Is internet marketing for you? Can you really make money online? In this article, I will list as many of the pros and cons of making money online as I can think of, and let you take it from there. 
Pros of internet marketing
- You can build an online business in your spare time. Writing articles and blog posts, creating two-minute videos and setting up a pay-per-click campaign are things that can be done with a spare ten minutes here and an extra thirty minutes there.
- There are tons of online resources to help. From e-books to courses to membership sites to entire blogs dedicated to internet marketing, you can find whatever information you need to get started making an online profit.
- You may be able to eventually replace – or exceed – the income of your day job. This is what makes internet marketing so appealing, especially to those who yearn for financial and time freedom.
- Marketing online can be free to very inexpensive. Some people make a solid full-time income – even into the six figures – simply by leveraging the power of social media, article marketing and video marketing.
- Unlimited income potential. Once you get one project off and running, you can begin a new profitable venture. Once those two are running fairly smoothly without much management, you can begin a third. And so on.
Cons of internet marketing
- Making an online business profitable takes a lot of upfront time and effort. The same could be said of any new small business, but many would-be online marketers are dismayed by the initial work required to start making a notable amount of money online.
- It comes with a steep learning curve. You can lessen the learning curve by purchasing The Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner. Affiliate marketing is one of the best places for a beginner to start. There are other helpful resources out there, as well; this is one with which I am very familiar and highly recommend.
- Not everyone makes the income they’re hoping for. For various reasons, some people can’t get the traffic they need to their websites or websites of products they’re promoting. Others get a good bit of traffic, but few buyers.
- You may have to wait up to two years – maybe even more – before reaching your online income goals. Some people set up a blog in just the right niche and start making a large passive income in just a few months, but they are the exception, not the rule.
- Usually, to make money right away requires a significant up-front investment. The marketers that develop a healthy income – say, high five to six figures – within the first few months typically put a lot of money into Pay Per Click campaigns before they see a dime. At $500 per month minimum, that’s a risk not a lot of people want to make, and more than a few internet marketers have lost more money than they’ve made using PPC advertising.
You can make money online…IF
Basically, for the average person making money online requires three main things:
- picking the right niche,
- patience, and
- persistence.
If you want to use internet marketing as a stream of income to help you reach your financial goals, do your research. Find out what people want, what topics have a large following (such as health and wellness, and dating). Then, learn what is required to get traffic to your site. Finally, keep doing what you need to do, keeping in mind that your riches may not come manifest for many months, or longer. But when they do, all the work will have been worth it.
Feel free to add an Internet Marketing pro or con to that I missed in the comments below.
