In this post, I am going to cover a topic that I get asked about all the time – “How long does it take to make money online?” – “I want to make money quick, what’s the best way?” You may be fooled by this title and think that this is a negative post, but it is quite the opposite in fact. I want to inspire you to hang in there and make your first buck online!
The Expectations
Most, if not all, people who come online, looking to make money, assume that it will happen quickly and easily. They read a lot of exaggerated articles online and in the papers about online millionaires who made their millions overnight, etc.
Newbie affiliate marketers, including myself when I first started, will fall victim to the “Make $2,000 per day” sales pitches and it will take a long time before they truly understand why their question “How To Make Money Online In 4 weeks” is never answered.
But don’t be disheartened – the answer is really quite simple. Not necessarily easy, but simple.
The Reality
The truth of the matter is, and you will hear me say this in many of my posts, making money online takes time, and it is a long term commitment.
The difference between one person who fails and one that succeeds are quite simple. Many people take the human element out of the process of making an online business because they only think about the money and how soon it will come.
You have to forget about the concept of “When will I earn money??” and focus on learning the process of giving value to your readers by knowing your niche and writing quality content.
You need to think immediately that this is a long-term business plan, not something you are “just gonna try and if it doesn’t make money then forget it” Running a business and not making money in the first 6 months is totally normal and you need to get in the mindset that creating a website takes time.
Nothing In Life Comes That Easy
Think about it, nothing else in life comes that easy. College, starting a career and getting a pay rise at work – all these things take time and turning your passion into an online business is no different.
By having the attitude of thinking short term you are cutting yourself short because you will give up and move on to the next “idea” before you have had a chance to make it work.
The problem here is that unless you change your mindset, then you will keep jumping from one thing to the next because you never give anything a chance to work. There are many programs out there which “do work”, but they won’t show results for the first few months – PATIENCE is the key!
It Is Easier Than You Think – The Irony!
The irony of this whole scenario is that creating a website that makes an income is not that hard – when you compare it to others things in life like college or chasing a stressful 9-5 office career. There really is not much to it once you learn the nitty gritty behind making a website and the technical side of it all.
You can make money online in a relatively short amount of time (roughly 6 months) with;
- no experience what-so-ever
- very little investment
- with no boss or schedule
- no irritating co-workers and stress
Why Do People Not Make Money Online
The reality is that most people give up and fail simply because they are not patient enough – NO OTHER REASON.
They have the knowledge within their niche to make a success of it, and they also have great artistic and technical knowledge of WordPress. Yet, because the first sale or commission doesn’t come within the first 2 weeks they immediately jump ship and blame the Internet for ripping them off?!
Well, that’s not the attitude to have and if you are reading this and thinking “Yeah, that sounds like me!” then you should read this post again and let everything sink in.
What To Take From This Little Rant?
Well, accept the fact that making money online will take some time – although, it will take a lot less time the conventional routes of job training and universities. Making a living online has it’s own challenges, but once you grasp the basics, it really isn’t that difficult. It is a lot less demanding than let’s say, a plumber or a waitress. You get to be your own boss, and the scalability is, in theory, endless!
Think of it this way. In 6 months from now; would you rather be earning $500 per month and growing? Or would you rather quit after 1 month because – “It’s not working right away, AHH!” and be broke and frustrated because nothing you try ever works?
I will leave it with you to think about. You are probably a smart enough person to see there is logic in this. Here is another post I wrote about
Here is another post I wrote about how long it takes to make money online. Make sure you check it out if you are serious about making it online!
I would love to hear your opinions and experiences on this topic, please do leave a comment below if you would like to have your say!
I agree with you that you have to get it out of your mind, when you will make money and have your focus on how can I provide my readers with value so they keep coming back for more.
It’s easy to lose heart after a few months when things aren’t going as you expect but you are right when you say that you have to be in it for the long haul.
I’m learning now that it’s taking much persistence and patience, but I would rather be saying 6 months from now that I’m earning $500 a month and growing rather than quit after another month.
You’ve written a very good informative post here.
It is all about mindset and attitude like you say. The difference between success and failure is mostly down to attitude rather than skill level, at least most of the time.
Patience and some more patience is needed to make a living from the Internet.
Hi Philip
I must say that of all the blogs I went through today yours was the most interesting an motivating.
I like the fact that you made it very clear that earning your first commission online may not come instantaneously but it will certainly come if you only exercise patience.
I’m one of those people that are currently not making any money online, and I was kind of growing weary as to when will I be able to make my first commission…
BUT your post motivated me to keep going forward and it has also filled my heart with hope.
-THANKS FOR SUCH A WONDERFUL POST…it has inspired me with renewed zeal. 🙂
I am glad you found this post useful – means it is serving it’s purpose.
Making money online does take time but, like I said in this post, it takes much less time than most things in life. Which makes it even more frustrating thing when you see so many people quit the blogging life before it even begins!
Great article and some excellent points here.
Why should making money online be easy? it is not easy in the real world is it? We have to get up, go to work, be productive and get paid for our skills.
