I am writing this article with the hope that thousands of people will benefit from my findings and experiences in on –line marketing. I will not go into very technical matters because the beginner in on-line business won’t profit from it at this time. I will be using on-line marketing and on-line business interchangeable; this is for effect, understanding, as well as for clarity. On-line marketing is simply transaction of any business, – buy or selling through the internet. The internet is based on linking Lots of measures are being introduce daily both by webmasters, banks and governments to check the short falls of the system. The internet users range from government establishments, banks, supermarket, estate agents, advertising companies, entertainment industries, telephone companies and so on. The power of the internet is such that you can not afford to ignore it. On-line marketing is a very big business. A person contemplating going into on-line business must know that it is a big business. Over five hundred million businesses are in existence on-line and millions will be there before I finish writing this article; so whether you are starting a work at home business, affiliate marketing and so on, it is good to know what is out there, your possibilities and your responsibilities. Many were lured into on-line business by mouth watering adverts sent to their mails, pop–ups while reading something on the internet or by some other means. I am very interested in publishing and I bought an article through which the e-book publishing was introduced to me. I developed interest in e-publishing (electronic publishing). After I bought the software, I published my book, soul winning – a pleasant experience. The need to market it through the same medium became very obvious. So that started my journey in on-line marketing. In the process I learnt many of the experiences I am sharing with you. It is an enduring business. Unlike many will tell you and show off with windfall riches, on-line marketing is an enduring business. It is nothing different from any business you know. It is not a business that you just cross you legs, lay on the sun tanning chairs and then millions of money will flow to you. It is actually not a lazy person's hobby. It is work. Why? There is a market competition to beat. There is thinking and strategizing to do. If you do not do your business, you will cry home to mourn. Vision and passion must be there. You may get into this business any way but to success, you must catch the vision. The vision is “The power of the internetâ€. You just have to see the possibilities out there. You must see it as something you want to do. You must see that like any other thing we have come to build our lives around, the internet has an influence. Things like electricity, telephone, aero plane, cars, etc. it is a daily thing, which you can not but touch. Then there must be the passion for this business. Every successful person has a passion for the things they do; from politics to business, lecturing to journalism, medicine to engineering, you just name it. Your Product: You must determine what area of interest you want to pursue. I have said earlier that the whole world is now like a big village, however if you do not know what you are out there to do, you will be arrested by others who know why they are there. Many people are looking for people to hijack as it were. You can sell whatever you wish. You have to be sure though, that it will be what someone wants to buy. You could begin by looking around, if you do not have your product already. It could be computers, laptops, information, services, finished products or raw materials. Find out where it could be needed and what it is sold for. Your business starts when you make up your mind to start selling your product. Affiliate marketing: – At some stage it might be useful to sell other people's products alongside yours. This brings added impetus as well and money. It is another way of being noticed – the companies or persons you want to sell for would want to visit your site. It might be little but it is alright. You actually could be on the internet without presence. When I made efforts to go into the market, there were these fellows who promised to promote my presence, I paid subscriptions, but they did nothing. They are big guys in the trade but I was ripped off as it were. They were to send my articles to “millions of placesâ€; it ended up in my box while they kept collecting my money. Beware of the “fat mouth†most of they are empty. Some delivery’ many do not. Promoting your on-line business: This is the crust of the matter – no matter how hot your product is, people need to see it. On-line marketing needs lots and lots of advertising. If you are new in this business, scout around for site that could help you promote for free. Their delivery may be slow, but in your learning curve, you need to walk before you run. There are paid site to advertise, many are good but there are things to learn. I paid money in some of them to promote and they were really faster than I could fly. I got good bills and small sales. I have more understanding of some of them now. I will not go into that now but anyone interested in knowing more could contact me – see my contact information at the end of this article. There are networking that could help you promote you market – this also I will be ready to show you when you show interest by contacting me. There are groups that could help you – yahoo group is one of such. Here you could send mails and interact with people who will not consider your emails as spam (unsolicited emails). A website: You will need a website at some point in you business, though you do not need one to start. Websites are not costly and there has been much development to it that it is much easier now to build a website and to manage it. I won’t advise you to spend a fortune building a website when you set out. You can start with a simply one page site – it is cheap and easy to handle. You can go big if you wish. However, on-line businesses require more of promotion than in the building of the site. Nevertheless a shabby site will send customers away. How would people pay you? You have to establish easy way for people to pay. Pay pal, alert pay, click bank are some ways to do it. It should not be a complicated process or people will get bored and go away.