Switching from, say, a 9-to-5 job to working for yourself online is hard because you have to be able to stick with projects and, even more important, let them go. I have tried at least 10 different ways to make money online in the six months since I first went online. I have either made money or broken even on almost everything I have tried, but some of these ideas took a lot of time. Nothing is better than when I planned to write and sell ebooks. I wrote and wrote and wrote, but then I realised I didn't like doing that kind of work. It took too much work up front, and there were no guarantees that the ebooks would bring in any money.
Think about how much money you need to make and how much time it will take to get that money. You are fighting a losing battle if you work hard but don't get much in return. On the other hand, if you have to work for 100 hours without making any money but make a lot more money in the end, that is a better deal. Most online work that is successful requires more work up front and better pay after time, energy, and effort have been put in. This is why most ways to make money online don't work: they promise the money before the work is done. Almost never is this true. As I've said in other posts, there is no silver bullet. The key is to know when to give up on projects and goals that are costing you more money and time than you expected or planned. I like to make a plan and go back to it, even if it's just in my mind, to see where I am in the process. If I don't have a plan and don't feel like doing anything, it's probably because I've gotten off track or realised that the cost-benefit ratio is changing.
I really don't know when to give up on a project and when to keep it going. I spent about a year working on an ebook site to help writers who hadn't yet been published, but I ended up putting the idea aside. It was really hard for me to do that, especially after all the work and time I had put into it. Because the budget was small, I only put a small amount of money into the project, which was lucky. I could have lost a lot of money on the project. It was hard to decide to put the idea away, knowing that it probably wouldn't be seen again, but I had a few quiet talks with myself about it. I thought long and hard about that project and asked myself if it was something I really wanted to do or if I should just give up while my losses were still small and move on. I chose the second option, and I'm glad I did.
On the other hand, I chose to stay true to myself and pursue other ideas that have paid off much better in the long run. It is hard to decide to stick with a dream when your bank account is dropping into the double digits and you only have a few auctions on eBay to keep you going until things work out. I was getting closer and closer to having to get a part-time job to make sure I could pay my bills. Just so you know, a pound of potatoes costs $.67. When food is that cheap, it's hard not to eat. I really liked what I was doing, and I was going to keep doing it until the very end. After living on a budget that a college student could live on, it didn't take much to make me feel rich. This is why it's so important to have a job you love and would do even if you didn't get paid. When things get hard, your desire to keep going will be the thing that keeps you going. Most successful people are able to keep going even when things get tough. I can promise you that there will be times when you start to wonder if you're crazy.
If you've been working on a project for so long that you've forgotten what sunlight looks like, you might want to slow down. I chose to work online because it gave me the freedom and lifestyle I wanted. I recently went on a three-week trip to see family and help them out. During that time, nothing changed in my business. I even saw a small increase in business while I was away. This isn't always true. It depends on the type of online work you've chosen or are planning to choose. My goal was not to choose a job that required me to babysit all the time, but rather to find a job that fit with my wants and goals for my life. When deciding what online ventures to pursue, lifestyle design is a very important factor. Tim Ferriss's 4 Hour Work Week is a great book to read if you're interested in how to design your life.
When things are hard and uncertain, you need to be determined and love what you are doing to get through them. For a few months, I lived on about $800 to $900 a month so I could realise my dream of working online and having the freedom that comes with it. This is another reason why you should have some money set aside while you make the change. I quit my job and dove in head first because I wanted to force myself to work hard to make money from day one. I made a sign that said, "Will this make you money?" and put it right above my computer. For me, it was either sink or swim. There was no way I was going back to my old job, and I was willing to do anything to stay away from another one like it. This was not the easiest way to start a new job, but I was young and didn't have many responsibilities, so I was able to do it this way. I would strongly suggest that anyone else who is thinking about making the switch really think about their situation and make the right plans to make sure they are successful. Most of the time, this means saving up a lot of money or slowly leaving your old job as your new career starts to pay off.
I can't tell you enough that you should follow your dreams, no matter what they are. The coolest thing about your dreams and things you love is that you can make good money doing things you would do for free for a friend. The most important thing is to ask the right questions and focus on the people you want to work with the most. I like helping small businesses because so many of them are just like me in that they want to do well at what they do. I feel good about myself and happy when I see other people succeed and know that I was able to help them.
