Over the years of building my business, I have personally met, and trained many wannabe marketers who wants to start an internet business. But, 80% of the time, I would always get this question,

"Roy, what is the fastest way to make money online? Does Internet Marketing really works, Or are you selling me the products just to make money?"

To find out the truth, and what's the first key secret to start an internet business...

You might ask me, "Roy, all I want is to start making some money at home? Why do I need a secret, or even step-by-step plan or strategy? What is the fastest way I can make some money right now?"

Yes! You can "bang" yourself against the wall, or start looking for some "get rich quick" scheme out on the internet on "making some money right now", but this entire article is not about this.

I would have gone against my conscience, and also my integrity to introduce you "get rich quick" scheme, products or services online, if I have personally being "cheated" before.

This is not me! And if I "pissed" you because of that, I'm sorry, but please look for the greener pasture elsewhere.

With that having said, let's look at what's the first key "secret"? This a 3 part series that I going to talk about over the next 3 weeks, and it will be posted every Wednesday in the same category.

Let's say you have decided that you wanted to make some money on the internet. And you are very excited, as you have explored, researched, spoke to friends or even emailed me, getting all the resources...

... and informations telling yourself, "Yes! I believe Internet Marketing Work! Let's make some money!"

OR

You have went pass that scenario like 2 years ago, you have "try" here and there wanting to make money online.

You might have make $500 in 2 years promoting some products., but it's not even enough to pay off all the investments in domain names, hosting, autoresponders...

... ebooks, home study courses or even coaching packages.

Then, you must really read every single word that I'm speaking to you right now. What you lack here, is the first secret that I'll be revealing to you.

And that's first key, you need to have is, "Having an Objective!"

What does having an objective means? You can see it as having a goal in mind, or even having a purpose.

Today, when someone ask me, "How can I start making money online?" I will ask them this question, "How much do you want to make per month?" 95% of the time, I will get this reply, "As much as possible lah..." (Singapore slang)

Why do I set this to be the foremost "secret" of all? Because today you cannot go to your destination if you do NOT know where you are heading to.

What if you tell the Cab driver, to go 'somewhere there'? Do you think you will reach your destination in time, or in the exact location?

Or do you think the cab driver will "drive" you out of his car, for wasting his time? It's totally the same here when you want to make money online.

The first question is, "What is my purpose/objective/goal of starting this internet business?" And you must have a definite answer, and not a vague answer.

My first purpose or goal when I knew about the possibility of making money online is...

"I will give myself 3 years to learn all the fundamental skills of marketing, mainly traffic generation and traffic conversions..."

You might say, "Wow! 3 years is a lot of time!"

Then you must listen to my second statement:

"... So that I can build a multi-million dollars internet business in the next 5 years."

Can you feel how my first statement tied in into my second statement? You can use the same approach, if not, your answer can be as simple as...

"I want to start making US$300 per month from the internet, using only 2 hours per day of my time, and I will do it in 6 months time, by 21th Nov 2008"

When you set your objective, you would want to be realistic about it. Not only that, you want to be at specific as possible.

**Note how I use specific numbers like $300, and I even specify if it's USD$ or SGD$. I also specify the amount of effort I want to put, 2 hours per day. Lastly, I have a specific dateline too.

If your background, is like mine, is from technical background, having zero experience in marketing, business or even sales. Then, you need to be give yourself more time...

But, if you have some experience, or you have the confidence, then you could set a faster goal like,

"I want to making $5,000 per month online..."

However, you do want to MAKE SURE that you achieve your goal. If not, you will feel so "lousy" about yourself as each and every time that you miss your goal, till you just...

... throw in the towel and say, "This Stuff doesn't work!"

I have seen so many of them.

With that, I'm sure you are clear about the importance of setting an objective or purpose when you are starting your first internet business.

I use this not only for my first internet business, as I'm getting ready for my next product launch in June, I'm using the same approach, setting my purpose and etc.

Next Wednesday, 28th May 2008, I will talk about the next step after setting your objective.

So, take some time, locked yourself in a quiet room, and ask yourself this question,

"What's my objective/purpose/goal for starting an internet business?"

Once you have the answer in your paper, or notepad, you are ready for the next step in my next post.