Internet Tip of the Week: Outsourcing

It's no secret that the US economy has slowed down, and many jobs have been outsourced overseas. Thousands of companies are still and are being forced to cut costs, decrease benefits, and even lay off employees. Many of those who lost their jobs, wil l try their hand at doing business on the Internet.

It seems however, that lately I've been hearing a great deal about the difficulty of doing business online. Put aside the talk about the hype and the scams. They existed from the first day the Internet was commercialized. They are becoming more sophisticated with their promises of earning millions, but as people become more experienced, they quickly see through them.

Fake email addresses, spam and broken dreams will continue to abound until either legislation forces them to do business ethically, or the well of suckers dries up.

Sounds pretty negative doesn't it. Under other circumstances, it would be enough to put someone off trying to do business on the net. But let's look at the positive side. I don't know about you, but I've met some pretty fine people on the web. They are honest, hard working and a pleasure to do business with. While there are a few "bad apples" (and aren't there offline as well), it's amazing how many friendly, helpful people there are out there.

In the early nineties, before the entrepreneurial invasion of the Internet, the only game in town was the proprietary bulletin boards such as run by Prodigy. Anyone who "dared" become commercial was summarily banned from the boards, and "blacklists of offenders" were actually shared between the board moderators.

But, as commercialism crept in, and the old bulletin boards joined the ranks of the dinosaurs, a whole new strategy started to evolve.

People have learned that you don't have to create something new or re-invent the wheel to make money online. You can join an affiliate program to get started with a minimum of capital outlay, and a decent income can be made. But the old saying "there's no such thing as a free lunch" is even truer today.

Sure, you can advertise online for free, but except for isolated instances, there is a catch. Forget the FFA (Free For All) sites where you can post a free ad for your business. They get thousands of submissions hou