Are you tired of hearing the same sales pitch day after day? Do you want to know how you can honestly make money online and not get scammed out of hundreds if not thousands of dollars? Is the dotcom era completely a thing of the past or can you truly make money online without selling people pipe dreams?

The dotcom era is still very much alive; otherwise you would not see so many people attempting to start an online business. It seems like a new home based or online internet business starts up every five minutes. The market is there, you just have to find where you fit in this market. The first thing you need to do when you're trying to start your own online business is research the industry. Do your research, do your research, do your research, get my point yet? This is very important and as you're doing your research look for these warning signs. If you see these warning signs, I am not saying completely disregard the business opportunity but just proceed with caution. Remember, you are not just investing your money but also your time, two extremely valuable things. You want to make sure if you are investing either of these things you are getting the best return on your investment.

Instantly Make Money

No business whether online or offline is going to make you an instant millionaire. There are hundreds of ads that are currently on the internet making claims of instant fortunes. Most of these businesses? main goal is to get you to quickly invest your money but do not have a true business foundation for you to build your business. Their goal is to make a quick dollar and move on to their next victim, I mean client. Starting an online business takes time and effort. You have to build a name for yourself on the internet, you need a website, and finally you need traffic. You can have the best product in the world, everyone could know you, and have the greatest website, but if no one is visiting your website, your online business will not be successful. The key take away here is success does not come without hard work.

Meeting Deadlines

Do not ever let anyone rush you into anything. Take your time to think about each decision you make. It seems on the internet that every offer is going to end in the next hour or by midnight, but if you go back to the same website a week later, the same ad is there saying the same thing. This is yet another sales tactic that makes people rush into decisions that they regret later. If you come across an offer that requires you to pay money take some time and think about it. Do your research, compare it to its competitors, and check your budget to see if you can afford it. If this offer is truly a good offer, it will still be around tomorrow or next week. The key take away here is take your time. The ?I want now? mentality can get you in a lot of trouble very quickly.

Contact Information

There should always be some type of information to contact someone within the company that you are thinking about forming a partnership. Look on their website for a phone number, address, or email. If they do not have all of these three things, that is okay, but they should have at least one way to contact them. If there is no information listed on their website but they offer you a chance to sign up for something like a free newsletter for additional tips, take them up on their offer. This could be valuable information to you and plus it contains one of my favorite words, free. Once you are signed up for the newsletter, send a reply email to the free newsletter and see how responsive someone is to you. Ask them a couple of questions about the opportunity. Ask them if they have any referrals. If this is a true viable business, they should be able to provide you with some answers. Also, take note of how soon someone responses to you. If it takes them days or even weeks to get back to you, then this is a business you may not want to invest any time or money because when you begin your online business you will need plenty of support, whether you're new to the business or a veteran. The key take away here is, you should not be in this business by yourself.

Paid Memberships

When you are researching different online businesses that you want to develop a partnership, the ideal situation is to be able to try the opportunity before you invest any money into it. By doing this, you have the chance to try the program and experience it without all of the sales fluff. When you are reading about an opportunity from a sales page, they're going to tell you all of the wonderful things, such as you can make 4,000 dollars per month and be able to spend time with your kids and go on yearly vacations. They fail to mention that making 4,000 dollars a month could take up to two to three years to get to that point. If a business does not offer a free trial, see if they offer a free newsletter and if so find out more about the opportunity through the free newsletter and send emails to the author of the newsletter with any questions you have. You want to make sure you fully know what you are getting yourself into before you begin any partnership. The key take away here is, don't get involved in opportunities you will regret later.

My final note is get involved with something you're passionate about. I know making money and being able to pay your bills and take vacations is important, but if you do not enjoy and believe in what you do, then you will get burned out very quickly. The key take away here is, life is short, have fun and enjoy it while you can.