"Let me show you the secret to making $5000 in 10
minutes!"

How many times have you seen this type of nonsense
in Google ads, on web sites or through spam
emails? You get them all the time, right? There
is also the e-books that exclaim that they have
the such-and-such "secrets" to make you rich. The
great thing is it will only cost you $97! C'mon,
people. These are nothing more than cheap scams,
preying on the ignorant and lazy. The people who
want the fast buck for no work and are attracted
to this type of blatant promotion and are buying
into these schemes. The only ones getting rich?
The scammers who are dishing out this crap! It
sure isn't the people who are buying into it.

Seeing someone succeed is one of the greatest
things in the world. Watching the light bulb
above their head come on and seeing them take an
action step forward to get themselves out of a 9
-to-5 job that is literally sucking the life from
them is great. Why wouldn't anyone want someone
to prosper? The world is a difficult place to
live. With the government's hand constantly in
our pockets and the greed of big business, you
need a good amount of money just to survive. But
who in their right mind just wants to survive?
People yearn to live. Life doesn't have to bring
them a million dollars to bring them happiness,
but some extra money in the ol' savings account,
a newer car, maybe a house, or ridding debt is a
wonderful thing to achieve. Now, there are a few
ways you can go about getting that kind of money
without buying into a stupid Get-Rich-Quick
scheme. Here they are:

1. Win the lottery
2. Get an inheritance from a dead uncle
3. Convince Bill Gates to adopt you

There ya go! I hate to break it to you, but the
chance of any of those things happening to you is
slim to none. Bummer, huh? What's the key then?
WORK. Nothing more than hard work. Can you
succeed on the Internet? Yes. Can you have your
own small business? Yes. Can you kiss your boss
goodbye and make a nice living all on your own?
Yes. But there are no overnight success stories
and there are no secrets. There are smart ways of
doing business, there are great tools out there
to help you reach your goals of success, there is
knowledge galore to be had. But there are no
shortcuts. You have to put the pie-in-the-sky
ideas of instant riches behind you. The sooner
you do that, the quicker you can get going on the
real work that will put cash in your pocket.

The key to your success is to find a passion.
Something you truly enjoy. If you don't like what
you're doing, you really shouldn't be doing it.
There are a million and one ways in this high
-tech, Internet-savvy world today to better
yourself. Brainstorm and figure out what really
puts a smile on your face, be it a hobby, an
interest or something you're really good at. Put
that to work for you. It's doesn't have to cost
you a mint to get started. There are people out
there right now who are making great money,
enjoying great success who honestly love what
they do. Why can't that be you? It can, if you're
willing to put your nose to the grindstone and
figure out how to make the passion inside of you
work to your advantage. Turn it into a small
business. Share your knowledge and expertise with
others. The fact is that everyone knows something
about something.

Don't ever allow the voices of the past to tell
you that you cannot do something. That you're a
loser. That something is a silly idea. Remember
the phrase that says, "nothing ventured nothing
gained?" It's still as true today as the day it
was spoken into existence.

Don't fall for the schemers and scammers. There
are no secrets, only knowledge. Learn. Grow.
Reach. Succeed.

At this point, if you still want to grow rich
overnight and not do any work for it, might I
suggest that you're looking at the wrong screen.
The television is in the other room.

-------------------------------------------------------

Tony Thomas is a web designer and entrepreneur. He has his own small business, Romantic Oregon Coast Vacations at http://www.romantic-oregon-coast.com.

If you're thinking of a small business of your own, check out Site Built It at http://www.sbitoday.com