These search terms are nearly endless from people flocking to the internet in pursuit of earning extra money or even building full-time passive income online. I have a lot of personal experience with earning money online from years spent as an affiliate marketer and the past couple years working on multiple streams of passive income.

So for the doubting Toms, I’m proof that it can be done.

Nevertheless, like all undertakings in life, some people don’t succeed. Those that fail have a lack of understand of two key steps with making passive income online.

The first one can be summed up by this famous quote –

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas A. Edison

People want instant success and money, but those don’t come instantly. You have to want it badly enough to put the time and energy in getting it done. Sadly, though a lot people give up on the entire idea of building a passive income when they realize work is involved to reach the goal.

Success comes to those who work for it. I didn’t build a passive income overnight and you won’t either. I always stress that a passive income online gives you complete freedom. You become the boss and always determine your own level of success. True financial freedom.

The second key is knowledge. It’s easy to find some self-proclaimed “guru” willing to sell you poorly made eBooks that claims will grant you piles of money overnight, but let’s be honest.

That isn’t true.

Let’s cut to the chase. You can build an online income. It isn’t rocket science.

All you need is guidance and willingness to success.

I’ll supply the guidance; you bring a basket full of willingness.

It’s not rare in my line of work. There’s something to be said for folks giving commentary about methods they’ve never read – sounds like most book critics. Now, lucky for me, good emails from those know the process outweigh doubting Toms.

And while I don’t believe this will stop the naysayers, here it goes.

I’m not going to sugar coat it by feeding you a line of bull about how I’m trying to make the world a better place or that you will have instant success overnight. Let’s be honest, that isn’t true.

Everyone’s in the business of making money. I’m no exception.

I don’t blame folks for being caution. Marketers broken the trust of users by using a robotic system of creating fake accounts using pictures of cleavage with the sole intention of spamming users isn’t effective. We have to starting talking to people, building an interested audience, gaining trust from people and finally not screwing them over with poorly thought of methods.

Bottom line is that sharing my methods has advantages; ultimately it allows me to expand my personal brand (name recognition is priceless) while earning extra income on the side.

Nothing smoke and mirrors about it.

If you want to make money blogging follow these steps.

1. Pick a niche.
2. Stick to the damn niche.
3. Get a domain name related to your niche.
4. Write good, unique, niche related content.
5. Network with other webmasters within your niche.
6. Exchange links with those other webmasters.
7. Sign up for services like Adsense.
8. Get paid.
9. Rinse and repeat.

As long as you stick to your niche, continue to add good content and exchange links with other like minded webmasters you will succeed. Making money online all comes down to building traffic, then successful monetizing that traffic. It’s as simple as that.

To get off on a good start, you need a good web host. Since 2007, I use Bluehost. It was like a match made in heaven. Affordable price, no downtime and great customer support; it doesn’t get any better than that. They’re the only host I promote. Period.

Bottom line.

Get a domain, get hosting, write unique, quality content, build relationships with other webmasters within your niche, add advertisements and get paid. Easy.

The hardest part is taking the first step. Stop wasting your time, start earning.

When Twitter first starting I was marketing hosting services. Twitter was the only network allowing you to share with people that you didn’t know. This created the perfect climate for product promotion. Good days I was making upwards of $500.

But aggressive marketing by spammers ruined the market by creating thousands of accounts solely intended on spamming users into oblivion with cheaply made eBooks.

People caught on.

We’ve seen the effectiveness of others forms of marketing decline as well.

Banner ads don’t work anymore and Google Adsense is even becoming less lucrative as internet users become more savvy.

Society is learning, but it seems marketers never will.

Bottom line – if you want to make money online, start a blog, build an audience and market products that don’t screw them.

I’ve written a list of 5 red flags to keep an eye out for before taking on potential clients. Any of these red flags could signify a bad client, which could lead to the project being a complete nightmare, and you may not even ever get paid for it. I’m also going to describe some measures you can take to help prevent that from happening.

