…Instead Try To Make a Living Online.

These are two very closely knit but yet very distinct philosophies that are different with every person who has an internet business. Are you in it for the money or are you in it for the long term? Bottom line: Is the internet what you want to be able to retire on?

Aplenty blogs on the web talk about strategies, methods, tactics, the “secret” and more. A search on Google will you show you the distinction between these two phrases - Make Money Online and Make A Living Online. The difference is approx. 93,000,000, with the money one having more results.

So the basic conclusion is that a lot more people are interested in making money online, meaning to me a quick buck, than exploring a way to actually make a living online.

The internet is not very different from your regular daily life. It has it’s ups and downs, things that are hot one day are fish wrap the next, you may have your customer today but wait till the next guys shows up across the street. You have to keep at it, just like a regular job. If you don’t perform as well as your colleagues you might miss the promotion.

When I started working in my late teens, I wasn’t really a spend thrift. I used to spend my money wisely, because life came at me that way. I had to wise up or I would lose everything. But temptation always came and yes, I did splurge sometimes but only to a certain extent.

So from the beginning itself I was always thinking about the future and not just here and now. That’s the difference between the philosophies of making a living online Vs making money.

Make Money Online

You want the good stuff in life, who doesn’t? So you see the internet as an easy source to make some money. Some of you have solid intentions as to how you want to make it and some of you want the easy way. The easy way is the one that people look for the most. Usually dreams get conjured up from stories that you read about bloggers posting their monthly income {I don’t anymore}, or huge sales letters with a bunch of audio testimonials etc…and you think great you can do it too. Sure you can, nobody said you can’t.

You learn the quick try techniques, set up an affiliate site, or a blog, write or use PPC campaigns to drive traffic. Some of you succeed, most of you don’t. Ever wonder why you don’t? Somewhere down the line, or right away, you got greedy, lazy or lost enthusiasm from seeing all the work involved. When you didn’t hear the cha-ching emails ringing in your inbox from paypal payment notices or no clicks on your CPC Ads, it got even worse. The “Guru’s” or “Mentor’s” technique didn’t work and you feel bummed out. Aww, no worries, there are forums for talking about your experiences.

Make a Living Online

I used to work as a waiter and tips were my bread and butter. The gratuity was included in the bill, BUT our restaurant demanded that we follow a Top 10 service list and if we were found not doing so we could lose the incl. gratuity, or even get fired. This prevented everybody that applied for a job from thinking that they could provide whatever service they felt like and still walk away with tips in hand. I saw many people get fired and leave because they couldn’t take the Top 10 service part. I could never figure it out.

I left my full time job, almost 4 years ago, and decided to go freelance and use the internet to make my living, I’m happy to say it’s improving day by day. Just a few months back it hit me. I knew why I was always performing my Top 10 service call at the restaurant, it was because that’s where my LIVING came from and not because it was just a part time gig.

The same mentality stayed with me from then till now, I just never realized it. From the beginning I respected the freedom that the internet provided me to MAKE A LIVING ONLINE, I always took it as a long term process and not as a part time one.

Just as I was always able to perform my Top 10 service I was also unconsciously slowly building a mini-online empire to provide stability for me and my family for our entire LIFETIME, and not just next summer’s vacation.

I know that as I concentrate to make a living online I will succeed, just as I got promoted to an Office Manager from waiting tables. You can do it too, just got to have the right attitude that’s all.

So, Are you here to Make a Living Online or Just Make Money Online?

Of course, you can do neither and just read. You’re always welcome.

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About the author

Hyder has been blogging for the past two years on this blog. He started Weborithm, his web company, in 2007 and along with designing blogs and websites also releases various web related products.