Hi guys -
The title of this post is a classic question, and one Court and I get asked on a daily basis. In fact, I was just over reading Grizz’s “show me the money” post (brilliant, by the way), and I saw the “how long?” question asked at least a couple of times. If you’d like to skip the rest of this post, here are my short answers to the “How long till I make money online?” question:
Longer than 99% of people are willing to sustain focus.
…and…
Not nearly as long as discouraged newbies think it will take.
Yes, those are vague answers. Let’s put it in perspective with a couple of specific examples:
In the last few weeks I’ve had some great conversations with former one-on-one students of ours. Both of them started effectively at zero online income. One of them is now plugging away at about $1500 per month (we started working with him about five months ago), and the other made over $10,000 last month (he enrolled in late January).
I just couldn’t be happier for these two hard-working guys, and couldn’t be more proud of the fact that we were part of their success. When I asked them about what it took to get where they are today, their answers were similar, and went something like this:
“Well, the truth is I was up and down for the first couple of months – in my motivation, effort, and results. It’s just not that easy to focus when you have a job, and you’re trying to have a life, and then you’re trying to build a business online at the same time. I just had to keep plugging away at it. I’d put in 20 minutes here and an hour there, and after a while I started to see some results.”
Can You Get Excited About $10 Per Month Online? I Hope So.
What did they mean by “some results?” A dollar here, two dollars there – heck, in the early days they were ecstatic if they made $10 one month and doubled it to $20 the next month. After all, that’s a 100% increase. I loved what one of the students – Steve – said about his longer term goals:
“People have to realize that making an income on the internet is a marathon, not a sprint. If you get into this game thinking you’re going to go from zero to thousands per month in a couple months you’re just going to get frustrated and quit. My plan is to increase my income by about 5% per month for the next three years. That will get me to my goals.”
Let’s work through the math for a second. Let’s say you bust your tail for 12 months and achieve an income of $1,000 in the 12th month (although Steve did that in his fourth month). Now let’s say you’re able to increase that income by 5% every month after that. Three years later your monthly income would be just over $6,000 per month. If you include the first year, it would have taken you four years to reach an income of about $72,000 per year.
Much More Lucrative Than College (or University)
You know how much the average college graduate earns? I did some research and I couldn’t find a single example of a college grad earning a starting salary of more than about $60,000, with most starting out between $30,000 and $40,000.
Of course, it’s not even a fair comparison. College students aren’t making money (typically) while they’re in school, and they’re definitely not seeing a 5% increase in their income every month. Quite the contrary. In many cases they’re going tens of thousands of dollars in debt.
If you become the persistent web entrepreneur in our example you will not only hit $72,000 per year by the end of your fourth year, you will have earned a total of over $101,000 during your four years of “schooling.”
I guess some people will say it’s not possible to increase your income by a measly 5% per month over a three year period. That’s fine. I would encourage those people to settle into a nice corporate job, and hang out there for 30 or 40 years.
Based on my experience, a 5% monthly increase is not hard at all – it’s the first $1,000 that’s tough. If you can knock out that first thousand per month, the sky is really the limit. You’ll have confidence, momentum, and enthusiasm on your side – not to mention the cash. People are attracted to internet marketing because you can get started with very little cash. But I’m here to tell you that internet marketing gets a lot simpler (dare I say easy?) when you’ve got some money to put behind your work ethic and creativity.
So what’s the problem? Why is it that 99% of the people never get to $1,000 per month, let alone $6,000 per month?
Keep the Right Perspective About Time Frames
People have completely absurd ideas about how much they can make in their first few months as an internet marketer. I love the quote from management guru Peter Drucker:
“We greatly overestimate what we can accomplish in one year. But we greatly underestimate what we can accomplish in five years.”
I would change the quote slightly for you:
“We greatly overestimate what we can accomplish in a month. But we greatly underestimate what we can accomplish in a year.”
If you’re serious about making money on the internet, be prepared for a very boring first few months. It will be quite a bit of work with not much obvious payoff. The key – the absolute KEY – to success is persisting in the right activities day in and day out for the first few months.
If you’re wondering whether it’s worth it, just trust me – it’s worth it. Your leanest months as an internet marketer will be much happier than your richest months as a corporate monkey (as least that’s been true for me).
So, I guess it took me about 1,000 words to say this: If you can persist for 9 to 12 months, you’ll have something. Hang in there.
Hope all of you in the US had a great Thanksgiving. Hope everybody else had a great Thursday. 
- Mark
PS. If you’d like to have a little more structure and guidance to get you to your first $1,000 per month online, you probably ought to check out our coaching program. Take care!
Great article Mark. I hope I’m right in gaining that the moral of this post is Persistence. Quality stuff!
I thought I would comment since I am a “anon. Reader”
Through your posts alone on keyword sniping, I am doing 1300 dollars this month with adsense, and 300 dollars through affiliates. Mind you, courts way of doing this does not limit you to using just adsense.
Just thought I would throw this out there for you guys, mind you, I have only been since this for 5 months and started at zero dollars. I also goto college fulltime AND have a full time job.
If I can, anyone can.
Hey! Nice to see my name in print :>)
Just wanted to drop by and say that I am still chugging along nicely and still being patient and persistent. Honestly I did start out pretty gung ho with aspirations to “kill it”, but have since settled into a nice little rhythm thanks to Court’s teachings. October to November increase looks like it will be in the 16-18% range which isn’t too shabby and put me way over my 5% goal.
