5 Things Nobody Tells You About Making Money in Your Underwear
That’s the dream, right?
No dragging your butt out of bed at an ungodly hour, sitting in traffic, being stuck inside an office all day, and slaving away your life for a measly paycheck.
Instead, wake up whenever you feel like it, saunter over to the laptop in your skivvies, and sip a cup of java while you “work.” Take a vacation whenever you want, spend time with your loved ones, and travel the freakin’ world.
Hell, yeah…
Too bad it’s just a fairytale, though. We’ve all seen the scammy ads about making $80 an hour filling out surveys, starting your own online store in a “virtual mall,” making megabucks from reselling old crap on eBay or Amazon. There are a gazillion different variations, all of them promising you easy money, all of them stoking your hope of a better life, all of them a little too ridiculous for you to believe in, even though you really, REALLY want to believe.
But you’re not a fool. You know they’re not telling you the truth. It can’t be as easy as they make it sound.
And you’re right. I’ve made my living on the Internet for eight years now, and while it’s certainly nice, there’s also a lot nobody is telling you. Not because it’s a secret, but because most people don’t actually want the truth. They want to believe it’s easy, fun, straightforward.
If anything though, it’s the opposite, and that brings us to the first lesson:
Lesson #1: You can’t do this in your “spare time.”
Regardless of whether you’re starting a blog, building an online course, or creating your own virtual storefront, you probably don’t think of it as a “business.” It’s a project, a hobby, a “side hustle.” No offices, no employees, no budgets or business plans – it’s just you tinkering around in your spare time.
Right?
Well… not if you want to succeed.
In my experience, people who make a nice living online view it as a business from day one. That doesn’t necessarily mean they get an office or hire employees, but they approach it with the same mindset any sane person would have when starting any other type of business.
For instance, let’s say you’re starting a dry-cleaning business. You’d probably go to work for another dry cleaner first, learn the craft, figure out how you would do things differently, save your money, and then launch your own competing dry-cleaning business with a solid understanding of the market and what it takes to succeed.
In other words, you would put serious thought and effort into it, start preparing months or even years in advance and work your ass off for several years to make the business take off. That’s a normal mindset for anyone starting a new venture.
For some reason though, people’s mindset is entirely different when thinking about how to make money blogging. They are looking for quick and easy, not hard and long. They want a way to game the system, not a way to win the game. They try to minimize their investment of time and money, not maximize their ROI.
And I’ll be straight with you:
That’s dumb.
Making money on the Internet is just as difficult as making money in any other type of business. The capital requirements aren’t as high as opening a brick-and-mortar store like a dry-cleaning business or a restaurant, meaning it’s easier to get started, but you’re also facing global competition. You’ll need to be better, smarter, and faster than entrepreneurs only competing in their local markets.
The only appropriate mindset is to accept that you are investing years of your life and every penny of your savings into a venture that might ultimately fail. If it does succeed, it’s also not going to be because of your creative genius or some magical technology that makes money pop out of your computer. It’s going to be because of hard work, sound thinking, and skill.
Especially skill. Let’s talk about that next…
Lesson #2: Being smart isn’t enough.
We’ve all heard the story of the stereotypical Internet entrepreneur. Some smart kid sees an opportunity nobody else does, works night and day to create a groundbreaking product, and then goes on to become filthy stinking rich. In other words, the equation is something like this:
Smart + opportunity + hard work = success.
And that’s a beautiful story. Like many stories, it’s also mostly true, but it’s missing some important details.
To make money online, you do need to be smart, you need to find an opportunity, and you need to work hard. All those variables are totally accurate. What no one tells you is that there’s one additional variable that’s just as important as all the others combined:
Skill. If we were to modify our equation, it would look like this:
And here’s the part that’s really hard to wrap your mind around:
The specific skill you need changes depending on the opportunity. If you want to start a freelance graphic design business, you’d better be a pretty freaking good graphic designer. If you want to start the next Facebook, on the other hand, you’d better be a pretty freaking amazing programmer. To be more precise, you need whatever skills are necessary to capitalize on the opportunity better than all the other smart, hard-working people pursuing the same opportunity.
