The idea of making money online is a tempting one. Nothing paints a more alluring picture then sitting in the comfort of your home, without a boss, without a set schedule, with nothing more then a computer and your smarts making you money.
For a lot of people this would be a dream come true. Getting away from the day job, being your boss, making lots of money and all this while doing something you enjoy.
Because it is such a pretty picture many people have attempted to make this dream come true. First they do the research and find an approach that works for them. Fortunately there are hundreds of methods to choose from but eventually a suitable one is found. Excitement mounts as they learn more and more. Finally the day arrives and they decide to give it a try.
During the first month they are at their computer almost non stop. The newness of it all drives them forward. They turn into a working machine. They are not making any money online, but they are confident that soon they will be.
Most people do not last longer then six months. After months of working harder then they have ever worked and not making enough money to buy a coffee and a donut they quit. It is unfortunate but that is the way it is.
The reason making money is not right for a lot of people is that they do not have what it takes to succeed.
Here are four way you can tell if making money online is right for you.
1) You Are Self Motivated
Do you need a boss to tell you what to do? Some people are like that, they need a boss. Without somebody standing over them and forcing them to work they do nothing. They need the threat of being fired to motivate them. Without this external force they just fiddle their thumbs and do nothing.
To make money online you need to be self motivated because nobody is going to make you work. If you decide to watch cartoons then you will spend the day watching cartoons. Nobody will yell at you, nobody will say you are lazy, nobody will ask you what you did all day.
You need to be your own boss, you need to be your own taskmaster. The only person looking over you and forcing you to work is you. If you can motivate yourself to work on days that you do not feel like working then making money online is right for you.
2) You Are Patient
How long can you sit and watch the grass grow? A lot of the time making money online is a similar experience. Time slows down.
Checking your stats and counting your pennies everyday slows time down – days feel like weeks. On a day to day basis there is rarely any progress. Progress takes time and lots of it.
When it comes to making money online, thinking in terms of days will make you miserable and discouraged. You need to think in terms of months. Online success stories have years of hard work behind them.
It takes an immense amount of patience because you do not see the results of your work for months. For example, if you have a website and you toiled for days creating a great web page, it could takes weeks before Google even indexes it. Then it can take another few months to rise up in the search results before anybody even finds it.
Without patience you can add yourself to the list of online entrepreneurs doomed to fail.
3) You Are Persistent
The sad fact is that there are more ways to not make money online then there are ways to make money. And if you are starting out you will try the ways not to make money first. It is a learning process, a process that requires that you try and try again.
Regardless of what the get quick scheme claims you can do for only $19.99, there is no single guaranteed way to become successful. Becoming successful is trail and error. Try something and fail. Try something else and fail. You need to keep doing this till you succeed.
Thomas Edison famously said “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” He was exaggerating but the point is made. Without persistence you are not going to invent the light bulb or make money online.
4) You Are Open To Change
The Bronze Age lasted for 2100 years. A young student that put all his efforts into learning how to create bronze pots could be certain that their education will not go to waste – he can be certain that he will be using his acquired skills to make pots for the rest of his life.
Those were the good old days. Now things changes so quickly that the 600 page book you are reading about HTML will be out of date before you get to the last chapter.
You need to be nimble and in a constant state of change. Especially online where what worked last year worked only last year.
There are people that get set in their ways. They do things a specific way and keep doing it regardless if it works anymore or not. It is the way they did it in the past and it is the way they will keep doing it. They are bronze workers in the Stone Age.
Making money online means that you are always learning new things. You are always researching and adjusting your ways. When something new comes out, you learn everything you can about it, and if necessary adjust your approach to take advantage of the change. Learning, adjusting and implementing – you are open to change.
Guest author Roman Jelinek is founder and author of HowThisWebsiteMakesMoney.com. After two years of working hard online he is certainly patient and persistent.