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Making Money the Lazy Way

Because of its emphasis on passive income generation, Internet marketing is sometimes called the “lazy way of making money,” implying you don’t have to work much to earn much. Actually, it’s true, in a sense. But let’s put the word ‘lazy’ into context here.

In the computer industry, there is a stereotype that computer programmers are “lazy” because they prefer to avoid doing any unnecessary work. However, the laziness that is being described here is much different from the typical definition of laziness exhibited by, say, an out-of-shape couch potato who refuses to get off the couch to grab the remote control that's five feet away.

The typical computer programmer cannot stand to carry out any simple routine task if it must be repeated several times a day, even if the task only takes a couple of minutes to do each time. Instead, the programmer will take a day or two out of his or her schedule to create a computer program that completely automates the task, allowing it to be carried out with the push of a button.

The programmer creates the program because he or she is too “lazy” to execute the simple task several times every day. Used over a long stretch of time, the program will indeed save the programmer a lot of tedious work. Creating the program, however, requires complicated, hard work over a day or two.

Internet marketing is just the same way. You put in a lot of work for a short period so that you can save yourself continuous work over time. You spend a lot of time upfront setting up a passive income system, so that, in the future, you don’t have to work for every dollar that you earn.

Therefore, this system won't work well for truly lazy people looking to get rich overnight.  If that’s what you’re after, you are chasing after fool's gold. In the world of real business, there is no such thing as "get rich quick."

Work Hard Now, Play Later

Setting up a home e-business, when compared to a “regular” job, requires you to work harder initially so you don’t have to work as hard later on. The caveat is that you really can’t afford to become unmotivated and slack off like you can at your present salaried job, where you probably get paid just for punching in.

The good new is , when you have your own e-business and you’re working only for yourself, you may actually find you don’t mind working extra hard, since now you reap all the consequent profits. And remember, you can always keep your day job and start your e-business part-time at first if you want to take it at a slower pace.

Later, after all that initial hard work is completed, your reward is a fully functional passive income system. Now, even when you’re too busy to give your business a second thought, perhaps because of illness or a vacation, your business will continue to run on its own, continuing to make money while you are away.

And when you have multiple such passive income streams set up, your income will multiply greatly without much extra daily work on your part. This is the stage you want to reach ideally, where you literally make money "while you sleep."

To reach this point however, requires significant work up front, work that you’re willing to put in because you are serious about your business. Marketer Jason Busch asks “Would you rather work at a dreary job until age 65, hoping you don’t get laid off and stressing yourself out to get maybe a 3 percent yearly raise, or be your own boss and set up a steady source of passive income for life?”

Unlike a traditional employee, the income potential of an e-business entrepreneur is directly proportional to the amount of work he or she puts in. So-called “super affiliates” earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, and some top Internet marketers even reach millions per year, all from the comfort of their home computer.