Rome wasn't built in a day, and the Internet didn't come out of a golden egg. Many of today's creations were not born of people who had creative ideas, but who did not stop at simply having an idea. They took one brick of capital  , another brick of knowledge, perhaps a brick or two of family and friends, and built their empires   brick by brick. If you want to build an online empire, you cannot settle for simply having a website full of articles, or a website full of pictures--there are already thousands of sites like that, so you need to come up with something new and creative. So if you are starting to build something up, ask yourself: what do you really want to do, and what are you really good at? Believe it or not, you can make money at something that you are an expert in, and you need to know what that is. Remember, having an online empire does not mean that you have to do it alone. You can take _ along with you. Having a friend advertise your services online is a good way to attract more visitors to your empire. Building an online empire, you will have to be prepared to not only come up with creative ideas, but to carry your ideas through. Talk to people who have already succeeded in building their own empires. Talk to people who are struggling. Join a mailing list that will help you get through your struggle to achieve your goal. As you move forward, you will find that you can help other people, and you will have a good many stories to tell--not to mention a lot of money in the bank. If you learn the real secrets of creating a long term stable   online business then you will have enough money to retire on. What is the purpose of joining a mailing list?
To get a lot of help. To write many emails. To make more email friends. To talk people into buying your product.