How I Made My First $1,000 Online

What I am going to share with you is not a specific system or set of tools I used to make my first $1k, rather my story about where I started and the key concepts I embedded into my mindset that prevented me from becoming discouraged and quitting like %95 of network marketers out there. *Note the companies and sites mentioned are for the story only, I am no longer with the company that made me my first $1k.

In The Beginning There Were Surveys

One Summer in the past I was left without a car. Teaching a Summer Golf Camp for kids @ Singing Hills here in San Diego was my only job and it only took up 2 hours of my day. So needless to say I was left with a ton of free time and no where to go.

 One night I stumbled across a site called CashCrate - a free survey and offer site that paid its members anywhere between $0.05 to $1.50 for surveys. Like most people who come online with the intention of making money, I was extreemly skeptical. Regardless I made my mind up to give it a shot and I spent hours and hours that month filling out surveys. I filled them in as accurately as possible, (some surveys won't credit if done improperly) filling my email with spam in the process (anyone who has done online surveys knows what I mean). My hopes were high and my fingers were crossed as I reached the minimum payout and beyond for that month. Sure enough on the 15th of the following month - right on time - I got a letter from them containing my first check for $47.50! I rode my bicycle down to the bank, cashed that baby and held the cash in my hand. I thought to myself, "okay this is real, what next?"

From Surveys>>>To Blogs

The next thing I did was think to myself, "I really don't want to spend that much time and effort for $47.50 again." Even though I was overjoyed by the fact that I actually made money online for free, I had spent a good 10-15 hours that month doing those surveys. This is when I came across a social networking site called Yuwie. It was the first social networking site I had been a part of geared towards making money online - an awesome place to blog and advertise at the time. I created a profile, added friends and did something amazing; I wrote my first blog post.

My First Blog Post, Simple and Effective

 I had this idea. Knowing how skeptical people are about being able to "make money for free online" I devised a simple solution. I took a picture of that first check for $47.50 and uploaded on my blog. I wrote a down to earth and straightforward blog where I basically said look, you can make money here; it won't be a ton of money right away but I am not bullshiting you... Sign ups began to come and the next few months I was making about $20/month just off referrals, it was an awesome feeling (not the money, but being able to market to people and seeing results).

Surveys>>>To MLM

When I was on Yuwie pushing CashCrate I took the spam and old school approach to marketing where I sent mass messages, pitched to everyone I met and drove traffic to my blogs. One day I pitched CashCrate to this guy named Kevin Hokoana. I remember what he said to me - "I don't mess around with these type of sites, they don't make enough money; check this out." His video blog simply amazed me; it was personal, professional and to the point. I jumped right on board with him in this new company at the time called Unselfish Wealth. Unselfish Wealth - at the time - was the first MLM company to introduce the concept of spillover.

I Took A Chance, Trusted My Gut, And Went For It

The main reason I joined Unselfish Wealth was not the comp plan or the product, rather the person who introduced it to me. Kevin called me on the phone right after I took a free tour of their site and basically got me fired up. His initiative and positive attitude was hard to resist. Funny thing is, I had made about $100 total from CashCrate and the sign up fee for UnselfishWealth was $75! That night I thought to myself "What did I get myself into now..."

From Herding Sheep to Forming Relationships

With CashCrate I was herding sheep, pitching to faceless eyeballs and watching my referral count go up. I never really communicated with any sign ups and focused mainly on numbers and driving traffic. In Unselfish Wealth we began forming relationships with people, holding conference calls on Skype and building as a Team (by the way t.e.a.m=together everyone achieves more) and that was our concept. I started advertising for newer members, helping out those on my team that were struggling and basically focused on strengthening my downline rather than simply focusing on #of clicks and # of signups. This small adjustment in my mindset really exploded my earnings and took me to where I never thought I'd be.

