For most, it takes a few years get their sites to the point where they can think about quitting their full-time job. But if you work hard enough, it can certainly be done within a year.

And even if it doesn’t happen in 2008, perhaps you can earn enough to make it feasible for 2009.

If you are just getting started and want to make money online, here are some things you can do now to make 2008 a productive year for you…

1. Learn the basics of website building.

Don’t rely on someone to update your site for you. You need the freedom to update your site when you want. Having to depend on another person is like buying a car when you don’t know how to drive.

Imagine having to call someone every time you wanted to go somewhere. What’s the point in the purchase if you don’t have the freedom to go where you want when you want?

People are often intimidated by the website building process because they are “bad with computers” or feel they need formal training in web design. Not true. I didn’t have any when I started and my site, 2createawebsite.com doesn’t look to shabby. ;)

Thanks to great programs like Dreamweaver and CoffeeCup you don’t need any formal training to build a site. And there are hundreds of sites with free tutorials on how to use these programs.

Or if you decide to use a program like Site Build It!, you don’t need to learn how to use any software because they have all the tools built-in.

However, I still believe every website owner should at least learn the basics, no matter the host you choose.

Even if you pay someone to do the initial design for your site, you should still learn how to manage/maintain it going forward.

2. Decide your approach.

I make money online through affiliate programs. In other words, I build sites on topics that interest me and recommend products that relate to my topics.

The merchants pay me commissions for any sales I make, but I do not handle any products. I am simply the middleman that refers the sales. In addition I earn revenue through ads on my site.

Since I do not sell any tangible products, the content on my sites act as my product. I spend most of my time writing and of course marketing my site anywhere I can.

Understanding how to keep my sites ranked high in the popular search engines like Google is also a must.

If affiliate marketing doesn’t sound like your thing, you can also sell your own products by setting up an e-store. Understand you will also be responsible for collecting payments and shipping products so it’s important to educate yourself on these processes.

Of course there are other ways to generate money from a website, but these are the two basic ways and most popular.

Obviously you can do a combination of both. You can sell your own products and still make money from affiliate programs, ads, etc. The business model is up to you, but I would definitely recommend you start small and simple.

For example, if you want to sell lots of products like Amazon.com, I would start with a smaller niche and then expand. It’s much easier to get traffic to a small niche like “antique turtles” than to try and compete with well-known brands like Amazon and Overstock who sell everything under the sun.

3. Realize you are starting a business.

If you want full-time money, understand this requires a full-time commitment. This is not something you can do for 2 days a month and expect to generate a six figure salary. (At least, not in the beginning!)

You must grasp the concept of Internet marketing and realize unless you have a lot of traffic to your site, you are not going to make much. Traffic doesn’t just come to your site automatically.

Understanding search engine optimization (SEO) is a must if you want to generate free traffic from Google, Yahoo and Live (formerly MSN.com). They don’t just start sending you traffic just ’cause you launched a site.

You should be setting up a plan that defines specifically the type of audience you want to target and how you plan to reach them.

And once you know that audience, it’s up to you to do the research to find out where your potential audience/customers are.

Let’s say you are targeting stay-at-home moms, you’ll need to do your research and find out where they go online so you can get your site in front of them.

That could include creating a profile on the ivillage message boards to chat with other moms, and finding other online sites that target this audience and working out an advertising arrangement with the owners of these sites.

Generating traffic takes work and this is the most challenging task for any webmaster. It’s the difference between failure and success online.

4. Decide if you need a webmaster or administrator.

With the emergence of dating and social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, it seems everyone wants to start their own networking or profile/member-based site.

I’ll be blunt. These sites are not easy to setup or manage. You need to understand a great deal about web servers, security, bandwidth, etc. or at least know someone who can help you.

Also, you will need more than just a cheap web host for your site. A $3/month host is not good enough for a site as robust as this. Dedicated hosting is almost a must and it is not cheap.

So unless you plan to learn all this yourself, make sure you have a right-hand man (or woman) to take care of the technical details for you. Also make sure you have the extra cash on hand for monthly hosting/server fees.

5. Learn from those already making money.

If you decide you want to be an affiliate like me, become a frequent visitor of Allan Gardyne’s site, AssociatePrograms.com.

I learned almost everything I know from his helpful newsletters and website. He’s got a ton of advice for beginners. And be sure to read his newsletter archives. Allan is notorious for highlighting other successful affiliates so you can get some fantastic ideas and inspiration.

Also check out Ralph Wilson’s site, http://www.wilsonweb.com. There are tons of great articles related to Internet marketing here. It’s a great resource site.

6. Take it a step at a time.

It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed with all the information online. Don’t feel you have to understand everything about Internet marketing right now.

Your first goal should be deciding on a how you want to make money and who you want to target. Get a pad and paper and jot down your notes.

Research. Do a Google search for the type of site you want to create. Check out your potential competition and see what they’re doing. Look for info or resources they are lacking and find areas where you can capitalize.

Then once you’ve done that, spend a good deal of time learning how to build your site. Don’t underestimate the importance of this step. Your site is your doorway to income, so make sure you have a plan for what you want to do and how you are going to manage it.

Here’s to a productive 2008!

P.S. Wanna chat with other people just getting started? Head on over to my forum, WebsiteBabble.com. We’re a friendly bunch! :)

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