Even in 2019, the dream of lounging on a beach somewhere and sipping umbrella drinks while a large, steady income rolls in from an online business still lives on in the popular imagination.

And it’s true: there are a few people who have built online businesses that rake in huge amounts of cash and allow them to live pretty much anywhere they choose, travel when and where they want, and buy nearly anything they want as soon as the notion hits them.

But there’s a difference between what those folks did and what you might find if you just searched “how to make money online” and went with whatever popped up: they put an absolutely massive amount of work into their businesses from the beginning, they continue to do so, and if there’s one word that does not apply to anything about their path to success, it’s “easy.”

In fact, in every case it was way more difficult than getting a traditional job working for someone else. Longer hours, higher stress levels, near-zero income in the beginning, and at some point, the question of leaving a stable job for a much riskier venture that may or may not pay off someday.

This is not to say it can’t be done. But if you’re looking for ideas to start an online business or earn extra side income, ignore anything that someone else created that claims it will be “easy” or “fast” or “guaranteed,” especially if you have to buy your way into it. A lot of multi-level marketing and pyramid schemes operate on these promises.

If you’re interested in going the digital entrepreneur route, you’re going to have to create something from the ground up. You can use other people’s platforms (for selling e-books or running an online store, for example), but the actual thing you’re selling? You’re probably going to have to create that yourself. That’s where the massive amounts of time, energy and resourcefulness come in.