Making Extra Money Online in 2012 vs. Full-time Online Income

So there are two main categories of people who want to make money online in 2012. Those who want to have a little extra money for gadgets or extra nights on the town, and those who want to make enough to quit their jobs and "work" online full-time. Which category are you in? And more importantly, which techniques work best for each group?

If you're in this for the long haul, you might want to consider signing up at a "make money online" forum or membership site. They're usually founded by someone who makes a full time income online, and you'll be surrounded by other members who do the same. For example, you can sign up at Affilorama for free. As a member, you have access to training videos, guides, software, and a huge community of over 150,000 members to get guidance and support from. For a fee, other websites even offer personal coaching from successful internet business owners.

But maybe that's not how you view your journey to making money online in 2012. Watching training videos, doing research, consulting with other people, and following detailed lessons step by step might be effective, but if you're not looking for a full-time income, it might not be worth the time investment. That's where software can help you to make money online in 2012. Instead of trying to do everything yourself and worrying that you'll make a mistake, let a computer program do it for you.

Do you think many "internet millionaires" work on their online businesses full time? Of course not. They perfect a method that works and then use some of the profit to hire developers to create a program that will do it for them. The more generous ones then make those programs available to people like you. Using software  for your online business, you'll have less control over the process of course. But maybe that's just want you want!

(PS. Don't forget, although "make money online" software is great for just putting a little extra money in your pocket, the fact that almost everything is automated means that you can keep duplicating the process...and easily scale up to a full-time income in the process!)

How to Choose the Right Niche for 2012

If you don't know what a niche is yet, you definitely should if you want to make money online in 2012. A niche is a particular topic or interest that your online business is geared towards. For example, if you niche was "dog training", then you might be an affiliate who makes a commssion promoting guides and tools to people looking to train their dogs.

Niches can be general or specific, large or small. Generally, the more specific the niche (ie. "training German Shepard puppies"), the smaller the market is. However, smaller niches also tend to have less competition. The niche you pick will have a huge impact on whether or not your online business is successful, so how do you know which niche to choose?

Maybe you want to promote Justin Bieber CD's and memorabilia. It wouldn't be a bad choice --- he's very popular right now. But the goal of any online business is to create a stable income that will last (and hopefully, grow) in the years to come. Who knows if Justin Bieber will still be popular next year?

This is why many people will recommend you start off in "evergreen" niches. These are the topics that everyone is always looking for, and there's no reason to believe that their popularity will go away anytime soon. Things like weight loss, relationship advice, self-help, and making money. These can be good choices if you have a little background knowledge, because there are million of potential customers searching for these topics every day.

But what if you're lacking that background knowledge? If you're just starting to make money online, you probably won't be the best source for advice on it. The best thing you can do when choosing a niche is to start off with something you know--- people will trust you if you sound like you know what you're talking about. It also means you'll know which products are good to promote to other people with your interests.

Whatever niche you choose, don't be afraid to branch out. Build multiple businesses in different niches, and you'll have many streams of income to keep you smiling your way to the bank for a long time.

How Long Does it Take to Start Making Money in 2012?

The number one reason people fail to make money online is because they give up too soon. Waiting for that first commission or check payment to come through can be tedious at first, especially if you've invested time and/or money into making your online business work. Understandably, you want to see your investment pay off. When it doesn't happen right away, you might feel like giving up.

Giving up on making money online in 2012 would be a huge mistake, though. You will often hear about the "80/20 rule": 80% of your profits will come from 20% of your efforts. This means that while a lot of your efforts will have small payouts, there will be a few that will really pay off. The only way to tell one from the other is to wait it out.

So how long will you have to wait? Well, that depends. Undeniably, a lot of making money online in 2012 will be up to luck; whether the right person happens to click your affiliate links or visit your website at the right time. But most of the other factors, you can change directly.

Picking the right methods to use, putting in the necessary amount of work, following the advice of people who have already had success --- all of these are simple things you can do to make sure you see success in 2012. And if you're not seeing success as fast as you'd like?

Don't give up--- give it your all! Instead of waiting to see success from your first hour of work, put in another hour. Those smaller payouts will build up quickly...and who knows, you may even hit a big one on the way!

Can I Make Money Online in 2012?

For over a decade, people have been talking about how easy it can be to make money online. Most of those people have also been trying to sell you something, so who knows how honest they're being?  Is it still possible to make money online in 2012, or is there just too much competition to succeed?

Well, the bad news is that many methods that used to work well are now too outdated or impractical to still be able to make you a full time income. But on the bright side, there are many tried and tested ways to make money online that still work in 2012, and there are always new innovations coming out that are easier, faster, and more effective than their older counterparts.

But even if there are working methods out there, will they work for you? That all depends on how hard you work at it. As with most other jobs, the amount of money you make at first will be relative to how much effort you put into it. There are some "set and forget" systems that can make you a decent passive income, but probably won't allow you to quit your job.

On the other hand, putting in more work up front can allow you to make a full-time income with only maintenance work afterwards. It's up to you to make 2012 the year you make money online!