47 Responses to “Aha, this is what you meant… as usual, …”

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  1. The ups certainly outweigh the downs Lis. One thing I do hate though is the time some affiliate networks take to pay out. At least you know it is coming eventually though. It’s funny me and my partner were feeling pretty smug the other day. She had gone back to the UK to work for three months last Sept as money was tight. This was when I dedicated my time to trying to learn the game. Didn’t really happen until about April this year though. While in the UK she told friends that I was looking in to making a living online and guess what? They laughed at her. Smugly saying “Oh, wev’e tried that and you can’t do it.

    And now? One has lost his job and we type at our laptops and make 2 full time wages each making blogs and sending people to Amazon and directing them to nice blue links. Where else can you send someone to a website to buy a book and then like today find that they also bought a flatscreen plasma tv.

    Beats working for “The Man” doesn’t it.

    I think you are right about doing it full time rather than part time. It is definitely easier the more time you can put in. The beginning is definitely the hardest part. It took me ages to learn how to play the game, thank god for Grizz is all I can say. Wish I had found him sooner.

    I would just say never give up to anyone wanting to learn the game. Don’t let people talk you out of it. As soon as you get those first few pennies from adsense or sell something then you know it can be done. It is just a matter of scaling it up, getting more traffic and building more sites.

    Oh, and I am deciding to put a lot less trust in keyword research of late. The more I learn the less accurate they are seeming to be. Trying to get in to the frame of mind of a shopper seems to be working a lot better. People treat google like a question and answer session but this is never really shown in the keyword tools.

    Here’s to making money online. I think what drives me is that the possibilities are endless. There are a lot of pennies waiting to come my way, I just have to figure out how to get them.

    • Lis

      Yes I think one of the essential things Dave is to prepared to take the road less travelled. I guess the older I get the less I care what people think – you would think that the bright side of the GFC would be that people understood that having a job was certainly not security – but that obviously seems to misses most people. I feel much more comfortable that my income comes from several tenants and several affiliates not just one employer :-) I forgot to mention too I love not having to ask permission to take a holiday!

  2. A holiday?

    Now that would be nice? I think we need to also remember to treat the Online game the same as a real world employer. Never just rely on one style of income. Adsense and a good few other affiliate programs just in case. Diversifying is key, wish I could settle to writing an ebook as you have done, getting others to sell your own product is definitely something I need to look in to.

  3. Cat

    My reasons are pretty much the same as yours Lis (apart from the travel – I’m more of a homebody). It really boils down to the need for freedom & being in control of how I spend my time, because I can’t stand being told what to do, what to wear, when to work, how much I’ll be paid & all that stuff. Plus I’m pretty unsociable, so am happier working alone at home. I’m probably unemployable anyway, because of my attitude, & the fact that I haven’t had a regular full time job since 1999.

    My IM income doesn’t cover all my expenses yet – I still do some freelance work – but if all goes according to plan it will do by this time next year. Then the sky’s the limit!

    • Lis

      You sound like me Cat – for years all I wanted to do was win lotto and have the freedom to do what I wanted – it never occurred to me that being self-employed could amount to the same thing – minus the luck LOL

  4. hospitalera from blogging

    Hi Lis,
    Another thing we do have in common, a partner in full-time offline employment ;-) I must admit, without that back-up, it would have been very difficult for me to make money online, first with photos / illustrations and now with web sites ;-) Perhaps it is time to invent a new holiday? What shall we call it? The “Thanksgiving for an offline working partner Day”, rofl. And like yours also mine got into the grove as the $ became $$$$$$$$$ ;-) Is it worth the effort? Absolutely, not only for the money, but for the freedom! SY

    • Lis

      LOL cute idea Hospitalera – though mine is showing a distressing lack of interest in getting another contract – next thing he’ll want to know where that cash from paypal comes from :-0

  5. Hi Lis,

    I am basically giving myself no option but to go “pro blogger” after my RTW trip. I found purpose in my last two jobs, but I also found purpose being location independent, and blogging my way around our lovely planet!

    I cannot give it up, and am thus launching a new travel blogging project next month. If I’ve tempted your curiosity, send me an email because I’d love your feedback on it so far.

    The cool thing about the internet is it promotes a very DIY culture – all the tools other people have used to build their online businesses are out there: tutorials, free graphics, free social media which you can use for promotion and networking. It’s an amazing time! :)

    • Lis

      Hi Dave – sounds like an interesting project. I love the lack of regulation on the Internet and its all down to open source software and the atmosphere that creates. Its the ultimate free market – and I like that a lot!

