If you’ve been trying unsuccessfully to make money online for some time there are two questions to ask yourself. Why have you not yet achieved that goal? What have you been doing to make yourself the amount of money you want and reach your goals?

If you’ve been doing the same thing over and over again for more than six months and you haven’t got the result you aimed for then it may be time to try something different. There are a number of ways to make money online. Try not to limit your beliefs regarding what is possible.

Many fail to make money online because they don’t understand that an online business has to follow the same principles as any other business. Working online doesn’t mean basic business practices no longer apply. It certainly doesn’t mean you can set up a business with less effort.

If you want to earn a lot of money you’re going to have to do a lot of work to make that happen. That means staying away from pushbutton software and methods. Don’t waste your time looking for a single product that is going to make you five figures a month, or whatever your target is. Realise that that particular online dream is as impractical as hoping to make money from most business-in-a-box offers in the off-line world. If you want five or six figures a month you’re going to have to build a business to get that sort of money.

Don’t buy a product from a sales page believing that you can automatically get the results described in the sales copy. Not every ‘make money online’ product for sale is a waste of time, but you may need to find your own method of what’s going to work for you. Every business owner has their own approach and talents. That’s why a method of making money can work immediately for some, but not others.

Creating an automated income from a website takes time and effort. Creating a website is easy. The challenge is to provide something of value and letting your prospects know it’s available. You need to work out how to initially engage with your audience and how to continue engaging with them.

This is basic business practice, whether it’s online or off-line. People are not going to go into a shop and buy something off the shelf if it is of no value to them. They’re not going to buy something if it looks cheap or the shop looks like it’s setup to make the owner a quick buck with no regard for the customer. You need to build trust, and that will take time and effort too.

If you want to make money online it is no different to building yourself a business off-line. The only difference is that you are digitally delivering your product or service. The concepts and principles of business are basically the same. You still have to put in the time and effort. You’re  still selling to human beings, but the delivery is different.

If you’ve been doing the same thing for the past six months and your income has not yet increased then something needs to change. Look at what you have been doing and discover why it is not working for you. Have you been building a business or trying to implement a silver-bullet push button method?

You need to focus on one niche where you can deliver value, and preferably that you enjoy. Even if that leads you to something you believe no one else would be interested in, the internet is probably vast enough to contain that small niche. Your customers are out there somewhere. Whatever business you choose, go into it with persistence and expect to have to work for it. Treat it like a business and you’ll be more successful.