newbie here: am i being realistic?

9 replies
here's where i'm at:

i'm in grad school now, with my program ending end of august.

i really don't do go down the normal "deferred life plan". i want financial independence freedom. i don't need to be rich, just to have enough money coming in to live comfortably, from such a way that i'm mobile if i want to be. basically i want to travel whenever i want more-or-less, and not have to worry about paying the bills.

i've concluded that the best way to achieve this lifestyle is through having some sort of online business (affiliate marketing, drop-shipping, etc). (am i wrong - are there other options?)

so by the end of my program - 6-7 months from now - i'd like to be on the path. while eventually i'd like to make six figures, i'm first looking to money a modest amount so i know i can make more soon after.

is it realistic for me in 6-7 months to start making money online and feel confident i don't have to get stuck in the 9-to-5 or corporate world?
#newbie #realistic
  • Profile picture of the author vickybabe
    Most definitely, the main problem new internet marketers face is that they jump from idea to idea and never stick with anything, pick something, learn how to do it, stick with it and take action and you will see great results.
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    • Profile picture of the author Henri Lind
      im a beginner too and my advice is when you start SE, choose some low competition keywords. Because it can take a long time and as you have a deadline, you want it to succeed. This is my opinion, comment if im wrong.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    Hi Sam,

    There are 2 aspects to your question.

    One is about the business model and whether you should focus on affiliate marketing, selling your own products, running a membership site, an ecommerce store etc....

    The other is - whether you start as you mean to go on or focus on making money first.

    Most people will give you advice that is based on what IM stuff makes money - i.e article marketing, creating info products, etc.. in which you're focused more on how to make money rather than what you're selling.

    While there are merits to that model - I'm going to go the other way and say you should consider not how to start an IM business from scratch based on what others are doing or selling anything that you can, but on deciding what you are passionate about and would love to be spending your time doing - and THEN looking at what IM strategies make sense in that environment.

    For example - if you want to spend your time doing crafts like making candles then it may be that creating an ecommerce site selling your candles, a membership site showing others how to create them (and offering kits on the ecommerce site), and using article marketing and social networking to promote them, would be a nice fit for you to make money while doing what you love.

    If however, you're a graphic design expert you may just want to have a simple website offering your services and supplement that with responding to jobs on the WF, Elance and other outsourcing sites and getting whatever offline business customer you can too.

    The same goes for the multitude of other ways to make money - but my point is - start with what you love and go from there and you can't go wrong. If you start with it all being about the money - you'll end up jumping from one thing to another chasing quicker and easier money and look back a couple of years later wondering how you've been so busy and not built a business.

    Andy
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  • Profile picture of the author webcosmo
    that depends on where you live.
    in about 6 months making enough money for living out of it might be too optimistic, although not impossible.

    i would probably do the traditional job search, also try things on the internet first see if it clicks. if things work well with internet you can always leave the job.
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  • Profile picture of the author donhx
    You can reach these goals, however, you must have a business plan. Many people think IM is a get-rich-quick scheme, but to be successful you must be highly focused. Your initial goal should be to get a small success, then build on it. Over time, you have the potential for a large amount of passive income.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Ward
    I think your main issue will be, as a grad student, simply a lack of time to devote to developing an online business. Unless you strike it lucky right away, it takes a lot of learning, trial and error, etc before you start to make any money.

    It's definitely possible to be making decent money within 6-7 months, though. It really depends on how much time you have.
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    "Keep moving forward."
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    • Profile picture of the author samanthafinkel
      Originally Posted by mattward View Post

      I think your main issue will be, as a grad student, simply a lack of time to devote to developing an online business. Unless you strike it lucky right away, it takes a lot of learning, trial and error, etc before you start to make any money.

      It's definitely possible to be making decent money within 6-7 months, though. It really depends on how much time you have.
      how much time is needed? i can certainly make time. i know it's not a direct relationship between time spend and money made, of course, but does it have to be a full-time-job's worth time?
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      • Profile picture of the author jerrywilhelm
        Its taken me a bit longer than that to get a signinficant income going. but then i'm kind of dense. I can tell you it is a stressful position to put yourself in to be completely dependent on your business working out. On the other hand if your under pressure it forces you to do what it takes to make it work. The important thing I would say is to start out with a good program and don't get side tracked by all the offers your gonna get for different training programs.
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      • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
        Originally Posted by samanthafinkel View Post

        how much time is needed? i can certainly make time. i know it's not a direct relationship between time spend and money made, of course, but does it have to be a full-time-job's worth time?
        No - it depends on your business model.

        If you're selling graphics to website owners and you charge $200 for something and you want to earn $3k then you need 15 customers a month.

        If you sell software for $50 then you need 60 sales a month.

        etc....

        Once you know your business and what product prices are right and the size of your market - then you'll know how much time is needed.

        It's already been said - you need a business plan before you start or you'll end up spending all your time making not enough money.
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