I deal with many complete novices and newcomers to the internet who just need someone to outline in straight- forward terms how they can start to make money online. This article will show you five easy steps anyone can take to set up a web page and start earning money.
Before you start though, just bear the following three essential points in mind:

It IS possible to make money online - this is not hype, I've done it, so have countless others with completely varying levels of ability and experience. You too can therefore make money online.
You won't become rich overnight (and don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise) - instead give yourself at least 12 months to start earning money and find your feet online. It may take a lot shorter, it may take longer - persistence is the key to business success.
To make money, you need to spend a little too, albeit wisely. If you're serious about developing a business online, then treat it like a proper business - an offline business would cost you much, much more.
So, with these points in mind, let's get on with setting up that web page...

1. Get a Product
Find a product that gives you resell rights, but isn't sold by absolutely everyone.
If possible, find one that gives you the web page and graphics so you can get up and running as soon as possible.
For starters, try going to Google.com or some other product-specific search engine such as http://cbgold.com and search for 'resell rights'.
Alternatively, a good site offering a wide selection of software and ebooks you can resell is at
http://www.software-partnership.com. You just make one modest initial payment for a lifetime of free access to dozens of products you can resell.

2. Get a Web Site
Purchase a domain name and some web hosting - don't use a free host or you'll immediately discourage the potential purchaser.
One of the simplest places to 'go and get a web site' is at http://godaddy.com, where you can purchase both a domain name and web site hosting at the same time and for a good price.

3. Build Your Sales Page
If the product you want to sell did not come with the web site and graphics to help you sell it, then you're going to have to build the sales page yourself.
Now I'm not going to be able to teach you HTML in the space of a paragraph, but there are plenty of great resources online available so go learn! Either that or make use of a competent friend or relative, or if you can afford it, hire the services of a web designer.
The most important part of any sales page is of course the sales link, without which you won't sell a thing. The sales link should link to a secure server page where visitors can key in their credit card information and purchase from you.
The more complicated route is to apply for a merchant account. The simplest option, and the one I recommend, is to use ClickBank. You can find out more information and sign up at http://www.clickbanktoolkit.com/selling - there's just a small upfront fee and you can be up and running and accepting payments on your web site within a couple of days (compared to a few weeks if you go the merchant account route).

4. Build Your Thank You Page
All you need to include on your thank you page is the download link to enable customers to download what they have purchased, and an email address so they can contact you if they run into trouble.
If you're with ClickBank, you'll also need to include another piece of information - the full process is detailed at http://www.clickbanktoolkit.com/selling.

5. Get Traffic!
Once your web site is up and running, and you've tested it to your satisfaction, you're ready to roll. Now it's time to attract targeted traffic to your web site.But first do a bit of extra testing.
Set up an account with Overture. COM or Google Adwords, and pay for some targeted traffic to your web site using suitable keywords.
Measure your sales against the number of visitors you have received, and this will tell you your sales conversion ratio.

If 1% or more of your visitors are purchasing, you're doing okay - if it's any less, you need to re-examine your sales page (or the keywords you are targeting) and do some tweaking to improve this percentage. This is however a big topic, so do as much research as you can online.

Other effective traffic-pulling measures include writing and submitting articles to ezines and directories, ezine advertising, running your own ezine or newsletter, and so on.

However, attracting traffic is a skill and takes some time to develop, so just learn as much as you can, and be persistent.

Finally, once you've got traffic coming to your site, ask them to subscribe to a mailing list, and follow up with them - otherwise you're throwing good traffic away.

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