Maybe this is the wrong question to ask a brand new Internet business owner who is eager to make his or her first buck, but it is something that has been on my mind with so many people starting Internet businesses each year.  For me it is simple because I have been doing business online for long.  I also understand that with a brand new site I have to be patient when it comes to making money online.  I know a lot of people measure success by how quickly they can make money and are driven by the almighty dollar.  I think of things a little bit differently.

I want to help you see something from this different point of view I have.  With so many Internet businesses under my belt I have learned that there is really one main factor when figuring out the success (or value) of your business, and that is your user database.  What kind of a client base have you built up?  If you ever consider selling your business the value will be based upon how big (and clean) your user database will be.  That is what I wanted you to start thinking about when it comes to setting up this business.  Every time I set up a business, I set up, thinking in my mind; "How much money could I make if I sold this business, what is the profit potential here"?

Often times we get to caught up thinking about how much money we can make right away, and we forget to think about these businesses long term.  Look at how much money places like YouTube, and MySpace have made (by selling their business) because of the user database.  When these places first got started the owners knew they had a killer idea and just needed to sit on it for a while and let it grow, and just wait for the offers.  That is exactly what happened.

I am not saying that you have to sell your business, I am just wanting you to understand the cool thing about doing business online is you can duplicate it, have several businesses, and sell several businesses.  Do whatever you can on all sides of the spectrum to make money.  So if you are ever getting discouraged about making money online, and how long it will take to truly succeed, just remember to be thinking about this business "long term" and what it could eventually do for you.