Dear Make Money Online People, Cut the Crap.

I was recently scrolling through Quora to find questions to answer and I came upon this one:

Oh, this should be good.
Here are some of the answers:

$60k per month using Bitcoins, wow that’s impressive.

Amazon affiliate huh? Below that text was some fake screenshots of their earnings they probably got from Google images…

Kindle ebook riches, sounds legit.
These answers make me want to gag.
First of all, there is no easy or quick way to make money online. Anyone who tells you different is lying or selling you something.
I’ve been doing business online for 7 years, here’s the real deal with making money online.

Building a real business takes time, online or otherwise.

All the spam answers you see on this question that say “I make 50K/mo with this simple trick!” are crap. Don’t get pulled into it.
To build a real business you need to talk to real people, find a real problem, and provide a valuable solution. Build relationships, build your brand, and prosper by providing value over the long term.
Maybe you can make a few bucks with some “trick”, but it will never stand the test of time.

There are no overnight successes.

Most people who have built a real business online have been doing this for a long time, and have failed a lot.
Take Noah Kagan for example. He’s built an 8 figure business (https://sumo.com/) and he’s only 35.
He may seem like an overnight success, but he’s been at this for over 10 years. He’s had several failures, including being fired from Facebook, and losing $82,000 on a failed business called BetArcade.
He created multiple businesses before he had one that made it big. Most people never make it to an 8 figure business, but it’s not as hard to create a decent lifestyle working for yourself.
Nathan Barry is killing it with ConvertKit, and I never heard of him before I signed up to use his product. To me it seemed like he came from nowhere, but he wrote 3 books, published 2 courses, and has been doing websites and apps for years.
There are countless others struggling just trying to make a living online.
None of this stuff happens overnight.

It’s really hard.

Some people think it’s easy to make a couple thousand bucks online in their spare time.
It’s not. Sorry.
The truth is that it takes a lot of time and dedication. You will probably fail multiple times, or it will take a really long time until you are making any real money.
I’ve had products that were successful right out of the gate, and others that I was sure would make a killing that didn’t. This stuff is harder than it looks.

You can still do it!

The good news is that even though it’s hard, you can still do it. You can make money online, and it doesn’t have to be a full time occupation.
To succeed, you have to approach it as a business, not an “easy” way to make some money on the side.
Pick something you’re passionate about, build a website, and start selling.

• Don’t waste time with LLCs and business plans, just find a real problem and solve it. Then just ship something.
• Get to the part where you ask for money as quickly as possible.
• Talk to the people who give you money, and improve your product or service.

If not enough people want to give you money, you haven’t solved a real problem. Go back and change what you offer until people are begging you to take their money.
Build real relationships that will last, not just transactional ones. Exude integrity and quality, and you will gain a reputation that precedes you. This stuff takes time, but it will pay off eventually.
You can make money online by building a real business, just don’t read Quora to find out how.