PhotobucketI know this will sound silly but, one of the secrets of creating wealth with a successful business is to make money. Let me explain.

When people decide to create a commercial website, with Clickincome to help them or not, they're opening a business. A lot of people somehow miss that important connection, including some of my Clickincome clients, but that's the truth of it. This is a business and you need to treat it as such.

The beauty of opening a Clickincome site, or any other commercial website, is that this is a business you can do at home, in your spare time. That means you can still keep your day job while you build your business.

This is important. I've had a few clients who have quit their regular jobs before building their own businesses. Their reasoning was that they could spend all that time building their websites. I understand that reasoning but, it ignores one very important fact: most businesses don't make money in their first year.

There are exceptions to that rule, to be sure. The internet offers great ways to jump start your cash flow and quickly get the word out about your business. But the average time lags can't be denied. Unless you "piggy-back" your message to the clients of other businesses, it's going to take some time between when you get the site up and running, get the word out (start marketing) and getting people to buy from you.

Unless you're already independently wealthy, you'll need some income to pay the start up costs and daily operating expenses. Keeping your day job is one of the easiest ways to make sure you still have income while things are ramping up.

Another great way to make money online is through eBay. There are several courses and books available (Clickincome offers one) that make it easy to get started selling things on eBay, right away. Many of the mentors at Clickincome (including myself) are certified "education specialists trained by eBay."

My take on eBay is that, to get started, sell the things around your house. I know very few people who don't have a closet full of "stuff" they don't use, barely remember they own, and could stand to get rid of. One man's trash is another mans treasure.

Selling your "stuff" does two things for you. First off, it's a great way to make near immediate cash flow. Second, it gives you experience with eBay, and selling on the web in general, with minimal risk. It's not like you've gone to a wholesale distributor and bought up a bunch of things, spending more money, hoping to sell them later. This is just stuff you've got laying around the house.

Once you start getting some sales under your belt, or your run out stuff in your house to sell, then you can start looking at finding other products. Some people are making a killing on eBay just going around to various flea markets and yard sales, picking stuff up, and then reselling it on eBay at a profit. They still keep their day jobs, while they do this, too. They just hit the yard sales on a Saturday morning, and then go post them on eBay later in the afternoon.

Commercial sales are a logical next step for eBay, as well. Commercial selling deals in brand new products, still in the package. A lot of people who are selling on eBay are getting their products through drop-shipping companies, rather than traditional wholesale suppliers.

Drop-shipping is an interesting option. With drop-shipping, you set up a relationship with a wholesale supplier that will let you buy things, one at a time. When you get an order for an item, whether it was sold to you through an eBay sale or directly on your ecommerce website, you contact the drop-shipper, order the item from them, and tell them to ship it to your client. The difference between what you got paid, and what you pay the drop-shipper, is where your profit margin lies. It's also nice that you don't have to buy the products in bulk, or warehouse any of the products themselves.

These aren't the only ways to make money while building your online business, of course. Now matter how you do it, the principle remains the same. You've got to maintain a positive cash flow while your business is built, and while business ramps up. There's no way around. Small businesses need cash flow. Even a little bit, in the beginning, is better than nothing at all.

So go out and make money. Just make sure you're still making money while you build your next money making Internet business.

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