The number one rule to success online (from someone who learned the hard way).

Do you want to make a successful business online?

I can tell you the first rule. It is the most important.

- Be persistent.

I didn't make a single dollar for my first 5 or so years online. That is because I kept jumping from one thing to the next, trying different things. It wasn't until I settled down and put an extended effort into my projects that I actually started making money.

It doesn't matter what the projects are -- the main thing is that what ever you try, you need to stick with it. For example, if you've found an affiliate program that pays $3 per sign up -- you should give that program everything you've got for as long as it takes you to make a decent income from that affiliate program, or until you're 100% satisfied that there's nothing more you can do to obtain more signups for that affiliate program.

See, a lot of people will promote such a program for 3 weeks and then just forget about it, or even move on to promoting several (or more) other programs that eventually fall by the same wayside. But there's something VERY important that such people will miss -- and they will miss that same lesson again and again and again. There are many such people online -- I know, because I am (or at least was) their "leader": King of the incurable.

When you are persistent with something, you go through stages. There's some things that really don't occur to you until you've tried everything else. If you don't give your projects 110% effort, you never get past that "Meh, I'll just send this out in a few emails and see what happens" stage.

You might try promoting that affiliate program via safelists and get 3 signups. Then you might try PPC and get 2 signups. Then you might decide to partner with various sites and only make 1 signup from that. Then you might try to various internet forums, websites, blogs and advertising services and still only make several more signups. But eventually, you will look back and be able to see which of the methods you chose is best for that kind of affiliate program. You really do learn a lot from being persistent.

Additionally, it's usually the combined and sustained effort that makes all the difference. Most successful people will tell you that they obtain traffic via countless methods. Most successful people online use SEO, safelists, they collect emails, run newsletters, use signatures, partner with sites, and the list is endless -- it is "that" combined and sustained effort that is their key. Not any one thing. ie: They stick with what they're promoting and they don't give up.

It is really critical to be persistent. That was my biggest downfall when I first tried to make money online. I built dozens and dozens of websites and I pulled them down and put them back up and did that same thing again and again. I never gave any promotion method more than a week of my time, and I never sustained multiple tactics and methods at the same time. In other words, I felt I could make money by being lazy. It doesn't work that way; I soon learned.

You want to know what made me stop and realize where I was going wrong? I had a friend online. She started building a website at about the same time I had started trying to make websites (about 10 years ago). She didn't have ANY programming experience, HTML experience -- any expertise in anything. She was clumsy online and very slow to learn. She really needed "my help", and of course I helped her because it made me feel good about myself that I could whip up what she needed in hours; where it would take her weeks, or she'd have to hire someone. Her websites were ugly, unprofessional and just plain out "awkward". I felt sorry for her actually. However, she didn't take things for granted like I did. I figured: "Ah, I can whack this up and whack that up in minutes". "I can build what took her a month to get running in an afternoon" (and I could). But I was missing the point.

Five or so years later, I am still building sites "in an afternoon". They were so easy for me to build and get running that I took it for granted. I didn't appreciate anything that I had. I just kept jumping around from this to that -- like I was on some sort of Internet speed or something. Yet, this friend of mine had built a customer base of tens of thousands of members, She has all their emails. A large forum established, and several other websites and services. Each and every website she had was slow and painful for her to put up, but she persisted. In other words, she has become successful. Guess who was feeling sorry for who now? Yeah, it was me feeling sorry for "myself" -- because I was too proud to admit to her that she was more successful than the guy who "knew so much" and "found everything so easy".

One day, I was visiting her website. I saw that it was extremely popular, High PR. Full of traffic -- all made by a woman that had (and still doesn't have) any inclination towards technical skill. She didn't have any money. I knew her well enough to know that she built what she has online from nothing and from struggling every week. As I was looking at her website, and came to understand what a GEM she had created, I had to be honest with myself and acknowledge in my mind that it doesn't matter how much money a person has, how much skill they have, how many qualities they have that makes life easier for them -- if they do not have "patience and persistence", it is impossible to succeed.

I also learned that it's not necessary to spend endless amounts of time creating that perfect template or investing in the best forum software or having the best of everything. What really matters is the information that is being provided. That is one thing that a lot of people wont agree with - but I am adamant. It really doesn't make a lick of difference what your website looks like. If it doesn't perform, and if it's not updated and if there's no driving force (ie: persistance and effort) behind it, it will never amount to anything.

I'd go as far to say that it's possible to make more money out of a plain HTML website with no colors, CSS or images than a fancy website that cost thousands of dollars to make -- if that simple website has more of a driving force behind it. For a perfect example of a simple design skyrocketing into the Internet stratosphere, just look at craigslist. 'nuff said.

