The internet is the greatest money machine in these days. Google, Yahoo, Amazon or Ebay have achieved a higher market capitalization than many traditional brick and mortar companies. Google has grown within a few year to a value of more than $77 billions.



How is most of the money made?



The big search engines make most of the money with advertisement revenues. Google Adwords and Overture are the leading cash machines. Other search engines and directories also rely on advertisement revenues. The higher their Google Page Rank, the more often they demand fees for directory listings. DMOZ is the only directory with a top Page Rank, where a listing of a website is free of charge. It is, however, almost impossible to get listet at the Open Directory Project.



Other big players benefit from the internet as market place. It's a viable business to provide good and reliable payment services for the millions of internet merchants. Clickbank, Paypal, Stormpay and others are great in this business and make their money with getting fees from their services.



A lot of followers also benefit



This great market place has attracted a lot of other participants. They benefit, because the internet community still grows. They offer books, music, travel booking, retail shopping and much much more. Already established brands have a great advantage if they join the internet market place. Many users type in automatically the names of big brands, if they are looking for something.



How can a small or home business benefit?



The above mentioned companies have been lucky because they have started as pioneers from scratch in an early stage of the internet or they have been backed by an already prominent brick and mortar firm.



It seems that the best places are already occupied. Newcomers have to find niches and new opportunities. A lot of website owners try to promote goods as affiliates. They do not need to invest much money. The best way is to sell a good that just can be downloaded. No warehouse and shipping are needed. New opportunities to make an extra income evolve, e.g. getting paid for taking surveys or reading ads. There are no limits for innovations.



What has to be considered?



* Ask yourself, what you can do best, how you can use your own skills in the internet business. * Research a marketing niche that looks promising. * Write a small business plan.

* Limit your own investments. * Research, what you can get for free or for low costs for your business.



The conclusion of all is: Do the right things right! Try it at least!



About the author:

Lil Waldner is a business economist. She is experienced in project management and marketing. She has worked as editor of newspapers and she has written booklets and essays with economic and public issues. Visit the web site: Make Money Tip