  6. Thought provoking. Especially the question itself. Most people who ask that question are in the position of having way more than they need … even if they don’t realize it. If you are poor enough, or have no source of government retirement, dole, or other safety net, one wouldn’t even ask the question … they would be busy earning. You could easily just leave out the modifier ‘online’ and phrase the question, “is it worth earning a living?”

    If you have the luxury to decide to earn more or not earn more, then it might or might not be worth it. If you have an actual need … lost your job, etc., then it is more than worth it … hands down.

    I can say this. It won’t be as quick as you probably want it to be, but it also will be quicker than some of your detractors predict. The single most common reason for failure is throwing up your hands because doing the same work, over and over, can be … well, work.

    Mnay people, perhaps unconsciously, equate ‘online’ with ‘easy’. The words do not mean the same, in any stretch of the imagination. Once you figure that part out, the rest starts falling into place.

    And you are so right, Lis, instead of moaning about taxes, enjoy. I pay my taxes with a smile.

    • Lis

      Dave – very true – I think westerns have lost the plot completely regarding what is actually essential and what is not. I imagine you see it in the Phillippines all the time- I certainly remember the kids in Cambodia and Vietnam – who were competent salespeople by the age of 5. At the age our kids can’t be trusted to walk to the park alone – I dodged traffic across a really busy Phnom Phen street by following a 5-year-old who knew how to do it. Half way across he realised what I was doing and did the rarest of all things – laughed – he couldn’t believe the old white women was so stupid not to know who to dodge 5/6 lanes of trucks,cab, tutuks – fancy being that inept at living! I tipped him – I suspect he added “street crossing guide” to his litany of income earning skills! And there are big ignorant Westerners who would have resented paying for his services.

      I think people think online is easy and easy is quick. Its not quick – but its definitly easy – easier than earning a living on the streets of Cambodia anyways!

  7. Lorecee from Work from Home Online

    Here’s some perspective:
    General Motors (which supported just about everybody in my neck of the woods until recently): filed for bankruptcy in 2009.
    Google: $5.9 BILLION gross sales for 3rd quarter 2009 alone.

    Amazon.com and Wal-Mart were the only retailers whose sales met expectations for the 2008 holiday shopping season–Walmart because nobody could afford to shop anywhere else.

    Online is the place to be. Thanks Lissie for reminding me again why I do this. You’re a hell of a writer.

    • Lis

      Hi Lorecee – the car industry in my country was destroyed in 87 – yes NZ actually did used to assemble cars LOL. It of course never came back – and town’s with the plants (not as large as GM but in proportion as important to the smaller towns) took 10-15 years to recover. You have to laugh at people – and I’ve seen this in the papers here – that online advertising won’t last! The ony part of advertising that won’t last is the part that is laughably called newspapers!

  8. Well said, Lis!

    I can relate that it’s hard to make that jump from offline work to complete online work. I had that same problem when I finished college and wanted to start a business. Then I had the problem again when I wanted to stop operating the business (it was too much like a job) to do niche blog building full-time. Finally, all it took was me making a firm decision that I was going to do it and I worked every single night whether I felt like it or not.

    Most people give up at making money online – even when Grizzly clearly spells it out for them. He can give them the strategies, but it’s them who have to implement and find their own path.

    The path to a full-time income is never the same for any 2 people. Some people do well with Adsense – others with affiliate programs…etc. Sometimes I think people look too much to Grizzly, Court, (and now me, to a certain extent) for exactly what to do and when to do it… when they should be looking to themselves. I’m not saying that I don’t want to help people and give them as much advice as I can, but there comes a certain point when the ball is in their court and they need to take action. If we understand the concepts of what Griz teaches, then we know more than we think we know.

    Great post, Lissie!! I hope you’re doing well.

    Janet

    • Lis

      Gosh I totally agree Janet – I too struggle with the fact that some people seem to want to know which milestones they should reach and when – it doesn’t work like that – whcih is not to say that what Griz or Court or Vic doesn’t work – but the details you definitly have to fill in for yourself . I don’t know how to tell people that either – it might be why I wrote this post :-)

  9. Do you know what’s funny, Lis? In almost all my past jobs, I was lucky to have very smart bosses, so I never had a problem with their authority, as they’d always let me make the decisions I considered best… and they allowed me to make my work schedule as flexible as I wanted. Yet, I find making a living online much better. It’s captivating and rewarding, even if there are months when earnings are lower. Besides, it’s nice to know that you can travel as much as you want, even if you don’t make use of this privilege. As for me, I’m already considering to have some really nice travels next year – hopefully pretty soon :)

  10. Well written Lis. We have a lot in common since we are both Trust Agents. A lot of folks don’t realize that it is such hard work and sometimes lonely work in front of a computer at home most days. Congratulations on your success, I hope to join you one day.

