I've changed my mind!

If you have known me 10 years ago you would have found a very different person. Of course I would've been "cuter" then - but that would be a different story altogether.

Recently - I've had an experience which basically cemented my altered viewpoint in this rat race that we are all subscribed into (whether we liked it or not). Ten years ago I would have been all prepped out, eagerly waiting for my turn at the employment market; anxious to finally start earning something for myself as the best (second to none) bad ass employee anyone has ever seen...

I am for the most part, was built and trained for this stuff... Growing up, I was told that I have an above average intelligence which should not go to waste. That I should try my best to get good grades, graduate, then look for a high paying job!

Coming out from school, I was the embodiment of all my ex-teachers' / professors' / parents' / relatives' dream! I was having excellent academic record, admirable working ethics, and a no-none-sense policy for getting my hands dirty to prove myself. So I did, and what I saw shocked me!

Early on my career - I was beginning to doubt whether or not I'll achieve financial prosperity through employment. All the signs where there, it was clear as a HOOTERS neon sign on a Friday night!

It was obvious that this (financial freedom) will not happen even if I live off five (5) cents a day like my ancestors did. It became clear that being frugal and extremely cheap will never even let me come close into realizing my dream to be financially free!

I had confirmed and fully understood the dilemma of being a fixed income earner when I started my own family. Suddenly, all my doubts and fears came tumbling down on me... It's apparent that I needed to find some means to extend my income.

I know I needed to go into the starting a business for myself, it is after all, the logical choice since your income potential can be greater than you could ever dream off with your monthly salary.

So why you might ask am I still in a company, getting my paycheck every month like any average citizen? It's because it's taking me a while to re-program my mind into it.

Believe me, its been a struggle for me since that time when my eyes where finally peeled; to just one day, unlearn what you've been making good at all your life. Trying to unlearn my mental conditioning on the complexities of employment or self-employment can be likened to bungee jumping in a sense that even though you know it's there (bungee cord) your not really comfortable in the idea that you're throwing yourself out of that ledge and letting physics do it's worst.

I've never tried bungee jumping before - nor would I be attempting it in the near future. But unless you let go in your current frame of mind... unless you understand that being employable is a one way ticket to financial uncertainty (quite possible, financial failure) - then you will never realize your dream to be financial free...

So now, I have finally decided to take over the helm of my financial future - I can now exclaim it out loud --- I've finally changed my mind! And you should too...

Making Money Online

Okay, so its settled. We have to start facing up to the task at hand - Financial Liberation.

Before we delve any further with the details, let me give a brief background to what this is all about. If you're reading this, I have more or less an idea about why you came here in the first place - you jumped to the web, went to a search site and typed in how to make money online or some similar search criteria, and bamm... you're here! If, I am right, go and nod your head a couple of times, then grin because you did so knowing very well that everyone else might have seen you nodding in front of the computer but not me... :)

Seriously though, how do we make money online? Like I told you, I'm kindda new to this stuff but from my readings and research on the web, I have basically narrowed my choices to the following, based on thier Difficulty of setup, and rate of success.

Below is a list of possible sources of potential income that you and everyone else can do online:

1 Google Adsense Program, and other similar revenue based programs

What is it?

Google Adsense is basically Google's own way to generate revenue by putting in relevant advertisement to your website. Google pays you whenever a visitor on your site clicks on the listed ads, thus, the P.P.C. (pay per click) concept was termed.

Other programs include AdBrite, Bidvertiser, ExoClick offers p.p.c. programs as well, but so far, I'm planning to initially concentrate on Google's adsense program for both lack of knowledge and lack of experience with the others mentioned above.

Basically, anyone who lists and advertise in Google is gonna pay the tab. Personally, I've tried this for a while now, but failed to generate anysubstancial income of it because I haven't really concentrated on it.

Difficulty Level

Beginner - Anyone who have a gmail account can join. setup is a breeze and you get adequate support through the FAQ page and the intuitive wizard-like help system that it gives you when you setup the service for the first time.

