Do you want the bad news about starting a new online business first, or the good news?  Okay, here we go:  The bad news is that you have an immense amount to learn.  The good news is that there is a lot of reliable information on the Internet that you can find for free or for relatively little money.  The bad news is that you can’t trust everything that you find on the Internet and that there are some unscrupulous folks out there.  The best news is that you’ll be able to distinguish the valuable from the worthless sooner than you now think you will be able.

One sensible way to start your e-business education is to find a reputable course with the fundamentals of beginning online.    If you actually follow the lessons and apply what you learn, you will start to be able to distinguish the quality of the offers you encounter and the credibility of the sources.

You will discover that the reality of starting your business will fall somewhere between the extremes of the unscrupulous types who tell you that you can work half an hour per week in your pajamas and retire in a year and the other extreme of thinking it is an impossible task, as you may be thinking now.  Yes, you’ll need to get organized.  You must manage your time carefully, and promise yourself and your family that your excitement over your new adventure will not occupy all available time.

Look for free information about some of the topics you learned about in your introductory course at article sites, like A1Articles.com or EzineArticles.com.  Consult blogs that you deem to be trustworthy.  Locate sources for information concerning topics such as your business niche selection, search engine optimization, design of business sites and other such related topics.

Don’t rush out to buy anything, yet.  Your next step is to sit down with pen, paper and a copy of your budget.  From the list of things that need to be done in starting your business, decide what you find interesting and and what sounds so boring that you would rather outsource the tasks.  Don’t worry, you can learn to do anything on that list.  Simply decide whether you want to invest your available funds in learning resources or in labor to actually perform each task.

Now, at last, the time for shopping has arrived.  Fight any urge you have to immediately buy an amazing sounding product, whether it’s a course or a remarkable piece of software.  Instead of following your impulse to buy now, do these:  1) Add the web page to your favorites list so that you know you can find your way back to it later.  2) Analyze the structure of the sales copy, because eventually you want to be able to write a sales pitch that works as well as that one apparently did on you.  Then, find a lot more products in the same category, so that you can later compare the alternatives.

In most cases, I impose a mandatory three day waiting period before I buy something I’ve just found.  That gives me time to consider it rationally, removing myself from the emotional responses elicited by the well presented offer.  If I still think that I have found the best solution for my needs after that three day period, I use the bookmark to find the right page, buy the product and get to work absorbing the material.

The most important part is this:  Implement what you have learned!  Your new knowledge does you no good unless you act upon it.