I'm at the age where is seems as though everyone I hang out with day to day is either about to have kids, or has just had them. It's an interesting life change.
No longer do I instantly assume my bleary eyed friend has been partying all night. I now just know that his 3-month-old daughter doesn’t have the whole “sleep through the night” thing wired yet.
Having kids has changed more than just our social lives. Most of my friends and their partners have worked corporate jobs and have had good sized disposable incomes. Going down to one income changes things. Things get tighter.
For many, a few hundred bucks extra a week makes the difference between having to go back to work, or being able to have one partner stay at home to look after the new hatchling full time.
This new life change is at the forefront of many of their minds, and the conversation often turns to this topic. It’s at about this point you’ll hear me say, “Why don't you think about setting up a little online business?” with a sheepish grin.
Almost immediately after this I wish I'd kept my mouth shut.
Most people either fall into one of two camps. The first camp are the ones who don’t believe they could make money online because they have no skills. The second camp have bought into the idea that the Internet can turn almost anyone into an overnight millionaire.
I know we'd all like to believe the sales letters that tell us we can be millionaires online with very little work. Unfortunately, it's just not that easy.
I reckon I've met more than 100 people whose online business generates over 500K a year. I had dinner with a guy who was doing 50 million. All of those businesses took an enormous amount of time, money and skills to get to that level. All of those business owners worked their butts off, many of them risking their health, marriages, and sanity as well.
That’s where the problem lies. Most people only have:
Hardly the makings of the next big thing. Suddenly the opportunities don’t look so good.
Thankfully, there's some good news. While you may not be able to become an overnight millionaire, it's not that hard to make an extra few hundred bucks a week online.
For most people a few hundred bucks a week may be enough to pay for a nice holiday, allow a parent to stay at home to look after the kids, or perhaps start your kids' college fund.
Certainly enough to get a bit excited about!
When I explain all this to my friends, the stock response is, “So how do I do it?”
A fairly simple process
I usually outline a fairly simple process to make this happen that takes into account their lack of time, skills and money. As I unpack the details, I see the cogs turning in their mind and their eyes start to light up as I explain the perpetual and automated nature of the whole business. Who doesn't get excited by the idea of getting paid while you are sleep?
This is the point where I come unstuck and is the source of my reluctance in saying anything.
They want to know EXACTLY how we've managed to do it, and how they can do the same. I end up explaining things to them, but it all floats off into the air. What they need is a concrete nitty gritty blueprint that is going to cater for their lack of skills, time and resources.
Unfortunately I've never had one to give them. Not for much longer though.
Currently I'm working on a guide that I'm going to give my friends that explains step-by-step how they can make $1000 a month online. Something that will allow me to say, "Just shoot me an email and I'll send you a step-by-step guide." I’m hoping it's going to save me the time it takes to explain things so we can get back to talking about politics and religion. :)
This guide makes the following assumptions:
I've already started writing this guide and I'm going to post a new section for you each week. It's an 8-part guide, so at the end of the 8 weeks you'll also be able to download it in full to print as well.
The 8 parts I'll be covering are:
The Introduction (you're reading it now)
The Mindset
The Idea
The Plan
The Action
The Traffic
The Money
The Growth
While I'm writing this, make sure you post comments to ask about anything specific. I figure if you're asking the questions, my friends probably are too! Look out for Part 2 - The Mindset next week. Remember to subscribe to the RSS feed to follow along.
