Being a web master and internet researcher for the past several years, I've always received emails (by the dozens) about making money on the internet, promising pretty much the same thing. "Make money with our forced matrix (which sounds like some constipated Keanu Reeves movie)" or "I've made a million dollars with this viral marketing miracle (which sounds like they need a shot of cyber- penicillin)." Whatever the message, the one thing they forget to mention despite the obvious point, is that nobody makes money until someone (hopefully you) takes money out of their wallet. The amount will of course depend upon the effort (low investment = low effort) that you would like to put into it, and is either a monthly fee, or a one time charge.

But can one make money on the internet? And at what cost? And how long would it take? Well...the answer is yes, for free, and about three to five years. And yes, it really does take effort and someone (hopefully not you) taking money out of their wallet. And the answer is really quite simple.

For years people have been buzzing about "multilevel marketing" and "networking." It didn't take long for this old advertising concept to hit the web in a big way. Consider the power that millions of web users have a making a buying decision, or putting an idea into motion. In other words, if I have an idea, and you think its a great one, you copy my idea along with five other people, and those five people find five people to copy that idea, and they each find five people...well, I think you get the idea. So, what does one need to get started? Glad you asked. Here are the top five things required to put your very first business together:

1. A product.

A simple idea, yet you do need something to sell. Luckily for us, there are quite a few e-commerce companies who want you to advertise their goods and services, in the form of affiliate programs. There are a great deal of affiliate programs out there, and my personal favorite is:

They have some major players and the minimum you need to earn to see a check is $25. And that's $25 from all advertisers combined, not just one. All you do is sign up and cut and paste the code right into your website.

2. Location, location, location

Now that you've gotten something to sell, you'll need some place to sell it. Chances are, if you're on the internet, the ISP you've selected offers you some sort of personal web space. If that's not enough for our little earnings project, then I suggest you try:

Some pretty basic stuff, and its free because it's ad supported but hey, start small and work your way up. If you want to spend the money on hosting and a domain name, you certainly may. The pay off is you'll get more flexiblity and no ad supported website, but that story is for another time.

3. A way to write web pages

This is where most people get bogged down in the whole affair...you start throwing in HTML, DHTML, Bandwidths and all sorts of other technical stuff, and poof...the eyes cross and you're done. Well, I'll help with one of the best deals out there....FREE! Yes, as most things are, its advertising supported, but I love this program. It was one of the very first programs I'd ever used for writing webpages:

4. Promotional Tools

Of course, now that you've built your store, you do need to advertise. If nobody can find your location, then you won't do much business. Although there are a great deal of free submission sites out there, this one is easy, and submits to several major players in the search engine arena:

That's the basics in a nutshell. If you keep at it, and get your website out there, and develop a following, you can develop a pretty decent business. Remember, Sears, JCPenney, Marshalls, and Land's End all started as catalog stores, and all of them started out one product at a time. Should you need more help, or additional money making ideas, or promotional freebies try these links: Make Money, Webmaster Resources, FreeCash.cc.

Good luck and good selling!