I hope 2009 has started well for you. The new year brings with it new opportunities to make changes in your life and in your business. 

I've been doing some holiday reading about the common traits shared by successful internet business owners, including a book by Jamie McIntyre, a successful Australian internet millionaire, titled "What I Didn't Learn from Google But Wish I Had!"

According to Jamie, formal education and prior knowledge or experience on the net did not appear to be relevant to the ability of successful internetpreneurs to generate annual incomes of $100,000 and much more in their internet businesses. 

He reports that the more he read about internet success stories the more it became obvious that successful business owners shared 3 common traits that allowed them to generate extraordinary incomes from their internet business. 

Trait # 1 - Starting! They just got started!  Most of them had no prior knowledge of the internet. Typically it was their first internet business.  That doesn't mean they succeeded right away but they all had the attitude that it doesn't matter what your knowledge level is when you start, you don't have to do everything well, but you have to start and you have to continue to take action.  In other words, they had the mindset that you don't need to be a guru to make money online.

Trait #2 - Focus! They focused on one thing and did it well. Specifically, they focused on one marketing strategy at a time and mastered it before they moved to the next thing. Some mastered search engine marketing; others, article writing; effective sales copy and email campaigns, or traffic exchange marketing. They did not try many different marketing approaches at the same time.  They picked one they thought they could master and then used it to the fullest extent.  Only after they mastered one strategy and were able to run that on autopilot did they then select another marketing method to master and employ.

Trait #3 - Commitment! They all admitted to making mistakes.  A common main regret was not modelling success of others earlier on and wasting too much time on trial and error.  A common theme among the most successful internet business owners is that they made a commitment to continue to educate themselves in the most profitable marketing strategies and techniques.

 

Thousands of people are flocking to the internet everyday in the hopes of making extra income, or to make a full-time living online.

Can it be done?  Absolutely. But there is far too much hype about how easy it is. If someone tells you that even a five-year old can do it, don't believe them.  If they tell you it's so automatic, hands free, passive, you don't have to do a thing (except, of course, open your wallet and fork out the dollars), don't believe them. 

You will be able to create passive income that runs on autopilot. But what you are not told is that initially you have to do a lot of groundwork, a lot of basic business building and honing of your marketing skills, before you can reach that magic point where you start earning residual income "passively".

It takes time, effort, persistence, and continuous learning and improving your internet marketing skills to keep pace with the rapidly changing environment of making money online.  What worked yesterday may not work today, so you have to keep abreast of the trends and what's hot and what's not. Nevertheless, basic business building priniciples always apply and you cannot ignore them.

At the very least, if you are really serious about earning from the internet, you will need to have:

1. Your own hosting account

2. Your own hosted web pages (it doesn't have to be a full website)

3.  An autoresponder

The internet is not magic, and it will not spit out money like an ATM machine. However, if you have a systematic approach and the right tools, and the right mindset (work ethic), you can and will succeed!

I used to despair when people joined my OBA business, showed such enthusiasm in the beginning, as if they had found the "magic formula", and when they realized the work involved in marketing and communicating with their team, and that they would have to continue to develop their knowledge and skills to progress, they gave up to chase the next dream that promised to make them rich without effort.

The system works but the reality is that some people won't, don't or can't do the work. 

They buy a dream, not a business.

There is no excuse not to succeed with OBA for anyone who has the burning desire and the willingness to learn and apply effective marketing skills, share information and help others.