This article started with several options for a title - Entrepreneurs Epiphany, Netrepreneurs Nirvana, When It All 'Clicks', Reaching the Pinnacle, Voila, Success! - but I settled on the quasi-cliché The Sweet Spot. I am prone to deep reflection this time of year and the process actually began about two months ago. Due to the wonderfully wide exposure I had received as a business author, I was encouraged to start writing a column and decided to pen my random personal views on the state of Internet marketing in a column called "Of Mouse & Man".

My debut column set the tone for what will be the conclusion to this article. So please bear with me as I ask you to read " Just Another Day in Cyberspace".

"I have often wondered why so many of us choose to plant our unexercised bodies in front of a computer monitor for hours on end in what at times seems like a futile attempt to tame the monster we call the World Wide Web.

Could it be that the radiation we soak up day in and night out is addictive? I know I drink much more coffee and usually convince myself that I don't have the time to take my daily walk. Too many emails to answer, too many projects behind schedule. Internet marketing can definitely be harmful to one's health.

Is being at the forefront of global e-commerce the ultimate 21st Century escape from the mainstreet business world? A "now I don't have to press the flesh with live human beings", safer, faceless place to do business? I wonder about this sometimes.

Or, could the reason be that this pre-occupation represents the ultimate III Millennium challenge to those of us who possess a pioneering spirit and are willing to accept any and all consequences that come with being among the first Internet Explorers? I have realized that I will not be able to rest until I have staked my claim and found a niche on the Net that I can call home.

Call it the thrill of the chase, my inbred stubbornness or my astrological tendencies but there's something that keeps me here doing what most of my family and friends just cannot understand.

What I do I know for a fact is that the coffee will keep flowing and the radiation will keep poisoning me and when I discover the reason I do this, I will let them know.

I have a feeling it may come to me during my daily walk.

So there it is, on this, just another day in cyberspace."

OK, back to present-day cyber-land. It wasn't during my stroll that the answer came to me. The epiphany came while in front of my monitor the day after New Year's watching the email flow into my inbox. Sale after sale after sign-up after sale was pouring in and it suddenly occurred to me that all the blood, sweat, tears and aggravation I had extended during the past year was for this very reason. Not just the money streaming in mind you (yes, it's a nice feeling), but all the people who were seeing what I have built and now trust me enough to partner with me and who will ultimately benefit from what I have offered them. People with whom I now have a relationship. People I would never have known, and money I would never have earned had it not been for this phenomena known as the Internet. And it totally blew me away to think that I've "pressed the flesh" or spoke on the Tele with only a minority of these new partners. I simply sat in front of a computer screen and applied what knowledge I had accumulated over the years from my "Real World" business experience and in essence "typed and clicked" my vision into the homes and businesses of so many people.

To experience the feeling of having the planning, the work, the setbacks, the adjustments, the frustrations, the time and expense manifest itself into this single result was a very powerful experience for me. THIS is the reason I have been doing this. I have built my own little corner in cyber-space and it's now a place where many people come to improve and embellish their lives.

And you know what's just as "sweet"? I have only just begun! I can't wait to unleash what I have planned for the rest of 1999.

Best of all though, I learned so much during this past year that I decided to share that knowledge and write my own book this year. I will work very hard to make sure that this will be one of the best Internet business tutorials available.

If you get nothing else from this article than the feeling that "I can do it!", then I've done my job as a writer. Because you CAN achieve financial independence from your Internet business. There are everyday people out there earning a great living off the Web by applying common sense blended with old-fashioned ingenuity and integrity.

It's all a matter of deciding you CAN do it and sticking to that very belief. Until you find The Sweet Spot.

Written by Rick Beneteau
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