Does the "M" Stage Make You Feel Uncomfortable?

Monetization

The art of business is for the marketer and the customer to gladly make a profit off each other. Your customer happily parts with time or money in return for whatever you are offering.

Selling something does not put you in the "used car salesman" slot unless you do it badly, meaning that your customer does not make a profit off of what you offer.

Many online business owners don't want to be seen as "money-grabbing." Push past that growth-limiting attitude and evolve. You must decide to make money or have a hobby site.

From more active monetizing opportunities like products (yours or others) and services (yours or others), to more passive ones (such as sponsorships), you can provide value-for-value opportunities that no one in their right mind could object to (and ignore the ones that are not in their right minds).

You will get the occasional person who complains. You have to ignore those negative, jealous, spiteful people. As long as you know you are doing monetization well, offering value for value, there is nothing wrong with your visitors knowing that you make money. Just don't leave them with a bad taste in their mouths.

Go forth and multiply... your income.

First set a tightly focused financial goal. For example, $500 per month is the type of starting goal that is attainable and enough to make a difference.

If you find yourself saying... "If I could only achieve that, it would be great"... refine your goal. With anything that seems too general and too far in the distance ("quit my day job"), you may give up.

The funny thing about setting specific, smaller goals that stretch you but don't overwhelm you...

1) First, you tend to reach them.

2) Next, when you reach it, you tend to say, "Now, if I could only reach $1,000 per month."

3) You don't "lolligag-monetize." You focus on getting to $500 rather than just planning, or drifting along trying things.

When you think like this, you tend to hit your goal.

And the goals continues to grow, step by stretching-but-reachable step.

Push yourself to get anxious about monetizing.

Once you have the traffic, there is always a way to monetize it. Go beyond the comfort zone of passive income - AdSense ads and the occasional affiliate program.

Depending upon your niche, this may take some creative execution (ex., clever joint ventures, creative sponsorships, developing your own products or services), but there is always a way to turn solid, PREsold traffic into dollars.

Focus on making monetization an urgent priority. Set a financial goal and do the action steps required to achieve it as this SBIer did for her family's helicopter loan.