Payment in equity

This kind of offer has been made to me so many times. A company comes along needing a website, and offers you equity instead of a standard payment. Your first thought might be that it’s a pretty cool idea because that can mean a lot of income for you, right? Well, no. It’s obvious that this offer is made only by clients with no money. If they’re unable to raise capital for their own company, they’re not making the necessary investments for success, which means you may never make a penny from them. So unless a potential client provides proof that they’re making real money (which is pretty rare), you should forget about these offers.

The vanishing act

When you’re discussing things with a potential client about their needs, be sure to keep an eye on their communication. Are they fast to respond emails? Do they answer their phones regularly? Are they willing to meet face to face? Are they handing over their full contact details? If the answer is more often no than yes, then taking on such a client can be risky. Sometimes, clients can vanish all together. If their communication is bad in the first place, it can be because they’re in talk with other designers/developers, or because they’re simply not sure about the project yet. When a client does a vanishing act, it can be a huge waste of your time.

Insane deadlines

Many potential clients will have unrealistic explanations of deadlines. I happen to write content as well as design websites, and there was a time where someone wanted me to write a hundred articles for them in just a few days. It was beyond unrealistic. Some people don’t stop to think about how long certain jobs really take. When a client comes to you with an unrealistic deadline, tell them how long the job will realistically take to complete, and don’t be afraid to inform them that you have current work to finish if that’s the case. You shouldn’t have to put other projects aside just because someone is rushing you. If a potential client won’t compromise, you should highly consider rejecting them.

Unclear needs

You’d be surprised how many potential clients simply aren’t sure about what they even want. Sometimes it’s as if they’re leaving their own business decisions in your hands, despite the fact you’re just there to build them a website for their business. Basically, if someone is not entirely sure about what their own needs are, you should not take them on as a client. The high amount of changes they are likely to request as the project goes on will mean constant revision of what they owe, and deadline extensions, yet the client may still expect only the original price and original deadline. Inform such potential clients that they should first have concrete knowledge of what their needs are.

Designing for services

It’s not uncommon for a business to offer their services as a form of payment. But how valuable is their service, and more importantly, is it something you even need? In most cases, I’m betting not. Personally I don’t feel I need to spend time creating a website for a business that is just going to give me a 12 month subscription for their online accounting software, or a set of free eBooks on how I can apparently double my business profits. Such businesses are trying to get something for nothing. When I was a teenager, I made simple websites in return for things like web hosting with domains. But when you grow up and have rent to pay, making money is way cooler.

As a means of your own security…

Keep an eye open for any of the above red flags when you’re in the process of taking on new clients. You could end up saving yourself a lot of hassle. Anyhow, there are some measures you can and should take in order to prevent clients from pretty much screwing you over.

First of all, a legal contract should be put in place if possible. This does involve talking to a lawyer and it can be costly, and I understand that it might not be suitable for lower budget projects.

In any case, especially if there is no contract in place, take some form of upfront payment from your client, otherwise they can vanish half way through or even take your work and not pay. Taking 30-50% upfront is often acceptable.

Also, make sure you have your client’s full contact details, including e-mail, contact numbers, and address. With such details, in the worst-case scenario, you’ll be able to go banging on your client’s door.

1. Find a Good Web Host

Finding a web host that doesn’t suck is nearly impossible. When I first started, I signed up for with a terrible web host, got locked into a contract, couldn’t access the control panel and not even their tech support “geniuses” could fix it.

Five years ago, I made the switch to Bluehost and haven’t looked back. No downtime, unlimited bandwidth & space, 24/7 phone support, plus a free domain. It doesn’t get better than that.

Bottom line, if you want to become a full time blogger, then you have to get web hosting.

Save yourself a headache, make the right choice first.

2. Register Your Domain

This shouldn’t be a problem if you got Bluehost.

They literally give you a free domain. Just be sure that you choose a domain that is short, easy to remember, ends in .com and relates to your blogging niche.

3. Choose Your Blogging Platform

You can find free places to host your blog like Blogger, WordPress, or Typepad, but I would not recommend those hosting services if you are serious about making money. Like I said, you’ll want a domain and web hosting, then choose a blogging platform. Nothing beats WordPress.

