A few years ago I attended an international seminar on web marketing and eCommerce at Auckland. The seminar was attended by less than 50 entrepreneurs, mostly from Australia and New Zealand. The atmosphere was so informal that the participants could discuss even the amount of tax paid by each. A few of them narrated their success stories to others and gave away their secrets. I believe that the readers will find those stories useful.

George was sent out of school when he was 17. Reason? He scored single digit marks in all test papers and his attendance was just 5%. He was not a spoilt kid. His heart, mind and passion were devoted to music and he did not bother to go to school. As his parents did not have enough money to send him to music school, they told him that it was time for him to find a job and be on his own.

Fruit picking was the only job he could get and he earned a few dollars a day. After walking, bending and picking fruits without break for eight hours a day, he had to learn music on his own through audio and video courses. He was living in a rural area. The courses were expensive.

George said, “In the beginning I was depressed and cursed my fate. Then I realized that there was no problem that could not be solved by a determined individual. Around that time I, by Divine Grace, I learnt about the Internet from a friend. At that time though there were many online music courses, they were expensive and meant for adults and professionals. I decided to create a course for beginners, school students and hobbyists. Even though I was neither a professional musician nor a qualified teacher, I created easy-to-learn, step-by-step courses for beginners that had hundreds of tutorials.”

“How did you create the lessons and deliver them to your students?” I asked him. George replied, “I was very strong in the basics of Piano and the Keyboard. But I was weak in written English and the Internet technology. I entered into an agreement with my friends that had the skills with the understanding that I would pay them only when my project took off. I offered them handsome fees and they agreed to cooperate with me. I borrowed from library as many course books for beginners as possible, studied them and then wrote down the lessons. A friend redrafted the course in readable English and another helped me create audio and video lessons. In stead of creating one long lesson that can fit only in a CD-Rom, I created hundreds of small lessons so that they can be easily delivered over the net.”

“How did you sell your courses online?” I asked him. He replied, “I created a website and requested my visitors to start out by signing up for my free piano lessons online. They could get 10 lessons absolutely free. Then if they liked the lessons, they could sign up for the paid course. By the end of the first week I had 10 students and within a year I had 600 paid signups. I charged NZ$50 per year. After paying off the expenses, I made a profit of NZ$18,000 (Rs.5,40,000). Please don’t ask me how much I earn now.”

“What was you initial investment?” I asked him. He replied, “I spent US$94 (Rs.4,000) towards domain name and web hosting. You can start any online business with such a low investment and become a success story in a matter of a few months. While most of my ‘brilliant’ schoolmates are working for others for fixed low salary, I earn at least 500% more than their average salary. That’s the power of the self-employment and entrepreneurship.”

I asked him, “Do you plan to open an offline music school?” George shook his head and said, “No. It is easy to start an offline music school because you need just a small room and an instrument. But the number of students you can teach is limited and you will have little time to do research and improve lessons. As online classes are automated, the number of students I can teach is almost infinite and the income potential is limitless. I have a lot of time to do research and create excellent new lessons. The Internet helps me do what I love to do and make me earn thousands of dollars a month.”

There are hundreds of performing arts in India. I am looking forward to write the online success stories of Indian musicians and artists.