Ahh… the first income report of the new year. This is where it gets really exciting as I can now use this report as a base for the next 11 reports of this year. I’ll be able to see how much my income is improving (or not) and tweak stuff as necessary to hopefully squeeze more money out of my site. All the while I’ll be improving on my marketing and driving more traffic to my site.

So, without further ado, here it goes.

• ClickBank: $63.70
• PayDotCom – $28.17
• Angela’s Backlinks: $7.50
• Paul’s Backlinks: $8
• Yarie: $43.81
• Google Adsense: $29.33
• SFI: $25.70
• Project Payday: $1.50 (commissions earned from promoting the program, not actually using it)
• Responsive Data: $9
• MaxBounty: $7.17

Total Income for the month comes out to: $223.88.

Now, I know that’s not a lot and nothing to get really excited about. But, you have to start somewhere and most never even get this far.

I’d like to introduce an exciting addition to my monthly income reports. I’ve been doing freelance internet marketing work for a very successful internet marketer for some time now. This has been great as I get to learn from him and at the same time make some additional income each month.

Total income for my internet marketing services totals $160.

Also, if you didn’t know I also do proofreading/re-writing freelance work as well. My total income from those services came out to $75 for last month.

So, total income from all three sources comes to $458.88

That’s it as far as income for January. I’ll be including all three of these sources in my monthly income reports from now on.

As you can see, making money online is very possible.

You may have numerous reasons why you want to make money online and work from home, but those reasons may just not be enough to make it happen. There are underlying factors, which you may not even be aware of, that will prevent you from ever making a single cent online.

Most of the time, systems work and people fail. That’s just the way it is. Very seldom will you find a system already in place that does not work. Systems are a series of processes put in place with each process working together to make everything run effeciently. At least that’s how I view systems.

So why is it that people fail even when they have a surefire system in place to help them succeed?

Here are 3 reasons I came up with why people fail and will never make money online.

1. Lack of Planning – This is different from just putting excuses aside and just doing it. I believe that eventually you just have to take action and dive in. However, this isn’t without at least planning on what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it. Let’s face it, without a plan in place, you’re going to wander around like a chicken with your head cut off. Be safe and plan. You don’t need a sophisticated plan of action here, but at least jot down the steps you plan to take and how you’re going to reach your end goals.

2. Not Enough Effort – I see this time in and time out. Sad to say that the majority of people are just downright lazy. They would rather blame the system than blame themselves. When in reality, it’s their own lack of effort to be blamed for their failure. Maybe you were led to believe that this making money online stuff was a walk in the park. Okay, you’re off the hook there, but why just give up when you find out you have to actually work?! Seriously, you don’t get stuff for nothing, or rather, you don’t make money with zero effort. Period!

3. No Focus – Even I have difficulty with this one from time to time. Staying focused is plain hard when there are so many things going on, both online and offline. Forums are a great example as they can be valuable to learn new things, but at the same time they can be a total time waster. I recommend setting a certain time limit on how long you’re in a particular forum, and make sure your time spent there is productive. Another time waster is doing mundane tasks like checking email every 5 minutes (I’m at fault on that one),  looking up web stats, checking commission stats, etc. Yes, it’s nice to check those things every now and then, but seriously, you need to spend time actually working.

I’m sure there are a dozen other reasons why one might fail to make money online, so if you have any to add to the list, let me know by leaving a comment below…

One of my recent making money with work from home opportunities articles discusses the importance of finding a mentor or group of mentors to help you make money online. Because let’s face it, most people, and maybe yourself, are just plain lost and don’t know where to start.

It’s similar to when Columbus went sailing the ocean blue to find the new world. He didn’t know where he was or how he was going to get to where he was going. All he had was a dream and passion for finding new land.

Affiliate/Internet marketing is no different. Sure, you’ll get there eventually (Afterall, Columbus did), but it will take you a heck of a lot longer if you don’t get help.

I’ve been there myself, and I would still be there if it wasn’t for finding the right people and following after them. Most people don’t ever make any money online because they don’t look for a mentor or don’t follow in the footsteps of those that are successful.

It’s not about reinventing the wheel. It’s about knowing what to do and implementing it. And, with a little ingenuity, maybe even finding a better way to do it.

That’s what making money with work from home opportunities is all about. The steps are right there in front of you. The problem is piecing them together and making them work seamlessly. I recommend getting a mentor or group of mentors if you’re serious about making money online and working from home.