The online world is no different.
These programs offering you the opportunity to make fast cash are scams. Something good takes time and effort.
Thanks for this! Appreciated!
Chris
You are quite right – making money online does take time. However, there are so many benefits to making your living online that it is easy to see why it is so popular.
Just a shame so many people see the need to take advantage of newbies and give Internet marketing a bad name. Nothing in life comes easy, but I would say making money online is easier than most professions out there.
I agree with all your points which you have posted. Earning money online isn’t easy. A lot of hard work, dedication and time are involved in creating a quality website.
Many people want things fast and when they don’t see it within a month or so, they gave up and jump to another plan. With this kind of attitude, they will hardly earn any money online.
Thank you for sharing this motivational post. I have bookmarked your page and looking forward to see more contents from you!
There is nothing more disheartening when I see someone give up too fast. I have spoken to many people about this before and most of them give up just as their blogs are about to break the Google sandbox and increase in traffic.
But that’s the way it goes I suppose. All walks of life has people drifting in and out of them like that.
Hi there, I love your article. I am the one who chose the option to stick with the business no matter what. I am happy for being patient. It took me 8 month to earn my first dollar. And when that happened, I knew I was on the right path. After just 5 months, I was making $200/month consistently. Ok, I can’t quit my job just yet, but the important thing here is to go through the process and learn what works and what doesn’t.
So, I can’t agree more with everything you said. Time and commitment are key to success.
All the best
Stefan
With time comes success. Making money online as a newbie is incredibly easy in many respects because the process to rank in Google is relatively straight forward and it is a case of rinsing and repeating.
It is the human element which usually, in my experience, is the biggest obstacle. People want to take short cuts and cut out the waiting time which ALWAYS ends in failure, either Google finds out and lowers your rank or the “method” you used in incredibly unreliable and expensive.
Stick to what you learn at places like Wealthy Affiliate and the rest will come with time.
Hi there! I just finished reading your article about making money online and thought I would share my thoughts with you!
I have been working online for quite a few years now and I totally agree with what you are saying here. I was one of those people that you are talking about here that fell for the make money fast hype and the talk of making thousands every day. I now know its all a load of rubbish.
Of course there are those people that do make a lot of money online. But when you understand fully how the whole “make money online” thing works, you start to realize that you can do it, but it takes a lot of work to get there.
I think it was at about the 6 month mark when I first made my first sale. But it was another month before I saw another! A lot of people would have quit at that point and I know a lot of people that have given up way sooner than that. The key is to keep at it and to keep moving forward no matter what!
Absolutely! Too many people quit just as they are about to start making a nice residual income. I think one thing beginner affiliate marketers forget is that once your Google authority grows and those sales start coming in, the snowball effect comes pretty quick and things start to really move!
Really good and refreshingly honest post, thank you! I read your blog and can relate to many of your comments about being stung by get rich quick schemes and seeing earning money online as an easy win. I’ve had to change my mindset, and whilst I still have wavering confidence from time to time, posts like this help remind me why I’m putting the effort in.
Cheers,
Mike
It can be good to reassure yourself sometimes. I have certain blogs and authors I go to when I am losing focus or need a “pep talk”. I will re-read certain blog posts simply to reassure myself that I am doing the right thing whenever things get a bit tough., making money online takes time, especially as a beginner.
There’s so much truth to this post. It’s certainly not quick or easy starting an online business, but it is a simple process. You just need to be determined and stick at it. You can only get out what you put in. Any work you put in now will pay off later!
Thanks for the encouragement. I really needed to read this, I admit that I do get a bit disheartened sometimes.
It can be tricky to stay focused, especially when you have a busy life away from the computer. Living the online lifestyle is definitely a nice one but people do think it is easier than it looks.
It is like anything else, takes a bit of adjusting and tenacity. Hang in there and keep writing!
Great rant!
You offer some good food for thought. It’s true that it takes time and patience to be successful making money online.
Like you say, a lot of people fail only because they give up too soon. If you apply yourself, it is not hard to see the money you would like.
Thanks for the great article!
Thank you for this post. This is exactly the mind set that people need to secure a good future for themselves!
I am currently trying to make my own website that will make money for me in the future and really hoping that all of these efforts will pay off in the future!
Also, when I saw your logo and web page I couldn’t help but crack up! I love it! I will definitely be following this blog moving forward. Do you recommend any particular service or method for people like me who are trying to grow their own online business?
If you hang in there and keep writing then you will make it. The speed of progress can also depend of niche competitiveness and keyword selection. However, the majority of it will be if you are patient enough to let success find you.
If you need help finding out how to create a profitable blog then I recommend Wealthy Affiliate. I have written a few reviews about them and I do use them personally.
All the best!
Hello,
thank you for sharing in-depth article about expectations of making money online. I agree with you, most of people just does not have patience to succeed online. Making money online takes time and commitment, but if people follow the process they realize it is not hard at all. It is all about the proper mindset.