Discovered My Niche - Slamming Hype and Cliche Bullshit

 I love talking about psychology, mindset and overall positive behaviors - I also despised cliche advertising and hype. Near the end of my time on Yuwie I would see countless spam and foolish systems out there claiming $10,000/month overnight. I took up a "No Bullshit" campaign of video marketing and began preaching to anyone who would listen about how I hated all the cliche advertising out there designed to suck people in to systems only to crush their hopes down the road. I was genuine, told people the truth about my MLM system, how do need to put in effort, how $10,000/month simply won't happen overnight and people listened...

More sign ups began to come in and soon my team was working together like a well oiled machine. My residuals were going from $10-20/month to $50/60 month. I then upgraded my account, Unselfish Wealth then gives you what are called "matching bonuses" allowing you to earn %100 of your 1st level downline's residuals, %50 of level 2, %25 of level 3 and so on. As my downline count grew even more my earnings were hitting almost $75 per week. This blew my mind as only a few months ago I was filling out surveys for pennies. And before I knew it, about 4 months after beginning Unselfish Wealth I had hit the $1,000 mark. I kept making money for a while longer from Unselfish Wealth but then the inevitable happened, the company went under. Unselfish Wealth's product was a travel company named Travelencia and it was in pre-launch when I joined. Most MLM companies that are in pre-launch never make it out and go under, it's a fact of reality and something most people who are new to MLM don't want to believe. Since then I have joined a number of other MLM companies, picked up a bunch of affiliate systems and started designing my own websites to promote from. I branched out from Yuwie and dove in to social networking sites like Betternetworker and Twitter where I've met some awesome like minded networkers with whom I still work with today. Over the past I have changed a lot, but one thing that hasn't changed are the key concepts I used behind everything I do online.

The Key Concepts I Embraced and Live By Today

If you're looking to make money online, or you currently are but are struggling to turn profits like most people online then listen up. Whether you're into multi-level-marketing, affiliate marketing , blog and make money with adsense, whatever it is the following concepts are essential to surviving online. They may seem completely obvious but sometimes things that are right in front of your face are the hardest to spot.

• Everything worthwhile takes time: Especially with MLM companies; they love to tell you how much money you'll be making, how fast you'll be making it and how easy it's going to be. Because of this, most people's enthusiasm simply dies out before they can turn any real profit from their systems simply because they aren't seeing the $10,000/month that this particular system promised.
• It's going to take effort - direct, efficient and persistent effort: Persistence is key here. *Note: there's no such 'turnkey business' out there that you can simply enter your credit card info and cash is going to be handed to you. What ever system you join, you'll begin doing essentially what your upline tells you to coupled with what you already know to do. Remember that some things are going to work and some are not. It's going to be up to you to decide what effort you're spending is useless and which is producing results. Using analytical software and keeping yourself organized will ensure you aren't digging yourself into a hole of misery and self loathing.
• Don't invest over your head: Don't start buying traffic, e-books and golden secrets out there in a desperate act to get your business off the ground. This is simply because if you're spending a ton out of pocket costs before you even begin making money when you run into a slump (notice I said when and not if) online you're going to feel overwhelmed and discouraged. The best business building tools out there are free and or very low cost - social networking, blogging, website development and self branding. I am not saying don't ever spend money on your business, just realize the first few months of a new system are crucial to your mindset.
• Take everything with a grain of salt: Remember that hype and cliche advertising are everywhere and are only designed to suck you into systems by exploiting your hopes and aspirations. Approach things with a realistic mindset, be genuine and things will fall into place.
• (+)And Most Importantly(+) Realize that your Comfort Zone is a Strength & a Weakness: If there is one concept that has saved me in the sink or swim world of internet marketing it has been this. Finding your comfort zone, finding things that you know you can do and that produce results is essential. However

Your mindset is the most important thing in determining your success online...

 Your mindset is one of the most important things when it comes to making money online. This is simply because an improper mindset inevitably leads to discouragement which turns to quitting, and quitting = failure. %99 of us will not see that $10,000 or more a month consistent residual income stream in 30 days - which brought most of us online in the first place. But you can in fact make good money online and you can begin taking the first steps toward creating some growing, everlasting, lifechanging income online. It just takes some time, passion and the right attitude. I hope a lightbulb went on in your head while reading and I appreciate all feedback. Thanks for taking the time to read my story.