If you are new to the online world of money making, specifically affiliate marketing, then this post is for you. And if you're wondering why you are struggling to make money online then please read on.

If you have been online for a while and nothing seems to be happening then this post will also be of interest to you. In this post I will share with you my experiences of trying to make a buck online and the long road it has taken, along with the sacrifices as well.

There is no denying it. It will take work from you, a lot of hard work actually. You will learn a lot and write a lot as you build your site.

You've probably heard other people say it and read it from other bloggers. But unless you start on your own site and build it out then you really won't know what this means.

You will need to experience it!

There will be sacrifices that you will need to make and these, (or some of these), will be inevitable.

I do urge you though to every now and then stick your head up and see what's happening around you. Otherwise life will pass you by.

And importantly, spend time with your family. Reassure them that you haven't forgotten about them. Tell them why they do mean so much to you.

And also tell them why this website and this business of yours matters and what difference that it can make to your lives.

• Lack of sleep as you either get up early before work or go to bed late after a long day and work on your site.
• Miss out on trips to the shops, to the park, or wherever with family.
• Maybe you will miss an important family event, or any event in general for that matter.
• Socializing with friends.
• Give up other activities that you are interested in.
• Not knowing what's going on in the world.

There are probably more sacrifices that you can think of that could be added to this list. The important thing to note is that there will be sacrifices that you will need to make.

So take time to consider what matters to you and what you will miss out on as you will not be able to get that time back.

One thing that I have learned from building my site is patience. You won't get rich straight away with affiliate marketing, (unless you're really lucky).

But if you have determination and commitment then it will work for you.

It takes time to build a site and to get yourself recognized by the Internet world. You just need to remind yourself why you are doing this and to have faith.

• Want to quit your job.
• Make more money than your job.
• Pay for things that you have always dreamed off, such as holidays, cars, etc.
• Tired of commuting.
• Spend time with your family.

While I was waiting for my site to kick off I reminded myself of these reasons. This helped me to push on with my dreams of making money online.

When I was frustrated with the lack of visitors and money coming in I reminded myself of a famous saying. And that saying was:

Rome was not built in a day.

And that is so true for your site as well. Just think to yourself would people really take an interest in a site that has just started to get off the ground? Would people go into a bare shop in the high street that has just opened?

Probably not!

And this is where it will take time. It will take time for you to design your blog or site the way that you want it. It will take time to write posts, get comments and get a following.

When you do get momentum going and write more and more posts then Google will start to recognize your efforts. You will then start to get more prominent rankings.

And this will ultimately lead to more and more visitors and money coming through.

You want a site that will appeal to people. Your site's appearance is therefore a factor that you must consider when it comes to making money online.

Would anyone want to spend time on a site that is poorly designed, has poor English and grammar, small font, etc, etc.

No they wouldn't!

So you need to design a site that is not only engaging but has content that will help your visitors. You will need to learn how to design such a site and this is something that requires hard work from you.

You also don't want to drive your visitors away by selling, selling, selling to them. Remember you are there to help, not sell.

No one will want to buy from a site that is ramming these selling messages down visitors throats.

Another reason why you don't want to be trying to sell is because this is frowned upon by Google. Google doesn't take too kindly on people with this mentality and your rankings will suffer.

I must admit that I did get carried away and put in way too many affiliate links in my posts. And thus I paid the price as my rankings and visitors fell.

I only did this because I too was getting frustrated with the lack of sales. And so I thought that if I put in as many opportunities for people to buy through me then this would help.

Little did I think at the time that these actions would cost me dearly. It did take many, many months for my site's trust to be regained and to get my visitors back.

Maybe I should have started off this post with this question. But anyways let's move on.

Your site needs to be informative but also stand out from the competition. Ask yourself what does your site offer that is different from all the rest? Can you give a unique spin on your site.

For example, with my genealogy site, The Genealogy Guide, I give guides and tips on how to research your family tree. No different from other sites you may say but I give my own views and opinions from my personal experiences.

With this approach people can also relate to me and what I have gone through to find my ancestors. From this I can then gain trust from my visitors. And then ultimately this trust will transfer to sales through reviews of relevant genealogy products and services.

I have covered many topics in this post as to why you are struggling to make money online. I hope that you heed my advice and take note of what I have said.

Yes it will take time. It will take hard work from you.

But if you are committed to this and you are willing to put in the work and learn along the way then you can earn a lot from affiliate marketing. How much though depends on your goals and what products and services you review on your site.

So I wish you all the best and I hope that I have given you both the encouragement and inspiration that you need to push on.