So many people think that making money on the web requires sophisticated web skills skills, extensive internet marketing knowledge and hours of time. But the truth is that we get paralysed, and then take no action because it seems that we will never gain the information we need to get started.
So many people think that making money on the web requires sophisticated web skills skills,
extensive internet marketing knowledge and hours of time. But the truth is that we get paralysed, and then take no action because it seems that we will never gain the information we need to get started.
In my experience, however, generating high numbers of visitors to your website starts from the inside. In other words, "the truth about making money on the web" is NOT "out there." What you need is the mindset, and working practices, that will get you to where you want to be: the proud owner of profitable websites attracting high volumes of visitors. After all, no visitors equals no sales equals no income, right?
So the first step you need to take is: Make A Plan.
This may seem obvious to some people running any type of offline business, and yet people who decide they want to have an online business to earn some extra money often neglect this extremely important first step! What happens is they keep purchasing "get visitors quick" schemes and buy into the promises of overnight success and then can't understand why nothing is coming their way as promised. It sounds corny, but If you fail to plan - you're planning to fail!
Second, a key "inside" skill is -take action. Let me give an example. Sally-Anne is an extremely competent, business school educated entrepreneur who is creative and imaginative. She comes up with great ideas but - stay with me - they stay locked up in her head and she never does anything about them. Ben, on the other hand, is a very ordinary guy doing a 9-5 job in an assembly plant. But here's the thing - Ben spends two hours every evening working on his plan and putting it into action. He's committed, and diligent. Believe me, Ben is going to get lots of visitors to his website - and convert them into paying customers - while Sally Anne is still dreaming.
Next, successful web marketing is achieved by focusing on being focused. Take Bill. He's made a plan, and he's taking action. But as he goes about the daily actions required by his plan, he gets derailed by all the emails and websites he comes across that promise easy riches, and always ends up "just having a quick look".
That "quick look" can often result in a total loss of focus on what he is supposed to be doing - which in turn results in less and less being achieved until finally he begins to believe he had the wrong plan in the first place. And so it goes on. Finnancial success WILL come to you, I promise, but only if you don't fall for the "Grass Is Greener On The Other Side of The Fence" illusion, but focus instead on taking consistent, small, daily actions towards your goal.
And, don't get distracted. Some people never seems to have time to complete all the tasks they have in their plan that require consistent action! Why Not? Because f the distractions that sneak up on them.
Take Sara, for instance. She's organised, plans ahead, and posts to a forum that specialises in her niche. Unfortunately, she can't resist catching up on other people's posts and - the precious time she had set aside for her web income work has evaporated. Fifth - keep it going. Never give up. Don't suffer the fate of many who taste success and revel in it for a short time, only to finish up right back where they started. Let me tell you about Donald (I've changed his name to spare him embarrassment). Donald produced a terrific keep fit product. It was extremely well written and supported by downloadable videos and MP3 recordings. For a while this product made him a lot of money. Unfortunately, Donald stopped there. He didn't take time to develop another source of income that would kick in when (inevitably) sales of his fitness product began to tail off. When I was a management consultant I used to explain to clients how they need to remember that their products had a life cycle, and every "Cash Cow" needed to be replaced with a "Rising Star" product.
Finally - consider outsourcing. If you've started on your plan and are taking action, you will have realised something that will hit you as you start to become more successful. There aren't enough hours in the day for you to do everything that you'd like to do!
Once you start placing real value on your time, you'll find that some things are just cheaper to get outsourced, leaving you free to spend more time doing what you do best! Why not consider getting your sales copy, maybe your websites, even your products, outsourced. You may well find that the time saved frees you up for the creative thinking needed for a successful business.
So remember - making money on the Internet is an inside job. Get your mindset right, and the rest will follow.