  11. I’ve been making a full time income online since 2006, mostly from consulting and affiliate programs, and from my perspective it is definitely worth it. Like you I have a very broad definition of stupid people, most of the time this seems to include around 90% of all people around me.

    Working from home is generally pretty wonderful, but until you start making money it is boring – no money to afford nights out on the town. Oh well, short term discomfort for long term success.

    • Lis

      Hi Carl and welcome – I see you too are from sunny Spain – Ronda was the highlight of the Costa del Sol for me – beautiful town – you and Terry must be practically neighours! I vote we have a southern Spain IMers conference next year – it has to be a conference so I can get the tax break LOL

      • hospitalera from Gummi Crib Rail

        I am in, would be feasible for me to attend as I am already living in good old Europe! SY

      • Aha, this is what you meant… as usual, I’m late to the party! Don’t get a lot of time for social blogging lately and when I leave comments its usually only for links. That’s a little unethical of me, but this is a business and I want money. I can leave ethics to the wannabe’s who don’t make any money!

        Anyway, so there are more IM’ers here in this lovely country? Working online here in Span has to be the only place where the painfully slow turning wheels of bureaucracy don’t matter shit! I hear plenty of people who work in a J-O-B moaning about having to wait for this or that, but when you work for yourself via the Internet you’re already used to waiting for things to happen and whatever goes on outside this is hardly ever of any concern.

        If I knew I was being co-opted into arranging a piss up here, I would have got started. Oh, not a piss up? Nothing else is worth going to any trouble for, so its a piss up or nothing LMAO!

        I get the impression that numbers will be painfully low, as there are likely to be very few takers. Who can spare a week away from their beloved laptops? “But it’ll only be a day or two” I can hear you thinking. That’s right,a day or two drinking and 5 days hangover…

        Joking aside, I’m sure that there is going to be a getting together (in the flesh) of some of our group at some point. I always imagined it would be somewhere in the US as most of you are based there. How feasible it would really be to organise something like that I have no idea. I wasn’t joking about only being able to organise a piss up – anything more complex and I need a beer!

        Ok, its just past siesta and I’m rambling… need coffee… time to get back to some good, honest, unethical work!

  12. I enjoyed your article very much. As an avid Internet Marketer myself I am always looking for ways to make money working online!

  13. Great post, Liz!! I really enjoyed your article very much.
    Yes I agree with you; make money on line is not easy but, definitely possible. Some people are doing very well with Affiliate programs and others with Google Adsense. Many people right now are working hard in the internet and always looking for more ideas to make money on line.
    If you are serious about, have patience and are willing to work hard, I am pretty sure will you make a very good amount of money at the end.

  14. Mindy from make money at home

    I’ve been doing this for 3 years myself and I can also vouch for the fact that it’s no walk in the park. I’m recently trying to break into the MMO niche and it’s certainly not easy! Very nice post Lis!

  15. Master Dayton from Freelance Writing Blog

    Hey Lis,

    Another great post! For me the making money online became a huge goal when I worked for my last boss. It was a dream job, I got to work from home in a great city, spend the days hiking the green belt, and made over double what I had at any other time in my life…and even though I was working for a boss, his attitude was “get the work done, and otherwise I don’t care when (or if) you ever show up to the office.” A taste of that freedom made me greedy, which was just as well since I was laid off November of last year when the economy crashed.

    I still want that security and life style, and I find the make money online challenge fulfilling work. Also, I’m fortunate that my recent bout with carpal tunnel turned out to be minor and very easily controllable with low doses of ibuprofen, small breaks every hour or so, and a brace – but to be a freelance writer and have carpal tunnel was my most recent wake up call. What if this hadn’t been minor? Where was any future income going to come from?

    More than ever I’m determined to keep doing the work and to make this work for me. That’s my journey so far, and I might not be happy with how slow the progress is, but I’m not even 29 yet and every single month I’m getting closer and closer.

    It’ll happen – if for no other reason than I’m too (explicative) stubborn to stop :)

    • Lis

      I’m glad to hear your hands are better Shane – being too *** to stop seems to be a ocmmon theme around here – definitly a pre-requisite I think!

