Making money online with your own business today is totally within the reach of most people. The rewards are absolutely fantastic but there are 9 things you must do if you want to make this dream a reality.

1. Never ever forget that your online business is a true business like any other business. If you run it like a part-time hobby, it will pay you like a part-time hobby.

2. Be prepared to spend time and money to learn your craft properly. You must know what online marketers do to succeed. I don’t recommend buying lots of ebooks and courses but rather spend time on the websites of people that are already successful. A good example of this is Problogger owned by Darren Rowse

3. Do not fall into the trap of wanting to become rich overnight. A real business takes time to grow but it will be worth its weight in gold. You will be bombarded with promises of making millions in a couple of days but it’s nothing more than lies.

4. Make realistic goals for your business and then do everything to achieve that goal. Say your first goal is to make $1 a day for your first month. Don’t be fooled by that $1. If you know how to make $1 you can double it…again and again and again. Anything that distract you from reaching your goal must be eliminated. That’s the price you have to pay if you want to become hugely successful.

5. Always be the student. Never think you have arrived and know everything. Remember a business can only do two things at any given time…grow or die.

6. Be original. One of the biggest dream killers today is the copycat mentality. Learn from successful marketers but retain your own voice. Build a brand for your business. Become unique.

7. Always give your absolute best advice. Never try to feed your loyal followers “donkey breakfast”. Money is good but not at the expense of your customers because they will see you as just another “wanna be”

8. Build trust by becoming your customers best friend. They will recommend you to their friends because they trust you. Relationship marketing is the secret to my success.