It’s something that all internet marketers dream of. Generating a passive income, where your salary is solely generated on the web, and you earn from internet money ! Yes, imagine how magical it would be, if no more did we have to work for the man. No more  ’yes boss,no boss, of course I’ll fetch you another triple shot skinny latte boss‘.  Playing a round of golf whenever you feel like it, going for a swim at the beach, sipping your own triple shot lattes at your leisure.

SLAP! Back to reality……

I can hear some of you, the cynics, already questioning where this article is headed.  I can also hear you cursing all of the spam emails you see that say “cash earn make money online” in the subject line, promising $56,423 in just 2 weeks if you sign up to their super-limited-exclusive offer to buy the brilliantly titled “earn from internet money” ebook right now!
And you’re right, it’s pretty much all bollocks and should be sent straight to the trash can.

And you would also be correct in directing cynicism towards the over abundance of so-called ‘educational’ and ‘information’ products (aka cheap and ugly pdf documents selling for $97 each!)  that are running rife on the internet as punters struggling from the recessions try their luck at unethical internet marketing.   Most of these pdf ebooks are based on ficticious data relating to Adsense or affiliate revenue (in fact, I was horrified to find out that some these guides go so far as to use faked adsense earnings diagrams using tools such as the Google Adsense Generator – it just goes to show much interest there is in this ‘fake’ industry).

But! … I can assure you, just the same as there are dodgy used car salesmen selling lemons to make unethical dollars, there are also legitimate and rewarding methods of earning money from the internet, or any from any industry! What’s that awful noise? The sound of scraping chair as the last of the cynics leave the room?   The fresher ears in the audience who are newer to the game, are probably scratching your heads asking “Can I make money online really?”  If you’ve read this far, I urge you to read on, as this post honestly contains some important messages that you can learn from if you’re even remotely interested in making a buck from the internet. Yes, of course you can make a living and earn from internet money!  Otherwise the “Internet Marketing” profession would cease to exist!  The vital secret that has taken me quite a while to discover is two-fold:

1. You’ve got to keep your wits about you, and be sure to learn from the traps, pitfalls, and steer clear of unethical guys out there spruiking ‘get rich quick schemes’. There are lots of them, and I mean lots!  People are trying to sell you all sorts of junk to you, claiming it will make help you to get rich quicker (ebooks, website templates, website plugins, terribly written website content). Don’t believe it – 95% of the good advice I have received on internet marketing has not required me to pull out my credit card or make a Paypal transaction.

2. You must be prepared to put in a lot of effort. The internet isn’t a magical money machine that generates free cash if you just buy magical “Internet secrets  to making a million dollars online” ebooks. Making cash online is the same as a business in the real world, like washing cars, or selling computers, or doing graphic design. The more effort you put, in the greater the rewards. And like any industry, there are tempting short-cuts that may have long-term effects on your business,  that will require your sound  judgement and appropriate and ethical decision making in order to sustain the longevity of your income.

As I said, it has taken me a while to become aware of the points above.  Despite having this essential knowledge, I have made a very meagure income from internet marketing in the past few years (though have never put in enough effort to cover more than my hosting and administration costs) and attributed it simply to my lack of effort (refer to Point #2 above).   Only recently, when I came across some great information initiated by a chap named Steve Crooks (I know, perhaps an unfortunate name for an internet marketer), did the third and vital piece of the puzzle dawn on me. The above points, should be your essential rules of thumb,  if you too want to make an income in which you solely earn from internet money.   But there is one additional factor you should include in your plan to make a living from the web and earn from internet money.

3. Set goals and set action plans. After all, man wouldn’t have walked on the moon if NASA didn’t set the compass in that direction, not to mention the years spent building a suitable rocket, training the astronauts, and having fun in the anit-gravity room!

The information I have come across recently has really changed my perspective on how to make a living and earn from internet money.

I’ve tried quite a few avenues for generating additional income over the years. And yes, there are certainly some that are more effective than others. eBayselling is a pretty reliable and fun method, affiliate programs (such as Clickbank, and LinkShare.com) can be a little bit dodgy but also , Chitika (in my opinion, the best rival to Google Adsense), and a few CPA programs. And some avenues are more reliable than others, for that matter (there’s too many cases to even mention of commissions never being paid for ridiculous reasons).

I’ve read countless articles and ebooks, again some more geniune than others.  There’s a thousand and one internet marketing blogs offering  dubious information skewed towards certain information products,  like the ‘cash earn make money online’ blueprint, earn from internet money ‘how-to-guide’ , or the “Can I make money online really?” introductory guide for internet marketing.  A lot of these are over-hyped, and over-believed pieces of propoganda that create nothing more than enough excitement and buzz to be purchased by suckers, and then left to collect dust in the darkest recesses of you hard drive.

But the one thing I have learned is that planning and action is the essential ingredient. And that simply getting started, is half the battle!

So I was delighted to read the 36 pages of forum postings initiated by Steve Crooks which recently appeared on internet marketing community website Warrior Forums, titled Follow me to $100 a day in Adsense in 3 months from 1 blog.

Steve’s thread on Warrior Forums details his three month quest to create 100 bucks a day in Adsense revenue alone. Of course, the very nature of forums to share opinions, pose questions,  challenge decisions and suggest alternative solutions, so this thread in itself is pretty much describes all of the basic principles for the modern day search engine marketer will need to earn from internet money.   But the best thing about this thread, is that Steve, at risk of sounding like a broken record, encourages his followers and peers with the best advice a mentor can give – establish a goal, write a plan, take action, monitor and analyse your results, and keep tweaking your plan until you reach your goals.   Although his forum thread is specifically about generating income via Google Adsense (and thus reveals some very sound strategies  in great detail), his broader principles can indeed be applied to any niche of internet marketing.

I won’t spoil the suprise for you as to whether Steve achieves his goal, go and check it out yourself! Just a word of warning though, 36 pages equates to 1761 posts which will honestly take you the best part of 2-3 days to read in full, not to mention that you will need filter through the usual not-so-desirable posts that are typical in forums of any kind.

If you are after a more structured and concise summary, Steve has also created an eBook based on his journey and learnings which you can purchase – just Click Here . Honestly, I would recommend reading the Warrior Forums thread mentioned above, but in this time-poor world that we live reading through 1,700+ posts and trying to formulate an action plan to make money online, really!

I hope I haven’t bursted any bubbles, by dispelling the  myths about the internet creating instant millionaires, but I also hope that if you’re a keen internet marketer, you investigate the information provided above and you can create a long term plan to generate an income online and earn from internet  money.  Despite the hard work, earning an online income is one of the best jobs in the world once established – you can do it from the comfort of your own home, while sipping lattes at your favourite cafe, or even while sitting at the beach, and you will the easiest boss in the world to please – yourself!

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