The Multi-Million Dollar Greetings

There is real money to be made out there in the virtual world - if you are willing to put in the effort to develop appropriate skills.

You don't have to be young or a geek either. 62-year-old grandmother Jaquie Lawson turned a hobby into a multi-million pound business. She is a trained illustrator having originally studied art at St Martin's School of Art in London. Having bought her first computer in 1998 despite struggling at the start she taught herself to draw computer animations using Macromedia Flash.

Just for fun she made a fun animated e-christmas card and sent it to friends. Her skill as an illustrator combined with her artistic flair meant that suddenly she was innundated with people wanting them from around the world - a wonderful example of viral marketing. She set up a business, launched the www.jacquielawson.com website and is now the market leader - with double the visitors of its nearest rival.

As Jacquie says about the Internet: "It 's such a fantastic medium. It ought to be better". She believes there is a lot of rubish on the Internet - which means there is scope for skilled, creative people to make a difference by focussing on detail in what they do. Quality can stand out.

So develop the basic skills, have a great idea, throw in some business savy...but most of all do it for fun, if you want to end up with a successful business.