were leery of risking their credit card information online. Creating a money maker website was a serious challenge.

Today things are very different. The security of online transactions is superb due to the integration of modern cryptography in the Internet community. Most businesses have websites and the public is generally aware of the convenience of ordering want they want online.

In short, commercial dealings via the Internet are commonplace today, and online business is booming.

Now there are a lot many great money makers out there. So the opportunities to make money online are legion, as are the opportunities to fail, and the opportunities to be scammed by the unscrupulous. So there are some serious choices to be made before you get started.

Your Choices

There are basically four avenues for you to consider in determining the course of action that you should pursue in your desire to make money online.

One of them you will definitely want to avoid. One of these strategies may work if you have enough savvy to use it, and two of them definitely work, though your choice of which one to employ should be given careful consideration. I call these choices:

* Big Money Maker" Online Scams,

* Go It Alone,

* Niche Marketing With SEO, and

* Race Like The Tortoise

I strongly recommend that you study each approach carefully before deciding which methodology is for you. My favorite is the last choice, but you may prefer one of the others, so I'll show you the pros and cons of each in subsequent articles, and you can choose for yourself. Let's start with the "big money-maker" online scam.