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The Online World – Not So Different From the Street Outside Your Window

You don’t need a recession to want to make more money, but this last recession seems to push more and more people to online money-making schemes. Some of them are just scams (See the first article in this series for advice on how to avoid getting scammed online) and others are legitimate.

As a rule of thumb – if you’re promised huge amounts of cash to work a ridiculously little time – you can be pretty sure it’s a scheme designed to make you poorer. Better walk away from these honey traps.

The online world is not so different from the streets outside. There are good people and con artists. Some genuinely want to make the world a better place. Some will only pretend to be your friends, waiting for the first opportunity to rip you off. The thing is, on the Interent, you can’t see the other person’s face, and a lot of the unspoken communication we base our hunches on is lost. Even if you’re a great judge of character – you just can’t judge someone who’s not really there.

Can You Really Make Lots of Money With Hardly Any Work?

The answer is not very easy. It depends on many things, but it is closer to a ‘No’ than to a ‘Yes’. It’s never easy to make a lot of money, and you’ll definitely need to put time and effort into this. If someone knew the secret to making loads of money by working one hour a day – he’ll not tell this secret to anyone. He’ll keep it a secret.

There are ways to make money online, but you need to face the truth – working online is just that – it’s work. You invest your time and effort, and you get paid for it. Sometimes you get really good at what you do, so you get paid more, but don’t expect to become rich over a 4-week period by signing up to all sorts of online schemes.

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Ok, So If I Work Hard – Will I Make Lots of Money?

Well, you could. Theoretically speaking, if you work hard there’s a chance your efforts will pay off and you’ll make loads of money. This is true on the Internet as well as in the ‘real world’. But can you make a lot of money using just your computer, your brain, and some upfront financial investment?

It seems like you could, but it won’t happen overnight, or over a week. In fact, you’ll probably have to put in at least a year or two of hard work in your free time before you can make it happen – but it’s possible.

Not only is it possible, there’s a man out there claiming it is obtainable for you as well. He turned his life story into a book which you can get online for a reasonable price ($23 last time I checked). He named his book The 4-Hour
Work Week, and he tells the story of how he became an online enterpreneur – working from home and thinking out of the box. If you’re dreaming of freeing yourself from your day job and still having a steady income – you should seriously consider buying this book.

What The 4-Hour Work Week Can Do for You

The book is quite small, and is focused on two things you need to do if you want to free yourself from financial worries. The first thing – is you need to start thinking out of the box. The book’s author, Timothy Ferris, makes it sound easy, but for most people thinking out of the box is not natural and takes practice. We all know how to approach a problem, but we don’t always know how to make it disappear. Thinking out of the box can get you to do just that.

A real enterpreneur does not day dream, she’s constantly alert – everything she sees or hears may present an opportunity. When you start thinking out of the box, you need to tune yourself into the enterpreneur mode. Opportunities will not jump at you – you have to go after them. Find needs and fulfill them. Don’t forget to take your cut of the profits.

The 4-Hour Work Week book takes you by the hand on the path to financial independence. The book’s cover promises to teach you how to escape the nine to five and join ‘The new rich’. The book describes in a good level of detail what to do if you want to get there.

What Do You Need To Do for the 4-Hour Work Week?

The most important thing is commitment. You need to make a commitment to yourself, because the road is long, and isn’t always easy. The book promises to teach you how to cut down your working hours to four per week, while maintaining a high income.

The book does not promise you millions of dollars, but it presents a way to earn enough to be able to live a good life without working too much – If only you follow the instructions.

Commitment means you’ll need to invest both time and money. This book is not about browsing the Internet and posting links or buying Google Ads. It’s about creating a real business – but in a different way.

The 4-Hour Work Week lays down a philosophy of viewing life and business which argues that setting up a business doesn’t have to be difficult or scary. It can also be fun and rewarding – as long as you know what you’re getting into, and ready to commit and invest some time and money.

Should You Buy This Book?

That’s the real question. In my mind this book is an investment. I bought quite a few business and self-help books over the years but this one stands out. The idea behind the book is compelling, the language is easy and not intimidating, and you can read it cover to cover within a weekend.

For a book this small it has a surprisingly large quantity and quality of information, and in terms of value for money it’s definitely on the up side.

Will it deliver on its promise? Well, the book promises to release you from the nine to five world, and show you how to live life like the rich people do, with money you make yourself. Naturally, the book won’t do it by itself. You’ll have to take the challenge and work through the steps it describes yourself.

The 4-Hour Work Week may not change your life completely in a couple of months, but if you read and follow it, you stand a really good chance of changing your life for the best. Nothing comes free, but this book is definitely a golden shortcut on the way to make more money, and live a better, more enjoyable life.