Making Money Online… How long does it take?

A lot of people get involved with Internet Marketing or Affiliate Marketing with the mindset that it is an easy way to make money - a "get rich quick" goldmine. Of course, it doesnt take long to realize that there is actually work involved, which discourages the majority of people before they ever really get a good start at it.

So the question is... How long does it take?

Obviously that depends on what niche you target and what type of business model and marketing strategies you use. Another factor is whether you invest money upfront, or invest your time instead.

All things considered, I like to commit myself to at least 12 months on a new project before expecting consistent profits.

Obviously you can make money, and even earn a profit, way before the end of that first year. But it will be at that point - when you've implemented everything you originally thought of, come up with a hundred new ideas to try, and already have somewhat of an idea of the profit potential - that you will know for sure where you stand with the project.

Some of the reasons that it may take one full year to begin earning consistent profits from your online ventures include:

• Development takes time. Whether you are writing content, creating products, programming a cool new database-driven website or setting up a product-based affiliate site... development of quality websites takes a bit of time. You cant just slap anything up on the web and expect to be successful with it (not long term, anyway) - so this is where your initial investment of time or money will be spent.
• Search Engine Indexing takes time. The major search engines reward 'aged sites' with better rankings, and it also takes time for the search engines to index and rank all of the pages of your site accordingly. This is partly due to algorithms, and also due to the amount of time it takes to establish quality natural links to your site.
• Tracking & Testing takes time. Even if you are using some of the faster methods of getting your website or offer in front of the masses, such as Pay-Per-Click advertising, tracking the results and split-testing the variables takes a fair amount of time and energy.
• Branding and Relationship Building take time. Whether you are recruiting people into a Network Marketing company, building on Online Community, starting up a blog or email newsletter... it takes time to brand yourself as an expert in your niche and gain the trust & respect of your target market. This takes a substantial investment of your time.

Of course, there are exceptions to these 'rules'...

It's no secret that a new person can arrive on the scene and earn a hefty sum of cash in a short amount of time. We've seen it happen time and again. But there are two points to be made about this that deserve some thought: 1) you dont know what that person invested (both time and money-wise) prior to their public launch, and 2) these are usually short-lived ventures that are made to earn a one-time profit... not a long term business model.

I hope that gives you some ideas for what to expect, and encourages you to invest in your sites and e-ventures wisely for long-term returns!

Technorati Tags: making money online, internet business, e-business, online business, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, ROI, get rich quick