Day 16.1: Confessions of An Optimist

In case you haven't already gathered, I'm a serious optimist. I can't help it. No matter how many times I've been disappointed (and it's been a lot), I can't help assuming that next time, it's going to work. That's what got me started on this experiment, and that's hopefully what will drive me to be able to earn at least a $100 a week from home. My innate optimism has been a mixed blessing for me, however, and for this post I decided to write about how much optimism is too much.

First of all, if you're going to be an entrepreneur either you're already an optimist or someone's holding a gun to your head and forcing you. (I doubt that's the case.) It's necessary to be an optimist if you're going to try new things. You have to have the vision to see your endeavors prosper, and you have to see a light at the end of the tunnel if you're going to chase it.

My problem is that I get so caught up in chasing the light that I don't realize that it's actually coming from an oncoming train and not the end of the tunnel at all. I get carried away with things. I obsess over something and then if it doesn't work out, I'm devastated. While being an optimist might be a necessary attribute to an entrepreneur, it's also vital that you be a realist. You can't simply walk around with high hopes and your head in the cloud and expect that good things will show up. You have to see how they will show up and what you can do to make that happen. You have to anticipate your own weaknesses and work out a way to combat them. That's an area where I really struggle. I'm a rotten salesman, period. Something could be cool and awesome and totally free, like Clixsense, but despite my own personal enthusiasm and even the fact that I'm going to get my first paycheck tomorrow, none of you will click on that link. And if you do, I'll be totally shocked and surprised and thrilled and incredibly grateful. Now see, you (almost certainly) didn't click the link. I love it, I'm excited about it and telling you... but I'm not getting any results.

So why is it that all of my plans hinge on referrals? Ok, true, Traffic Exchange Profits does have a way of working around that, but what about everything else? Why do I keep thinking I'll make it work, when it never does? I don't know. I guess I just can't stop.

Please follow me on Twitter for more updates and--please--check out Clixsense if you want to make your own cash online!

Day 12.2: Begging vs. Selling

"Please buy this. Please? It's a great thing to have. Super nifty. No, wait! Don't go. Please? Come back!"

That's just about what I sound like whenever I try to sell things, both online and in person. Whiney, annoying, and all-around obnoxious. No one wants to buy things from a person like that! I can't sell, and that's a problem. Pretty much every industry requires people to sell something--skills, impressions, tangible objects. Some people are fabulous at selling. They can get anyone to do anything just by saying things in the right tone of voice. How do they do that?

I've tried everything I can think of. I've tried to be bold; I've tried to be subtle; I've tried to make it as friendly and personal as I can, but nothing works. What do I do?

 Perhaps I need a new approach. I've quite proven that I am useless a salesmen myself... but there are others who can sell easily. What I need to do is find someone--or something--who can do the selling for me. I get frustrated when I see that sites that claim to be able to help with advertising only give me the tools but not the knowledge of how to use them. So far Traffic Exchange Profits has been the only company I know of that actually covers that part of the business, and it's very clever about it--it does its own selling. You'll notice that I haven't mentioned it very much on this blog, and there's a reason for it. I don't need to. Actually, the site advises against it. It's designed to be advertised only through traffic exchanges, and that makes sense. I'm selling something to people who, by definition, could use it. But it is a useful system, and if nothing else I'd recommend joining it just to see the training videos.

But that's the approach I need... a product that is literally designed to sell itself, placed in front of an audience who will actually like it. I know my sites are all awesome and that you should all join, but I just need to find a way to communicate that without getting you to tune out.

Please feel free to follow me on Twitter (@onlineincome) for more updates and tips, and by all means check out Traffic Exchange Profits or Free Internet Money. I'm going to keep saying that even if you don't respond.

Day 11.1: What Kind of Online Worker Are You?

Eleven active referrals now for Clixsense. I decided to take money out of my Amazon Turk account to invest in an upgraded membership, because at this point I feel as if I'm practically losing money in not doing so. I didn't expect it to pick up so fast!

Anyway, this morning I've been thinking about all of the different approaches I've now tried to earn a profit online. As the list is getting rather long, I decided to jot it all down here along with my progress for each. Note that my own progress is affected very much by my personality, level of commitment and abilities. Feel free to try out any and every method here--people have been able to earn a substantial income from each of these.

1. Amazon Turk. A very dependable and controllable income, though it is hard to make more than a few cents at a time. You can do whatever kind of work you want, though, and new options are constantly turning up.
2. Writing freelance articles. Sites like Squidoo and Hubpages allow you to write articles without the responsibility of running a website. You can write about whatever you want whenever you want. However, your income depends on ads and selling products, so it's hard to earn a serious income from it.
3. Blogging. It's a lot of work to maintain a decent blog. I write three articles a day and then optimize them like crazy, and I've yet to make a cent. But the work is very independent, and you can focus on whatever area you want and specialize it. This blog has been as profitable as a college class in terms of education--as I maintain it and record my progress, I've learned a ton about online work.
4. PTCs. They felt like an amusing waste of time at first, but right now Clixsense is taking off like crazy, and a lot of the money is generated--meaning I'm literally making money in my sleep. It's nothing without referrals, but get even one person to sign up and it's very much worth it.
5. Online Marketing. I still feel like a little fish in a big sea here--so many people are clamoring for their ads to be noticed that it's easy to get overwhelmed when you're trying to market something yourself. I've had better success than most in this area--largely it just takes insane determination and long hours of work.
6. Joining an organized program. Free Internet Money and Traffic Exchange Profits are both programs that you can join on the side, promoting any business you want. This is my favorite form of monetization so far. You use plans made by others that have already proven to be successful. Wash, rinse, repeat. It's hard to find free plans, though, but it's a great learning opportunity as well.

I think that's it. I've had different levels of success with each one, and have actually had results very different than I was expecting. I honestly thought my writing would be the big moneymaker here, but it hasn't gotten me anything, whereas the silly paid-to-click sites are actually seriously paying. It's going to be interesting to see where I wind up by the end of the month!

Please follow me on Twitter for more tips and updates, and to see more of my personal strategy visit the Free Internet Money site. It's well worth your time!