In other words, you need to be elite. I’m not sure what the precise measurement of “eliteness” is, but if I had to put a number on it, I would say you need to be in the top one percent of all people worldwide with your skill. That might sound scary, but it’s actually not a very high bar because the vast majority of people doing anything suck. If you have at least a little natural talent for the skill, you can probably become a member of the top one percent with a few years of diligent work and study. Here’s how…
Lesson #3: Education is everything (and nothing).
The whole mythos around Internet entrepreneurs is they spurn education. Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates dropped out of school. Tech billionaire Peter Thiel pays entrepreneurs $100,000 NOT to go to college. That’s as “anti-education” as it gets.
Or is it?
If you look a little deeper, you’ll find that most entrepreneurs are devout believers in education, but they also believe that certain systems of education, such as universities, are fundamentally flawed. They espouse a more experimental model of learning where the student states their assumptions, poses a hypothesis, and then proceeds to test that hypothesis, not only to learn but also to hone their skills in the real world.
In other words, entrepreneurs learn how to teach themselves. Not just by reading books, not just by listening to teachers, but by observing the world around them, thinking about what they see, and then coming up with their own interpretations. They don’t depend on anyone to “break it down” for them. They figure it out for themselves.
And it’s not just a learning style. In many cases, there’s no alternative.
With making money on the Internet, for example, there isn’t a degree program or book that’ll teach you everything. It doesn’t exist, and it never will, because the Internet is evolving too quickly. By the time someone created the book or degree program, most of it would be out of date.
There’s one exception: skills. Many of the skills necessary to build an online business either don’t change much, or they are easily transferable. For example, if you learn one programming language, it’s relatively easy to pick up another. Negotiation, business writing, and marketing are skill sets that haven’t changed much in decades or even centuries.
And it’s useful to have a teacher. If you’re learning how to write an advertisement, for example, you can learn a lot faster if you have a master copywriter critique your ads.
In my experience, this is where books, online courses, and other forms of traditional education shine: the acquisition of evergreen skills. You can then apply those skills in the real world to continue learning. For instance, the following skills are always in demand and have long-term value:
- Copywriting
- Graphic design
- Programming
- Content creation
- Content promotion
- Marketing automation
- Public speaking
- Ad management
- Social media management
- Project management
Freelancers with elite skills in one or more of those areas often make six figures per year, working completely online. They get to choose their hours, travel when they feel like it, and, and live a pretty awesome lifestyle.
Granted, it’s not total freedom, because they do have to work, but they also have a lot of control over how they work, and in my experience, that’s what really matters. Here’s what I mean…
Lesson #4 You don’t actually want freedom.
Let me guess…
You love the idea of building a passive income that flows into your bank account like clockwork every month?
Maybe it’s the idea of working in your underwear, choosing your own hours, traveling the world, or whatever. The idea is passive income = freedom.
And here’s the good news:
It’s true. Over the last eight years, I’ve built a passive income “machine” that’s allowed me to travel and live a life most people only dream about.
But it took a long time. Contrary to popular belief, passive income isn’t just something you can create out of thin air. It takes time to build, and it’s a five-stage process:
- Learn a valuable skill. We discussed this one in the last couple of lessons. I recommend picking one of the ten skills and taking online classes.
- Practice until you are elite. Again, you are competing against everyone in the world, so it’s essential you’re in the top 1%. The bad news is, you’ll probably start in the bottom 10% and work your way up, usually by working as either an employee or freelancer.
- Start your own business. Once you’ve built a collection of elite skills, you’ll probably run across an irresistible opportunity, and you’ll jump in with both feet. It’ll take you several years or maybe even decades to become a successful entrepreneur.
- Replace yourself. Passive income is the result of turning what you do into a system that runs without you. Sometimes an employee replaces you, sometimes you can automate everything with software, and sometimes you simply teach what you’ve learned through an online course.
