Set some goals for yourself

Your journey to an online income starts with some basic planning before you surf off into the etherglades.

Things you need to consider:

	How many hours a week can you spend? Your other family and work commitments must be taken into account.
	Are you prepared to spend money on services and software that will help you run your business efficiently?  If so, how much a month can you really afford?. If you don't want to spend any money at all that's okay, but accept the fact that it will take you a lot longer to achieve your aims. Using free tools to start with is still a good way of trying things out.
	Is your computer system adequate enough? If you are just starting out, then whatever equipment you are using now will probably do fine. You may need to plan for an upgrade.
	At some point you will need your own website. Simply promoting an affiliate link may have worked two years ago but doesn't work anywhere near as well today. Don't let this put you off. Web site hosting costs are very low and a basic knowledge of html coding can be quickly and easily obtained from free resources on the net.
	How much money can you realistically expect to make? Making small amounts of money - $10 to $100 a month - is relatively easy but even that doesn't happen overnight. Breaking through these minimum levels is harder, and requires a much bigger effort on your part.

Reaching an income level that replaces what you could earn at a full-time job takes a BIG commitment. If you already spend many of your available hours working for someone else or in your own business that makes it tough to find the time needed.

Think Ahead

At some point you may want to quit your day job. That's not something you should do lightly. Be sure that what you are doing has produced concrete results for you. Don't assume you can do the same as someone else claims they have. Prove it with money in your bank account. While its a good thing to be enthusiastic and positive, don't lose sight of reality. 

Be Realistic

Some say that 95% of people who attempt to make an online income never succeed. If that's true its not so surprising.  Its in the same ballpark as failure rates of new small businesses in the real world over a three year period, and the percentage of people who end up without enough money at retirement age.

I've also seen suggested that 80% of new online businesses disappear within 1 year of start-up. Keep that figure in mind next time you get the urge to jump into some hot internet opportunity that's supposedly breeding money faster than rabbits. Have a look at this article for reasons Why most people fail on the web. 

If you are running a business you need some way of receiving and paying money. The next section will tell you what you need to know about Getting paid.