I started in July with Court and have seen over 250% increase in my earnings since that time. And honestly I haven’t done much of anything in the month of November because of being so darn busy with my “day job”. I know that without Court’s guidance for those first two months I wouldn’t be nearly where I am now. While I already knew a bit about IM, he helped me to focus and made me understand my own strengths and weaknesses a bit better.
I don’t think that 3 years is a long time at all to work to get the freedom I am looking for. After all, I’ve already been working for others for 25 years. And none of the companies I’ve worked for has given me 5% a month raises. In fact, I’d be happy to get that much yearly from most companies! Put in that perspective 3 years is nothing.
Honestly, making money this way is not difficult and as you learn more about the process and about yourself you’ll find opportunities literally jumping out at you. I may not be rich 3 years from now, but I will be free to do whatever I want with my life. How many people you know can say that?
–Steve
I have got to tell you, the timing of this post was perfect. I have been using Court’s methods for about 6 months, and only really applying any effort to it for the last 5 months. His techniques work. I am up to about 100.00 per month and continuing to grow. I have to remind myself that this is a long-distance race.
Keep up the good work, I appreciate all of the help you have given.
-LarryG
Hey Mark,
Thanks again for the phone conversation last week. You put things in perspective, and I feel good that I am working the systems as you guys prescribe.
What I’m finding interesting, is that your posts, while have a different voice, resonate in some of the same way Griz’ posts do.
Very easy reading and smooth flowing like butter.
Since adding adsense to all my sites per your instructions, I think I will have a good begining adsense earning this month.
Having been with you guys since Sept…Im starting to see some of those sites start to pop up. Can’t wait until they improve with age and seasoning.
Looking forward to more…
Matt(poiboy)
Thanks Mark for the reminder of persistence. I am slowly but surely starting to see results. My adsense is finally starting to pick up some steam. If current trends continue, I will finally make over 100 a month in a couple months. Persistence. I keep trying to look at the long pic.
Great encouragement for all of s newbies to stick with it. My goals have gotten a little offtrack b/c every now and then I start to think that it doesn’t matter if you make money online or not… but then again I think about the time invested online and figure there should be some kind ROI
Great article to a touchy subject that alot of people do not like to talk about. I personally have over 20 years old school mlm experience and went full time with my current primary business in July.
Since have become obsessed with learning teaching and actively pursuing web 2.0 and relationship marketing. People cringe when I tell them I have a 5 year plan and am focused on learning before earning.
Thanks for your Insight on the Question!
Jim H TX
Thanks Mark, great! post alway a good way to be put back on the right track to here REAL results when life(MY OWN!) gets in the way…
THANKS Again!
Nick J Barrett
Hi Mark,
I`m a Court, Grizz and also a reader of yours.
I`ve started my online business 1 and half years ago.
I`ve sitck with my full-time day job, and maintain my online activitie as well.
In the first months, i`ve made a few bucks, and took about a 3 months to get my first adsense pay (100€).
Today, i work about 2 to 4 hours per day, on my online business (dozens of blogs and sites), and make a 1.000€ (euros) per month (with adsense and other affiliated programs), or just the same amount i reveive in my full-time job.
I`m leaving my full-time job and wil dedicate all the time (8H to 10H) to my online business, because i know if I work the same amount of time, it will bring me more money that my old day job.
With yours, Court and Grizz help, I will make it, for sure.
Keep on going with the good work and we will keep on reading it …
Cumps,
Artur
“Longer than 99% of people are willing to sustain focus.” – That reminds me of the weird feeling I get (I’m sure you and Court can relate) when people ask me how I do/did something, then I start to explain to them the exact method I used, and I see them start to glaze over after just a few words…
It’s almost as if the curiosity was satisfied by asking the question, and they don’t really need the answer now! Truly bizarre…
Danelle Ice (Homemaker Barbi)
Want to know something funny? I live in South Africa. This country is a wonderful place to live if you’re getting paid in US dollars… $200 a month may seem like next to nothing to you guys, but over here it’s a comfortable middle-class income.
Minimum wage here is around $75 a month. The cheapest rent for a single room in a shared house that I’ve come across was about $80 per month. Manager type people get around $700-$1000 a month. Computer technicians get around $100-$300 depending on various factors.
So yeah, I always kind of giggle when I read about people saying how $100 is nothing and how you’re only really “successful” when you’re making $1000 a month. Hell, I was happy when I was just making enough to upgrade my computer every 3 years. Now I can go live wherever the hell I want
@ Danelle Ice – LOL! I get that a lot too. Makes me wonder why I bother to answer people sometimes. I’d rather just send them a link to where they can read about it… and they probably won’t.
@SoulRiser: I hear ya! That’s precisely why I created an FAQ page- to stop answering the same questions over and over. And you know what? It’s one of the least-viewed pages on the site! lol It’s great to meet you.
Danelle Ice / Homemaker Barbi
Hi Mark,
I have been working towards what you preach for going on my 3rd year.
What I know today is dramatically more then when I started in 1999 selling on eBay.
I love your Keyword-Crash-Course PDF book. I can’t believe you are giving it away for free.
The timing is perfect. I had just started a major overhaul over 10 sites I run. I will be applying your methods and I will let you know how I do. I would love to be one of your success stories!
Thanks,
Linda Lee
askmepc-webdesign