When you launch an internet business, build on the fundamental principles of entrepreneurship.

Whether you build a brick-and-mortar business on the corner, operate a business from your home, or stake your claim in the virtual world, the fundamental principles of entrepreneurship do not change. Entrepreneurs operate on two basic premises: First, if you launch an enterprise strictly for the money, you will fail. Pure passion must drive your business. You must do what you love and love what you do. Second, build your business by providing people what they need. The second principle requires some soul-searching and research. Ask and answer, “What distinguishes me?” Then, advance to the more difficult question: “How does my distinction become a product or service?” The second question informs your research. Find out who needs what you offer. Then, build your virtual business to satisfy their need.

In the end, supply an demand still rule. Build your internet business to show people how you supply what they demand. Right now, three internet industries are thriving, and each leaves a great deal of latitude for imagination and innovation. As you search for the best match between your specialty and the market’s demand, look carefully at publishing, professional services, and commerce.

Online Publishing

You cannot trust the pitchman who promises $5000 a month for online writing, but you can earn a respectable living from digital publishing. The most successful online writers caution, “The standards have not changed just because the market has become more accessible, democratic, and diverse. You still must produce high-quality stuff—intelligent, stylish, and professional.”

• Monetize your blog. If you have focused and refined your blog to the point you have a loyal following, you have laid the foundation for two significant evolutionary steps: First, you may add advertising that compensates you for “click-throughs,” that is, your readers who follow the links to your advertisers’ sites. You also may consider subscription fees for “the best of” your stuff. Second, and potentially most profitable, you may spin-off e-books from your blog content.
• Publish e-books, When your loyal readers beg for more, satisfy their desire in book form. Several reputable websites help you promote and sell your publications. For just $5, E-Junkie can outfit you with shopping carts, credit card links, and all the other gadgets that facilitate big sales.
• Pursue freelancing opportunities. If you have not quite established your name and reputation, you can earn while you learn. Join online writers’ communities like Helium.com or Yahoo Voices. Bid on projects at Elance and Freelancer.com, and claim assignments at textbroker,com. While you plug-away at fre4elance assignments, maintain your vision and voice with daily blog posts.

Online Services

If you’re a renegade from the corporate world, the job you did in a cubicle may become the service you offer via the internet. Many small businesses “outsource” work in preference to hiring new employees. Especially if you have specialized technical skills or paralegal skills, you easily can put them to use as an independent contractor.

• Virtual business assistance Small businesses outsource accounting, payroll, public relations, and routine administrative tasks. You will find job postings for “Virtual Assistants,” but you risk learning the hard way that only half the ads contain legitimate job offers. You may have better luck posting your own advertisements on Craig’s List, Yahoo, and other big sites.
• Virtual consulting Downsized executives have found their experience has cash value for emerging entrepreneurs. Offer your services on your own website, and advertise in leading trade publications. You also may steal a page from the motivational speakers’ playbooks, offering weekend seminars and e-books that show-off your expertise.
• Web design and management Attorneys, physicians, and dentists understand the value of “an internet presence.” Most of them, however, have neither time nor technical expertise to set-up and maintain properly professional websites. You can supply what they demand at the prevailing rate–$1500 for a completely original, fully-equipped site, and $100 per month for minimal maintenance.

Online Commerce

Whatever you could sell in a brick-and-mortar store, you sell it more efficiently and profitably from an online storefront. You cannot, however, sell all things to all people—not even on eBay. You have greatest opportunity for success when you carve-out a niche market. One web innovator, for example, built his business empire by selling nothing but hemp diapers. Demand and supply.

• The old standards Amazon.com and the major auction sites are alive and well, and they will provide you with working capital and loyal customers as you launch your own site. Collectors and traders do well on etsy.com, and graphic designers prosper at zazzle.com. Successful e-merchants advise you stay on the behemoth sites only as long as it takes to establish your own brand.
• Lots of room for innovation On the internet, your imagination may inspire the next great mercantile trend. When you are the first to market with a compelling new product, the internet has the power to galvanize public attention. Work the social networks, generating buzz and going viral.

Pioneers of e-commerce and internet marketing insist the worldwide web remains “the wild west of the business world.” For every solid citizen who simply wants to stake his claim and earn an honest living, you find a dozen bad guys menacing, bullying and swindling. Therefore, as you launch your internet enterprise, you must know your territory and the color of your competitors’ hats.

Author Francine Gomez is a career consultant and content contributor for http://www.makemoneyfast.org, a site brimming with amazing “from home” income ideas ranging from how to make money with online surveys to writing content for new websites.