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 »  Home  »  Beginners Articles  »  Getting started  »  The required mindset for online success
 »  Home  »  Beginners Articles  »  Getting started  »  Business ideas  »  The required mindset for online success

The required mindset for online success

By Jay Stockwell | Published 06/12/2008 | Getting started , Business ideas |

How to make $1000 a month online from scratch - Part 2 of 8

Put simply, for most of you, the biggest hurdle you’ll have to earning $1000 a month online is your own mind. This guide provides a blueprint of practical steps to direct you towards success. However, it’s one thing to say and quite another thing to do.

Most of the time, motivation is not the problem. No, it’s the sneaky mental enemies that you have to watch out for. There are two in particular I’m thinking about.

The first enemy of the mind is self doubt. If we have self doubt, it will erode everything we do. There is a saying I live by that says, “You will go where you look.” This means simply, if you expect to fail, you probably will.

You need to have the right attitude if you want to succeed. I’m very aware that I’m sounding like a Tony Robbins infomercial, but the raw fact of the matter is that your attitude will determine whether or not you succeed.
 
It will dictate how hard you work, how enthusiastic you are, how willing you are to learn, how persistent you are and how committed you are to succeeding.

The second enemy of the mind that you MUST get a handle on is overcoming distractions. Once you start your little online venture and you start looking around the Internet for information on this stuff, you’ll be presented with thousands of conflicting opinions and promises of easy riches.

Trust me on this, you’re best to ignore the noise and focus on the tasks I outline. Don’t worry, I’ve seen it all. I’ve been doing this since 1999 and have been a driving force behind millions of dollars of online sales. I’ve learned over the years what to focus on and what to ignore.

This guide filters out what you don’t need to know. I would be confident in saying that there's hardly a single online marketing tool or process that I haven’t seen. If it’s not mentioned in this guide, it’s for a good reason.

If it’s not included it’s either too expensive, too time consuming, too risky, too shortsighted or too difficult for someone starting out. The trick is to focus on doing the things I’ve outlined in a methodical way. Most of it isn’t flashy, or tricky and much of it is boring. That’s OK, it’s a tried and tested process that gives you the best opportunity for success.


Action Steps

If you want to develop and refine the right mindset for success in this task, here are a few practical action steps you need to take before you do anything else. Take this seriously. It’s easy to skim over and much harder to make it part of your own mindset. However, it’s fundamentally important.

Here goes. Read slowly and carefully.


Have a Positive Attitude
Ask yourself, “Do I believe I can do this?”

This is perhaps the most important question you need to ask yourself. Most specifically, you need to ask, “If I have all the tools and resources at hand, do I believe that I can make $1000 a month online?”

Be specific. It’s OK to have some apprehension about it, but if you truly believe that you cannot do it, then you won’t. Not because it’s impossible, or too hard. It’s because you don’t have the attitude it takes.

You need to take a deep breath and purposefully state, “I can and will make $1000 a month or more online.”  It certainly won’t be overnight. It may take 6 months or more to get there, but if you follow this guide, you have everything you need to achieve this goal.

Now, I can’t guarantee that you’ll do it. It’s not up to me. You need to guarantee yourself that you will do it!


Have a Willingness to Learn

Ask yourself, “Am I willing to learning new things?”

There will be points along the way where you’ll feel a little out of your depth. That’s OK. Just be prepared for the challenge and enjoy it!

Some of you will still be looking for the “Click here and get rich” solution. It doesn’t exist I’m afraid.

Many of you haven’t learned anything new and challenging for years. Get mentally ready for it.

Most importantly, don’t think you have to become an expert on everything. Just become good at the things I mention in the guide and that will be all it takes. I know online millionaires who have no idea how to make a web page. It doesn’t matter. They’ve just followed what they know works and stuck at it.


Be Committed to This

Ask yourself, “Am I committed to completing all the tasks outlined in this guide?”

This means that you will need to trust what I say. The simple fact is, if you’re not willing to complete most of what I’ve outlined in this guide, you will have dramatically lower results. Much of the instruction outlined is designed to have a snowballing and exponential effect.


Be Consistent

Ask yourself, “Am I willing to plug away at this on a regular and consistent basis?”

