Your credibility is the single most important thing you have as a marketer. Consider all the fluff and other unmentionables that pass for marketing on the Internet these days and you will not have to wonder why. Anyone looking to earn extra money online has to make personal credibility the first pursuit.

************************************************************************************************ The truth is that not everyone has integrity. Personal integrity is a combination of experience, qualification, intelligence, and skill. The most crucial component that creates credibility however are your personal integrity or honesty.

If you are trying to earn extra money online, you have to stop, take stock of what you are doing and decide which one do you want more, money or credibility. If you choose money, it means that you will be happy to become one of the shady dealers who hide behind false email addresses and steal other people's money. I get email from crooks like these every day.

The love of money is the root of all evil. That is certainly true. Once you start searching online for a way to earn extra money, you will be bombarded by many offers that sound really good. It is quite easy to become intoxicated by any of these offers and find yourself promoting something that is less than honest. So how do you protect yourself?

The simple answer is the best answer. You have to decide that you will be honest to yourself and everyone else before you even begin to start any type of online business. In fact, your stance for personal honesty must be resolute. There must be no compromise, not even for a moment. There is a good reason for this. Look at it this way.

If you are not sure that you want to compromise your integrity for money, and you have to stop and really think about it, you will be in trouble. Easy money should not be a reason to question your integrity or your credibility because once you lose it, you will never get it back. One fellow whom I admired very much stole about US$600.00 from me by way of unpaid bills. This was over twelve years ago. Do you think it did his credibility any good?

The next person you try to sell anything to online, will be depending on you to sell him or her product or service of sterling quality. If you cannot stand by the product yourself, then do not sell it. Although you may never personally use every product you will ever sell, at the very least you should do a little research and find out about the person or the company behind the product. Do you trust them? Will they stand by their word regarding refunds, rebates, etc.

Personal credibility is context-dependent. This means that you may have expertise, experience, and skill or intelligence in a certain area but are a total dummy in others. Nothing is wrong with that. If you are not an expert in one field, then it is ok to work with someone who is an expert. But you better make sure that this is a person of integrity because if they go down in a disgraceful heap, so will you.

So your credibility is really your reputation. It is the way other people see you even if the only thing they know about you is your name. When people hear your name or see it in a forum, on a blog, or other website, do they cringe? If you have your integrity intact, congratulations! In order to earn extra money online, and build any type of sustainable business, you are going to need it.

Anthony Chambers is an expert writer and marketer. For a limited time he is offering some cool resources that will help you bring 72,000 qualified visitors to your favorite website at no cost at all. Earn Money Online