- Fine tune the machine. The bad news about passive income is it’s almost never entirely passive. Yes, you can reduce your number of hours, but you’ll still want to spend a few hours each week fine-tuning the machine. This is where the idea of the “Four Hour Workweek” came from.
And let’s be clear:
You don’t receive any passive income until the final step. From start to finish, I don’t know anyone who has done it in less than five years, and it takes most people 10+.
I realize that’s way more work than you probably anticipated, but here’s the good news:
Chances are, you don’t really want total freedom. What you actually desire is flexibility, and that’s much easier to achieve.
What’s the difference?
Well, freedom means you can get up every morning and do whatever the hell you want. Play golf, go surfing, travel to Paris, or just stay in bed all day. You’re in total control of every aspect of your life.
Flexibility, on the other hand, only gives you partial control. You still have to work, but you decide when and where. For instance, maybe you take your family to Italy in the summer for six weeks, work every morning and evening on your laptop, and then gallivant around the rest of the day.
Still sounds pretty good, right? And the good news is, it takes far less time and effort to get there. Maybe 6-12 months.
Here’s how: take a few online courses on any of the skills I recommended, do a bit of free work for friends and family as a way of building your portfolio, and then apply for virtual jobs requiring that skill. You may not make a lot of money to start, but as your skill grows, so will your income, and you’ll eventually find it easy to replace your day job.
You can also accelerate the process by moving to a cheaper country, which brings us to:
Lesson #5: It sucks to be an American.
Probably going to get flamed for saying that, but it’s true, and not just for Americans. Living in Canada, England, Australia, or many European countries is just as tough, and the reason is simple:
It’s expensive.
Between our houses, cars, meals, gas, and all the other little expenses, it’s hard to survive in most cities for under $3000 per month. In some big cities like San Francisco, New York, or London, you can barely get by on $8-10k a month.
But take a look at this…
I rented a luxury condo on the beach in Mazatlan, Mexico for $1600 a month. A meal at a restaurant was about four dollars. I could get a reputable doctor who spoke English to do a house call for $20. Altogether, I spent about $3,000 a month, and I lived like a king.
And here’s the crazy part:
I was able to make that much working only 20 hours a week as a writer and editor. As my skills improved, eventually my income crossed $10,000 per month – more than three times my living expenses.
There were also tax advantages. I won’t go into the details here, but Google “earned income tax credit.” It’s complicated, but you can actually save a lot of money on your taxes by leaving the US.
Altogether, it’s far easier to make a living online when you’re living in another country, and the lifestyle is better too. The biggest reason I came back to the US is that I eventually started my own company, and banks get a little nervous when you’re processing more than $1 million per year in credit card transactions from your laptop on a beach in Mexico. No idea why… haha. It was also nice coming home after living abroad for years.
The bottom line?
Not only does the Internet give you opportunities for increasing your income, but it also gives you ways to reduce your expenses substantially. It’s by no means a requirement to move to another country, but it certainly makes making a living easier, and when you’re getting started, you can use all the advantages you can get.
Here’s How to Get Started Making Money Online
So, we’ve covered a lot of ground here.
Mindsets, skills, passive income, having the flexibility you want to live the way you want. Hopefully, it’s all starting to make more sense.
But chances are, you’re wondering what to do first.
Should you create an online course? Start a blog? Find a freelance gig where you can learn and grow?
There are a lot of options, and the truth is, all of them are viable. Nobody follows exactly the same path.
But here’s what I recommend:
- Figure out what skills come naturally to you. Chances are one or two of the ten skills I listed are easier for you than for most other people.
- Buy a few online courses on those topics. In the future, I’ll publish some recommended courses, but until then, just use Google.
- Start applying for freelance gigs. You might get rejected a lot at first, but eventually, somebody will say yes, and you’ll make your first dollar off the Internet.
