I was hooked from the beginning. Several years ago, I approached my employer about selling all of our excess inventory and irregulars on Ebay. This was back in a time when Ebay was not the household name that it is now. Once I was able to show them how lucrative it could be, they were very willing to jump on board. I worked for them during the day and at night, my wife and I listed and sold TONS of items online. It really was a win-win situation. It made them money from products that they would normally take a loss on, and I got a great cut of the profits. Yes...I was hooked on the possibilities of online business...and for about 3 years, it was good....then the company and I parted ways. It was probably the best thing for both of us....I was burnt out and they were struggling to stay in business.

But....I was hooked. I knew that with the right circumstances, serious money could be made online. To me, the internet was the great equalizer. My customers did not know if I was a one man operation or a mega company. I searched for more products to sell. Finding them turned out to be more of a challenge than I thought. I also began to tire of working a job all day and then selling on Ebay at night. Trying to find time to pack and ship products was another issue. So, I started looking into other ways to make money online.

Here is where the fun begins.

I found some articles about domain names being the "Real Estate of the Internet". The premise of this opportunity was to buy expiring domains that had some traffic history, create a new site under that name, and put adwords or affiliate programs on that site. People who visit the site (looking for the original) would find similar information contained in ads....and view the ads...making me money. I could also find new buyers for the domain names. Well, it made sense to me. About 4 months into this, I had 200 domain names....and I had sold one. There was not much ad revenue to speak of. The total tally for this was about $1200 spent and $300 in income. Not good.

Next, I decided to create some websites that would host advertisers and google adwords. I could make money by selling advertising at a low rate and also generate income from the adwords clicks. I really can't say that this won't work....but I can say that it will take a lot of time. Selling ad space takes time.....selling ad space on a new website takes a great salesman. I found out that I am not a great salesman. I still have these sites, and I will keep them. I think over time, they may generate some income....but probably not as much income to offset the time that I put into them.

Ok...I was striking out here. Getting frustrated and not making money. I decided to work with affiliate advertisers. I signed up for Commission Junction, Clickbank, and LinkShare. I linked some of my domains (of the many that I still own...if you need some, let me know) to the affiliate sites and did some advertising. I made a little money....very little. But I could tell that this had more potential than the other methods I had tried.

Then...finally, a few months ago, I discovered a source of information that would help me make sense of all the possibilities of online marketing. I am now making money.....not overwhelming amounts yet, but enough to pay off some of the debt I created trying the other methods. Successful affiliate marketing is possible with hard work, time, and the ability to learn from those who have come before you.

My advice is simple...be wary of anyone who promises a "magic bullet" for overnight success, Learn from those who are successful, and work hard.

With these thoughts in mind, you can be successful in the world of online marketing.

More information on Kelly Smith's successful business can be found at his websites....http://www.Drive2Excell.com and http://www.RunOns.com