“I knew I had to come up with something original that other people weren’t covering. So I broke down the different areas of online marketing: e.g., niche research, traffic, SEO, content, blogging, etc., and analyzed which ones had the most potential. I saw that practically no one was focusing on showing people how to find profitable niches—let alone actually revealing profitable niches. So I went ahead and did just that.” – Stuart Walker

“At first, I knew there was a way to make money with the Internet; I just had to figure it out. After trying a few different methods and failing, I started making a few websites of my own. The first “real” dollar I made online was actually from designing graphic banners for site owners in the AOL Web Diner chat room. This was way before online payment systems like PayPal were around, so I would actually get physical dollar bills in the mail.” – Zac Johnson

How They Finally Broke Through To Become Successful:

“I was lucky enough to find somebody that I was able to do multiple projects with, have a great working relationship, and in the very beginning it’s a great way to catapult your success. It’s important that they have the same work ethic as you do.” – Debbie Drum

“It may sound stupid, but the first major breakthrough I had was after I lost all of my money and was faced with about 30 days’ worth of money in my bank account. Desperation struck, and I was faced with the real possibility of having to go back to w*ork (gasp!) if I didn’t figure it out.” – Buck Flogging

How Long It Took To Become Financially Independent:

“It took 3 years of daily promotion and saying yes to every opportunity that came my way. I spoke at conferences for free, gave away workshops, started a podcast, participated in online communities, and posted on social media daily.” – Lisette Sutherland

“I had already quit working when I came online and was living on my savings. I replaced the income I had earned as a teacher and in real estate within about 18 months of coming online. It wasn’t easy, but I learned the importance of perseverance, discipline, persistence, and goal setting in my life.” – Connie Ragen Green

The Biggest Mistake They Made Along The Way:

“I think my biggest failure was putting all of my eggs in one basket. When I worked with one client for six months, I stopped networking and putting myself out there to get more clients. When that client left, I was in trouble.” – Christina Nicholson

“I’ve made huge mistakes. I tried to start a paid podcasting platform that pretty much bombed (you know, because people are sick of getting their podcasts for free!), tried my hand at network marketing and published a book that got 2.1 stars, paid $20,000 for a website and a bunch of SEO ninja shenanigans that produced more or less $0, blogged for two years before I realized you could put images in posts…” – Buck Flogging

The Single-Most Effective Tactic They Discovered:

“Focus. I’m a big, big believer in taking as few steps as possible to get the result. Probably the biggest barrier that people cannot move past is a lack of focus. Rather than dabbling in dozens of different options for creating products, generating traffic, building lists and so forth, it’s better to master a few strategies.” – Jimmy D. Brown

“Find a way to set yourself apart from others with similar offerings and then develop your business or personal name into a brand that people believe is different, better, more trustworthy and of higher value than competitive alternatives. People—whether they’re selecting people, businesses, products or services—have a huge range of choices. They narrow the possibilities only to those they consider safe bets. Usually that means a name—a brand—they know of and respect or, if the name is new to them, a first impression, in person or online, that stops them and makes them think, “this is what I’m looking for.” – Barbara Findlay

Their Best Advice To Those Looking To Achieve Similar Success:

“Don’t be afraid to fail. You can just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and learn from your mistakes. As I say often: Failure is your friend.” – Dennis Becker

“The first thing is to ask better questions. Your goal is to identify and name the problem that is holding you back so that you can find a solution” – Quinton Hamp

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