There is a common misconception that an "online business" requires no investment...that you can make money online without spending any.

When we hear this from people who are desparately trying to build a successful online business it makes us angry!

We believe the misconception is primarily due to all of the hype and false promises that arrive daily in our inboxes. Emails promising us that we can make millions of dollars with no financial output while we sit at home and do nothing. It's insane and it's not the truth.

The truth is that you must treat an online business just as you would a business in the conventional world. You must plan on investing time, money and effort to ensure your success. The good news is that your investment in an online business will be MUCH, MUCH less than that of a business in the conventional world.

With an online business, there are essentials that you must have in order for your business to run smoothly and become successful. You can literally run an effective online business for $100-$200 a month. Later in this article, we will show you how you can access many of these essentials in one place for less that $10.00 a month!

But first...

Here are six essentials that you MUST have to run your online business.

1. Your Own Website

This includes a domain name and web hosting for your site. You must have a central place to send your customers, even if you are selling multiple products or services.

2. A Professional Autoresponder

An absolute MUST for any online business. If you're not using an autoresponder, you're losing money! That's the bottom line. Your autoresponder should have the ability to create subscriptions via email and web form and should be a professional one with no ads! Fr~e autoresponders look unprofessional and they are not reliable.

3. Ad Tracker

This is probably the most underused tool that we know of. Consider this - most people who are NOT making money on the Net have never used an Ad Tracker. Yet, ALL of the people that we know who ARE making money on the Net - use one daily. It makes no sense to spend money and time on advertising if you're not going to be able to determine which ads are producing and which ones are not. An Ad Tracker will solve this problem and save you time and money in the long run.

4. Products or Services

You must have something to sell! This can be a service such as web or graphic design, an mlm/affiliate program or products, tangible or digital. If you don't have a specific product or service in mind, there are thousands of profitable digital products that come with resell rights. This means you can resell them and keep 100% of the profit!

5. You must know HOW and WHERE to advertise to bring targeted prospects to your Website!

You can save yourself a tremendous amount of time, money and frustration by learning the effective advertising methods that are available online. There are countless worthless ones that are simply a waste of time. If you're new online, you won't know this unless you find someone who is successful online and follow their lead. Find a mentor or a membership site that offers step by step Tutorials on online promotion. Make sure that the tutorials are updated frequently to keep up with the changing times of the Internet!

6. Leads

The lifeline of any online business! Just because you have a website and products to sell, that doesn't mean you're going to make money! To make money, you must drive targeted visitors to your website. There are THOUSANDS of companies on the web that sell Leads but if you just pick one out of the blue, it's trial and error. Do some research and find a good source for leads. Again, you can achieve this by finding someone who is succcessful and following their lead. Or join a membership site that includes Leads as a part of their package.

We promised we'd tell you about a membership site that includes many of these essential items in one place. Have a look at http://www.viralprofits.com With your membership, you get a professional autoresponder, ad tracking, Leads, Digital Products with resell rights, step by step training tutorials AND you can earn money by referring others to the site. The tutorials are updated frequently and NEW products are added each month so that you always have something new to offer your customers!

So there you have it. With these six essentials, you've got the foundation for a successful online business. Without them, it's going to be a tough road ahead. Use them as a "checklist" and make sure your online business is armed for success!