Whenever I log in to Facebook nowadays, I get a distinct sense of déjà vu. It’s the same old stuff every day. This is particularly true with the images and videos that are shared. It usually goes like this: an image is shared, a few days later it is shared by someone else, a week later it is shared by someone else, a month later it is shared by someone else.
One image that I see time and time again is the one with two miners digging for diamonds. One man gives up just before reaching the treasure, however the other man is hungry for success and keeps on digging eagerly. It’s the one image that still has meaning for me when I see it on Facebook, as it perfectly explains the mistake that most people are making online.
People give up too easily. They are rarely in it for the long haul, and lose motivation when they do not see results in weeks. This is particularly true in the blogging world. The vast majority of people who start blogs give up within a few months. Many abandoned, many find their way onto website trading websites such as Flippa.
In an indirect way, this has kind of helped my own career. Most blogs being sold on Flippa have little traffic and no income. Successful blogs that make a profit are rarely sold there, therefore when I listed my old blogs for sale, I got very good prices for them.
What I have realised after working online for so many years, is that everyone wants success, however only a small percentage of people are willing to work hard to reach their goal.
After a few months of working online, it becomes apparent that it requires hard work to be successful. This is the point which separates the strong from the weak. Some persevere, others start looking for shortcuts. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts to success. You are not going to make a good living through the internet unless you work hard every week.
So my advice to those of you who want to make money online is this:
- Don’t try and game the system.
- Don’t try and cheat Google (and other search engines).
- Focus on building a good website that people want to visit.
- Focus on releasing high quality products that people will want to buy.
- Don’t spend more time on forums and social media websites that updating your own website.
If you follow this advise, I have no doubt you will make money online. Don’t lose your motivation and look for an easy way out. Forums such as WarriorForum are full of people who regularly buy software that promises to do the hard work for them (autoblog, spam software). They also spend half their time and money buying books that show you how to make thousands per month from only a few hours per week. Don’t fall into that trap. Remember, if something seems to good to be true, it inevitably is.
Marge: Homer, tell your child what you bought when I sent you to town to get some insurance.
Homer: Curse you magic beans!
Marge: Oh, stop blaming the beans.
I know a lot of you are new to working online and are still trying to build up a regular income. I’m in the same boat (in a way). After selling my main website last year and then drastically reducing my workload for six months to travel South America, I am in the process of building my portfolio back up.
Don’t get disheartened. I can tell you from experience that your hard work will soon pay off. Some websites take a year or more to start bringing in good money. So I encourage you all to persevere and continue to work hard on your website. Success will come.
Good luck,
Kevin