How Long Will it Take?

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One of the most difficult questions I receive about creating and making money with a website is...

How long will it take before I start making money?

Or...

How long before I make $X?

This is a question that is impossible to answer and let me explain why.

For some reason people assume that making money online is easier than starting a business offline. Well, in some ways it is and in other ways it isn't.

For example, it's cheaper to start a website than it is to open a brick and mortar store and you don't need a license or an actual building to begin. All you really need is a website.

So from that perspective, yes, it is easier and much cheaper to get started online.

However, when it comes to making money, no matter what method you choose, you need to attract a lot of targeted people to your business in order for it to succeed.

So because it's impossible for me to estimate how well you will learn to drive traffic to your site, that is one reason it makes it very difficult to estimate such a thing.

Here are some other reasons it's difficult to estimate...

Your Monetization Model

There are so many different ways to make money online, so the methods you select will impact your profits.

For example, if you become an Amazon affiliate, the commissions are very low. However, if you find products on Clickbank that you can promote then those products will generally earn you more because their commission structure is higher.

Conversion Rates

How much you make largely depends on how well your site converts. So if 1 out of every 100 people buys, you will earn more than a site that converts 1 out of every 500 people.

So again, there is no way to estimate this because how could I know how well your site will convert?

The same goes with Google AdSense. People always ask me how long before they make $X or how much traffic will they need to make a certain amount.

Well because there is no way for me to know how much traffic you will generate or how much the ads will pay you (Google never discloses this) then there's no way to know how much someone can earn.

Also, different niches have different paying ads; so again, this will impact your earnings.

This is a Business No Matter What!

Just because you're making money with a website doesn't mean you can ignore the basic principles of business.

No matter what, you still need a quality product (even if that's just a website) that solves a problem, offers a service or fulfills a need for a target audience. Then you need to promote it.

How well you execute the above will directly determine how much money you will make, period.

This is Not a 9 to 5 Job

A lot of people have trouble wrapping their heads around the concept that making money from a website is not the same as a 9 to 5 job.

You don't necessarily get paid for hours clocked and you cannot estimate your earnings before you start.

Just like no one could tell you how long it would take you to sell 1,000 muffins from your offline bakery, no one can tell you how long it will take or how much you will sell from your online store.

This is a business and results will vary.

I hope that helps. Make sure you read my articles on making money online and driving traffic to your website.

Ready to begin your website? Start here.

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