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.
Article written by Gayle Bowen. A copyright does exist on this article dated 10/21/2006. Please contact Gayle through www.ezinearticles.com to obtain permission to reprint this article.
