Should you reveal your success, or hide it...?

Should you reveal your success? It's a dilemma....

I know several people online who are quite successful.... Yet they prefer to "fly low and collect the dough"....

It may sound unbelievable, but I can even think of those I know (who are successful) who shun free publicity. They're doing very well without it, and they're afraid that extra publicity will just generate competition.

So, you might be surprised at who's REALLY making money online. The real "superstars" of online profits don't always like to reveal themselves!

However, one successful model (which, from what I know is quite profitable) is the online software tool subscription model. That's where people subscribe to use a piece of software.

It can be profitable, especially if you provide a good and useful service. Some of the better known services of this type are WordTracker, BidNapper, AuctionWorks - and so on!

Another profitable model is the single-product sales model. I think this model works best if you have an affiliate program to go along with it. (Use the power of leverage.) There are plenty of these out there.... Study those web sites, and see how they work.

The subscription web site model is also a profitable model, but it should be niche focused, from what I've seen. If you can offer information which a niche market would love to have, but which is hard to find elsewhere, then you could have an idea for a successful subscription web site. Some successful subscription web sites are Bill Myers Online (for independent product developers), Stratfor (strategic forecasting of world events), and Crikey (Australian political critique and satire) .

Plenty of people make money from affiliate programs. Probably the best place to go to find out more about making money this way is Allan Gardyne's Associate Programs web site.

Ezines are a successful model too.... Such as our own The Entrepreneur's Hotsheet and the SeedZine (first issue comes out tomorrow!). Subscribe now! :)

So there's plenty of things you can do.... :)

The most important thing is to get started doing something.... You can't help but improve as you go along. As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step....

- Dien Rice