MAKING MONEY ONLINE: THE NEW BREED

GOBALA Krishnan’s journey to become a Net millionaire began more by accident than design.
“In my first year, there was a compulsory course for all students at the university. It taught us how to build a Web site. When I was younger, people used to say I was artistic because I just loved to draw. But after high school, I just didn’t do it anymore.

Gobala’s winning strategy is having many Web sites to get traffic in.

GOBALA Krishnan’s journey to become a Net millionaire began more by accident than design.
“In my first year, there was a compulsory course for all students at the university. It taught us how to build a Web site. When I was younger, people used to say I was artistic because I just loved to draw. But after high school, I just didn’t do it anymore.
“For me, this was a transition. Web sites are also considered an art form because I enjoyed doing it at that point of time. I just continued to learn about it by myself. And I started a Web site talking about electric guitars because it is one of my passions. It was like art and a learning experience all in one,” he shared.
Then one day, Gobala read an article that said one can actually make money online.
“Back then in 2001, the idea of making money online was only open to a selected group of people. I decided I wanted a piece of the action. I was still studying back then and I could really use extra money. But in Cyberjaya, there were really not many places you could work part-time. So, I began experimenting online,” he said.
He tried many ways but still couldn’t make headways in his endeavour to make money through his Web site. And he finally gave up.
“But five months later, I checked my Web site and I found that I made US$43 (RM116) in sales selling an electric guitar. They were paying me a commission of five per cent. Considering that it is a physical good, it is a good percentage,” Gobala said.
The first sales changed his life. He knew then making money on the Net was possible.
“By the time I left the university, I was making US$200 to US$300 per month just from that one Web site selling electric guitars. What happened then was I wanted to get more money, I wanted to be rich – a millionaire. But then, I found that whatever I did, it never went past US$400 a month. So, I began to lose hope in the whole Internet thing.”
Gobala then worked with a company in the corporate line but after three-and-a-half years, he decided that wasn’t for him either. “That’s why I went back to the Internet. But then my Web site got rusty and I knew it was time again to learn from the start. That’s what I did.”
Of the type of business model he uses, Gobala said he has tried almost all categories. The one that really worked for him is information products.
“It is very low risk, low capital and has the potential of making a lot of money almost on auto pilot. From the moment someone finds your site, make their order, get the product, and you get the money in your bank. I tend to make sales every day without looking at it or thinking about it. And there’s nothing really involved for me to do any more once I set up the system of selling information product,” he said.
However, he is very involved in providing support.
“But that’s very minimal. Sometimes the Web site is down or customers cannot download the software. (These are) small problems. Also, I like to write, explain and teach, so this model works well for me,” he remarked.
Gobala said as part of his strategy, he has many Web sites. “Some are just flyers that get traffic to the main Web sites. My main Web site is gobalakrishnan.com.”
He is currently working on a project that aims to develop as many Internet millionaires as possible on the local front.
“It is a project to help people get started. At the internetmillionaires.com.my portal, people who want to achieve their million on the Internet is grouped to learn from each other,” said Gobala.