How Long Will It Take To Make Money?

Posted by Lucy

I doubt there is anyone new to marketing who hasn’t asked the question “How long will it be before I make money?” We all want to believe that we can slap up a website, add a few affiliate links and watch the dough roll in. There are plenty of ads out there that proclaim people are making money while they sleep, or achieving success in a matter of hours or days.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen like that, at least not overnight. Internet marketing is far from a Get Rich Quick path.

There are a lot of factors that determine how quickly you will begin making money. One is how much time you have to devote to your goals. Someone who is able to devote full-time to their new business is probably - but not necessarily - going to succeed sooner than someone who is juggling a full-time job and single parenthood.

The quantity of time (meaning how many hours a day or days a week) you have to pursue making money is one factor. The quality of time you’re putting in is another factor. For instance, the time you devote to your business needs to be productive time. Surfing the net and repeatedly checking your email is not productive. One way to increase productivity is to write down a weekly schedule of exactly what you’re going to do each day.

Another factor that affects how long it will take before you make money is whether or not you’ve chosen the right niche. Are you working on a product that people actually want? If you take the time to find out what people want and give it to them, you will be much closer to profiting than if you are pursuing a topic of interest only to you. Keyword research will be helpful in determining what people are looking for. Another way to tell what people are looking for is by paying attention to what people are talking about in forums related to your niche. Pay particular attention to forum threads with a lot of views and comments.

Often, getting started is the hardest part. If you are brand new to internet marketing, you may find yourself reading e-book after e-book, blog after blog, searching for the one guru who has The Answer. There is no one answer. Pretty much every successful marketer began by making mistakes, some more than others. Very few sail off to instant success and riches.

Sooner or later you have to stop reading and learning and start doing. It’s ok to make mistakes. Every mistake brings you closer to succeeding. And you won’t succeed without action.

Success builds upon success. Instead of planning to make $100 a day right off the bat, set a goal of making $1 a day. Celebrate when you achieve this goal. Give yourself a pat on the back for what you’re doing right and build on it. Decide that you are going to succeed and you will. Failure is not an option. By Valerie Dansereau