Mindset Change Needed when Pursuing Online Income Generating Opportunities

There are numerous opportunities to make money online and there are an equally large segment of professionals, freelancers, stay at home persons, retired personnel, and students vying for these opportunities.

Indeed, a simple Google search for making money online would throw up millions of results with the results showing everything from simple task-based jobs to complicated and complex trading and research jobs.

So, how does one go about deciding and determining which opportunities to pursue and which schemes to avoid as well as positioning oneself and making the most of such opportunities?

Attitude is Everything

The answers to such questions depend on the kind of opportunity that you would like to pursue based on your skill set, risk taking abilities, the time you can devote to the jobs, and above all, your mindset and attitude that are perhaps the most important determinant in generating money online.

Indeed, attitude and mindset are critical and crucial in any job and especially so when pursuing opportunities where you are on your own and where the most important point is that success and failure are determined by your personality and the whole set of beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and attitudes that you bring to the table.

Switch from Full Time to Part Time Work

To start with, let us examine the case of a professional who has quit his or her corporate job to pursue opportunities online. Such professionals by virtue of having worked in a full-time job know the importance of time management, motivation, the value of hard work, and the skills that are required for different jobs.

Having said that, this by itself does not guarantee success as they would have to make the “mindset change” from working for an organization to working for an employer who does not have any obligation towards them.

For instance, professionals in full-time jobs can pace their work and expect to be retained in the job even if their performance dips during a quarter or a year. Indeed, most corporates place the non-performers on watch, and after giving them a chance to improve their performance, they then take action in case of no signs of progress.

However, the situation when freelancing or making money online is qualitatively different as the websites and firms that operate online do not carry any such obligations towards their employees.

This means that professionals have to make the “switch” from full-time mindsets where they are assured and reassured to a model where they have to be always alert and watchful.

Advice for Students

Coming to the students who are desirous of making money online, the mindset change is from a casual attitude of nonchalance to a more serious and thoughtful approach to work. Considering the fact that making money online entails a commitment to a particular task, they also should realize the importance of sticking to their word and the virtues of hard work and patience.

Indeed, students especially find themselves disappointed because they would have expected humungous returns in the initial phases itself and when such returns do not materialize, they must not give up hope and instead, soldier on till such opportunities arise. The key mindset change is that one must be a “Long Distance Runner” and not a “100 Meters Athlete” and perseverance and patience are the keys here.

In addition, they must also change their mindset from expecting to be mentored to one where they have to motivate themselves on their own.

In other words, while it is tough for relatively younger people to be not mentored and yet succeed, the whole freelancing and making money online field is such that it is a lonely and tedious journey though ultimately rewarding if one makes the needed changes to one’s mindset.

When Normal Becomes Boring, Try Something Different

Indeed, the kind of changes that anybody who is attempting freelancing and making money online lies in patience, hard work, differentiating themselves from the competition, the ability to spend long hours applying for jobs and not expecting instant responses, and above all, a determination to succeed despite the odds.

Moreover, when pursuing opportunities online, one must keep an eye on the kind of opportunities and whether one’s skills and expertise matches such opportunities. There is no point in applying for jobs simply because all it takes is a click of a mouse as one must “fit” the desired profile that is being advertised.

Virtual Networking

Another mindset change, especially for those starting out, is the need to build a network of contacts that would be handy for sending resumes, seeking feedback, and for professional references.

While networking is the key to success in any job as all the students who have graduated from Management Institutes would have repeatedly been told during their education, there is a fundamental difference from physical networking to virtual networking where the latter is mostly building relationships with people you would not have met in person.

Welcome to the World of Online Opportunities

Lastly, the key mindset change here is that one must transition from a physical mode to a virtual mode where every interaction, every payment, every feedback, every piece of work or task you deliver, and every contact happens in cyberspace and where Skype and Phones replace in-person meetings.

If you feel that you can make this mindset change, then welcome to the world of online work that is as boring as it is exciting, as tedious as it is rewarding, and where you have the freedom to set your own hours and determine which work to accept.

Finally, you should also remember that no matter how the previous day/week/month/year went, you must get up and show up and not give up.