Making Money Online - The 12 Step Program

The answer is yes; If you are patient. Cultivating your online empire is an extremely drawn out experience. It may take years to begin producing reasonable income from blogs, websites and affiliate programs, and every misstep will set you back. Only when you are positive that you understand how long it takes and how much effort you will have to put forth should you engage in any online endeavor.

1) Research- What niche product/service do you want to sell/promote and what will the content of your site/blog be? Providing your own product/service, such as resume writing or items you can manufacture yourself (jewelry or ebooks for example) is absolutely your best option, as you receive 100% of the profits. If you choose an affiliate take extreme care to get good converting ads that match the general topic or theme of your site, make sure they are well branded (eBay, Amazon, etc) and do make sure they convert. Research, research, research!

2) Site/Blog- Streamlined and simple. People hate ads, so use only one or two and keep the content up front. Review or discuss the products for sale openly and honestly on your site and you will convert. Remember that content is always king. Nobody will come to see page after page of ads, so you will have to give people something worth experiencing; Your honest opinion. If you wish to server more than one niche market, host each niche independently; Don't dilute the individual niche.

3) Advertise/Get Traffic- The most difficult of all steps, as well as the most critical. There are many options to choose from and very few of them are effective by themselves. Blog directories, link exchanges, search engines, leaving comments on social sites, blogs, forums and submitting articles and comments to news sites are all good suggestions, but take time, effort and some talent to be effective. Apply step 1 here and prepare to take a beating. Traffic. Is. Hard.

4) Monetize- This is the entire focus. Your visitors are a fickle bunch, so too many ads is bad news. You likely already know this. So how to monetize and keep traffic flowing? Diversify your income stream from your site or sites. Along with your tastefully placed ads you can include some referral links for affiliates to sign up under you, which provides residual income. Include referrer links to any program that is worthwhile. Obviously, linking to less than reputable sites is discouraged.

5) Diversify- Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Maintain as many niche sites as you can without being overwhelmed. To some people, this could mean two sites, some it could be fifty. But keep in mind that if catastrophe should strike, you want as many streams of income as possible. A good way to cultivate more profits is with pay to sites. Paid to review sites, paid for surveys sites, paid to blog sites, the list is endless, and you are limited only by your ability to type.

6) Write- A lot. This is critical. Write strong, interesting articles that mean something to you and are unique, and be consistent with your updates. Don't just rehash articles from Digg, create your own from scratch and submit it to the pay sites as well as news sites as discussed in step 3. If you have considerable writing skill, you could theoretically do quite well with sites like Associated Content or Helium, where they pay you for content.

7) Be Honest- You won't last long selling snake oil. Speak the truth, always, mainly because the web has a long memory; You will get busted, eventually. Build a bad rep and you get to start all over, hopefully lesson learned.

8) Don't bite the hand that feeds you- If someone gave you a leg up, even if it was just some basic information, return the favor, with a link at the very least. A glowing review and/or testimonial would be even better, providing they are deserving. Remember Step 7; Honesty. When people see that you voluntarily praise another out of genuine affection, it will establish your bona fides better than any amount of links ever will.

9) Be real- Just be yourself, don't try to submerge your personality. People will see through this instantly. Remember you are selling yourself to a specific, niche audience; Don't act like a politician, hiding behind double talk and big words. Identify with your target audience and let them identify with you.

10) Keep On Working- Never stop- The minute you start feeling burnt out, your pro blogger future is in jeopardy. You must be consistent, over a very long span of time, to be successful. If you are in the hospital, bring your laptop. No laptop? Bring a pencil and notepad. Always be creating content in your mind and always treat new information as something to be dissected and ruminated upon online. If it interests you, it likely interests your niche audience. If you have writer's block, do PTC or pay to read like surveys and the like. Much less fun, but you are still earning this way.

11) Respect The Community- The web is a habitat of diversity. Keeping on everyone's good side is impossible, but you can minimize hostility just be being polite. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt, don't flame, troll, derail threads, the list goes on. A good rule of thumb is act the same as you would in real life; You know, the way people act when you can reach out and bash their head in if they get mouthy. Just be a nice guy and people will congregate around you.

12) Be realistic- Not rich yet? You should give up. Just kidding. But don't expect instant wealth, as it's very likely that you will toil away in obscurity for the first year or so. Just keep your chin up, keep blogging and networking, eventually you will build an audience, providing you have something of value to offer, or are at least entertaining.