Can money realy be made in this business?

[RamCharger]

I've been reading this thread and I have some experience as a former .com'er that I can throw in. If you want to make money in this business then treat it as just that: a business. Do your homework and understand what you are investing in so that you can make your investments count. Don't go off throwing money down a rat hole because someone said there's a mountain of gold to be made in those hills.

As much as everyone wants immediate profits (and it's disappointing when money doesn't just "walk in the door" as fast as we want it to) it's far better in the long run to look around and try not repeat mistakes others have made. That doesn't mean you can't experiment (because there's no uniform "recipe for success"), but unless you have a pile of cash under your matress try not to make those experiments costly ones. I went with a pair of pros to put together my current site, but that's because I can afford it and because I want to start off this venture on the right foot. However, I'm moving along slowly and carefully to understand all the options before me and choose among them carefully so I don't waste money and time. The most important advice above all is play fair.

Deal with others honestly when you're trying to build your business and you'll find many partners waiting, screw people over and you've just screwed yourself out of your own business. It's going to take work to establish relationships, but it's not hard to break them. Unfortunately, there are those who don't care, but they'll come and go.

This may sound like a bunch of common sense, but as a former .com'er, former military, and a person with a B.S. in Management (and who's now in the process of going for his M.S. in Management) it never ceases to amaze me to see the amount of people who wander through life like they never got past a king of the sand box mentality.