10 Lessons Learned From Online Moneymaking

Making money with a blog or website should be seen as an ongoing process, where you are constantly working, learning and tweaking what you to do, to improve your success. What the Monetizer notices amongst many "rookie" blogs is the addition of things like Adsense in a way that makes the ads stick out like a sore thumb. The main focus should always be on integrating your ads into your blog or site, so that the design flows, and the blog's content itself stands out. While some may argue this concept saying you want ads to be more visible and stand out, the key to converting PPC ads is always going to be traffic rates for your site and targeting the right audience for your content.

That is just one of many things the Monetizer has learned from online money making endeavors. Here's 10 more lessons I have learned...

1) Laziness doesn't translate to moneymaking - It's just like the real world, you're going to need to put time and effort into what you do to make money online. While "Get Rich Quick" seems to be a major pitch online, don't be fooled. You need to work hard, constantly study and tweak your blog or site to see what gets the best results.

This will definitely mean...

2) You need to be an internet "jack of all trades" - Not everyone's a graphic designer, a web coder, a writer, a photographer, web marketer, or an expert in SEO. You'll either need to really beef up on each of these and more areas as you go forth, or have others help you along the way (paid or not paid). If you can do it all great, but that is one easy way to burn out.
Of course turning to people for help is a good way to do it, but keep in mind...

3) There's a lot of "evil" in online Money Making - Not everyone is really in the "online money making" field to help you. Let's be honest friends, everyone in the world wants money because it pays the bills and advances our quality of life. You'll have to be careful, because not every "money making blog" is trying to help the little guy. Even John Chow himself admits to being an evil-doer from time to time, despite the fact he gives back too. This is not to say the majority of money making blogs are bad, just to be wary of those who only want to sell their ad space to you or make you join whatever they promote. By learning to sift through all of that though, you can find a great wealth of info online (see #8).

You'll also realize...

4) The little things can set you apart - Does your blog have a favicon? (the little image that appears next to its URL in the web browser). Do you offer RSS subscriptions, popular posts, site searches? Do you have a Contact or About this Site page? It's these little things which we may consider common on blogs or sites and overlook. However these are integral parts of your site that can help you gain fans and subscribers.

Of course to get subscribers, you'll need to know...

5) Constant promotion = increased traffic - This goes back to #1, because as noted it's a lot of work to build up a fanbase for your blog or site. You can try to get Stumbled or Dugg and cross your fingers, but you really will need to put in the work to promote your efforts. Even with Digg or StumbleUpon those usually involve a good degree of work in creating something worth Digging or building a friend network to Digg you. Promoting your "product" is an ongoing process, but one that is well worth it in terms of building your subscribers and traffic. Using free social media sites is probably one of the best ways to get target audiences for your content. Myspace, Facebook and BlogCatalog are just 3 great free places to represent your site or blog. Once you gain more readers though, they will want to weigh in on your blog opinions and writings. You will need to remember...

6) You can't let comments get to you - A lot of us take our work very seriously, making us a little less open to those who are overly critical or in some cases seemingly rude. It's something we deal with everywhere though, from jobs to our friends to even money making online. The internet provides people a major way to communicate amongst themselves and it won't always be pretty. Take it in stride and don't let it influence your work. Often times you can even use a negative comment to your advantage, such as making it a blog topic.

Negative comments shouldn't stop you from your goals though. You're also going to need to learn to..

7) Fail before you succeed - This is a tough lesson in online money making, because we want the money to come easy. When it doesn't come immediately we may become disappointed or frustrated that we put in all the efforts for not much payout. Like The Monetizer keeps stressing it takes hard work to get things going. Also keep in mind nobody just "gives money away" so much besides the lottery which you have low chances of winning. There's usually some degree of work to it. But once you do and begin to learn and profit, it's a beautiful thing. Learn from your mistakes and turn them into strengths. If you are having trouble getting search engine traffic, make it your goal to beef up your knowledge of the SEO world. If you want to profit from affiliate programs, pour your all into learning that. And if you need to buy an e-book do so, but it's not really necessary.

The best part of learning online money making is..

8) The internet provides free knowledge - To think that you need to spend $27, $47 or even $99 for an e-book to make money online is ridiculous. Yes, there are writers who will pitch this book or that as a great product, but why pay for knowledge that can be learned for free online? Monetizer has learned that most questions and problems can be solved through internet research, which only costs your time. Google is free and can be your vast internet library, waiting to teach you just about anything.

However, even though there's so many free resources...

9) You will probably have to spend money to make money - Although you don't need to buy an e-book to do it, most of those in the blogosphere agree, you should host your site. Have a domain name and stand out. Some suggest paying for advertising, blog design and more. Yes, it is true because as previously mentioned, you will have to turn your money making venture into a serious-minded business. Some people are able to succeed using free sources including Blogspot, Craigslist and Squidoo. In the long haul though, if you want to really increase what you're doing, you'll most likely be spending some of what you earn. DoshDosh provides a great article on reinvesting your online income to grow your business.

With all of this said though, there's good news...

10) Money Making is possible online - Don't let any of the above reasons overwhelm you or deter you from making money online. It's a reality check and hard work, but you are basically the key to your own success in this area, nobody else. Your own hard work, passion, knowledge and constant learning will be what translates to money online. While Monetizer enjoys providing tips, resources, money makers and success stories, it's up to you to take the info you get here and everywhere else and go forth with it. Work hard, tweak your blog or site as needed, study continuously and you'll find all the efforts paying off in time.