4. Install WordPress

The famous 5 minute install.

5. Pick a Theme

Thousands of themes are available or you can download a Netjelly theme for free.

6. Customize Your Theme

Normally no changes are needed. You may wish to make small tweaks. WordPress is easy to learn and has tons of documentation.

7. Install Your Plugins

Plugins add even more functionality to the basic WordPress installation. Like Themes, you can find thousands of free Plugins created by users at the development site. Here is a list of plugins that I consider essential for any WordPress blog:

8. Pick a Niche

Pick a niche and focus on it. Focusing on one topic will appeal to your target audience but also help your search rankings in the niche you pick. If you intend to make money on your blog, then it is important to write about topics involved with your niche. Niches can be about anything. People search wide ranges of topics in search engines daily and there is a market for just about everything. Write about what you know.

9. Start Writing

I have written a list of articles that I plan to write in the future. It is important to brainstorm topic ideas and have a list ready for what you may post about next. You should have at least 10 posts before you even start promoting your site. Having post already established on the site will give Google more content to index in search results.

10. Post Frequently

As you start building readership, you will need to post often to keep readers coming back for new content. If you wait long periods in-between post, you risk losing your audience. Posting frequently will also keep search engines happy.

11. Allow Readers to Subscribe

All WordPress blog have a built in RSS Feed feature that allows your readers to subscribe to updates. Sign up for Feedburner, which allows you to track your subscribers and gives your readers better options for subscribing.

12. Write for the Internet

Keep it short and on point. Normally, most of your traffic comes from search engines and those users are looking for specific information, if they do not find it, they will be gone.

13. Submit to Search Engines

Once you have started your blog and written at least 10 post, then submit it search engines.

14. Submit to Social Bookmarking Sites

It is pointless to submit your post to large sites like Digg without a reader base to help you reach the front-page. I suggest finding digg-like sites in your niche and submitting there for better chances of getting targeted traffic.

15. Build Relationships

You will find better success if you are friends with established webmasters. Try to join some related forums or post comments on similar sites.

16. Join Advertising Programs

I recommend you use Google Adsense. It is the largest of any program currently. Adsense lets you create customize ads they will automatically relate to that webpage’s content.

17. Try Affiliate Marketing

Normally, as an affiliate marketer you will only be paid if your advertisement leads to a sale for the company. You should find products and services to pitch that is within your niche for better results. Here are some of the largest:

18. Have Patience

This is key to having success. You need to be patience and continue applying these steps to eventually see results. It doesn’t happen overnight but does with hard work.

I do plan to continue to promoting Bluehost. The reason for that is because they are my web host of choice, They provide a service that I enjoy, and I will keep telling people that.

Before I outline the new rules, know that I am not a lawyer.

New regulations

You have to be completely transparent about your relationship with people providing endorsements or testimonials.

Advertisers will now be subject to liability for false or unsubstantiated statements made through endorsements, or for failing to disclose the relationship among themselves and their endorsers. Endorsers also may be liable for statements made in the course of their endorsements.

This rule alone will have a major impact on the industry.

If you have affiliates, the Federal Trade Commission could subject you to liability if they do not follow the rules.

If you are a marketer, working with affiliates you will need to take some steps with these new regulations. You will need to tell all of the existing affiliates that you expect them to be in full agreement with the new FTC regulations as well as reserve the right to drop them as an affiliate and withhold payment if you think that they’re not comply with the new rules.

These new requirements of affiliates need to define in an agreement that not only ensures compliance of regulations but also indemnify you if something they do something results in any FTC legal action.

Actions to take

1. Audit your testimonial-based advertising for compliance with the rules.
2. Adjust your existing advertising campaigns to bring them in compliance.
3. You must also define “Generally Expected Performance” for your products.
4. Require affiliates to complete an application.
5. Revise affiliate-marketing agreements with new regulations.
6. Full Disclosure: Any connection you have with sponsors of products you endorse.

The goal of these new regulations are designed to keep marketers honest.