Rate of Success

Like what I said, I've personally haven't gotten any substantial return on my first attemp - admittedly because I have been slacking on the job! But from everyone else out there, I've read success stories on varying results with payouts ranging from above $4K per day to $0.40 per month.

2 Affiliate Marketing

What is it?

Affiliate Marketing is basically selling another persons product or services by either promoting or advertising them on your website. These programmes offer commissions whenever they sold their product or services through you. Some of the more notable would be ShareaSale, and LinkShare. Personally, I haven't tried any of it and this will actually be my initial attempt.

Difficulty Level

Affiliate Marketing Programmes can have varying level of difficulty setting up because it requires you to generally apply for them. Some programmes only requires you to fill out a form, but others require you to guarantee traffic per month, content, and sometimes, even providing marketing for them. So choose carefully.

Rate of success

As before, the rate of success for this method is also varied, because it hinges on a lot of factors - the good news though is that, these factors can be controlled and can be determined by you - therefore, the saying you reap what you sow generally comes to mind.

3 Online Selling

What is it?

Online selling is riding the waves that the internet has brought - connectivity. With more and more people turning into the internet to satisfy their shopping requirements, you can basically become a sales taipan overnight! This all depends on you by the way. In essence, online selling is basically exchanging goods or services in the internet, which more or less offers the efficiency of the internet.

Difficulty Level

The level of difficulty for this type generally depends with you. You can go to the giant online portals like ebay, or bidshot sign up then start selling, or you can go and start your own website so you can earn more by incorporating the other method of generating income mentioned on this site.

Rate of success

Overall the rate of success for this method is high - generally, because it is a direct activity where you can generate profit immediately of your own choosing.

4 Outsource Service

What is it?

Basically, you offer your expertise (should you possess them...) with content writing, web development, search engine optimization, and programming for a fee. I think I will try my hand on this for this activity. If you think you want to try this out yourself you can hangout on these sites Rent-A-Coder, GetAFreelancer, eLance, and Scriptlance.

Difficulty Level

You basically need to be quick as competition is very fierce. A lot of freelancer of varying expertise exists in direct competition with you, you need to act fast, be on top of things and have some guarantee on your work. In time, referrals will come and finding clients will become easier as long as you can hold fast on your commitment and level of service.

Rate of success

Like the other methods, this one basically depends on a number of factors. But a lot of people I know who went fulltime to freelance never got back into their day jobs. Which means it could possibly be the "thing" for you, but like what I said - it is you who ultimately holds the answer.

So there, I've listed some of the methods that I see myself subscribing into for this little experiment. Of course there are still a lot out there - Paid Blogging, High Yield Invesment Programs, and Ad Space Selling which are all equally fantastic, but I've chosen to start with these four to simplify my campaign.

That's it... see you all later...

The saga begins

I am, with all humility, an average person, just like you, who just chanced upon a little luck when I landed what seems to be a high paying dead-end job overseas.

I am like you, for the most part of my life, always struggling for financial freedom. I started a family younger than when I was supposed to, thinking that by doing so, I'd have enough years ahead of me to figure out exactly how to pull it off - how to be financially free.

Throughout my struggles, I've learned a fatal flaw that is common with most filipinos, indeed with all of us... and that is, that we are bound to wonder aimlessly throughout our productive years thinking that they can put off figuring out how to be financially liberated later on as they have a lot to worry about now --- in short most people thought that to it will take them their entire lifetime to become financially liberated...

But does it really have to be that way? Do we always need to conform to this type of thinking because everybody else is doing it? I bet you already have asked yourself these questions at one point, but ended up clueless just because you dont know where to start...

Okay, like what I said, I'm no financial guru, nor an MBA holder of business, but hey, I always believe that common sense, right information and good old hardwork will never let you down.

We all have to start somewhere, right? I bet you have already asked yourself the same questions, but ended up with nothing because they do not know how, where, when to start...

Like any other projects, lets start by defining our goals. I've writtten three of my personal goals below for this purpose:

(1) To be financially free within the next 5 years
(2) To have a sustainable source of income which can sustain me and my family within my this lifetime
(3) To build up wealth which is higher than the forecasted rate of inflation

So my friends, this marks the start of my journey, God speed to all...