From there, you can scale up. Maybe you’ll start your own business with employees and offices, or maybe you’ll just become a highly paid freelancer. Neither path is right or wrong. It’s just two different lifestyles.
The bottom line?
Making money online isn’t a fairytale. You can do it. You just have to be smart about it and have realistic expectations.
Good luck!
Feb 21, 2018 @ 21:30:38
Hey Jon!
Love this blog post man! You are spot on with everything you are touching on here. Making money online is not a fairytale, it is very much a lucrative way of earning a living and have flexibility in your life.
You are right, it is easy to get started building an online business online but it is not easy to actually build it to success. That’s the difference. And, I think, the message most online marketers send through advertising these days have it wrong. They do make it seem like “it is easy” to make money online and build an income when in reality only getting starting is easy and the building process is where the real challenges come.
Your tips are super valuable here. Thank you so much for sharing them!
I appreciate all of the value you have been sharing with us, so far.
Best regards! 😀
Feb 22, 2018 @ 13:01:37
Glad you enjoyed it!
Feb 28, 2018 @ 03:36:01
Hi Jon,
That’s a hilarious headline and click worthy as well. Great topic indeed!
I completely agree with the point where you said “Making money on the Internet is just as difficult as making money in any other type of business”. Only few people realise it and majority of the people who start blogging or enter into online biz consider blogging as a get rich quick scheme. Only if it was easier, everyone would be doing the same.
You need to work extremely hard. Even if you’re not smart, you can still succeed with your hard work but you can’t succeed just by being smart and not working hard enough. As Elon Musk quotes, you can improve your success rate by working 100 hours a day and beat your competitors who are only working 40 hours a week.
And I laughed at your #5th point, haha! So true. Keep rocking and share such awesome articles even more often Jon.
Feb 22, 2018 @ 04:24:52
Hello! Thank you for the article, agreed on 100%. And this one “You don’t actually want freedom” hited me. That’s so true. Just because of the need to work from the office I’ve started working for edubirdie.com, though I didn’t know I needed before.
Feb 22, 2018 @ 04:25:51
Excellent Jon. Excellent.
This is one of the better posts I’ve read because the more I come into my own, and expand my presence in the blogging tips niche, I nod to each line. Toss in the fact that I blog from paradise like you – moving around a bit though 😉 – and I resonate deeply.
#1 is just the plain truth. If it were comfortable to MMO all bloggers would be billionaires or millionaires. But it is not comfortable at times. Sometimes scary as hell to do these things. Toss in that you give your life to building a blogging business – largely – and most shudder at the thought of what it takes to grow a thriving blogging business.
I had some false starts, silly mistakes and the like over the years. But since 2014 I have doubled down on blogging and really, over the past 12 months I literally gave much of my life to blogging. Wake at 7 AM or so. Work for 8 to 12 hours. Exercise. Hang out with friends once every few weeks. Repeat tomorrow.
I haven’t take a day off from blogging for over a year. I love the gig. But doing smart things with the right energy persistently, daily, for months and years, is what this gig takes to do it effectively. So few bloggers give their lives to blogging. Most struggle and few succeed because of this very reason.
Thanks for sharing bro. Folks need to embody this post.
Signing off from Thailand.
Ryan
Feb 22, 2018 @ 13:02:48
Yeah, it really is quite a commitment. Sounds like you are doing all the right things, though. I hope it pays off!
Feb 22, 2018 @ 14:30:20
Ryan,
Everything you’re saying is the 100% absolute truth. One has to be serious about blogging by hunkering down and cutting time on hanging out with friends and doing leisure things, concentrating more on writing “lots and lots of content.” The good news is that as we focus more and more into publishing unique and “evergreen content,” we can rest assured that our published pages will get traffic 24 hours a day for years to come from Bing, Google, and YaHoO!.
