Have you ever read a website and thought to yourself "Oh, that sounds good, just what I'm looking for!" Then you get more information or signup for the program or (worse yet) pay your monëy, only to find out that it is so darn complicated that Einstein couldn't understand it!

Or you discover that you have to spend even more monëy to do what they lead you to believe could be done.

I hate that. I'll bet you do too. But hold on because there is good news on the way. Very good news.

The good news is that there are five core elements that you need to succeed online. I promise you that anyone can do this. And I further promise that, if you will focus on these core elements you will find that 2005 will be a much better year than you might think it will be.

The key is in the KISS - Keep It Super Simple.

Let's review the five core elements you will need to succeed online.

The first element is a large market of people who have a need and money to buy products. This is the most important factor; so let's spend a moment on it.

The key is that all three factors must be in place or you haven't found the right market. The three factors are size, a felt need, and money. Think this through with me.

If the market is not large enough it won't support your marketing. This is fallacy of niche marketing. Sure, niches are nice, but how many left-handed 64-year-old dog groomers are there in the world? Too few for you to sell to them, that's for sure.

If the market doesn't feel the need, you won't sell anything. Take life insurance for example. I'll bet you need more of it than you have, but the need isn't pressing you so you spend your money on other things. You don't need a market of people who need to be educated and then sold; you need a group of people who need what you offer now, with now being the key element.

If the market can't afford what you offër, you're sunk before you begin. Even if you find a huge market of people, all of who know that they need your product, they will still need to be able to afford your product. If they can't buy your product, you'll go broke.

The second element is a product that meets the need of the market. You'll notice that I didn't say THE product, but a product. So many fortunes have been made by people who offër an excellent product and take action. And so many fortunes have been lost by people who are waiting to find the perfect product before getting started. The message?

Find product and get started. If you find a better product later, that's great too.

The third element is a way, or several ways, to get your message to that market. Again, not hard if you focus on what really works. So, what works online? Advertising in ezines like this one works. Building a list of loyal readers, who will buy what you sell works. Doing joint ventures with people who have mailing lists and can market your product works.

Focus on what is proven and you will do well. Leave experimenting to the people who can afford to waste money.

The fourth element is a website that makes the sale. Ah, but I'm not a writer you might be saying. And that's okay. The thing to do is to do your best and improve that as time goes by. No writer is born a great writer. All great writers draw inspiration from others and learn with time.

If you want an excellent start, try this. Make a list of the ten reasons why someone should buy from you and use that a basis for your web copy. Or try writing it out as if you were telling it to your best friend (or son or daughter) for the first time.

The fifth and last element, and perhaps the most important, is a great follow up system to sell those who don't buy the first time. If your website is wildly successful it will convert about 2% of visitors to customers. But what about the other 98%, the people who don't buy on the first visit?

They came to your site for a reason, but they didn't buy. That simply means they need more information. And that means that you need to remind them to come back. The best way to do that is to use an autoresponder. The best place to get that is at SendFree. The link for your convenience is - http://www.sendfree.com

Keeping things simple and concentrating on mastering the basics are the keys to success online. After you make your first m1llion you'll have lots of time to try the new and fancy gadgets that the marketers push your way.

But by then you will know what today's top marketers know right N0W ... it's far more important to do the basics well than anything else you can choose to spend your time on.

So, how are you going to spend your time this year?

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Charlie Page teaches people how to succeed online. If you
need help, or want to do more than you are doing N0W, you
can contact Charlie at http://www.charliepage.com