    • Calvin from Oil Rig Jobs

      >> Also, I’m fortunate that my recent bout with carpal tunnel turned out to be minor and very easily controllable with low doses of ibuprofen, small breaks every hour or so, and a brace

      Try the exercises in the following two books:
      1) Instant Relief: Tell Me Where It Hurts and I’ll Tell You What to Do
      ISBN-13: 978-0553585476
      Author: Brill

      2) 3 Minutes to a Pain-Free Life: The Groundbreaking Program for Total Body Pain Prevention and Rapid Relief
      ISBN-13: 978-0743476478
      Author: Weisberg

      3) Pain Free at Your PC
      ISBN-13: 978-0553380521
      Author: Egoscue

      4) Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain
      ISBN-13: 978-0553379884
      Author: Egoscue

      5) The Egoscue Method of Health Through Motion: Revolutionary Program That Lets You Rediscover the Body’s Power to Rejuvenate It
      ISBN-13: 978-0060924300
      Author: Egoscue

      I own the 1st, 2nd and 5th books, and I found that selected exercises in the first book have been very helpful in relieving the aches and pains (mainly neck, shoulders and back) plaguing my body. The author divides the different exercises based on the body part they are supposed to treat. However, I found that some of the exercises for one body part helped a lot more than the actual suggested exercises. One example is the exercises for mid-back which were extremely effective in relieving my persistent shoulder stiffness. For your carpal tunnel problem, the arm and hand exercises should be very helpful.

      The second book gives a simple set of exercises that is supposed to help prevent back pain, etc. I can’t tell you if they are effective because the exercises need a bit of room (2m x 2m) so I have not been able to do them much.

      The 3rd, 4th and 5th books are by the same author. I own the 5th book, but the exercise sets are very involved – needing a lot of time and space. Unfortunately, the instructions for some of the exercises are not very clear. That said, I sometimes use 2 of the exercises from this book (although I’m not supposed to use them standalone), and they seem to help. According to Amazon’s summary, the 3rd book concentrates on shoulder, arm and wrist pain suffered by computer users, so this is probably more useful to you than the 4th and 5th books.

      From personal experience, I can recommend the 1st book Brill. If someone has real experience with the other books, I hope they will share it.

      • Lis

        Thanks for the suggestions Calvin – I’m sure they will of help to some of my readers. I have found my body has hurt less since I started going to a chiropracter – but most of the pain is from dancing not sitting at my laptop. I have always found the key for me is to have my hands a lot lower ie. a keyboard on my knew and then usuallly I am OK

  16. One of the most interesting things that I find in making money online is the diversity. At the time I find myself making a good income with adsense, eBay, Amazon, I will switch to creating clickbank sites – a whole other ballgame when it comes to writing. When I know how to do that, maybe I’ll try to play with adwords and make some affiliate sales with that. The ultimate goal would be to have such an income that I could outsource a product that I could sell for myself, and at that time I would have to have the kind of knowledge about this business to be able to choose that product wisely.

    At the same time I find diversity from just creating adsense sites – Just pick another niche and you will have to learn a lot of new things just to be able to produce content. I have not been the best at concentrating on one single thing for a long time, so maybe this could work out for me. I have too much time on my hands – I also am not very patient – so when I wait for a site to age, I’ll start another one in another niche. Then get back to those old sites when you want something new again – like I have done with one of my sites. At first I got visitors, but thought there was no potential, so I left it there. After four months I noticed it gets visitors and wrote a few new posts targeted at keywords related to the keywords it was pulling traffic, and now I have changed the direction of the site – I am attacking keywords sideways with that site. Just like tackling “credit cards” with a “finance” site or “make money online” with a “home based business” site.

    I don’t have an educaton and at the moment I don’t want it. I am thinking of postponing studying with another year and seeing where I can take this – if I can make it “real” then why to study? If I can make a really good income (well at least above the mid level pay) online, then I am sure I can make it offline also because of the money that I will have at hand. I could even become a landlord or something other shit. Being an entrepreneur is all about taking every option you have at earning a little extra money. Multiple sources of income is the goal here. At the same time I don’t want to be tied anywhere – going away for a few months when I feel like it should be always an option. If I feel like I want to go to Bali next monday, then I should damn well be able to do so!

    I like to wake up early in the morning, but I don’t like to leave the house early in the morning. I want to be able to check my email, make a huge breakfast, take the dogs out and then go back to bed if I feel like it. I am pretty sure that anyone you will ask is going to say that they would prefer not working, but if they were unemployed most of them lost track of their life – wake up late, get drunk on weekdays, eat shit and die. I like to keep my life organized. I don’t want to eat when I have lunch hour at work, I want to eat every 3-4 hour. Also I don’t want to take a coffee break, I would like another lunch break thank you!

    I like to exerice, go to the gym and so on so leaving my job is not going to make me fat, probably the opposite, because then I could plan my own days from morning till noon.

