I am an online marketer but I also have/had a real business offline too. I’ve pretty much gave up on the brick and mortar stores though. Although I am sure there is a hefty award if you work at it long enough, I prefer my online businesses like this blog which has new employees I pay using a new software to create pay stubs.
I try to explain it to people like this. In my local area there is probably a couple of thousand people in a 15 mile radius. There is only so many you can sale too, but the online world there is billions I have to opportunity to reach out too. Sure I can get a franchise and keep repeating my offline business but to me there is so much more work involved and you have to rely on so many other people to help you. My online business I do pay for services from others but most of those things are automated and pretty hard to mess up. When your counting on people to a paint job for example, sometimes they do bad work.
:The one thing I think people get wrong with online work though is it is easier. There is nothing further from the truth. Online work is just like offline work, you have to work at it. If you don’t work at it, it’s not going to fall in your lap.
I’ve been doing IM work for a little over 3 years and I”ve owned a coffee shop for over 3 years. I have to say I’ve worked just as hard online as I did with the coffee shop. So do your self a favor, if your not ready to “get your hands dirty”. Don’t get into IM it takes hard work and persistence. If you can handle those two things, you should have a successful online career.