Online businesses are well-known lucrative and continuous sources of income. 'Cookie cutter' type web sites, in my opinion, are not what they appear. I too have fallen victim to the alluring hype of 'click here to start making money today'. While it is true money can be made with these "pre-made" web sites, the ease and how soon money is made, is greatly exaggerated.

Overall successes of any business, no matter how unique, require consistent and dedicated work to prosper. A product or service based business, at minimum, requires continuous promoting and advertising. Take a cautious approach when giving an unscrupulous individual your hard-earned money. I am reminded of the old adage; you don't get something for nothing.

For instance, purchasing a pre-made site from someone who claims 'this requires little to no work' is not only condescending but also a complete farce. After all, you are purchasing something from the fruits of their work; continuous advertising and promotion. Moreover, site promotion and advertising your "cookie-cutter" site requires spending money. With millions of other sites trying to accomplish the same thing you are, becoming noticed (having your site found) is imperative. Now that's not to say a lot of money needs to be spent. Free search engine inclusions will get your site indexed, but that's only the first step. Every business that truly prospers, has an advertising budget; online businesses should be no different.

Aspirations of having your own site can be mitigated by a cookie cutter site. It is a fast and easy way to get a site up and running with little, if any, experience. I would however, caution novices to understand that coding a site is only the first obstacle. Once your site is "live" promotion is where you will live or die; your customer base is directly correlated to your visitor base, and increasing how many visitors you get is always a work-in-progress.

Thank you, Josh