    Not until I started this Make Money Online journey I realised that maybe that life of a “highly educated professional working 16 hours a day and being on call 24/7″ was not for me. Money is not the reason to do this, but passive income, work how you want to and when you want to, do what you want to, be your own boss, eat your lunch when you want to, doing my own thing, being able to spend time with my friends and family when I want to… I don’t have problems with authorities, but I do like things like I want them to be ;)

    • Lis

      @Phil – if the education is free,as mine was, go for it – but if you are going into debt its a just a trap that means you will need the corporate job to pay off the debt! I distnctly remembering when I got my first full-time professional job after 3 months – what now? Is this is – do I do this until I die or get to retire ? Havign a job is a lot like being in primary school again- eat when told , get up when told – stop when told. I don’t have the words to express how wonderful it is to own my own schedule again!

      • Yes education is free and I definitely plan on getting one – I already started something, studied for a year and realized it is not what I want.

        Iniitially my goal with internet marketing was to set up a low maintenance income, so I won’t have to work a shitty night job while I am studying.

        The thing is to land an education that does not tie me to corporate world – I won’t benefit from that since I most likely will not make any use of it at any point. Is there one that brings the same benefits as “investing online”? :P Currently I am thinking about a marketing degree – It would definitely be a suit and tie work but still it sounds interesting… Time will tell – I have four, five months before I have to make decisions for the following year.

        • hospitalera from Market Samurai Review

          My two cents:

          Choose something that really interests you, if you are not interested you will not stick to it.
          My suggestions would be anything what has to do with programming, (web) design, psychology and languages, all this would benefit also your internet marketing adventures ;-) SY

          • Choosing something that interests me is the most difficult part :)
            programming, webdesign, psychology and languages… Not for me – the first two maybe for a hobby or as much as I need to do them for MMO – but that is pretty much my interest on those. I’ll see in a few months.

  17. Adam Talbot from Laminate Worktops

    yes it is worthy, but you need to be serious money maker if you really want to earn bucks, you can choose your strategy plans, but this business could go fail, if you don’t pay attention to it.

  18. yparson from YourKeywords

    Hey Lis, this sounded like my story awhile back and I mean every bit of it, except I’ll be 51 in Dec. -Wild “51″(hee hee)! I notice the long hours online had taken a toll on me, until a few week ago I got an “Aah Huh” moment and I can plan on getting some rest-but not right now-I’ve been too excited watching the money finally come, in just the way I vision it to be(yeah baby). Can’t wait to take a well needed vacation, while I make money on auto-pilot.

    Hang it there, this is how I compare: making money online vs playing the slot machines – you keep playing until something happens “You either run out of money or You win money” I Win Finally!

    My new Motto: If you’re gonna quit, quit complaining…If you’re gonna give up, give up fear…If you’re gonna doubt, Doubt YOUR LIMITS!

    I love your conversations here, can I hang out with you all?

  19. Rob from Purple Handbag

    Hi Lis,
    Yeah, for those of us who are virtually unemployable, internet marketing is sooooo worth it! Most of us aren’t doing it Ferrari’s and such, we just want the freedom. Personally, I stick to the affiliate model, and when the neighbors ask me what I do, I just tell ‘em I invest in the internet (one keyword at a time!). Best of luck to you.

  20. Charlie from discount shoes online

    absolutely working online gives freedom to be who and what I am – without having to conform to some truly irritating social norms!

  21. Charlie from women's discount shoes

    Internet marketing is the best way to earn money I have found ever, I can relax at home and earn as much as I can and I m happy that I m earning more than a person who go to office whole day and work like a hell to earn.

  22. Aspire from Aspire Weight Loss

    Internet marketing is the best way to earn money online, only thing is you should be able to contribute your best to your work, if you are working full time then you must plan some strategies and then move on with your plans

  23. Pam Garritt from Mount plasma tv on wall

    There are two main benefits of working online, first one is you can work from home while relaxing on bed and another thing is there is no boss on you to order, you are your own boss to regulate your business.

  24. While I do make a little money online it’s only enough to keep me in a good supply of beer, something that I’m going to need for the hot summer, especially as the water restrictions are still in place.

    Still, like you said, any work done in the present, if done well, could provide a steady future income. My only trouble is that my ‘real life’ business limits my time online. Still, as long as I can spend some time blogging I suppose it’s not all that bad,

  25. I find making a living online much better. It’s captivating and rewarding, even if there are months when earnings are lower. Besides, it’s nice to know that you can travel as much as you want, even if you don’t make use of this privilege.

  26. Very inspiring post. I hope that one day all of my income will come from internet marketing. I’ve got a long road ahead of me…