I can tell you now that one of the most common characteristics of people who have succeeded online is consistency. They are the ones who have consistently worked on the same thing over a long period of time. They didn’t jump from project to project. They just kept working on the same project with the faith that it would work for them.

This is one of the biggest tips I can give you. Write it on your brain like a tattoo.


Focus and Resist Distractions

In line with this, ask yourself, “Am I willing to focus on the tasks in the guide and resist distractions?”

When you start spending more time online, you’ll begin to experience the way the Internet is conducive to stealing your time and attention. One minute you’re researching content, the next thing you know you’ve lost an hour of your time on some unrelated blog. Your time is your most precious resource. Make sure you are working in your work time and relaxing in your recreation time. Don’t let the two merge together to make neither of them profitable.

This rule always trumps the “Have a willingness to learn” rule. Learn as much as you need to and then focus on the application.

Beside your “BE CONSISTENT” tattoo from above, also put “FOCUS!”


Follow the 80/20 Rule

Ask yourself, “Am I willing to focus on the things that will give me the greatest benefit, even if it means that some things are not perfect?”

This is a rule I’m constantly striving to follow. You may know the old 80/20 rule. In this case, it means that typically 80% of your profits will be generated by 20% of your work. Your job is to constantly monitor what you are doing and determine if it is the activities that are going to generate the bulk of your profits.

This guide goes part of the way in helping you achieve this. I’ve deliberately left out lots of things that might be good to do, but when you are time poor, you need to focus on the things that give you the best “bang for buck.”


Focus on Content, Not Technology

Ask yourself, “Am I willing to focus on the content, not the technology?”

This is one of the most important practical things that you need to drive into your thinking every day. I see so many people messing around with their sites, changing their color schemes or trying to make their site look so “perfect” that they don’t end up going anywhere.

Remember, it’s the content that drives the income, not the technology. Think about this. Two people have 100 hours each. The first spent 80 hours making his site look just right and 20 hours on his content. The other spent 20 hours on his site to get it close to right and then 80 hours on his content. At the end of the day, who do you think made more money?

Give me an average looking site with 100 pages of good content over a good looking site with 20 any day.

I’m sure the search engines will agree!


Change Your Mindset

Take this part of my blueprint for success seriously. The more you can master this stuff, the more likely you will be to not only hit the $1000 mark, but go well and truly beyond it.

Look out next week as I uncover, “The Idea”, the practical and step-by-step starting point to help you map out your new online business. Next week is fun and less serious, so look out!

Comments

Comment #1 (Posted by klfad.com) |
Thanks for the 2nd part of the series. I give up with affiliate marketing 3 years ago with my dvd affiliate website because i don't have a single sales in one year.
Its my fault really. I don't learn how to build traffic to my site among other things.

For the past one year with my new site i already getting commisions from affiliate products. This time i get the right attitude. You're right , having the right mindset is needed in order to be successful online.
Thanks again.
Comment #2 (Posted by Chris) |
Thanks, Jay, this is exactly the mindset I'm trying to achieve. Since starting this full time last September, I've often been distracted, unfocused, and jumping from project to project. After some soul-searching last April (and reading The E-Myth), I'm quickly realizing where I've strayed, and how to get back "to business."

Instead of location, location, location, it's focus, focus, focus! Focus on one project, focus on being consistent, and focus on managing your time.
Comment #3 (Posted by Mike) |
Jay -
Thanks for doing this... I'm along for the ride 100%, willing to put in the time and adopting the mindset that I WILL succeed.
Can't wait for next week.
Mike
Comment #4 (Posted by martin) |
Hi Jay
I like the way your series is developing - I am a classic case of someone who has 'flitted' from one online idea to another and made 'diddly squit!'
I am determined to remain focused on your plan and get to $1000/month
Cheers
Martin
Comment #5 (Posted by joe) |
great article!
You are absolutely correct. I'm looking forward to the next article.
Joe
Comment #6 (Posted by Eklavya) |
This is very very teasing ! This series seems very interesting but one week wait ! Can't you post daily instead of weekly ?
Comment #7 (Posted by AJ) |
"Look out next week as I uncover, “The Plan”, the practical and step-by-step starting point to help you map out your new online business. Next week is fun and less serious, so look out!"

