First of all let me start out by saying that yes it can be
done. You can make a living online. However, now that I
have said that let me expand on the title by explaining the
5 Basic Characteristics.
1. Perseverance:
Perseverance is listed first because before you begin your
journey to online success you should examine your past
performance in anything you have ever attempted.
Did you finish it? If you are one who is determined to
never give up, no matter what, then you have one of the
personality characteristics that it takes. Making a
living on the internet is not simply building a website and
then sitting back waiting for the buyers to break down your
door. It involves much more than that. Of course there
are secrets, but you can learn them. It just takes time.
There are many opportunities to earn a living online such
as opening an online store, or joining an affiliate
program, or selling books that you write. Some programs
are set up to help you and you can buy a website business
that requires very little to start it other than the
initial investment.
However many of these programs will get you set up and then
leave you to figure out how you are going to drive the
traffic to your online store. This is definitely the most
difficult part. There is a lot to learn to be successful
at driving enough traffic to your web site then getting
your visitors to turn into customers. Many people who are
not persistent will give up before they give learn enough
to be successful.
2. Teachable:
Maybe you do not think you need to be teachable to earn a
living online, but you do. The internet is a funny place
even beyond the joke sites. It does have a life of its
own as the gurus (who do make great incomes) will tell you
once you pay for their courses. What do I mean by that
statement that the internet has a life of its own?
The internet changes just like other areas of life. The
internet started in 1969 by the US Department of Defense as
a communication device. Then by the end of 1970 computer
networks had become international. Now we see personal use
of the internet and business use of the internet as a huge
enterprise. Home pages have taken over as the ways to code
and put up websites have become so easy that anyone can do
it. Also an easier way to communicate and share
information has appeared. Blogs have made it even easier
for people to add information to pass along to family and
friends with even less knowledge of coding and building
technical websites.
Who would have thought that the internet would be a place
where teenagers would want to spend endless hours hanging
out? Now guess what? It seems the adults are finding out
that they want to spend more time on the same sites the
teens hang out on. However adults find other uses for
social sites like networking with other people in the same
careers or with similar interests. This is known as social
networking.
If you are going to be making the internet your place of
business, you need to be aware of the trends. After all
you are going to want to reach people to come to your place
of business. Sometimes you have to go out and find them so
that more can find you.
3. Creative:
Are you creative? I am not talking about how well you enjoy
arts and crafts, but it certainly helps to have a creative
spirit, soul, or just enjoy crafting. To make a living
online you will be coming up with lots of ideas for
products you want to sell, how you want to promote them,
and how to meet your target audience. Maybe you even want
to sell craft supplies! Awesome! Of course if you are not
all that creative you can always hire someone to put your
ideas into Web Page format, or you can start out with a
blog.
However, you are the architect of your business ideas. You
must come up with the ideas to get your business going.
You must be able to decide how to get these ideas down on
some visible form.
Creativity is the thread weaving around the other
personality characteristics tying them all in together. If
you are not feeling creative then maybe you are just too
stressed out to free up your mind. Maybe you need some
down time to get your mind flowing in some creative
direction. Keep a notebook with you to jot down ideas, no
matter how crazy they seem. Hey if you laugh at your own
ideas, then that is great. Laughter is good medicine, and
it burns calories and relieves stress. Laughter releases
good stuff in your body, so don’t forget to laugh.
If an idea does not seem right for today, do not toss it
completely out. It might be right in the future. That is
why it is a good idea to carry some sort of notebook with
you. Personal organizers are great, especially if they can
connect to your computer. There are usually times during
the week when you are waiting for something and a thought
will pop into your mind. Jot it down. Some successful
people carry pocket recorders for this purpose, too. Find
something that works for you.
4. Patient:
Patience goes along with perseverance. However there are a
few differences. You need to be patient in all
circumstances and have what it takes so you never give up.
You are definitely going to learn a whole lot. Do you have
what it takes to be patient if you are not earning an
income right away while you are learning? Sometimes you
will spend a lot of time researching or doing other tedious
things to make your web page successful. You might go down
one avenue only to find it leads to a dead end of web
research. Patience is a necessary requirement. If you are
working a full time job and starting to branch off into
your online based career part time, then you must have even
more patience, because there never ever seems to be enough
time to do all you want to do.
5. Ambitious:
Ambition is the driving force that will keep you on task
when common sense might be telling you to quit. There has
to be a reason for you to want to pursue your dream of
making a living online. If you are not highly motivated it
will just take you longer to reach your goals.
How do you stay motivated? Celebrate each success along
the way to reaching your goals, or create mini goals along
the way toward the one main goal of making a living online.
If you find your ambition is not as strong as it was when
you first started then perhaps you need to take some time
to regroup.
Keep records and notes of your progress. Sometimes it
helps when you look back and then you realize how far you
have advanced. Even minor setbacks or having to start over
should be considered progress. Everything is a step
towards success because we learn each day from our results.
To summarize the five basic personality characteristics
necessary to make a living online include perseverance,
being teachable, creative, patient, and ambitious. Of
course there are more characteristics that successful
online entrepreneurs have, but these five seem to be the
most widely shared. If you are not sure if you are suited
for a lifestyle of making a living online, but you want to
attempt it, then chances are that you do have these
characteristics, but maybe they just are not developed yet.
There are several books that have been published to help
you develop what you need to survive and succeed online.
Take that first step forward and you are on your way.
