The internet (Web) has revolutionized the way we live. The web caters to different online businesses and drastically altered the way corporations and private parties do business. A lot of people are looking for various ways to find a balance for work, leisure and making money nearly simultaneously. Different types of online businesses present themselves as each gives opportunities for people to earn money. A person can either have a passive or active income. From the way it’s described, passive income can be generated from actions a person sets up that earn a recurring income without other functions done to them while an active income needs work to be done continuously.In making money online, one should consider several factors before deciding which business is right. Here is a 3 step guideline to consider before a person embarks on their online business.1. Plan – The amount of experience and knowledge you will need for an online business is important. You can do the learning yourself or have a mentor guide you in the business. Think of the time you need for learning the business and the time allotted for it to grow and make money. Also plan for expenses that a person has to allot for the business. This includes the website, computer tools, training, virtual assistants, web developers and other factors. Making money online needs a lot of planning which will definitely help you in the long run.2. Decide – After research, decide on the type of online business that you will venture into. Research in the beginning is very important. One should know their way around the internet as the business revolves on it. Decide on a name for the business as it should be unique to catch search engine visitors attention.3. Market -To be making money online it is important for you to effectively market your website business. You should decide wisely on the structure and design of your website. Think of ways to attract an audience, then market your website according to that plan. Internet marketing involves different techniques to earn a higher page rank on the search engines. Moving your page rank higher attracts a larger audience for you to build a customer or subscriber list. Techniques include article marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing, blog marketing, backlinking, Google AdSense ads and other techniques. You can either do affiliate marketing or direct online selling. Affiliate marketing is putting unique links on your website where you can earn a commission from a sale. Direct online Selling involves the selling of products and services through the internet. from a website business.There are many misconceptions in making money with an online business. Some say it is fast and easy, but the truth is that it is not that easy. A person needs to dedicate time to learn about it first to achieve the goal, which is to earn a profit of course. If any online business offer claims a person can make money easily and without much effort, it would be more logical to doubt it. It is important to reexamine the online business website, verify the testimonials and look for second opinions. If they are offering products for affiliate marketing, reexamine if it is legitimate. To improve the odds to earn an income for an online business, one needs to perform considerable research before making any decision. This will serve as the all important foundation for anyone making money with an online business.