Can You Really Make Money Online? - by MELISSA CRANFORD

There are many people from all walks of life searching for ways to make more money, and the internet seems to be full of opportunities.

Usually when you start searching for jobs or work at home possibilities, you get bombarded with a lot of hype! You know the old saying, "If it looks too good to be true, it probably is!"

Remember that when you start looking for opportunities to help you make money online! If everything were as easy as it seems to be, then we could all quit our full time day jobs and just work online from the comfort of our home! Okay-maybe not, but I have been doing this online working thing for awhile now, and I want to share with you some advice about how to do it the right way!

1. Start Slow!

When you first start out trying to make money online, the internet is going to seem like a huge place with tons of information everywhere. You'll probably feel overwhelmed with an information overload! Don't let that happen. You need to take it a little bit everyday and learn as much as you can bit by bit. One of the best ways to do this is to keep paper by your computer and take notes. Write down any good websites you find that you may want to refer back to.

Print out information that you will need in the future. Read as much as you can and go back and read it again. You need to really let it soak in, and you need to absorb as much as possible.

Generally, if you allow yourself enough time to do some research before you try to get started, you will arm yourself with a lot of important necessary knowledge. Of course, most of you will still be working your day job, so maybe try to allow some time in the evenings or on the weekends to do your research. Also, stay organized! Nothing is worse than sifting through a huge pile of papers looking for a specific site or web address. If you can go into this venture from a learning perspective, it will make everything easier down the road. Whenever you are working to make money online, research, learning, studying, and keeping up-to-date are going to be some of the most important things you can do. Remember that a lot of your competition will probably try to go in blindly, so then you'll be one step ahead.

2. Find Good Products and Test Them.

When you are ready to take the step into making money online, affiliate marketing is one of the simplest ways beginners can make money. Not only can you have the potential to start generating sales, but you will get exposed to a lot of people who know what they are doing, who have already had success, and who are actually willing to help you. Once you find a good product that you want to try to sell, test the waters. Place some ads in various areas and keep track of whether or not you're making any sales. When first starting out, only promote one or two products at a time! It seems like you will do better if you start promoting 100 things at once, but when you have so many campaigns going at the same time, it's easy to lose focus and concentration. You want to be able to put forth your full effort and really see whether or not this product is going to pay off for you. Keep in mind that a lot of products end up not being successful money makers, so if you find that is the case, go back to the drawing board and pick something else. Don't spend a lot of money until you find a profitable product! Most of us just starting out don't have much extra money to spend on advertising anyway, but keeping costs down is important. Your ultimate goal is making a profit, right?

3.Get Excited and Don't Give Up!

Start promoting yourself and your products as much as you can. Many well established and successful sites have opt-in email lists where you can sign up to get their daily or weekly newsletters. Get your email address on all of the ones that look helpful to you or your product.

Many times, these emails are full of valuable information, and you're getting it for free! These companies are reputable and are not going to sell or give away your email address, so it's completely safe to go ahead and sign up! This is a continuation of your learning process, as well, because they will send you up to the minute information, and may even introduce you to new products! The more you can learn, the better! Speaking of email, send out some emails to family members and close friends and let them know about your new online adventure! No, you don't have to try to sell them anything, but this is an easy way to start getting yourself out there.

Please don't spam anyone, though. Just send it out to those people who you know will be accepting of your emails. Also, when you send them out, ask your friends and family to let you know their personal opinions about your products, website, or any other feedback they can give.

If you can get some open and honest feedback from those you trust, you can begin to get an idea of how you will be able to relate to the general public. You're ultimately hoping a lot of these people will be your customers someday! This whole experience working online can be a lot of fun, but there are definitely going to be some very frustrating days. There may even be some frustrating weeks. Keep going, keep working, keep learning, and stay in the game! There are no people who succeed in making money online if they give up within the first couple of months! The longer you stick with it, the more chance you have to improve your skills, and eventually you'll get where you want to be. Keep your perspective, and if you need a break, take one.

Sometimes, when you're taking a break, you do your best thinking and get some of your best ideas.

Hopefully I've provided you with some basic information for getting started making money online. It really is a learning experience, but at least you can do it from the comfort of your own home! Lots of moms and stay at home caregivers have options for generating online incomes that weren't there even a few years ago. This market is open to anyone and everyone. Take it step by step, don't jump in head first, and learn, learn, learn! Here's to your success!

Melissa Cranford is an active affiliate marketer who wants to teach others how to make money online. Learn how you can make a living as an affiliate marketer when you visit http://www.tinyurl.com/gmu51

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