Most articles you read about making money online are written by people who have already made (or claimed to have made) money lots of money online. They provide a smart website with them (or somebody a bit prettier than them!) Sitting in a smart car, on a foreign holiday or outside a luxurious house. The problem for most of us mortals is working out if they are telling the truth and if they are, how they got there.
Some background about me so that you can see where I am coming from. I am married and have three lovely children. I have a beautiful house (not the result of my labs, but more the result of benevolent parents who decided to provide an early inheritance so that their grandchildren could have a better standard of life now rather than later). I have a great job as a mortgage advisor. I love the work, but anyone who has not been on a different planet for the last year will be aware of the credit crunch, and the impact it has had. The direct impact on my income has been significant, so like any husband or father who wants the best for his family, I am exploring the options available to me.
In addition, I do not like the idea of being subject to employers and market forces. I like the idea of being able to receive an income "automatically" on an ongoing basis. I also like the idea of being able to take my kids to school, play football, go to their school shows – you get the picture!
A couple of months ago I decided to take a look at internet marketing, home-based business – whatever you want to call it. Since then, I have spent many hours looking at various things and have tried to focus more on learning skills rather than making money now. In the past I have looked at get rich quick schemes. The trouble is, I have often related "get rich quick" with "no effort required" and have lost interest when the money did not come pouring in straightaway as promised.
You may be reading this article hoping that I have all the answers – sorry to disappoint you, I do not! What I am looking to do instead is share my journey – what works and what does not. I want to share about what I have found really useful and what has been a complete waste of time.
I have learned quite a lot, but I have not pieced it all together yet. I have concluded that there are probably hundreds of ways to make money online, but in many cases, it is not the method that holds me back, but my lack of perseverance and dedication.
One of the very first programs I discovered is called Profit Lance. I was reading an article about a bunch of anoraks who had searched about 25 different money making schemes and had concluded that only 2 worked, one of which was Profit Lance, from which they made between $ 5,000 – $ 10,000 in less than a month! I decided to have a look at it and what I liked about it was that the guy makes it extremely clear that he is not touting a get rich quick scheme. His honesty may have lost him a few sales, but I'm sure in the long term that he would get many more referrals from satisfied customers.
I decided to sign up for it and my credit card was debited $ 77. I was then given access to an online members area with ebooks, videos, tutorials and even a few websites that had been set up and ready to go. The truth is that I have not finished reading everything yet, but there are projects to help you learn, some of which I have carried out.
The guys makes it very clear that learning the skills is more important than making instant cash, because in the long term you will be better off. One of the first concepts that he deals with is affiliate marketing – this is where you can promote someone else's products and get paid up to 75% of the commission for doing so. There is a website called Clickbank, which is full of these kinds of products. He talks you through the many ways you can promote products.
Over the next few days and weeks I am going to share how I am getting on, what is working, what is not working, what I've managed to get for free, what has cost me money. I have decided that I want financial freedom more than financial bondage. I know this is going to cost me time, effort and maybe some cash, but I am going to achieve it.
I will try to write an article as often as I can, so please join me in my journey!
Dean