There are certain dates in your life that you will remember for the rest of your life. They are memorable, because something very important happened then.
For me, one of these dates is 13th of March, 2010. That was the day, when I earned my first dollars online. I remember logging in to my ClickBank account, checking the statistics and there it was … I had earned 13 dollars and 10 cents by selling a downloadable affiliate product. Needless to say, I was thrilled 
Immediately after realizing this great event, I came to think of all the different aspects of it – why they (first dollars) were so important and what it had taken for me to get earn dollars online – for the first time.
Making money online IS possible
First and foremost, making money online is possible. There are people saying that making money online is not possible and that it is a scam. However, those statements cannot be farther from the truth.
You can make money online by many ways. For example, you can use affiliate marketing, create your own products, buy and sell web properties (site flipping) or offer services like coaching. Any of these ways can earn you income and in fact, many people have become very successful by using these methods.
“Making money online is possible. There are people saying that making money online is not possible and that it is a scam. However, those statements cannot be farther from the truth.
Benefits of your first dollars online
Making your first dollars online is a very important event. When this happened to me, I realized it had many positive effects on my online career:
· Major milestone achieved
First and foremost, I had earned my first dollars, which itself is a big event. It was easy to continue working on other projects, since I knew that making money online was possible.
· Self-confidence improves
Immediately after realizing, that I had my first affiliate commission, my self-confidence skyrocketed! I was so happy about this event and I realized that I was already ahead of those other beginner internet marketers, who never had made a dime on their online endeavors.
· Success is inevitable
I knew that someday I will make money online. When this situation actually happened, it proved the point that success is inevitable, if you believe in it and that you will succeed someday.
· Hard work paid off
I had worked hard to earn my first dollars online. That’s why it was relieving to realize, that hard work had paid off. Those countless hours of writing articles, promoting them and building my site weren’t done for nothing. I was finally able to enjoy the fruits of my labor.
What did I do to make my first dollars online?
These are the steps I took, that eventually lead me to earn my first affiliate cheque. This is not a blueprint in a sense that I don’t tell you exact steps on how did I proceeded. Instead, I tell you a rough outline on what steps I took.
1. I chose my business model
I entered the internet marketing scene in early 2009. At first, I was very overwhelmed by the amount of information out there on the web and I was a bit clueless on how to proceed. I learned that there are many different (and lucrative) business models that would be worth trying.
Eventually I figured out, that affiliate marketing would be the right model for me. It had many benefits. For example I didn’t have to create my own products or that I was just a middle man between the product creator and a potential client.
My job was to pre-sell a product to a client and by that way earn the affiliate commission.
2. I bought proper training
Internet is full of training programs that promise you the moon from the sky. It is very easy to get blindfolded because of those promises and spend all your money into training that doesn’t bring you any results back.
The way I chose the training program for me was based on the user reviews of that training product. Also, I looked for positive and negative experiences that people had had with that product and also background information about the product creator itself.
Finally, I made my decision to invest to a training course called AffiloBluePrint by Mark Ling. It teaches you on how to create affiliate web sites and promote affiliate products through them.
The training was very comprehensive and it taught me the basics of affiliate marketing.
3. I had the right mindset
I was very motivated to learn affiliate marketing. At the same time I realized that there would be lots of work to be done, but I was still motivated to do it.
It became very clear, that in order to succeed with affiliate marketing (or any other online business model for that matter), I needed the certain core mindsets in order:
· Persistency
When I started building my first affiliate site, it became evident that you need persistence to keep on going. There are going to be ups and downs when you start, but if you keep on working every day (at least a bit), you will eventually see some results.
· Consistency
In order to make my first dollars online, I had to do my work on a consistent basis. Instead of working one hour today, another hour after week or two, I had to create a schedule, so that I would work on my stuff on a daily basis – at the same time every day (before hitting the office).
· Prioritize your time
I already touched this topic a bit in the previous paragraph, but setting some time aside was very important, so that I could move forward with my project on daily basis.
I decided to work mainly before going to the office. By that way I could concentrate on my work and progress at least a bit every day.
· Focus on one project only
I wanted to focus on one project at a time. By this way I was sure, that I would be able to complete this project and after that, move on to other projects.
· Willingness to learn new things and take action
Affiliate marketing (and internet marketing in general) was a new world for me. Therefore I wanted to learn everything related to that.
At the same time, I knew that just learning new stuff wouldn’t be enough – I would have to implement that stuff too, so that it would bring me the results.
What to do next
Once you get into the situation where your first affiliate commission comes into your PayPal account or other place, you should do the following:
1. Celebrate!
Celebrate your success! It is important to “pat yourself on your back” because you have achieved something that many people are still striving for.
Your celebration doesn’t have to be anything big – for example you could decide to buy that book on Amazon you have been thinking of.
2. Get the process on paper
Although many training programs provide a blueprint on how to move from step A to step Z, it is beneficial to take notes as you go. This way, you have your own personalized blueprint to follow and implement it the next time you work on a similar project.
3. Find a way to improve your process
Not only is it important to take notes and create your own blueprint, but also to improve and optimize the process for the next time.
Once you have everything on paper, it is easy to see the points, which could be for example outsourced or otherwise tweaked, so that the next similar kind of project would complete much faster.
Conclusion
Making money online is possible, if you work hard and learn the basics. At the same time, you should have the right mindsets in order, so that your first dollars online would be a reality at some point.
I shared my story and obviously your story may be different than mine. In fact, I would love to hear your experiences in the comments area J
“Share your experiences of making your first dollars online! What training did you take? How long did it take you to earn your first dollars online? Please share this information in the comments area.
