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It can be very scary when forced to survive on unemployment because of a job lost due to the downturn in an industry. It can be extremely frightening when there are monthly house payments and other financial obligations to meet each month with little income coming in to pay for them. But, it may also be a blessing in disguise because it may force one to have to leave their comfort zone, and in doing so give them the opportunity to try a new and exciting career change. Possibly a career change that they have always wanted to try but they did not have the self-motivation to do so on their own. It is not easy to move away from your comfort zone and most people will not do it until a life changing event occurs that forces them to make the move away from what is familiar and stable to them.

Life changing events almost always occur before a person will make a dramatic change in their life. But, often times this type of change is just the thing someone needs to create a more fulfilling and successful life for themselves. Many people are unhappy with their current jobs and income but they are complacent to go along day by day living that way because they do not know how to make the change away from their comfort zones. It is typical human nature to try and avoid change. But, change can often be rewarding. Change will often present new life directions and better opportunities.

Many people lost their jobs during the massive high-tech industry downturn in the years of 2000 and 2001. Many were decent people who were hard-working and had families and monthly bills to support. They had worked for the same company for years and never suspected that anything like that could ever happen to them. They were devastated and worried about the future security of their family. Their lives were thrown into the path of change.

The overall slowdown in the economy with severe negative impacts to the high tech electronics industries made for few jobs that were difficult to get. But for some it was the lucky break of a life time, even though they may not have realized it at the time. The downturn in the economy had forcefully pushed many people out of their comfort zones, which in turn gave them opportunities to explore and try new things in their lives. And, this is when many people discovered that they could make money by running a business on the Internet. Many people learned that they could make more money working an Internet business than they had been making working in the electronics industry and that losing their job was actually a blessing in disguise.

Many of these same people discovered that it is not a quick or easy process to make money on-line. In fact, many also spent several thousand dollars getting involved in every program that came across their monitors promising them a great income. Some were fortunate enough to make a few dollars here and there, but later found out that consistency in producing income on-line was a difficult challenge to master. Many people bought and read every ebook and money-making program they could get their hands on, but they still could not figure out the key to high profits and success with doing business on-line.

There are many different ways to make money on-line, such as: being a reseller (acquiring resale rights to another person's product and selling it), affiliate marketing, virtual real estate (VREs), Ezine advertising, membership sites, web space advertising, Adsense sites, and many more. One of the best ways to make money on-line is by having your own product to promote, which requires market research to determine a demand, and then product development to satisfy the demand.

Many people do not have their own product and have no idea how to develop one so it is often recommended that they start out as an Affiliate Marketer. This is where they sign up for someone else's affiliate program and then market that person's product or service and they are paid a commission for each sale they make. It is important to do some research before becoming an Affiliate Marketer in order to determine which products are in demand and if the percentage of the sales commission you will receive justifies the time and effort involved in making the sale. It is also important to determine if the owner is dependable and pays his affiliates as agreed upon.

It does not matter if you market your own products, or the products or services from someone else, but a critical factor to realize is that "the money is in the list." You have probably heard this a million times before, but unless you are actively building your contact list on a continual basis you have not fully understood the importance of these six words. Anyone wanting to make money doing business on-line should take serious note of this statement and put immediate action toward building up their own customer contact list. Do not procrastinate about doing this. It is critical for your success. If you do not know how then just conduct a search on list building and you will come up with thousands of references. Be careful not to be cheated out of your hard earned money because there are a lot of scammers on-line. You will be able to find a multitude of free resources you can use to start your list building process by doing a simple search on "list building" by using either Yahoo or Google.

To be successful with an on-line business you need to stay focused on one thing at a time and not jump around trying every program that comes along. It is best if you develop daily, weekly, and monthly schedules and stick to them but still allow yourself enough flexibility for additional critical activities as they occur. Create a plan for saturating your primary marketplace and decide which products you are going to use to promote to that marketplace. And, always track the results of you promotions so you know what was successful and what was not successful.

It may not be easy and it will probably take you a considerable amount of time, but with focus and dedication you too can learn how to make a consistent income with an on-line business. At first it will be painful to be pushed out of your comfort zone, but in the long run you will have much more freedom and happiness because of it. A move out of your comfort zone could be a good thing if you allow it.