Best regards
Karlo
Good post. It addresses the commen misconception that money is easy and quick to make online. In reality it takes a lot of time and effort to start earning money. I didn’t start earning anything till about 6 months. It might even take longer than that for some people. How long have you been in the online marketing business your self?
I’m at about 7 months so some of the best is yet to come.
It has been a few years for me now – seems a lot longer! lol! If you are 7 month in then you are at the sweet spot when traffic increases and things should start to happen. Once again, the important thing is to keep writing. Google needs to see continuous content coming up on your site to maintain the trust.
This is a very informative site, I like the post. I have used many useless courses and there is a lot of junk out there.
Maybe some of the times I was also a Slacker, not giving it a chance, though I must say the programs I used before weren’t that good, a lot of money for low value, is there maybe another program you could recommend that actually does work Effectively? Thanks for the effort you put it.
Mark.
The only service I recommend is Wealthy Affiliate – worth a look if you want to learn how to make money online. It is undortunate that so many people get caught out by the scams out there because they assume that making money online is quick and easy.
Once they are burnt they assume that all Internet marketing is a scam and so they lose the chance to really find value. If only people knew that with patience and a good idea, you can turn any niche or topic into a glorious online business.
Hey Philip,
I can actually relate to you when you said that people who are new online expect to earn money fast. I was like that once and I keep on hoping that I’ll make money continuously even after a few months but I never did.
That mindset ruined everything and in the online world, its the same as the brick and mortar business world – Effort counts and there’s no shorcuts to success.
Love your article, I wish I had come across this sooner last time when I first started. Thanks for taking the time to write this!
This is the hardest thing about trying to make a living online. I too wanted to get rich quick in the beginning but I think it is just part of the learning curve.
You have to get burnt a few times before you understand what the process is like. Unfortunately, most people don’t stick around long enough to find out what happens after you cross the initial hurdles of the Internet marketing world.
I do remember reading a few posts here and there when I first started and some of them did mention that I had to be patient, but I did not listen! lol!
I guess in many ways it is like the real world such as love, relationships and work – you can only learn from your mistakes. Brush yourself off and start again!
Philip,
Very good post on peoples’ expectations and why making money online is not ‘get rich quick’. I agree that too many people give up early, it is a journey, and the tortoise always wins! Internet millionaires(their words!) know how to market well, and always advertise promises that are not reality! They still get their money, as newbies don’t know any better, and still have lots of learning to do.People will always respond to ‘thousands per month in 3 months or less’ ad’s.
That’s the problem with the “Make $1,000 per day” sales videos because they are just so tempting. These sales pages are tailored to convince you and even though, your better judgement says -“This is too good to be true!” you just can’t help but try them out.
I have tried those kind of products, when I first started, and I did genuinely believe they would work! It is the best way to learn though, I think. Get burnt early and learn from it, that’s what I say.
After spending a year in the online marketing world, I’ll say it’s pretty possible to make some money in 4 weeks. But that comes in a very high risk that most people ended up losing thousands ithan gaining.
The way that you suggested, building websites and stuff, is a better way, although it takes time to build up traffic and conversion.
Hi Philip,
I admit that I was one of the guys who wanted to make money as fast as possible. But I did not quit. I do not know the reason why I wanted to keep trying, however, a friend of mine who started the same time with me he gave up.
I think that when you starting a new effort it is quite hard to continue without any results especially when you expect an easy process.
Yeah, the start is the hardest. I doing anything without any results is hard because there is no feedback. No one sees what you are doing and so it is incredibly difficult to keep focus on your blog.
It is incredibly important to keep writing and hang in until you start to see results. It may take 12 months but when you get there, it is so worth it!
Very interesting title. I thought you were honestly going to tell us how to make money in 4 weeks, which I’m sure all of us want to do. But your article informs us of something better. It reminded me of the saying, “everyone wants a gold medal, but few people want to train like an Olympian.” The reality may be disheartening to a few, but those willing to work for it will attain it!
I think in today’s society people want things right away. For some reason people have an uninformed view of how the Internet works due to the early exploitation of the internet, when you really could make money online in just a few weeks.
With patience comes success.
Hi there
what an illusion, I’m ashamed to say that when I got started online, I believed the words but soon accepted reality.
If it was possible to make money online in a month with/without experience, I’m sure we`d all be working online.
Like you mentioned in your post, people soon find out it`s not as easy to make money online then give up, most people think there is a time limit to start earning they forget that you have to put in the work.
Like you, I too have fallen to the make 1000 or more a week with your blog and all the rubbish.Looking back, I think it`s greed and laziness, why would I or anyone else make thousands without experience or work.
Thanks I have really enjoyed your post.
We are all greedy and lazy I think, at least to a certain extent. Luckily most us learn from our mistakes and it is incredibly important to learn quickly when you try and make money online.
Scams are all over the place and if you are not careful you will get burned more than once. Making money online in 4 weeks is possible, but not in a long-term and sustainable way.
The sooner you accept that making money online will take time, the better. Not because you “grow up” but because you change your mindset and think long term, rather than just aiming for the short term rewards.