Feb 22, 2018 @ 05:36:50
Making money in your underwear can be a blessing. For starters, it’ll definitely test you to see what you’re made of as an aspiring entrepreneur and diffrentiate the wannabes from the real McCoy by showing who has the true business muscle for the hustle. Making money online from home as a side hustle turned full time online marketer or blogger is financially liberating. You’re no longer confined to restricted salaries, working for demonic narcissists who deny employees raises to make themselves richer and wrongfully terminate them later on, and have the positive ability of increase your affiliate commission potential by making your own hours and “working your own schedule” as you please. Though there’s no 401k, pension, or healthcare involved, it’s totally up to you how much you desire to earn by working from home online and making money in affiliate marketing.
Feb 22, 2018 @ 10:33:47
Thank you, Jon… For this insightful post. It is a long read but every second is worth it.
Feb 22, 2018 @ 11:09:00
Hi Jon,
I totally agree with your last point that if you want to make money online, being in US or any other “Tier 1” country sucks.
I manage my own blog, http://theusualstuff.com and freelance as well as an accountant. I make around 1,000 per month. Now this may not sound much to US citizens but in my country (Pakistan) a family of 3 can lead a decent life. Granted, it won’t be a too lavish life but still ends will be met much decently.
On the downside, this fact does not motivate you to walk an extra mile.
So I’m changing my mindset now and therefore, will set a higher target for myself.
Thank you,
Saad.
Feb 23, 2018 @ 11:27:14
Saad,
You have so much more potential to flourish as a side hustle entrepreneur. Don’t have any kind of limiting beliefs. Keep pressing on and don’t rely on a cushy day job. Job means “just over broke.”
Feb 22, 2018 @ 11:09:51
Hello Jon,
This is an awesomely realistic portrayal of starting and running an online-based business. I am going thru this right now and can attest to the amount of deep work it requires. There are so many “gurus” out there pushing their product and attempting to lure you in by misleading you into believing how “easy” it is – Bullcrap! Your post is a breath of fresh (realistic) air. THANKS!
Feb 22, 2018 @ 15:19:02
I agree with this. Many people are convinced that you just need to sit in front of the computer, and it starts spitting out money. I guess it’s because there’s a lot of hype all over the media about people making millions “sitting on the beach with just their laptop”.
This post is quite realistic about what it takes to make money online.
Feb 22, 2018 @ 11:34:24
Great points, especially the one on education.
Also the fact that “earning money in your pajamas in bed” is only glorious for about 3 hours at a time, and only once per month. After that, you just kind of start to go stir crazy.
Feb 22, 2018 @ 12:53:38
The minute that I saw that you had written this post, the world stopped and I had to read it. Every word you write is gold. All this information is so true and actually quite comforting. Thank you so much!
Feb 22, 2018 @ 13:08:52
You are simply an inspiration to all of us, Jon. Keep posting and preaching! I like that you do not mince words and share your hard-earned insights about what it really takes to be a successful online business owner as you just did here. The unvarnished truth sets you apart and way above all the other so-called blogger gurus, at least in my humble opinion.
Feb 22, 2018 @ 13:25:29
Actually, I kinda DO want freedom but I’ll settle for flexibility in the mean time. At least I already have a few of those years under my belt. 😉
Feb 22, 2018 @ 23:00:01
You’re well on your way to achieving that freedom, my dear. 🙂
Feb 22, 2018 @ 16:15:33
Another amazing post, Jon. One of the things I love about it–like all of your work–is that you don’t sugar coat reality. Can it be done? Yes. Is it hard work? Absolutely–at least for me it has been. But it has taken more time than I expected (another myth you put to bed in your post), and I’ve experienced significant ups and downs that I suspect most people who work from home in their underwear also experience, but don’t often talk about publicly.
And like Leanne, I’ll enjoy the flexibility on the road to freedom. 🙂
Thanks again, Jon. Definitely a post I’ll share.
Feb 22, 2018 @ 16:19:34
Like so many others have said, you really tell the truth instead of building false expectations.
