Actually, that title is a lie. I really don’t believe there is a fast track to becoming a millionaire. I do on the other hand think that you can achieve the riches you desire in a short time frame if that is your goal.

It seems like everyone is trying to make money online thinking they can replicate someone else’s success in a short length of time and end up making as much money. The truth is everyone pays their dues. Like starting out on the ground floor of the building and working your way up, it takes some time. Sure you could start out a few floors higher than most, or climb the floors faster than most, but it won’t happen overnight. This isn’t just a post about telling you that “you can’t do it,” or “it’s really hard to make millions online.” The exact opposite is true. Look at Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook. He bypassed the millions and went straight to the billions. What I am really trying to drive at here is the process you go about making your money.

Focus on the lifestyle you want

So many times and probably the number 1 reason for bloggers and online entrepreneurs failing is because all they are doing is chasing money. Chasing money is a very, very hard thing to do. Sadly, most people who could live off the chase of money quit before they have really made any money from their online ventures. It takes time to start turning a profit, and if you haven’t been in the make money online game for long there are a lot of bumps and bruises along the way.

If you think you would like to try one way or the other to make money online, my first advice is to do as much as you can for as little a$ you can. You don’t want to go broke trying to live out your dream of self employment and the freedom that working online brings. Make the Internet work for you, not the other way around. I very rarely feel guilty stepping away from the computer and going outside or on a last minute trip to family or friends. Often business picks up when I am gone because of all the work put in preparation for the mini vacation. I don’t think I could pick a line of work online that involves my direct involvement over every aspect at all times.

The secret to making money online is really the secret of motivation. If you can’t stay motivated doing what you are doing for next to nothing for six months to a year, the chances are high for failure. Failure is likely, not because the idea is bad but it is unlikely someone will stay motivated for that long without immediate returns. If you compare all of the “A-list” bloggers, most started out doing it because they loved what they were doing and a year later they started getting rewarded for it. Find anything that you are really passionate about and focus on that for the first phase of making money. Often, your passion will probably be specific and niche enough to draw a good crowd with the potential to monetize it in short order down the road.

It won’t take long from the time your first project gets off the ground, and all of the lessons you learned from it will steamroll right into the next project or phase. The skills you learn along the way will continue to carry you through each project you take on. As you take on more and more projects, you build a nice big foundation to grow from. This is why there is no magic bullet for making money online and basically to each their own. I never want to be just average, and I doubt I have ever been. So, I would hope you are the same way.

Don’t settle for average or the mundane online either. Look to the edges of the subjects you are interested in and never forget there are close to 7 billion people in this world. That is a lot of untapped potential to find the people who are out there with similar interests as you. Become an authority in your field and niche. I promise you, if you stick with the things you know and love, you will succeed and make your millions.

What can you do today or right now that will affect change on your blog or site? Can you get 5 links back to your blog today? Can you gain 1 RSS reader or get an extra 100 visitors? Sure you can.

Remember, proven basics come before unproven success. It is easy to dream big, but the best way to reach those dreams is one step at a time. I remember thinking it was hard to get any extra visitors to my blog in a day. Now it is only a couple clicks and a post away. Set high and challenging goals for the long term and small accessible goals for the short term. Once the foundation is laid, the bricks and mortar will fall into place quite easily.

People often get into blogging thinking one day they will wake up and have a blog generating thousands of dollars a month without much effort. The truth is, that rarely happens. The number I hear most often for new blogs created each day is 175,000. For a comparison, that is the entire population of my town (Fargo, ND) starting a blog every day. Kinda sobering, isn’t it?In the movie Any Given Sunday, Al Pacino (my favorite actor) gives an incredible speech talking about life and football being a game of inches. The video is below. Blogging fits well into this analogy of inches. Each day, you as a blogger have a choice to blog better by providing great content, finding a new backlink, gaining an extra subscriber, expanding your network and building relationships. All of these little efforts you put into your blog and relationships are adding inches to your game. Remember, blogging is fun and that is why you started.

As your blog progresses and your readership builds, it becomes a lot easier to provide the most value you can to your community. When it comes down to it, you have essentially built yourself a mountain from which you can affect change and have the most impact. Remember that most things in life are earned, and if you want to be a highly influential blogger, you will have to earn it. Once you have earned that right, you will have the best view of the countryside. Here is another short clip from one of my favorite movies, Layer Cake with Daniel Craig.

Those who receive this by rss will have to visit the site to watch the clips.