Well, the $300 giveaway has certainly helped the activity on my new forum, WebsiteBabble.com. In fact, it's been so good I will probably continue the cash awards after the first giveaway next month.

Not only is it a nice tax write-off for me, but it really does encourage people to contribute quality information. Even though Website Babble is a spam-free forum (no self promotion allowed), you can still drive traffic to your site by using a sig file with your posts.

The more useful your posts are, the greater the chance people will visit your site. So if you haven't joined, what are you waiting for? It's a definite win-win for you.

Join Website Babble today.

I just received an e-mail from a gentleman desperate to find something to do online so he could quit his job that he hates so much. He asked me how long it took me to make a full time living online and I got the impression he would do anything to get rich on the Net.

First of all, I really hate the "How long did it take you to make money online?" question because people often use that as a benchmark for their own success. And because there are so many factors that determine how successful you will be and how long it will take, that is a very difficult question to answer.

I receive a lot of desperation e-mails from people who would do anything to make money online but unfortunately the desperate people generally usually have the hardest time finding success.

Why?

Because money is their only motivation and they focus so hard on the "how-do-I-get-rich" part that they forget this is a job and you have to enjoy yourself in the process.

I remember when I was only making $30 per month, I still worked on my sites 20-30 hours per week reading and learning because I enjoyed the concept of Internet Marketing. Even though I wasn't making a lot of money, I saw the potential and I still loved to write and help others with my websites.

Making money online is not about copying someone else's idea or getting rich quick. It's about understanding that you have to treat this like a business. You need a plan.

1) Who are you going to target?

2) What are you going to do with your site to attract that audience?

3) What kind of products are you going to offer?

4) If you plan to join affiliate programs, which ones are the best for your site and how are you going to promote them?

5) How much do you have to invest because starting a business does require money, even if it's just for hosting your websites. Please don't expect to make money hosting your site at a free host. It's a joke.

6) Are you good at writing to communicate and/or sell? If not, do you plan to get someone to help you?

People who are making money out here, didn't do it by luck. It's all marketing just like any offline business. It's time people start taking Internet businesses more seriously and understanding that it's more than just putting up a website. You really do need to...

1) Establish a plan

2) Understand that this is a business

And last but not least...

3) Enjoy yourself.

And if you are seeking a get-rich-quick solution, I suggest you take a look at this article.

Years ago a top search engine ranking wasn't too hard to come by. You simply created a site with a few pages, added your meta tags, stuffed some keywords, got a few links from other websites (related or non related)...

And Voila!

You've got a top 10 ranking!

However, times have drastically changed and Google continues to crack down on sites that offer no value.

Ken Evoy of SiteSell, has been saying for years that traditional SEO would soon be dead.

And that time is here.

Read a very telling blog post from Ken here.

I just launched a new blog discussing the things affiliates and merchants do wrong. I've been involved in affiliate marketing for nearly 10 years and decided to blog about the common mistakes I notice with affiliates and merchants.

Check out AffiliateNonsense.com.

What's the one job where you could take a year off and still get paid?

Yup... you guessed it.

Affiliate Marketing.

I got an e-mail from a gentleman today who wanted to know how many hours he'd have to invest upfront to make enough money online to quit his full time job. He admitted he didn't have much time to invest into his site.

Because the Internet appears so glamorous with all these inspiring success stories, people get fooled into thinking there is some short cut or easy way to make money. Just throw up a site and the money will come in, right?

Nope.

It takes work just like any other job, BUT the difference is once you invest the time upfront you can get by working only a couple of hours per day. Unfortunately, most people never stick with it long enough to get to that point.

I could take a year off from my sites and still probably come back to a very nice income because of the time I've put into building up my sites over the years. You can too, but you have to do the work now to get the rewards later.

There are no shortcuts to success and the Internet is no exception.