As your journey as an online entrepreneur continues let me welcome you back to NetSuccessNews. If this is your first visit then welcome to our blog. I hope you read the first few articles and have looked around the site. Allow me then to continue on this series about getting started.
My first few posts dealt with having the right mindset, setting goals, starting a journal, and making the required commitment to succeed online. Above all, as I stated, never give up, and persevere until you achieve your success. In this article, I will continue providing tips and suggestions to get you started in the right way.
The online entrepreneur journey – first things first
I told you to STOP buying in one of my previous posts and I mean it. This is a critically important first step. If you are like I was when I first started you are probably on the hunt for an opportunity that will immediately solve all your financial woes. In my search for financial freedom I ended up on numerous lists and I was constantly being bombarded by offers. It was very difficult to ‘just say no’ to some of those enticing opportunities. I ended up spending a lot of money, and though not all big-ticket items it still added up to a substantial amount.
But all this did was stymie my growth online. The money I spent could have been utilized in more effective ways to enable a quicker path to success. So that is why I am imploring you to STOP purchasing ‘stuff’. Just say NO!
Of course, this seems to be anti-internet marketing but this is for the short term so that you can establish a steady and growing income online. My recommendation is to focus on one or two programs that fit your budget. Let those grow in the short to medium term. Once you do this and stop program hopping you can build your income much faster.
Financial terms
You cannot be an online entrepreneur unless you apply basic business principles. So at this point, you need to set up a budget. This budget will cover your program fees and marketing expenses. To get started correctly I would suggest a budget of about $150-$200 per month. If you have the means for a larger amount then the more the merrier and things will happen faster. Let’s take an example.
Let’s assume you decide to join Wealthy Affiliate at $49 per month you can then commit another $50 or perhaps $100 to your marketing. Adding one or two more programs for $10 or $20 per month means your membership fees are at about $79 per month. Another $100-$120 in marketing places you right about at the $200 monthly commitment. You must decide what is right for you and what you are most comfortable with. Be very careful not to stretch yourself thin and for goodness sake do not saddle yourself with unnecessary debt.
Rewards of the Online Entrepreneur
As you build your web presence and are consistent with marketing it will not be very long before you add several referrals. Revenues will be generated and your expenses become offset. You can keep your marketing budget at the same level or increase it according to the increase in income.
I suggest re-investing as much as possible into more marketing. Please do not spend all the money when you begin earning. Plug it back into your business. And Do Not get sidetracked by any new opportunities no matter how good they look. When you are earning $2000, $3000, $5000, or $10,000 per month then you can have fun but at the start think re-investing in your business.
The numbers above are more than realistic. Nothing extravagant here and no pie-in-the-sky stuff here. In fact, it could be a whole lot better than what I stated and probably will be. When I first got started in affiliate marketing it wasn’t very long before I was hitting the leader-boards every month for several months in a row. The reason is that I was consistent in my marketing efforts and I definitely re-invested my earnings. The same can happen to you.
Just the beginning as an online entrepreneur
This is just the beginning for you as an online entrepreneur. Once you have residual income being generated you can continue your education into the world of internet marketing and entrepreneurship. From here the sky is the limit depending on how far you wish to take this. There are so many opportunities for making money online. There is affiliate marketing, CPA offers, blogging, creating your own digital product, and much, much more. And best of all as you generate revenues you’ll be building your very own customer list, but more on that later.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You must get started the right way. Just to be balanced I’m not saying that other so-called ‘gurus’ don’t have valuable products that could help you but this can be a hindrance if you allow yourself to be distracted away from your goals. Once you have arrived at a point where you have disposable income then you may consider ‘investing’ in other areas of online business. And even then you will need to be discerning but not to worry you will have learned so much by that time that you will be able to make wise decisions on where to spend your money.
So, get started as an online entrepreneur in the right way. I highly recommend you join Wealthy Affiliate. I guarantee you will not find a better program to begin your journey to success online and it is FREE to start.
D. Brahim
