So You Want To Make Money Online

Tired of filling out surveys and opening email for a few cents a time? Spending too much time to make too little? You are probably wondering how to make real money online.

Is it even possible to make a lot of money on the internet? This is the question that many people are asking themselves.

In fact, if you tell your friends and family that you are planning to work from home making money online, they are likely to be very skeptical. They will not expect you to succeed. Some will even laugh. That can be depressing and discouraging. 

There are two things you absolutely must do if you want to succeed in working from home. One is to stay positive. This can be difficult when you have to tell friends you don't have money to go out and your family is asking if you got a job yet.  Focus as much as you can on what you are doing and network with other people online who are doing the same things as you. Online networking through forums and training memberships not only helps you to stay motivated, it is also a great way to learn.

The other is to be realistic in your expectations. Yes there are people making millions on the internet. Does that mean you can do it? Maybe. But in the same way there are people making millions from writing novels. Does that mean that if you write a novel you will instantly be a millionaire? Probably not ... it takes time, hard work and a little bit of luck.

If you want to make real money online you must operate like a business, not like a hobbyist. This means keeping records of all that you earn and spend. What you spend is just as important as what you earn. Remember, to increase your profit by $1 you can either earn an extra dollar or save a dollar.

A good way to start working online is to offer your services as a freelancer. Many people can replace their incomes this way. If you can write well, you can write articles and ebooks for more established online business people. If you know about search engine optimization, web design or programming, you can offer your services to local businesses to improve their online presence.

If you have a risk taking nature you will probably prefer to do something more entrepreneurial. This can involve owning an e-commerce online store, becoming an eBay power seller, promoting other people's products as an affiliate, or even building websites for yourself.

If there is something that you do not know how to do, you can learn as long you have an interest in the subject. So pick something that relates to your previous experience, aptitudes and skills ... and make sure that it interests you, because there will be no boss to crack the whip over your head. Enjoy your work and you will find out for yourself how to make real money online.

One of the best ways I believe to start makine money online can be achieved in 3 steps:

1. Establish an online presence. Initially this can be achieved through a free blogging website such as Blogger, and then when you have built up a little confidence and some funds, you can move on to a self-hosted blog with Wordpress for example. I have created a free report 5 Steps To A Successful Niche Blog which you can download here. This will start you off in the right direction and what's more you are welcome to give it away as a freebie from your own blog.

2. Drive traffic to your site. This can be achieved through a number of free methods, such as social bookmarking, bum marketing, forum signatures amongst others. if you would like to find out more check out The 10 Stage Traffic Method, for many additional free methods.

3. Build your list. It is never to soon to start this and it will make a huge difference to your ability to make money moving forward. A great resource to learn howto create a highly responsive list is List Sneakiness.

This is just one method, but if you are just starting out I would suggest that rather than going in a million different directions, and thereby diluting your efforts, you follow the 3 point plan and actually start to build some success. It was only when I stopped rushing madly from activity to activity and actually followed this through and built one site and then subsequently more, that I started making some serious money. You can do it too.