How People Make Money

Having the right frame of mind is important for almost everything that people do, and making money is no exception.

Let's go back to the idea that money is like the ocean. Most people work for their money, and spend it as quickly as they get it. This is like people getting water from the ocean in buckets, and using it moments later. Some people are a little more disciplined, and so they might pour their water into a tub, so that they can save it. Pretty smart right? Well, yes and no. It's better than just using buckets, but it will still take a long time to fill the tub.

Someone who studies the ocean, though, and notices that the tide goes in and out, might wait for the tide to go out, and then dig a big hole, and put a tub in the hole. The tide will come in again and go out again, and when it does, they will have a tub filled with water, more water than they could have got by grabbing buckets all day long.

OK, so it isn't the best example ever created, but I think you get my point. For most people, trying to make money is like using the bucket strategy for getting water. The classic advice that we have all been given is to work hard, and save as much as we can, but that's like filling a tub with the buckets - it works, kind of, but it takes a really long time. What we are interested in here is the last approach - we want to bury a big tub in the sand, and let the ocean do all the work for us.

So, let's summarize: We are looking for patterns in the way that money flows, because once we see those patterns, we can position ourselves and our businesses in such a way that they *have* to make money, just like the ocean has to fill the tub, and in both cases, most of the work isn't being done by us.

Hopefully, by this point, you are ready to stop simply trading your time for a little bit of money, and ready to start learning about the flow of money, so that you can harness that flow and make it work for you.

Before I go any further, though, I have to issue a word of caution: Don't quit your day job yet! I have no doubt that if you put your mind to it, you will be able to, and very soon, but as with most things, there are bound to be some stumbles along the way. Let's make sure to do this the smart way, because the last thing I want is for anyone to miss rent, or not be able to pay the power bill because of something I said.

OK, now that we have that out of the way, we can get down to the good stuff. Think, for a moment, about all the ways that people make money. OK, now think about all of the ways that people spend money. Which was the bigger list? I'm betting that you could easily think of more ways to spend money, than you could to make money. Right? Well here is a little secret: All of the ways that people can spend money - those are ways that *other* people are making money! Kind of mind blowing, right? It's true though. In fact, once you start to think about it, everywhere you look, you will see people either spending money, or making money.

But how does that help us? Good question. Before I answer that, the thing that I want you to focus on is this: When people with money to spend meet people with products and services to sell, money starts to change hands. If someone has a product or service that they want to sell, they need to get that product or service in front of people with money to spend. This basic need is why marketing was invented. Marketing is how people with things to sell get people to buy them. The really cool thing, though, is that with the Internet, it isn't only big ad agencies that get paid to market stuff. Many companies are perfectly happy to pay *anyone* that can help them sell their products and services.

At this point, you might be starting to see where this is going: A person can make money by selling products and services that they don't produce or deliver, to people they don't know, over the Internet and from the comfort of their own home. Amazing concept, right?

Our plan is starting to take shape, but there are still a lot of blanks that we need to fill, and there are some big gotchas that we need to watch out for. Don't worry, I've got you covered.

The plan is taking shape nicely now. We will match up buyers and products, and make money for our trouble, and we do all of this from the comfort of our own homes.

In order to do this, we need at least two things though: A place to find products and/or services to sell AND a way to send people to those products or services (And we need to make sure that we get paid for our troubles).

There are a LOT of places on the Internet to find products and services to sell, in fact, discussing all of them could be the topic for a Lens of its own.

You can Google around for places on your own, or, if you want to get started more quickly, feel free to head over to my blog and I can help you get started by providing a list of resources.

While there are lots of places to find products, the place that I suggest for people who are just getting started is ClickBank. Why do I recommend ClickBank? It's easy (and free) to get started.

Once we have a place to find products to sell (and which we will get paid for) we need to know something about *how* we get people to look at those products.

If you simply grab a product, and just start linking to it in random emails, tweets, forum posts or other places, you a) won't get many (or any) sales and b) will find yourself getting banned from a lot of places. Uncool!

So how *do* you go about getting customers? There are lots of ways to do this, but one of the best ways is using something called 'Opt In Email Marketing'. This method does involve emailing people, but only people who have already expressed an interest in getting emails about the kinds of products that you are going to promote. This is also called 'Permission Based Marketing', because you get a person's permission before you start trying to sell them something.

Another way to get people in front of the product that you are promoting is through paid advertising. All paid advertising is NOT created equal, so make sure to do some research before paying for advertising. Google AdWords is the king of paid advertising, but they can also be frustrating to deal with.

One of my favorite sources of paid advertising is BuySellAds. BuySellAds makes it very easy to purchase banner advertising on Websites, which will get your message out to lots of people.

Being effective in your online promotions requires more than simply plugging a source of visitors into a product page. This is where a little bit of finesse, or understanding and care, comes into play.

Make sure that you match what you are promoting with the people you are promoting it to. If you are promoting a product on how to go green, promoting it on a Website of muscle car enthusiasts might not be the best way to go!

The real test is one of relevance - are the people who you are targeting really going to be interested in what you have to say? Pretend that *you* are one of the people you are trying to reach for a moment. Would you be interested in what you are offering? Or would you find it annoying?

Be useful, don't be annoying - you'll do much better that way!

Getting started can be somewhat overwhelming. Don't worry, though, I'm here to help! Check out my blog, I am in the process of adding a lot of specific information, as well as detailed product reviews that can help you get started in no time at all.