So you have made the decision to earn money online. Congratulations! This could have a positive impact on your life.
Could? I know, I can’t say it will have a positive impact on your life.
The truth is that you need to be careful and keep in mind that you are building an online business.
If you are not ready for an online business, there are plenty of ways you can earn extra money.
I see too many people making mistakes when they start their journey to earn money online.
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Let’s see..
You Don’t Know What to Do.
So you’ve heard that you can make money online. There is just so much to choose from: dropshipping, email marketing, affiliate marketing, freelancing, blogging, becoming an influencer, etc.
What happens is that most people jump right into something they have no knowledge of. Oh wait, that’s the normal part.
The real problem is that they don’t take the time to analyze all the available options.
Maybe you have seen an ad on Facebook or YouTube with people making money selling mugs of running Facebook ads.
You may think to yourself: hey, that seems like a good way to earn money! And then you jump right in.
Please don’t do that.
Take the time to read about a couple options. There are hundreds, so focus on a few that seem interesting to you.
Here is a list of side hustles from Entrepreneur
Once you have chosen a few, you go on YouTube and you watch some videos. Make sure you also check videos from people having struggles with earning money online.
You can learn a lot from them and you can make a better decision.
Not Getting a Proper Training
That’s another mistake people make.
What happens is that you end up paying too much for something that’s not worth it or you end up wasting hours watching YouTube videos and trying to figure out everything on your own.
Aim for the step-by-step training that will help you learn everything and help you feel less overwhelmed.
You can find free training, paid training and expensive training. Find someone who has been doing what you are interested in for many years and who keeps earning money from that method.
What happens now is that a lot of people selling online courses on how to make money online are earning most of their money from the course.
It shouldn’t be the case.
If the method they are teaching really works, they should always be making more money from that method, not from their course.
Which leads to the next thing to avoid.
The Shiny Object Syndrome
The what now?
The shiny object syndrome. You know, when you start doing something but then you hear about something else that can earn you even more money than what you are actually working on…
That, you want to avoid.
Why? Because it will be harder for you to get results if you start a new project every month.
For every method, there are some things to learn. For every method, there will be a time when you will be asking yourself if what you are doing will eventually give you results.
To tell you the truth, most of what you will learn will come back to two main ways of making money online: running ads and growing an email list.
No matter if you are selling Kindle books, dropshipping, selling your online course or blogging, it all comes to these two things.
Every successful business has an active email list.
You can’t run away from it.
If you are serious about making money online, you will have to build, grow and maintain an email list.
Stay away from people who tell you that you don’t need an email list.
They are lying.
The day any of your social media accounts get blocked or banned, for any reason, you lose everything. EVERYTHING.
Your email list is a backup plan. Use it wisely.
You may be interested in reading my article on the fake gurus industry.
Next up we have:
Not Having a Niche
That’s something I see all the time when people just jump into the first thing they see that could potentially make them earn money.
They have no idea what they want to help people with.
You want to take some time to think about what you like and what you have more knowledge on than most people.
Something that you can easily have credibility for.
What is it that you are good at? Something that you have been doing for years. Something you would like to share with people to help them solve their problems.
That will be your starting point. Once you have figured out what you enjoy and you want to share with the world, now you can choose the way you want to share.
The first thing you want to do is to see if there are products related to the niche you’ve picked.
When there are, it’s a good sign.
It means people are buying. People are spending money to solve their problem.
Plus, it also means that you could become an affiliate for these products/services and earn commissions.
I’ve written an article about the most common questions on niches. You can read it here.
Starting as an affiliate is great. You get to learn all the basics you need to eventually build your own products and run your own company.
Doing it For the Money
At last but not least, doing it for the money. Don’t get me wrong, everyone who is doing something online wants to earn money.
But it cannot be the only reason you are doing it.
It won’t last.
It takes time before you get to see some results. Especially if you are taking the organic traffic route (no paid traffic).
I did mention in my most recent articles that it can take up to ONE YEAR before you get to see real traffic on your website. So bloggers, be aware.
For most methods, don’t expect anything for the first 3 months. You know, you have stuff to learn first.
Oh! You need money fast? Don’t start online unless you are teaching a language and you are getting paid right away.
Even then, it can take some time before you get students.
If you need money fast, there are plenty of ways that will get you money faster than trying some new scheme online.
There are so many scammers out there just waiting for your money.
The more desperate you are, the easier it is for them to scam you. I wrote an article about some scams. You can read it here.
Be careful.
The worst time to start your business is when you are totally broke. Think of an online business as another source of income.
It shouldn’t be your main source of income as a beginner, unless you have all the time in the world to work on it and no money problems.
Another problem with doing it for the money is that you won’t feel satisfied with what you are doing.
If doing it for the money was good enough, I firmly believe that more people would like their jobs.
So if you are never truly satisfied with what you are doing, guess what will happen…
The shiny object syndrome.
And then what? The lack of results and the frustration of feeling like you are working your butt off for no results.
And then you quit.
I wrote an article on motivation, the loss of motivation. Read it here.
How about doing it for fun? Or doing it to really help people who are struggling? Maybe doing it to give money to charity?
What is that money going to change in your life? How is it going to improve it? Will you be able to help even more people?
What’s your reason?
In Conclusion
Get to know what you are getting into.
Do some research and make sure you are making the best decision for yourself.
Don’t get distracted by the new thing that will make you earn thousands while asleep. That doesn’t happen overnight. Unless you win the lottery.
Becoming an online entrepreneur is not for everyone. There are still many options for you out there if you decide it’s not for you.
If you do decide this is for you: Welcome aboard!
Cynthia