Okay, so now that we know the mistakes of others how do we not repeat them.  Knowledge of how to choose an online marketing business opportunity is the key.  Take the time to slow down and really learn this.  Get this right, and you will find your online marketing business opportunity.  An online marketing opportunity is found through keyword research.  Without that, who knows where your online business will end up. (oh yeah, I do.  In the .com dump, left as trash)         

     To start that process, you must first brainstorm some possibilities for you to find the online marketing business opportunities that you can take advantage of.  This includes things that you have some passion for or interest in or simply enjoy doing.  It also includes some things that you either have a fair amount of knowledge about or that you are willing or want to learn about.  When you do that brainstorming, be sure to do that at face value.  Do not consider whether you feel it is a saturated market or that it cannot be done on the internet.  That will only put you in a place of eliminating possibilties based on your own assumptions, rather than facts. 

     Second, spend some time researching for websites that may be your potential competitors by typing in searches into a major search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN) that reflects what you may want to do as an online business.  For example, if you enjoy camping or scrapbooking you may type in searches such as "camping gear" or "scrapbooking supplies".  The more you research the more you will see what is out there in those fields and if anybody near the top of the searches is a really good sight, or is there plenty of room for improvement.  You may also come up with some additional ideas as you research simply because of what you see others doing.  The point is, again, don't assume, do the reserarch.   

     Next, comes reality.  It is true that you cannot simply determine an online marketing business opportunity around your own interest.  If there is no demand or simply too much competition, then you will be setting your online business up for failure.  However, in online business demand and competition are based on keyword phrases, not the number of people selling a particular item.  There may be 3 billion people selling the same items that you want to sell and you can still do it and make money if you can find some keyword phrases that people are searching for, yet there is not too much competition on that phrase.  You may stand at the bottom of the empire state building and jump as high as you can and you will never make it to the top.  You could climb the face of it if you are a good rock climber, but that would also be very risky and making things more difficult than it needs to be, but if you simply walk inside and start climbing the stairs, you will eventually be at the top.  It is no short trip, but it is the safe, reliable way to get there.  The same is true of building an online business.  Start at the bottom step by finding out if there is enough demand and also not too much competition.  Down below are some suggestions on how to do that.  You will find some links that you will find useful in that pursuit.