If you liked this article, I would appreciate it if you shared it on Twitter, liked it on Facebook or just voted for it on various social bookmarking services.
Additional insight video
Check out this video, where I tell you about a valuable lesson that I implemented after receiving my first ClickBank cheque last week.
Hi Timo,
That’s a good start. I always believe we will be able to make money online, no doubt about that. The question is not whether can you earn an income online rather than have you done enough to earn an income.
Having a right mindset and buying a training course that is relevant are two very important points. Investment needs to be make occasionally as you need the knowledge to make it a success.
You have made a big step forward and hope to see you continue your online venture down the road. All the best.
Lye
Lye Kuek Hin recently posted..Go Ahead And Hit The Publish Button – What Are You Worrying
Hi Lye!
Thank you!
Yes, this is just a start and it took me a while until I was able to reach to this point.
I’m fascinated how this affects for example to my self-confidence in a positive manner and although I know that I have to work hard to reach a consistent income, I can at least say I have reached one milestone
What about you Lye, do you have any tips (for example mindset related) for anyone struggling online and willing to quit too soon?
Hi Timo,
Patience and being practical are the key. Most people quits because they do not understand how difficult it is to make a dollar. They thought they can make it within months. It’s not true. It can take years.
Some blogger maybe able to achieve that in a short span but we do not know the success behind. Maybe they failed numerous times, they work extremely hard or they work smart. Each individual blogger do not have the same route. We need to recognize that and not compare us against others.
What do you think?
Lye
Lye Kuek Hin recently posted..Go Ahead And Hit The Publish Button – What Are You Worrying
Lye,
I think your tips are very valuable. It takes some serious work to make things happen and lots of patience too
Even taking same training course, two people have two separate results. For someone it happens slower and someone much faster and easier.
If it doesn’t happen the way one expects, it’s all about analyzing the earlier results and changing the process and see what happens then.
For example, since I know how to put a affiliate site together, I can start fine-tuning the process and think, how can I go through this whole process much faster than before – with much better results.
Congrats! I know that is exciting. I can’t remember the first time I earned my first dollar online. It was awhile ago so must have been on an ad network like Adsense. Still the feeling is great!
I created a niche site last year after following Ed Dale’s free 30 day challenge. It was the second or third time I had been through it. The first time I created something but didn’t make a sale or get any traffic for that matter.
Last year I created a site. Wasn’t sure what to think. Followed all the steps. Then sort of forgot about it. One day I went to check my Amazon affiliate account and saw I had $10 in there!! I was ecstatic!!
Is Affilioblueprint your first affiliate marketing course? I wonder cause I’ve been curious to try it. There’s just so many out there. From the course did you create one site so far or have more than that?
Great job Tim and keep it up!
Hi Benny!
Thank you
It was my first affiliate course. I also tried Niche Profit Classroom at some point last year. It had partially the same ideas as in AffiloBlueprint, but I cancelled the course after trying it out.
I built only one site by using AffiloBlueprint. I think that my results would have been better by doing more thorough keyword research and content creation.
I want to go through Pat Flynn’s Niche Site Duel later this year, so that I can compare it to AffiloBlueprint when it comes to results.
You mentioned that you went through Ed Dale’s training … what were your thoughts of his course?
Cheers,
Timo
Ed’s class is great cause it’s free. I know he has affiliate links for domain and he tries to sell you on his pro program and other stuff afterwards.
But it’s a good beginning course. He takes you through setting up a blog to how to create web 2.0 directories like Squidoo and Hubpages. He shows how to get content. Find products to promote.
I think it’s good for beginners but if you’re past that then it won’t help much.
I certainly think you can take things you learn from Affiloblueprint and apply it if you follow Pat’s steps in his Niche Site Duel and vice versa.
Good luck and hope you make that second sale soon!!
Benny recently posted..Life Isn’t Promised So Get Busy Living
Benny,
Thank you
Cheers,
Timo
Hey Timo.
Yeah making money online is a major milestone if that is your goal.
What do consider a good conversion rate on an the traffic you send to an affiliate page?
Daniel M. Wood recently posted..Podcast Episode 7- The Power of YOU
Hi Daniel!
That is a good question and at this point I’m unable to answer. This has been a set-and-forget type of site and I paid very little attention to the conversion at this point.
Do you have any estimates what would be the good conversion rate?
Cheers,
Timo
Timo: Congrats on your accomplishment and reaching your goal. It sounds like it was quite a journey and that you learned so much along the way. You are right that so many people fall short of ever making a dollar so my hat is off to you
Thanks for passing along all the information and background on how you did it. Great post.
Sibyl,
Great that you liked the post!
Yes, I took me sometime to accomplish this and I know that I’m able to improve the process next time I start a project like this (which, in fact I’m about to very soon).
Do you have niche websites of your own?
I remember making my first money online. I received an unexpected check in the mail from a vitamin and supplement company that I’m an affiliate for. My site was getting NO traffic at the time and getting that check in the mail for $40.00 was an awesome surprise. Thanks for bringing back that memory, Timo!
Vic,
It’s that feeling of getting the check the first time … just great!
Thanks for sharing your story
Are you building new sites now?
Cheers,
Timo
Hi Timo
“13 dollars and 10 cents ” – Good man.
Useful post and loved the video.
Putting the money back into the business is good advice and I look forward to hearing more about your success online.
Cheers Timo
Keith,
Nice to see you here
Actually, I’m looking forward to start another niche site soon. As soon as I get results to show, I’ll write a another post on this topic.
I loved the tips Tom showed on your blog regarding online video … plenty of valuable tips there
Cheers,
Timo