Avoid the Get Rich Quick Schemes and Use Free Tools to Build Your Online Business

There are a lot of resources offered on the net for helping us get set up online. But there is also a pretty hefty price tag associated with many of them.

When we are first starting out, we are looking for information and someone to guide us on how to make money online. Many savvy internet marketers, the so-called "internet millionaires" know this only too well and they are poised and ready to exploit our ignorance for a fee and keep us ignorant as long as they can so they can sell us more tools that many times just end up confusing us more.

If you are starting your own online business and haven't had one before, I hope this article reaches you. Watch out for the piranhas out there who are salivating to take a lot of your money before you realize that a lot of what is needed is actually quite simple if you can find the right tools.

For example, there are companies who try to sell you leads to build your customer list. They are often quite expensive and involve cold calling people who really don't want to be bothered by phone as they lump you together with all the telemarketers. Do not spend money to buy leads.

You will need to build a customer list but there are many ways other than buying leads to get there.
There are lots of free advertising sites online where you can post ads for your business for free.
There are online forums that you can join and where you can include information about your business under your signature.

Facebook and MySpace are two examples of wonderful tools to get contacts for your business and they are both free as well.

Before you spend lots of money on coaching from someone who promises to make you rich, remember that, chances are, they will be the only people getting richer by taking your money. And also remember that it is in their best interests to keep you in the dark for as long as possible so they can keep taking your money for as long as possible. They study us and try to our buying compulsions in great detail and hone their catchy copy to drag us as far along as they can.

Not all internet marketers are like this. There are some really good and ethical internet marketers out there and valuable internet resources on the net that you will need to pay for to grow your business. The problem is that we don't know the difference until we have paid for the product and trying to get a refund from the shady ones is quite a challenge.

While the unethical ones promise to stand by you all the way to entice you to give them your money, they seem to vanish when they have to give your money back. If you have experienced this, don't give up. If your payment was processed through Clickbank or Paypal, lodge a complaint, open a dispute and force the issue. If you paid with your credit card, contact the credit card company and tell them that you have repeatedly requested a refund because you are not satisfied and that the company has not refunded you. The credit card companies will need some evidence that you tried to get a refund so keep a paper trail of the e-mails you sent requesting refunds and if all goes well the credit card company may even go into their account and take your money back for you. These shady internet markets should not be allowed to get away with what they do but they are banking on most people not bothering when it becomes a bit of a hassle to get a refund. It's time to teach the brat pack of online internet millionaires something about the importance of ethics, customer service and etiquette.

So, take a deep breath, keep your credit card in your pocket for a while and enjoy learning all you can with all the free tools out there.

When you are ready to move forward with growing your business after having figured out alot of the pieces to the puzzle, explore only the paid tools that add value to your business, accelerate your learning curve and make your job easier. For example, to grow your business you will need a registered domain name, a hosting company to park it with and an autoresponder and a squeeze page. If these things don't mean anything to you yet, don't worry, they will. But take your time choosing which companies to go with. Everyone wants your business, make sure that the ones you choose really deserve it. The rebellion of the INTERNET MARKETING NEWBIES has begun. Join the wave.