To further illustrate how "persistence" is so imperative -- it is often said that if you take all the money off the rich people and spread it throughout the world evenly -- five years later, all the people that were broke will be broke again, and all the people who were rich would be rich again. There would be exceptions, but as a general rule of thumb, I'd be inclined to believe that philosophy is fairly accurate. The reason being (I believe); the "key" reason is not intelligence (and it CAN'T be money), it is simply persistence. Most people are broke because they haven't learned to put their head down and be persistent with things.

It might sound horrible to say, but even the most stupid people around can succeed if they will just learn the value of persistence. There's also the greed factor, but that's another story. But suffice to say -- "greed" and "want" drives persistence. I wouldn't recommend being greedy to become successful, but I just wanted to illustrate a point. There are many things that can drive persistence and greed is just one of them. One to avoid in my humble opinion.

Another illustration is that sometimes people with disabilities become far better at things than people who do not have disabilities. Why does a blind person have superior hearing? Why can a person with one arm swim faster than another person who has two arms? How can a person who has one leg be able to run faster than a person who has two able legs? The answer is the same for all of these situations. It is because of "persistence". Persistence and perseverance is the key to all success. It doesn't matter if the reward is financial or not. It is absolutely impossible to create success and keep success without persistence.

I am a perfect example; a prime illustration that being smart doesn't help. I am not saying I am smarter than anyone else in general - but I am saying that pride is the mortal enemy of persistence. Pride is like a ball and chain to your leg. Let me assure you, that if you believe that you can make money online without trying - then you think too much of yourself. If that is the case, then you are also at risk of becoming a compulsive gambler, or addicted to substances. How do I know that? Because such negative characteristics drive the same prerequisites as pride. If you want to be successful, you need to be persistent, but if you are full of pride (lazyness is a form of pride, or is at least a symptom of pride) you will never ever succeed at anything. You will walk the earth believing that you're cursed.

I learned that the hard way. These days, I try very hard to complete things. I have made a rule that when I am thinking about starting something (a project, a website, a venture), it must be something I can see myself being able to persist with. If I can't genuinely answer yes, then I will give it a miss. If I can answer yes, then I give it everything I have got until it is successful.

I know that might not seem like much of a help in the way of advice. I know that everything has been told, even from when they were a child, that persistence is a virtue. But sometimes I think we need an illustration as to "why" persistence is so necessary for success - just in case we forgot.

If I understood what I'd written here in my early 20's (I am 32 now), I would be far better off than I am right now. I wasted so much time (and effort) with the mentality that I can do anything just as well as anyone else, even without trying. This caused a complacent attitude, pride and dare I say -- much suffering. I eventually learned that without that persistence, I'd never succeed at anything.

I guess I also learned to be honest with myself - by proxy.

 

This is a really great post.

The funny thing is, this goes for more than just your online business, this can be applied to EVERYTHING in life.

Your diet, your relationships, your hobbies.

I know because I too have been the victim of creating way too many projects and not putting enough focus into each of them.

When i FINALLY sat down and focused all my energy on one project, I went from $400 a day to over $2000. I've since passed that project on, and I've gone through a few others which I've taken from a hundred or so a day upwards of $700-$800.

I'm not trying to brag about financial success, I'm just trying to demonstrate some real world examples of what you can do if you apply yourself.

Set goals when you start, if you are running a blog, and your goal is to write 7 articles a week and build 7 one way back links a week until you reach x dollars. Stick with it! Make that variable small enough that its tangible and then expand that goal until you feel you've completely tapped that niche.

Then and only then, should you consider moving on to your next project; but again, make sure you set goals aside to maintain your other site. If the site is making enough money, manage to pay somebody to perform necessary maintenance. Even if it is 1 article a month; create realistic goals, focus on consistently reaching these goals and the sky is the limit.

Very motivational topic buddy!

 

Thanks -- yeah that's true.

You can make money selling cigarette butts online if you put enough effort into it, and stick with it

 

Sounds a bit like me. I spent over 2 years flitting from project to project and never completing anything. It was only once I really focused my time and effort on one or two 'pet projects' that I started making money.

 

really well said.....

can so agree with u. im sure a lot of ppl on this forum have went thru that or are still goin thru that

 

Good point, i would prob have got bored and moved onto something else in the time it took you to write that post.
But ive found 1 im sticking to now ;-)
Thanks

 

Never never give up.
I have been searching to make a living online for two years .
It is obviously I am not successful so far.
But I will never give up.
Thanks for your post.