2009 was a great year as I started seeing momentum with my online business. I learned a lot about what I need to do, and also about what I don’t want to do. Everything is a learning experience that I can take with me and improve upon.

Now that we’re a full week into 2010, I’m starting to plan how I’m going to build up my online business to reach even greater heights. Planning and evaluation is an important process no matter what kind business you’re in. I need to evaluate the areas where I can improve, and then plan how I’m going to do so.

Along with planning, this is the time to set goals that you want to accomplish. The goals should be realistic and achievable. Don’t set them too high, but at the same time you don’t want to set them too low as you’ll only be cheating yourself.

When it comes to making money online, many prefer building multiple niche sites to earn income from. This is a great avenue to go down and may be easier than building just one authority site.

However, I personally want to focus my time on building ReplaceYourSalary.com as an authority site and blog. That has always been my intention from the start, and right now I don’t see that changing.

Eventually, I may pan out and start diversifying my efforts into some smaller niches, but that won’t happen until I have met my goals for this site.

I’m slowly getting there, but I have a long way to go before I reach the amount of growth and income I expect to get from this site. The potential is and always has been there. 2009 was very evident of that.

My goal for 2010 is to have systems in place that are going to help me reach my desired income. Systems can be anything from having the right people for the job, to having the right processes in place.

This means I’m going to be outsourcing a good majority of work this year in regards to marketing my website. This I feel is the only way I’m going to be able to be most productive and achieve the goals I have set for myself. I’ll still be doing a good portion myself, but there are some areas I’d rather leave to someone else.

There are also new processes I have learned and will implement this year that should dramatically boost my site and earnings. I’ll mainly be focusing on Web 2.0 sites and article marketing. This combination has proven to be effective, and I need to start utilizing this marketing strategy.

Another area I need to do more with is video marketing. I hadn’t done much on YouTube last year, and I want to change that this year. Video is an incredible medium with so much potential. I want to really grow my OnlineWealth channel up and get more exposure with my current videos and also future videos.

Specific goals I have set for this year are:

1. At least $1,000/month income
2. Blog minimum of 4 posts a week
3. Alexa Rank – 100,000 or less

These are the main areas I’ll be focusing on this year. Like most people, time is my biggest concern. This is why I’ll be outsourcing some work so that I can focus on other areas of my online business. If you look at all of the successful internet marketers and online business owners, every single one of them outsources. It’s time for me to follow that successful pattern.

What do you plan to accomplish this year? What are some goals you have for yourself personally or for your business? Share them in the comments below…

I had made this offer available to my newsletter subscribers only, but seeing as how I apparently don’t have any serious subscribers, I have decided to open this up to anyone.

I honestly can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t jump on an offer like I’m about to propose. There’s no risk involved, and so much to gain.

Here’s the deal…

I’m looking for a few people who seriously want to start making money online. I’m talking about people who don’t have a clue about this business and want to get started on the right foot. If you’re completely new to internet/affiliate marketing, and you’re ready to take action and positive steps towards your financial future, then this offer is for you.

I’ll give you $10 if you take me up on this. There’s no time limit.

This offer was originally limited to the first 5 people, but I’ve decided to offer this to everyone who takes advantage of this. So every single person who signs up for a HostGator account through my link will receive $10 from me.

Here’s what you need to do…

1. Sign up for a web hosting account with HostGator. Those are my affiliate links. During the sign-up process, enter coupon code “wordpress” (without quotes) to get started for just 1 cent ($0.01). It’s very important that you do this, otherwise you’ll be paying more than you have to.

2. Register a domain name with NameCheap. Again, my affiliate link. The cost is less than $10.

Keep in mind that your domain name should describe what your website will be about. This website will be the starting block for your “business,” so take some time in choosing a good domain name. Don’t make this complicated, though.

3. Email me your receipt of purchase from HostGator and NameCheap. Once I confirm that you have purchased both through my affiliate links, I will send you $10 through PayPal. Send me your PayPal email address at this time as well.

I’m basically refunding the $9.95 you spent for your domain name and the $0.01 for hosting, so there is absolutely zero cost to you.

NOTE:

I highly recommend clearing your internet cache and cookies before clicking on my links above. This will ensure I get credit when you purchase through them.

Once everything is underway, I will setup your blog for you and teach you how to start marketing and making money with your new blog. This is where the real value of my offer is. This is crucial to your success, and I’m going to help you get there.

