Money Spinners

Sukanya is a housewife and is living in Mumbai. She asked me, "I have a personal computer and an Internet connection. Last year I invested a small amount of money in an online business and lost it. Now I am ready to invest five or six thousand rupees in some good online business. I would like to work from home. Can you think of any good project that I can handle successfully?"

There are two types of problems - insoluble and solvable. Only a few problems such as serious physical defect are insoluble. All other problems such as debts are solvable. People in debts are too worried to have the right attitude and the required energy to find a solution to their financial problems and think their problem is insoluble.

A few years ago I attended an international seminar on web marketing and eCommerce at Auckland. The seminar was attended by less than 50 entrepreneurs, mostly from Australia and New Zealand. The atmosphere was so informal that the participants could discuss even the amount of tax paid by each. A few of them narrated their success stories to others and gave away their secrets. I believe that the New Indian Express readers will find those stories useful.

Many readers of this column have asked me how to promote an online business. Website traffic is the lifeline of any online business. If there are no visitors to a website, even the best website in the world will incur losses. On the other hand, it is a fact that hundreds of mediocre websites are making big money just because the webmasters know how to promote their websites.

Website promotion is a demanding, time consuming activity. I will give you a few general ideas that will help you get started. This article is for beginners.

Most of us can create money from what we already have, if we use our common sense, acquire some basic skills and work hard. All of us have common sense though only some of us actually use it to make money. The light of common sense has the power to chase away our ignorance and to attract prosperity. We think that only highly skilled professionals can make money and do not believe that simple skills can help us make money. Then many of us aspire to become prosperous without working hard.

The solution to a problem is always present in the problem. If you believe in this universal truth, understand your problem fully, become conscious of opportunities around you and develop resourceful ideas, almost all financial problems can be solved without shedding oceans of tears.

During the last 12 months, I have received more than 10,000 emails from the New Indian Express readers. By any standards, it is an amazing figure. As I have not been able to respond to these emails personally, I will answer - now and then through this column - the most frequently asked questions so that all readers are benefited. This week I will tell you how to identify profitable and practical Internet income opportunities.

Over years I have been asked an interesting question hundreds of times and I have never felt tired of answering it because each time I have been able to give a different reply to the same question. Does it mean I have extraordinary public relationship skills? No. It means there are tens of thousands of self-employment opportunities and anyone with average skills can identify a promising income opportunity at any moment. The question is: 'I want to be on my own and achieve financial independence. But I don't know what to do. Can you please help me?'

Four years ago Kegan told me, "If you want to live happily, you must go for a job. It gives you regular predictable cash flow, financial security and peace of mind. Self-employment is a nightmare and we should not even think about it." I said, "Every citizen of this country has the right of freedom of expression. So, I don't want to say anything against what you believe in. May I know what made you jump onto this conclusion?"

Kegan was my neighbor in Hamilton. Though I knew he was working as a clerk in a bank, I never knew about his business ventures.

Kannadasan, one of the greatest Tamil poets and writers, wrote thousands of immortal film songs, poems, stories and essays. Though he passed away 25 years ago, he still has millions of fans and die-hard devotees. He was born on 24th June. His birthday reminded me of a Tamil writer who aspires to become as great as the legendary Kannadasan.