Trying to make money online is a curious thing. You get started because of a website or an email that promises you overnight riches. You know that can’t really happen, but you hope for it anyway. So you purchase this traffic program and that list building how-to, always hoping that the next one will contain the magic fairy dust that will whisk you away from your day job and onto some tropical island where you sip pina coladas all day while pulling in thousands in passive income.
Are you done dreaming?
If you have been online for more than a week then you most likely already know everything you need to know to start making money online. Understanding what you need to do isn’t the hard part. The hard part is looking past all the crap that will stand in the way of you and your paycheck. If you learn to recognize distractions and avoid them, you will find your path to success much smoother. Here are three major roadblock to your [tag]internet business[/tag] success:
Information Overload
You’ve heard this term so many times that it has most likely lost its meaning. The problem is, it really is one of the biggest obstacles you will face when trying to find your online passion. For anyone not following, [tag]information overload[/tag] is exactly what it sounds like: an overload of information. Too many tactics, methods and miracles are thrown at you at once. So what do you do? If you are like most people, then you either do all of them or none of them. They key is to figure out what works and dedicate all your energy to it.
I can’t tell you how much time I wasted my first eight months of [tag]blogging[/tag] jumping from one tactic to the next. One day I was dedicated to building a profitable list, but the next I got an email about a super-secret traffic building method that I just had to try. It wasn’t until I really and truly focused on a few hard-tested methods that I began to see any results.
The very worst thing you can do in the beginning is sign up for too many Giveaway Events. I thought those were the coolest things ever – all that free software and information just waiting to be downloaded! I literally have thousands of products I have downloaded from giveaway events and there is really only a handful that I have ever even read, let alone profited from. I’m not saying giveaway events aren’t great, they definitely have their place. In fact, I highly recommend contributing to them when you are ready to build your list or start driving traffic to a site. But if you are spending all your time downloading products, then I guarantee you aren’t building your business.
You will find a lot of advice out there on how to avoid information overload. The Crooked Gurus (not all gurus are crooked!) will try to sell you information products that will teach you how to avoid information overload. They play into fear and confusion, taking advantage of poor newbies and desperate folks who can’t seem to make that first online dollar. Don’t buy anything for awhile!
My advice is to read successful blogs for a bit. You need to find a few bloggers or internet marketers that you can relate to; who you feel you can trust. The Good Gurus will give you a lot of great information for free. You don’t need to pay to learn how to make money online. Save your money for software that will help you succeed like Build a Niche Store and Link Luv Post Builder. One of the best things about the internet is that you really can make money without spending any, you just have to find the right information and do the work.
Wasting Your Time with “Sales Blogs”
There is a breed of blog out there I like to refer to as “sales blogs”. This is the type of blog that has post after post trying to sell you different products. Whether the blogger is trying to sell you his/her own [tag]information products[/tag] or a bunch of others, you are wasting your time reading this type of blog. These guys will not give anything away for free because they either (a) don’t really know how to make money online aside from hawking crap internet marketing products or (b) they save all the worthwhile information for their own crap internet marketing products.
You will notice that I rarely endorse products here at Pajama Professional and I do not market my own information products either. To me, the blogosphere is a community built on give and take. Sure, I keep certain things private – like specific Adsense sites and stuff like that. But as far as tactics for making money online, I am an open book and have no plans to sell information any time soon. There are many other bloggers out there who feel as I do, you just need to find the ones that speak to you.
If you feel like you are reading the same old tired sales pitches over and over again then I recommend you start off by subscribing to the feeds and reading through the archives at: Court’s Internet Marketing School, Blogger Unleashed and, if you are interested in affiliate marketing (and you should at least check it out)Super Affiliate Tips. These blogs are full of straight-forward, honest information and these guys won’t try to sell you shit. In fact, they will rarely try to sell you anything at all unless it is something which they truly believe will help you succeed.
Waiting for the Easy, Overnight Plan
You won’t truly [tag]succeed online[/tag] until you completely give up that dream of making $10,000 by next week. If even a tiny slice of you believes that there is some sort of internet “lottery” business, you will waste your time searching. I assure you, this search is entirely futile – unless you do in fact win some sort of online lottery. Any product or software that promises to make you rich with no work on your part is complete shit. I don’t even have to look at it to know that it won’t make you any money this week. Or next week. Or any week.
Making money online is just the same as any business in the beginning. You have to go in with your eyes open, realizing that you must work in order to be successful. I know that it’s hard to give up this dream of “passive” income, but there really is no such thing. You have to have one of two things to succeed online: time or money. You can buy your way to success (by investing, outsourcing a blog, etc.) or you can work your way to success – sounds drearily like the “real” world, doesn’t it? The road to making money online is challenging, but it is very rewarding and (at least for me) a lot of fun.
I’m really not here to piss on anyone’s parade, I just feel so bad for newbies who jump from one “instant moneymaker” to the next. Slow down, learn some tactics and put the time in to build a real business. Scammers are counting on you to keep the dream alive so they can sell you more worthless shit. Just say no. Open your eyes, face the facts and start working for it. I promise that first Google Adsense check or affiliate commission check will feel awesome because you know how hard you worked for it. And the first one really is the hardest. [tag]Making money online[/tag] can be a lot of fun, but if you keep dreaming of easy, overnight riches you will only become disgruntled, distracted and, ultimately, discouraged.
The internet is filled with wonderful distractions and the things I mentioned here are just the tip of the iceberg. With Web 2.0 (and 3.0 soon to come, whatever that is exactly) you can waste your time in nearly unlimited, vastly customizable and mind-blowingly interactive ways. From Twitter to Second Life to an overflowing feed reader, you could spend days online and not do anything truly productive. However, if you know ahead of time what lies between you and success, you may be able to avoid the roadblocks and reach your online business goals.
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