IMPORTANT:

I’m looking for people who are serious about this and want to start taking the steps to change their life. The most important step is the first one… and that is simply to TAKE ACTION.

Remember, because I’m paying you $10 into your PayPal account, you have absolutely nothing to lose. You can get started for free right now.

If you have any questions or comments please leave your thoughts in the comments section below or email me directly.

I look forward to working with you and helping you reach your dreams for 2010!

This is probably a question that gets asked all too often, and for good reason, really. There’s many people looking to work from home, and finding legitimate opportunities can be a downright pain. It doesn’t have to be, though.

I just wrote a recent article: Legitimate Work From Home Jobs – Where to Find Them providing some simple steps you can take right now.

It’s going to be a time-consuming process, as you need to define your goals, needs and interests. These should all line up with the job you’re interested in. There are literally thousands of opportunities out there, both offline and online. It’s not something you want to rush into.

Here’s a short story about how I started working online (If you even care lol)…

5 years ago when I was working a full-time job, I had the desire to work for myself. I knew people were making money online, so I started searching for jobs or opportunities. I used search engines like Google and MSN (at the time) and looked at hundreds of results.

I eventually came across the Plug-In Profit Site (my affiliate link) which introduced me to affiliate marketing. I haven’t looked back since. Just a year and a half ago I decided to venture into proofreading and re-writing, as I felt I had a natural skill for those things.

Both affiliate marketing and proofreading/re-writing are something I’m highly interested in and have a passion for. This is essential when looking to work from home.

In one of my previous posts about working from home with affiliate marketing, I talked about how affiliate marketing is the easiest way to get started making money online.

This post is going to cover a way in which you can start generating money with affiliate marketing without having to actually sell anything. Interested? You should be. You can earn a decent amount of money from your web traffic by promoting CPA ads.

CPA stands for Cost Per Action. The way CPA ads work is that you promote a particular ad or ads that are related to the content and niche of your site.  CPA ads can be found for practically any niche you’re in.

When someone comes to your site and sees a link to a product or service you’re promoting for a CPA network, and they click on the link, they’ll be taken to the owner’s site for that offer. Your affiliate ID will be included.

Here’s the best part. All that person has to do is take some sort of ACTION. This action doesn’t involve actually buying anything. If the person is interested in the offer and fills out a form to learn more, you automatically get credited for the sign-up. This earns you a set commission into your account for that CPA affiliate network.

The commission earned for each sign-up can range from $1 to $3. If a sale is generated, the commissions can be $20 all the way up to $60 or more, depending on the offer.

Here’s an example…

You’re promoting a survey site for a reputable company, and they’re paying $3 per lead. Someone comes to your site, sees the ad and clicks on the link. They go to the survey site and read over the offer. There’s a form that requests their name and email address so they can be sent further information (which is how leads are generated). They fill out the form, and you’re automatically credited with $3.

It’s that simple. You don’t have to sell anything at all. Although, the money you can earn is a lot more if you do make a sale on top a lead.

Here’s a tip: The shorter the form is, the more likely someone is going to fill it out. So, try to find offers that only have one or two lines for them to fill in. If you can’t, don’t worry, if it’s a good offer it may convert just as well. It all comes down to testing different offers.

Here are the two CPA Affiliate Networks that I use and earn money from:

MaxBounty

Responsive Data

I just want to note that getting approved for CPA affiliate networks can be a little tricky. If you decide to sign up for one of these and run into any problems, just let me know, and I’ll help you out.

Also, both of these companies have the option to be paid directly to your PayPal account, which is very nice.

Do you use CPA affiliate networks to earn money? What companies do you use? How are you doing with them? Share your comments below…

By now you should know that affiliate marketing is the easiest way to start making money online. If you didn’t know that… you do now.

Why is it so easy?

You don’t need your own product or service. Simply promote someone else’s product or service and earn a commission when you  make a sale. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people are earning automated income using affiliate marketing, including myself.

The best way to earn money online is to automate the process. How do you do that? Simple. You start up a website which takes some initial work. Then you build traffic to your site by marketing and promoting it, which also takes some work. If you’ve done your marketing correctly, your website will see a continuous flow of traffic.

If you’ve targeted this traffic correctly, then this traffic should be interested in the products you’re promoting on your site. Of course, your site needs to have a lot of great content as well.

Notice how everything is dependent on doing things correctly. You can waste a lot of time and effort by doing things the wrong way. I’m here to help if you have any questions about anything, so don’t be afraid to ask.

