Establishing Small Goals to Make Big Money Online
November 18, 2011 
8 Comments
You may have heard, here and there, that there’s money to be made online. The news media is rife with stories of new technology wiz-kids who have created the next big thing in social networking, online gaming, or website development. And if you’re at all interested in being a part of this money-making machine, you are likely trying to find ways to use your own particular skills and knowledge to earn a living in the online arena. But it’s not all wine and roses; you aren’t just going to be handed the keys to the kingdom because you know a thing or two about keywords and tweeting. If you want to make big money online, you’re going to have to start with small goals that can be accomplished over time. Here are just a few steps you’ll want to hit on the road to fame and fortune.
1. Find a niche. Regardless of what you’re good at, you’re going to need to find a unique way to present it if you want to build a web presence. You don’t want to market yourself as the next Perez Hilton because you can’t really compete with him at his own game. So start your foray into the online world by finding a niche and filling it.
2. Build your reputation. Developing an online reputation can only happen overnight if you’re a YouTube sensation (Chocolate Rain?) and it’s likely to fade away just as quickly. If you want to stick around for a while you’re going to have to earn the trust of your followers, customers, clients, and so on over the course of time. You can do this by presenting a confident and consistent message and backing up what you say rather than offering lip service.
3. Network. Reaching out to others in your field is a great way to expand your online presence. If people like you they may be willing to trade promotional favors (links, referrals, etc.) or even help you out with free promotion, advice, or even work. There is simply nothing to be gained by ignoring the competition or treating them badly. Remember that word spreads quickly online and you don’t want to be on the receiving end of public ire.
4. Spend wisely. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money, but that doesn’t mean you should throw your dough around like it’s going out of style. It can take at least several months (if not years) to build up an online business, so budget accordingly. Find ways to promote your online business that are cheap or even free while you’re waiting for the greenbacks to start rolling in.
5. Grow incrementally. Okay, so we’d all love to have a high-ranking blog with major advertising dollars right off the bat, but you should focus first on getting your blog up and running, building a loyal readership, and becoming an established presence in your particular niche before you start looking to monetize. Nothing comes for free, but with a concentrated effort over time you can eventually build up your online business to the point where it’s paying the bills (and then some). It won’t happen overnight, but setting up a comprehensive plan to get there, complete with a step-by-step outline of small goals, will ensure that you don’t get put off by seemingly insurmountable setbacks. Your hard work could equal big money, but only if you go about reaching your goals in the right way.
Sarah Danielson writes for Totally Money where you can browse through loans for poor credit and compare loans.
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I agree with all the points made here! Funny the Perez Hilton mention because my draft post last night for my blogging site included mentioning him and comparing his blogging fame to a newbies!
Miranda Grimm recently posted..Chat Based Sales at Talk2Rep- $13/hour
I agree completely with you that you have to approach this in steps. I think too many bloggers think they will toss up a blog and the money will pour in. It is work and you have approach it with common sense steps to be successful.
Starting slow is great advice. This stuff takes time. It rarely, if ever, happens overnight.
Angie recently posted..Website Hosting Companies Can Help You Gain WAH Independence
Networking is definitely important! That’s something that I’ve only just now started to do a lot of within the past few months. It helps!
Anna recently posted..Writing and Editing Work at Pure Content
Great tips! I agree with you that one of the keys to making money online is establishing goals and working towards them little by little. So many people think they’re going to get rich quick on the Internet. Making money online takes persistence and lots of hard work.
Lisa Mills recently posted..Work-at-Home: GE Retail Finance Customer Service Jobs
It’s great to know that the steps I’m following are listed here. You are so right, Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is success online. It takes time, patience, persistence, flexibility, and knowledge, to name just a few.
Thanks for sharing this outstanding information.
Kindest regards,
Dave Kanofsky
Dave Kanofsky recently posted..Conquering Loneliness and Depression With a Support Group
I completely agree with your comments.
By YouTube sensation did you mean like Justin Bieber?
Another interesting point is that you need to invest money, but wisely. If you want to grow your online business you need to invest time too. And some people believes that internet projects do not have costs… that’s wrong. Time & Money are required to success.