For anyone interested in making money online, there’s ONE, huge thing I have to warn you about. Anyone starting out really needs to understand one concept that will save them a lot of money and trouble. This is something I wish I knew a LONG time ago.
I had to learn it the hard way.
To help you avoid all that trouble, I want to explain it here.
Your Mindset
The main thing to know about making money online is you must keep your sanity.
What I mean is, you need the right mindset and you need to keep your goals in mind. Doing this will help you keep your sanity.
Why?
Simply because there’s something that everyone in this industry has to deal with called “Shiny Object Syndrome” and it can drive anyone nuts.
New things are going to come by. They’re going to distract you. They’ll make big promises and they’re going to sound REALLY good – SO good that you’ll be tempted to drop what you’re doing and do something else.
How/why this works is because of copywriting and sales pitches. I’ve studied then and there are certain psychological “tricks” being used that make you want to buy. There’s a certain way to really make anyone do what you want them to do.
I’ve pulled back the curtain and I’ve seen it.
It was scary.
To know there’s that power with words is shocking.
Mostly everyone falls for it unless they know how to prevent it from happening and I found one way that works really well for me…
You have to keep busy.
If you have something you’re working on, that’s going to keep you from being interested in the next shiny object. To do that, choose a system that works and work it.
You must keep working it when:
- You’re not earning money yet
- Your friends think you’re crazy
- There aren’t many results yet
It might take 4-6 months or even a year (hopefully not that long). You must work on it while you’re building your online business. Just keep going. Don’t get distracted.
I’ve struggled with this… a lot, OK? You need to get “instant gratification” out of your head. Not everything is going to be that way and this lesson is not taught too well anymore because everything’s so convenient.
If you don’t get results right away, do not give up. Keep going.
Keep the goal in mind and focus!
But What About All Those Gurus Out There?
I actually hate the word “gurus” when it comes to internet marketing but that word is out there, so I guess we’ll use it.
There is no “push button, make money” thing out there. Sure, some are close, but they don’t tend to last.
These guys do well but guess what? They leave out the part where they struggled for 2 years before anything happened. It’s true. It’s a slow, lonely journey.
Once you get to the top, there’s lots of people there and they’re all your friends, all of a sudden, but getting there… you are on your own.
The great thing about them (I’m trying not to use that word) is that they stayed the course for the most part. It takes persistence and consistency to get there – to that place where all that work pays off.
It’s like a train on a railroad track and the engine is how much work you put in. It takes a lot of work to get that heavy train moving. But, after a while, you start to get momentum. If you keep pushing, that momentum starts working on its own. Then, it starts getting fun until all you’re doing it giving that moving train a little bit of fuel.
There’s a quote I like – I’m not sure where it’s from but it says, “Good things take time.”
Careers, marriage, kids, businesses… they all take time, 99% of the time. Sure, there are exceptions, but don’t expect to be the exception… it’s not you.
How to Get There
You must be willing to commit yourself to your side business.
That might mean:
- Waking up 2 hours early and working
- Working on weekends
- Giving up TV or movies
- Giving up some time with family and friends
Of course, do not over-work yourself. Life is about balance. Don’t get to the point where you feel guilty if you’re not working – that place sucks. Don’t go there. We need breaks. We need time to recharge. You’re actually MORE productive if you take breaks.
Think about people like farmers, who work hard all the time – they get up early, work all day, take some time in the evening to relax and then do it again the next day. You work and keep working.
Some of you work really hard, too. You work full time, have kids, and maybe a second job. I’ve been there many times in my life. You do what you have to do. Adding in something else might be really tough – I get that, but you need to build an asset – something that’ll eventually pay you back where you’re not even building it anymore because it’s already built.
If you take time and build a home to rent, you don’t have to keep building that home, right? You just rent it and maintain it.
That’s the same thing here… we’re taking time to build something, and then once it’s built, we just maintain it and it pays us all the time.
Business Tips / Housekeeping
A good tip, and something I wish I would have started a long time ago, would be to keep track of earnings each month, like in a spreadsheet. Keep track of what you pay as well – like domain names, hosting, GetResponse, etc.
And, pretty soon… consider setting up an LLC for yourself – mainly for protection and it can help with taxes.
So, Now What?
Do something! 🙂
Take the first day of your new business and write up a plan. Maybe take 2 days to do it.
- What are you going to do?
- How are you going to do it?
- How much time are you planning?
- What milestones do you want to hit?
- Where are you going to work?
It’s important to set a path. You might get it wrong the first time… the second time… the fourth time. So what? Just keep going. You’ll get there.
Ignore the shiny objects. We’re all distracted by them. Discipline yourself to delete those emails. Unsubscribe from people’s lists. Do what you have to do to STAY FOCUSED.
Get a whiteboard. You can put ideas on it, your plans, and it’s easy to access since it’s a physical board (versus online). You need to keep it where you can see it.
Get a partner or coach. Find someone else and keep each other accountable with weekly check-ins – via email or phone.
Just know that, if you work, you’ll be way farther ahead a year from now.
Yeah, this isn’t for everyone but if you want something good, it’s going to take work. There’s no way around that. Later, you do get to call it your own – whatever you build.
The best way to not get there is to do nothing and have no plan.
And then get to know some people in the industry. Networking connections will help you. I’ve made a few, key connections that I know will pay off.
If you do a product launch, you might mess it up like I did and only sell like 25 units. You know what happened when I did that? I laughed. I can be such an idiot sometimes, but hey… I learned how to do it the right way. That’s worth something to me. AND I’m now able to leverage that product as an exclusive bonus or something.
This year (2020), I’ve probably written 10 books so far. I haven’t sold many but I now have a library I can leverage.
When you spend your time doing that stuff, you gain assets. If you’re just buying everyone else’s stuff and then giving up too early, you are buying liabilities – you’re a consumer, not a producer. BE A PRODUCER and you really can’t fail.
- If you create blog posts, that content can work for you.
- If you create videos, those videos can work for you.
- If you write books, you can sell or leverage them so they work for you.
The idea is to hire lots of cheap employees – the kind you only pay once and they keep working for you – that’s videos, blog posts, books, training… whatever.
You must produce.
One of my early successes was a website directory. It took a few months to add in all the websites for my local area. But I built something. Back in the day, I was making $1500 per month with it. Some months, I wouldn’t even touch it and the money still came in.
THAT is where you need to get to. Just build something. Produce!
And I’ll leave you with that. Leave comments below if you have questions.
-Tony
