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A Brief History of Ecommerce

Before we get into exactly how these profits are being made, let’s look back for a moment at the rise of e-commerce and the events leading to the current Internet landscape.

In the 1990’s the Internet could be compared to the “Gold Rush” days of early American history. During the actual gold rush of 1849 that took place in early America, it was actually possible, remarkably, to find pieces of gold laying openly in a river, provided no one else had beat you to that spot. The Internet of the 1990’s was very similar...you could find golden opportunities lying everywhere just by “getting there first.”

But just like the “gold fever” that gripped the nation led to the quick depletion of gold reserves within a scant year, the Internet craze of the late 1990s culminated in the “dot-com crash” of 2000 that decimated tech stocks in just a year’s time.

Now in the late 2000’s, the Internet gold rush is long over. But many believe that the dot-com crash injected a healthy dose of reality into the online business world. Since that time, the Internet has stabilized and established a much more solid foundation than before.

Business on the Internet has undergone steady growth at a much saner pace and quietly re-attained levels not seen since the pre-crash days, as evidenced by recent headline events such as the $2.6 billion buyout of Skype.com by eBay or the $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube.com by Google. As mentioned before, e-commerce has been on a steady 25% rise for the past 5 years. There is actually still plenty of treasure to be found online today, if you know where and how to look.

I now like to compare the current Internet era to the “Wild West” days of American history, a time of great expansion but also growing centralization. During the Wild West days, the fast-changing, turbulent nature of society and the limited reach of a central bureaucracy unearthed a myriad of opportunities for the shrewd opportunist. It was during this time that enterprising men like Levi Strauss continued to make a fortune even after all the “49er” gold was long gone.

Likewise on the Internet today, you may not be able to pluck gold straight from a river any longer, but opportunities still abound for the shrewd e-business entrepreneur. But just like in the Wild West days, you have to be on guard against those pesky outlaws, or, in today’s world, the scam artists.

Overcoming Doubts and Fears

There are certain common protests that come up again and again whenever the topic of making money on the Internet is brought up. You may have been told by your cousin Harriet or Uncle Joe that no one actually makes any money on the Internet because every alleged money-making opportunity always turns out to be a scam.

Or you may be wary because the whole thing sounds suspiciously like “pyramid schemes” that work in chain letter fashion, not offering any actual products of real value.

Somewhat similar to Internet dating, the concept of Internet marketing still carries a bit of a negative connotation. To some people, it may sound like it couldn’t possibly be legitimate.

It may just sound too good to be true to be able to make a good living from home in front of your computer. Many others are turned off by the numerous gaudy websites on the Internet that make the same bold outlandish claims: “Make millions of dollars on the Internet while doing absolutely nothing!” Perhaps you have even considered trying out Internet marketing before, but hesitated because of similar doubts.

The fact is, there is indeed a lot of scam out there online. Just like in the Wild West days, if you are not careful, you will be sold the proverbial bottle of cure-all “snake oil.” But this doesn’t necessarily mean that Internet marketing as a whole is a worthless industry. On the contrary--you simply need to be diligent and know how to separate the wheat from the chaff.