Thanks
Feb 22, 2018 @ 17:52:46
Hey Jon, love the loud ring of truth in Lesson #2. It’s not enough anymore to just teach the small things you know, you’ve got to get damn good and go deep. It’s like a cake, don’t teach the surface-crap icing, teach the rich and flavorsome cake – that’s where true change comes from and that’s what people will pay you for. And if it takes time to learn how to make the cake with skill and precision, so be it – be the turtle and take the time. Thanks again for the joy of your writing. Miranda 🙂
Feb 23, 2018 @ 00:46:25
You definitely captured my attention, Jon from the moment I read the title.
I always appreciate both your honesty and sharing your expanded perspective.
Especially the point about fluctuating cost of living, depending on your residence.
Excellent tip to map out a plan for your dream business. Motivation for the sacrifices.
In case you ever expand this article, the ability to communicate, sell and network well also affect your success.
Maybe I’m too visionary. Here’s to people expanding opportunities for freelancers and creative souls as competition rises.
Feb 23, 2018 @ 05:36:10
Thank you so much for the real talk Jon.
Feb 23, 2018 @ 09:09:14
Awesome post.
Reality needs to be highlighted in a world where everything seems to happen by chance, luck or smartness.
I am a true believer in an “effort oriented” culture. And in my opinion and experience, blogging is no exception.
I am trying to become a blogger myself and I can tell you it is not a quick thing.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Jose
Feb 23, 2018 @ 09:21:02
Jon, I’ve followed your work and social media for a long time — lurking, occasionally reading, always pondering and wondering. Not sure when or how I’ll ever get off my butt and actually DO something after reading your inspirations, but just wanted to let you know how valuable I find your work, and particularly this post. Thanks.
Feb 23, 2018 @ 16:44:33
Dear Jon,
Thank you for your post. I’m following your guidance to the letter. First guest post coming soon.
This post has given me new impetus to move to a cheaper country.
You are a life-saver. Thank you for doing all this.
Edward
Feb 24, 2018 @ 00:28:09
Great masterpiece, i hope one day I will at least reach flexibility level.
Feb 24, 2018 @ 07:57:36
Very interesting information, people may not know how we make money just by using underwear. This can certainly be done at home without anyone knowing it. We just need to sit in front of the computer and promote the products we have.
I’m glad to be able to read your article, with this content I’m very helpful and add to my knowledge, thanks for sharing with us, I wait for the next update.
Feb 24, 2018 @ 12:31:10
Hi Jon,
Thanks for the advice on how to reach the top 1%. Achieving a meaningful goal is and isn’t a daunting task, i.e. for the 99% who want to be comfortable, being different is uncomfortable. For the 1% who are true to themselves, the happiness journey is a never-ending pleasure.
I like Earl Nightingale who stresses rewards are directly proportional to the benefits a person provides. If I don’t help people, they won’t help me.
If my service makes life easier for others, then it’s a win-win situation for me feeling good about providing assistance and they feel good about solving a problem they needed help with.
If helping others is “work,” then riches will remain elusive.
Live well my friend.
Feb 25, 2018 @ 01:56:15
When most people start a business, others may tend to laugh at them. Some people possibly will put you down for thinking you can succeed as an entrepreneur. Truth is, success is only a thought in your mind followed by putting faith into action at full strength. Making an entrepreneurial transformation into being your own boss is never easy. There’s something called haters. Failure. Flat tires. Setbacks. More haters. More haters, naysaying about your business all day, virtually everyday. They’ll even put you down for not being where you’re supposed to be in life. Heck, even if you were once living somewhere out of your comfort zone while starting your business, they’ll definitely put you down for that too, not wanting to see or hear through other people you’re succeeding.With faith, anyone can transition from entrepreneurial humble beginnings and achieve greatness of making money online 24 hours a day.
What person in his or her right mind that has it out for someone else want to know or see someone they could careless for not only making more money than them, but also knowing they don’t have to get up in the morning and go to a cuchy day job? Ya’ll better turn those computers on and start your content writing career online. These daytime employers are nothing nice. The real money is online. They don’t care about your college degrees. If you have drive, creativity, and a will to prosper, why not try your hands at the side hustlle so you can put yourself in the position to make money online in your underwear? That by far is one of the sweetest feelings in the world, and also knowing just to sleep, you’re still makig money and might wake up to earning a quick $1,000.
