Work Online Money

Prepare? Yep you heard me right – prepare. I know, I know – you want to sign up for something and get started right? That’s what we did… and I can tell you from experience though you certainly can do that… it is, in our opinion, not the smoothest route to take. Preparing yourself and your loved ones will save you countless hours of hassle, wasted money and heartache. After all you wouldn’t enter into a business you’d never seen right? Or buy a piece of real estate sight unseen? And you certainly wouldn’t accept a full-time job (which may or may not pay) without having read the job description or duty statement first right? Well, this is no different – actually it is. Earning money online is an online business – your business – so preparing yourself in this context is preparing to take on your business. On reflection, I can’t believe we failed to recognize that when we first started – and it cost us.

Actually I can believe it – we got caught by those sales pitches – you know “Spend $x, download, set up in 20 mins, walk away and generate cash on autopilot while you sleep” Or “Spend $x, download, set up in 20 mins and then spend an hour daily to keep the cash rolling in“. Yeah right – And when you question these gurus they say things like:

“This was never a get rich quick scheme – it is a business and businesses take the capital of time, effort and money to bear fruit. If you’re not able to… then we should perhaps go our separate ways now.”

This is an extract from an email reply we received from an online marketing guru regarding his system to make FAST CASH! Now be clear – we were never mentioned getting rich quick – we were simply trying to cover mortgage payments. I have included this email extract so you can see we are talking from experience and it has not always been nice. More on this experience in a later article.

So, there are many ways to make a living online and how you decide to enter into the fray will depend on your circumstances. When we began exploring the dizzying number of ways you can earn money online we broke (down?) no that came later – we broke them up into ie working for yourself or working for others. We define working for yourself as a job that allows you to set your own terms and conditions eg time lines, work hours, goal, etc. Typically working for yourself includes selling your own products, internet marketing, etc. We define working for others as when you sub-contract or contract your services to some one such as freelancing or outsource work. Being clear about whether you want to or are able to work for yourself or someone else is a really important first step. The answer to this question sets the framework for all that follows. And your answer today may change later on – that’s fine. It’s just that to get started you must be clear about your most basic of comfort zones; working for yourself or someone else. Our next article will outline some of the major ways you can either work for self or others. If you are interested in our experience of either one or both let us know we are happy to share.

OK – so now you have that you’ve answered that question, the next question is “what’s the best way for me to PREPARE to earn money online”? Answer – A Plan

More Preparation??? Planning???!!! I know, I know, I can hear the groans from everyone except the Type A personalities reading this. I kinda feel the same way and I can hear you yelling at me “But I don’t wanna plan, I wanna get on with it – day/moon light is burning“. And now you want me to do a PPPPLAN????

Yes – well actually a stock take is more accurate. Working online is life changing so and if you have a family/life then you need to be clear about how you are going to do it and what internet opportunities are best suited to you and your current circumstances. We suggest starting a stock take with a SWOT analysis which helps you explore your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (hence the name) combined with a personal audit. A SWOT is a great starting point and you can do one at any level of your life (ie personal/familial/work etc). This is to help you get started thinking about your context before investing countless hours and hard earned dollars in a scheme/system that may not be suited to you.

The point of the stock take is to help identify:

your skills – just don’t limit yourself to work as you can do more than that – we often ignore the skills we use in our hobbies, volunteer work, home skills, etc.
your constraints – do you have things that will limit you eg school, long term sickness, funds, etc. And
what time and resources are available for an additional project. It may be you conclude that you could take on a venture if you could share the workload with someone. I just need to say at this point that I am the one of the pair who always says “yeah we can fit it in” while my partner is always more cautious. Nine times out of ten something unexpected happens like the whole five of us got sick – in bed type sick. Or all the kids got sick and we were up all night every night for two weeks – hence during the day we were complete zombies unable to string a sentence together let alone write coherently. Or – well you get the idea. So if you have to allocate time then double whatever time constraints you think you have and that will be safe – particularly if you are caring for others. If you are in the position of having money and limited time then perhaps you can buy in help – more on that later too.

All of this will help you make a realistic decision about where you want to go – your goals and how long it will take to get there – time frame – given your circumstances. If you plan to go slower and your business takes off like a rocket then woo hoo – but if you fail to plan (you are planning to fail) and it does not go off like you thought (dream’t) and you quit your job – well you get the idea. Or if your auto pilot wonder product which is supposed to be ‘set and forget’ is actually taking 20 hours a week on top of your full time job and your partner/kids/dog etc are threatening mutiny well – you get that idea too…

So, a SWOT, or whatever audit/stock take instrument of your choice will help you get realistic answers to questions like:

Why do I want to start an online business? If it’s for money – how quickly do I need it? Is a loan is a better option if the need is urgent…
What skills do I have?
What skills do I need?
Do I know what skills are necessary? (BTW NEVER believe propaganda that says no skills required…)
What are my strengths? Skills/money/time/equipment etc
What are my weaknesses? Skills/money/time/equipment etc
Am I a stayer? Or do I need things to be constantly different for me to remain interested?
Do I like to write? Most people agree now that online success means a blog of some description. Do I enjoy writing? Do you have another language that you could be marketing/writing in?
Do I have special life experiences/skills that you could draw on?
What am I passionate about?
What do I hate doing? If it is being cooped up in doors – then can I realistically start an internet business without going mad? Or do I need/have a laptop/wireless connection for freedom?
How much do I know about the internet?
Am I confident starting my own business?
How will starting a business affect my family/social life etc?
Will my significant others be adversely affected if it takes more time/money etc than I thought?
Can I get my significant other/family etc to join in?
Are there local community business development resources I can draw on?
Should I consider help from other places like SBA to get started?
Are there any start-up grants that can help?
Do you know any one else who started an online business so you can talk about your ideas?

And this should be fun – enjoy learning about yourself differently. This exercise is an investment in you and you are your biggest asset. Your completed SWOT might surprise you. You may identify more or less options than you originally though or be surprised at the constraints or commitments which will limit your ability to work online. Whatever happens be honest with yourself because if you don’t and you launch into a online business venture that does not go as planned the only people you may hurt are those closest to you and yourself…no biggie… Once you know where you are at the real work begins.

One more step before moving on – discuss it with someone who knows you and who’s opinion you trust. We all need a voice of reason occasionally – particularly when we are fired up about something. Try to take any feedback on the chin and then decide whether or not to take it on board. Oh and one last thing – don’t ask for advice and then pillory the person for being honest. If you are brave enough to ask for honest feedback and they are brave enough to give it to you – then respect it – even if you don’t like the answer. You don’t have to agree with everything – though if you have a big emotional reaction to some feedback then view it as an opportunity to learn some more about yourself. Remember Shakespeare’s observation – “mine thinkest thou doth protest too much…”

As I am sure you have concluded there are no magic bullets or delivery company’s ‘Pots Of Gold R Us’ otherwise we all be doing it. The golden rule for us is that your choice fit your circumstances and not wreck your quality of life. We are not trying to be the voices of doom and gloom – we just want you to have the smoothest ride possible. If you are like we were – doing it on top of working – then you need minimal hassles. We didn’t plan, were doing it on top of other work and it caused more than a few ‘hiccoughs’ in our household.

Not withstanding those words of caution – starting out is a BLAST so enjoy, be prepared to be surprised and have fun!!!

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