Making money online sometimes seems as mythical as a unicorn or as hard to reach as the moon. It doesn’t have to be like that! The basics of internet marketing are easy to learn – its the mechanics and application that is a bit harder. You will find, as you start to learn, that it is easy to go into information-overload and get nowhere through trying to do everything. Thats why its so important to first sit down and have a think about why you want to make money online. Think about your goals and reasons, write them down, and use them to inspire you through any obstacles you might find along the way. I find its always better to write down things you DO want rather than DON’T want as it gets you thinking more positively. So, try not to write ‘I don’t want to work for someone elses gain’ or ‘I don’t want to sell my time so cheaply’ but make it more positive – ‘I want to be my own boss’ and ‘I want to make my own rules for working’!

I’ll let you know a bit about my reasons for making a serious attempt to make money online. Like most internet users, I found the idea of making money online compelling. However, looking for a solid answer online as to HOW to go about this is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

The first thing I ever tried online were surveys. It didn’t work. Maybe it works for other people, or it may have improved since 2005, but I never had any luck at all with surveys. I gave up after a short time and put up with ridiculous amounts of spam until I unsubscribed from all the mailing lists.

My next online adventure was in the area of competitions. I actually did have a little success with this. Well, I won a single prize from about 20 competitions entered so that was kind of cool. The prize was a $100 gift voucher to an accessory shop. I soon discovered that I don’t really have the stamina for constant competition entering so I eventually gave up – plus once you have entered all the competitions you want to win or are eligible for, what do you do?

So I wrote off surveys and competitions as an avenue for a consistent income and went back to my office job.

I wanted to do more though. I didn’t want to sell all my time for a cheap wage which left me a few hours each day where I was too tired to do much more than eat, unwind and occasionally do the laundry or make a half-hearted attempt at cleaning something.

I have always liked writing. I won’t claim that I’m very good at it, but I WANTED to be. I also really liked the internet – what can I say, I’m a geek. It was Stumbleupon that ultimately put me on this path. And writing. I was Stumbling, one of my interests was writing, and I found a page that was reviewing various sites that would pay you to write for them. I was intrigued! I bookmarked the top two recommended, Hubpages and Squidoo and promptly made accounts at both.

Squidoo looked like more fun, so I started there and oh wow, what a world was opened up to me! I learned about people who are making thousands of dollars every month just Squidooing! People who are selling things through Squidoo pages! I learned about affiliate marketing! It was electrifying. I had no idea what I was doing, but now I knew what I wanted to be doing – making an income through internet marketing!

So thats how I got started. I’m going to go through the rest of my journey in more detail in further blog posts.

I’ll finish up with why I am determined to succeed online:

• I want to support myself, my family and be independent
• I want to be my own boss and make my own rules for work
• I want to be able to experience things and travel which is difficult while working a full time job
• I want to be present in my families lives, not always working or tired and grumpy

I’d love for you to share some of your reasons, if you care to!