Feb 26, 2018 @ 00:01:20
You are just explicit here. Thank you for the insight
Feb 27, 2018 @ 21:54:06
You’re welcome, Patrick. When someone is dedicated to the side hustle and do what they love, they let it all out and try to help others achieve the same as them without expectation.
Feb 26, 2018 @ 03:11:44
Another Nice Post Jon!
Especially lesson 5.
I always thought that not living in a country like the US is a big disadvantage.
I am from Indonesia (a South East Asia country) and the living expenses are so damn low compared to what you said on the blog ($3.000 is a lot).
I also realized that rather than starting a business from the get-go. It is better to develop a few skills first that can help you along the way in your journey to make money online.
I am considering copywriting because I think it is a fundamental skill you need in online business.
And could you learn copywriting through blogging? The goal of the blog is a platform for me to learn copywriting and showcase my portfolio for freelances gigs.
Feb 26, 2018 @ 04:58:13
Hey Jon, I swear I once had a dream that there was a ‘Jon Morrow-ify My Blog Post’ Plugin for WordPress and then I woke up to find there wasn’t! You sir are an inspiration – especially to those (as me) who have yet to launch their blog. I’m glad that plugin doesn’t exist…Best regards!
Feb 27, 2018 @ 11:17:49
I will never tire of your words of wisdom Jon! 🙂
Feb 27, 2018 @ 15:46:54
Great blog post – I would also add that you have to have passion for what you do to stick with it for the long haul – if you’re only in it for the money and perks, its not going to work.
Feb 28, 2018 @ 01:07:28
Absolutely amazing! I am getting straight here, I got the recommendation to read your blogs and to execute your strategy on our marketing campaigns and guess what it worked. I was just going through your blog section and found this post, and I just loved the way it got delivered. A big thanks once again! I am subscribing you for sure 🙂
Feb 28, 2018 @ 02:34:52
Helpful post!
Jon, Sir
I’m your new follower!
I have readed many post on “Making money on the Internet” but this one I love it.
The bottom line?
Making money online isn’t a fairytale. You can do it. You just have to be smart about it and have realistic expectations.
Correct!
Feb 28, 2018 @ 04:46:16
Hey Jon, shifting your mindset is key with any business, online or offline.
It was the second time (come back) I quit my day job and started my company here in Bucharest, Romania. With $3k a month you could live more than OK here.
Mar 02, 2018 @ 01:41:22
Congratulations on the post Jon, I found myself nodding in agreement as I read through it.
I definitely agree you need to take your online business just as serious as a brick and mortar set up (I’ve run both). You need a lot of resilience to succeed online and have to accept that you’ll most likely fail more than you succeed. If you can accept failure as part of a learning process and be prepared to dust yourself off and carry on, you’ve achieved an important mindset flip right there.
There’s a lot of crap being peddled by marketers who essentially prey on vulnerable “would be marketers” (for example). That said, what I’m finding these days is that a few of these guys have raised their game, they’ve had to, and come up with some half decent products.
Like you were saying about taking a few different courses, I find it worth getting 2 or 3 different products and picking the best bits from each to build something that actually works. It comes back to your equation’s missing link, skill, I guess.
The best advice I could give is finding something you “know” will work and stick at it till either it does or you find out your sucking lemons. But, don’t forget the other absolute truth that “the darkest hour is just before dawn” – many people give up when they were on the cusp of succeeding.
Mar 04, 2018 @ 01:58:57
Hello Jon,
That’s one of the best reads I have read in a long time. There were very great points and will surely implement them as I start out in my online career.
Mar 06, 2018 @ 06:26:22
Thanks Jon for another great post!
I tried earning money from a few different skills out of the 10 you mention at the beginning of my online journey. It wasn’t until I really started to focus on mastering one that I found success.