I am looking forward to the meat. Just so long as there is no sales pitch attached to the end of this. "A Free Service" is just that, free. If there is something to purchase, lay it out plain so I may decide, minus the hook. We will see.
Comment #8 (Posted by Ken) |
Hi Jay,
Thanks for putting this together to help us out. Part 2 made the very valid points of "Focus" and commitment.

So now I have to go focus and make some money today.
Ken
Comment #9 (Posted by Phil Tanny) |
Great article Jay, well done, that computer between our ears is indeed the place to start.

Perhaps it's helpful to compare a business career to an athletic career? The required mindset you describe would seem to apply to both.

It's interesting to note that muscle tissue is built in the down time between workouts, not while we're exercising.

Thus, while it's useful to learn how to exercise correctly, it's also important to learn how to rest, because that's when our body experiences its real growth.

Do our minds work the same way?

The mindset challenges you address, positive attitude, willingness to learn, commitment, consistency, avoiding the addiction of distractions, and a creative focus on content, can all be enhanced both by learning how to think correctly, and by learning how to take breaks from thinking.

A real rest is not so much about what we're thinking, but whether we're thinking.

If your readers wish to uncover a powerful "secret weapon" that will be ignored by most of their competitors, learning how to turn our minds off once in a while, is something to think about. :-)
Comment #10 (Posted by Saul) |
Hi Jay,
You are on your way to "sainthood" for taking the time to present this program to us. Even at 74 I know that I can do this. However, I got caught up in the flitting from one guru's idea to another. After three months of WASTED time I had an UNsubscribe day and I felt better right away. Looking forward to the rest of your program.

With much appreciation for your labor,
Saul
Comment #11 (Posted by Jina) |
Good so far but my question is this: What if you don't want to be an affiliate? Can you use this if you want to publish a small newsletter/ezine and get subscribers?

[What I'm outlining is my suggested path. Obviously there are many ways to make money online. This is my recommended path for the demographic I discussed in the first article. - Jay]
Comment #12 (Posted by Prince) |
Great observation. The mind is the most dangerous weapon. I was involved in eBay a couple of years back making some maybe 1K to 3.5K monthly as profit selling used stuffs but my mind kept going towards being an affiliate. My screen name on eBay is Lapoinvestment, it is still active but I decided to follow what my mind says, AFFILIATE, so I quite agree with you. THE MIND IS THE MOST SNEAKY AND DANGEROUS WEAPON FIGHTING AGAINST US!
Comment #13 (Posted by David) |
Jay,
Thanks for doing this, the insight is awesome! I'm a big believer in the power of the mind and it was great to hear your perspective on this. I'm definitely a beginner to online business in general, and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series.
Comment #14 (Posted by Jen Lee) |
Couldn't wait for the next one on this series.

It starts really from within. If you start working and cleaning up what's inside your mind and your heart, you'll soon realize that you have what it takes to make this happen.
Comment #15 (Posted by Cori) |
Jay, Great article so far! You have me hooked, Thanks so much for offering good solid free! info! :) Curious if you will make this into something you can email? Would love to have all this info sent to me so i can save it in my inbox! I'll be checking back next week regardless! :)
Cori
Comment #16 (Posted by Brenda) |
Great advice! I am pretty new to all of this. I know I will be successful if I keep plugging away. I just have to be patient and not want it "yesterday". Looking forward to the rest of the series.
Thanks!
Comment #17 (Posted by Sonja Tan) |
Hi Jay
I am paying close attention to all the advice, because I have little skill but have made a decision to develop a right mindset and focus, and let's see how far it will take me.
Cheers
Sonja
Comment #18 (Posted by Shaun O'Brien) |
Hi Allan,
You have heard it all before.... this is brilliant.... concise and to the point. My only complaint is I want $1000 a month in 3 months and because of all the wonderful copywriting of various programs I am conditioned to think that is possible. Yours is more realistic and 6 months will not be long going.

Human nature being as it is we all start with good intentions and once something crops up suddenly this goes on the backburners.

So have to FOCUS and recap each day on how master plan is going.

I subscribe to the 80/20 rule.... and if we have the same mentality as learning to walk and keep perservering until we do... we will all get there.

Say to yourself.... I easily and consistently make over $1000 per month from home and it's great fun.

Regards
Shaun
Dublin

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