With affiliate marketing, you can set up a site or blog geared towards a specific niche, choose a few products related to that niche, and be ready to sell within hours. There’s no other business model that allows you to be “in business” that quickly.

The cost to get started is very minimal as well. Contrary to a traditional offline business where you have to buy a building and the land it’s on, an online business only requires a domain name and web hosting.

This makes affiliate marketing ideal for many people who don’t have much money to spare. For as little as 7.95 per month and $9.99 a year, which is what I pay for my web hosting and domain, you can have your own online business. The return can be so much more.

That’s really a small price to pay when you consider that with just one affiliate sale, you can double your money back.

If you think this whole affiliate marketing thing is too complicated, trust me, it isn’t. And, as I already mentioned, you can contact me anytime if you want my help.

There’s no reason why you can’t start making money with affiliate marketing today. The only one holding you back is yourself. If you have a burning desire, then go for it!

If you’re ready to get started, may I suggest the domain and web hosting that I use:

• NameCheap
• HostGator

Register your domain name with NameCheap and then set up your web hosting with HostGator. Again, I can help you with this.

Also, those are my affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you take my advice. But hey, I wouldn’t recommend them if I didn’t believe in them. Afterall, I use them to host this blog and manage this domain name.

Take that first step today to change your tomorrow…

An online friend of mine recently shared a report with me titled “The Brutal Truth About Internet Marketing.” Now, I already know most if not all the truths to be told about internet marketing and running an online business. But, I realize that there may be some of my readers that aren’t aware of the ugly tactics used in today’s world to scam honest hard-working people.

Have you ever been told?

“Make $5000 per day while you sleep.”

“You only need to spend 2-4 hrs a day to become an internet marketing success.”

If you’ve ever read something that truly made you think:

“I’m going to become rich overnight or in a short time doing almost nothing.”

I’m sure you’ve heard these phrases or have thought that getting rich was easy at some point. My inbox gets flooded with nonsense like that all the time.

This free report will debunk many of the common internet marketing myths and advise you on what to look out for if you’re serious about becoming an internet marketer or dreaming about making money online.

It’s a short 5 page report and can be read within 10 to 15 minutes. I highly recommend you grab your free copy before you fall victim to an internet marketing scam.

To get your copy just go to this page and fill in your first name and email address. You’ll have to confirm that you want to download the report, and then the download link will be emailed to you right away.

It’s refreshing to see stuff like this available because more and more people need to be aware of what’s going on. With the recession affecting so many people, there are many who are desperate to get money as quick as possible, and they’ll believe almost anything they hear to get it.

The sad part is that most of the time it’s just another trickster selling a bogus product that doesn’t help anyone to make any money online. They’re only making themselves money by taking your money.

A great example of what I mean can be found on JR’s Internet Marketing Strategies Blog, where he made the post Secret Shortcuts To Making Millions Online. Definitely worth the read so that you know what you should avoid.

This free report covers this topic as well as other pertinent information that is essential for anyone looking to get into internet marketing. Again, to download your free copy of  “The Brutal Truth About Internet Marketing,” just click here.

Whether you’ve just visited this blog for the first time, or you’ve been a reader for a while now, I want to say thank you for giving up your time to listen to me.

I understand there are many different voices out there saying one thing or another. I don’t pretend to know all of the answers; I’m still learning myself. There is always more to learn!

That’s what makes this journey so fun and enjoyable. I love to learn new things, and I hope by reading my blog you’re learning new things, too.

My hope is to provide you with solid and sensible information when it comes to working from home and making money online. Of course, I love sharing my internet marketing strategies and resources with you as well. I’ve been helped my many others, so this blog is my way of giving back to those who need help and guidance.

If you’re looking for internet marketing tips, tricks and advice, simply fill out the form below to subscribe to my newsletter. I promise I won’t spam you, and you can unsubscribe at any time. I provide valuable tips on now to start and run a successful online business. I think you would benefit greatly from it, and it’s completely free. So, why not, right?

As a thanks for signing up you also get over $200 in free bonuses!

If you seriously want to see what I’m all about and learn to do what I’m doing, which is making money online, then I urge you to sign up. You would be helping yourself tremendously. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. This is my gift to you for being a part of what I’m doing here.

I hope you find my blog useful, and as always, you can email me with any question or comment you may have.

Again, thanks for being a reader here, and I look forward to building a long-lasting relationship with you.