Mar 10, 2018 @ 13:04:42
Hi,
It always one’s desire to make money online. However, as a blogger, it appears google is making life difficult for us upcoming bloggers.
Mar 12, 2018 @ 06:02:52
Love this blog post man! You are spot on with everything you are touching on here. Making money online is not a fairytale, it is very much a lucrative way of earning a living and have flexibility in your life.
You are right, it is easy to get started building an online business online but it is not easy to actually build it to success. That’s the difference. And, I think, the message most online marketers send through advertising these days have it wrong. They do make it seem like “it is easy” to make money online and build an income when in reality only getting starting is easy and the building process is where the real challenges come.
Mar 13, 2018 @ 08:23:51
Great advice Jon,
I am finally stepping out of 2 years of dabbling and stopping the ‘shiny star syndrome’. I think another issue was wanting it all to happen immediately. Realizing that my ventures will take time while I learned helped me to focus. Your blog helped to reinforce that.
Thank you,
Sean
Mar 14, 2018 @ 13:20:34
Dear Jon,
Three weeks after this post went live and point 5 has been resonating with me ever since. Now I’m moving from Germany to Bulgaria while my blog takes off. One third the living costs and 10% flat tax, as well as better weather. Thank you so much for the impulse.
Mar 16, 2018 @ 22:15:00
Amazing article. I started my blog about 2 and half years ago and only now I started seeing some results. So making money online is definitely not easy.
And I agree in your last point, I live in Brazil and here someone making $5-10k per month is enough to live like a king.
Mar 20, 2018 @ 23:40:20
G’day Jon,
Wow.
Lesson #3 made me stop, pause, see the world in slow-motion, and then my brain exploded with the possibilities and options…..
I suspect that the caveat with “learning a new skill” is that you need to actually put it in to practice and use it. There is no real point in having a super-mega-ultra qualification with Skill X and never actually using it. The danger of languishing in and never getting out of learning mode is potentially very real.
So, how much learning is enough ? Enough to take the next logical step forward.
Keep learning, but don’t stop moving and take action what you learn.
Thanks soooooooooooooo much for brutal but inspiring article !!!!
Matthew
(Melbourne, Australia)
Mar 26, 2018 @ 03:54:16
Interest me a lot!
Mar 26, 2018 @ 12:33:05
I found a financial directory that’s useful for info on making money online. It’s http://money.madbeetech.com. What I like about it is that each directory listing includes ebooks and videos that can be instantly downloaded.
Mar 29, 2018 @ 02:48:14
Hi,
I came across your website while researching for an article I was writing and subscribed. I’ve been freelancing as a copywriter for 8 years now, and I don’t earn as much as I put into it. But, it has still allowed me to live overseas, and live well, on about 1/5 the cost of living in the US. I’m trying right now to make the transition from invisible ghost blogger/content monkey to getting my name out there and earning what I’m worth. Browsing around your blog posts, it seems there’s a lot here to help me during that transition. I’ve spent the past two months getting my platforms set up and linked while writing content to get me started, and trying to keep with the work that actually pays my bills, but I’m getting too bogged down in the details. I hope to find some inspiration and guidance here.
Mar 31, 2018 @ 15:04:10
Great post! Making a change is always a challenge and one of the things that people overlook is the different mindset that it takes. Having someone guide you through is a key to being successful. Here is an article that can help. http://www.lauriegessel.com/how-to-make-money-online/
Apr 01, 2018 @ 06:15:37
love your post. I fully agree that building online business might take a few years. It took me 5 years to have mine, and I still feel I have done only the half of my “hometask’
Apr 14, 2018 @ 17:27:43
Very smart post..
Please tell me yor blog platform name
Apr 22, 2018 @ 14:11:21
Hey Jon,
I really didn’t know that making money in wearing my underwear in front of Laptop was so easy…You explained that in a really humorous way…Thanks for sharing this amazing content… It motivated me a lot to work for my own website