Main Entry: mogul
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: owner
Synonyms: VIP*, baron, beef, big cheese, big gun, big shot, big wheel, czar, executive, key player*, king, kingpin, lord, magnate, merchant, prince, notable, personage, potentate, prince, royalty, sachem, top brass*, tycoon
Source: Roget’s New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)



I have participated in a lot of “make money online” forums and one thing I’ve noticed is that when the newbies come in, some fresh from reading a “get rich quick” type of ebook such as the Rich Jerk ebook or others, they are still completely clueless as to what it is they want to accomplish and how they will get there. They’ve been sold a bill of goods … the “make money online while you’re sleeping” bill of goods, and they’ve swallowed it hook, line and sinker.

You can see the amateurish looking little splogs they throw together and release into cyberspace, and then they sit and wait for the dollars to start rolling in. After as little as a few days after their “big launch,” they begin to ask questions in the forum like …. “my site is up, where’s the money?” They’ve fallen into the trap of putting yet another review splog together, thrown a few banners onto it and they’re ready to be the next Dot Dom Mogul.

Perhaps some of these are just really lazy people who are looking to make money without putting much effort into it, but a lot of them have been sold this dream of “easy money” and honestly believe it. Just look at the title and domain of the blog I created when I first got into Internet Marketing and I fell for the same crap. Now I’m stuck with the domain. I’ve got a pagerank 3 and my Alexa rating is on the rise, so I don’t want to just abandon all that.

These Get Rich Quick gurus are gaming you. If you are a newbie and anxious to achieve Dot Com Mogul status or at least just make a ton of money, the hard reality of it is that like any other job, blogging for bucks or Internet Marketing is work and it takes time to build a successful online business. So … who am I anyway? Am I a Dot Com Mogul that carries authority and someone you should believe?

No … I’m not a Dot Com Mogul and if you don’t believe me, believe one of the most successful bloggers on the Internet: Read A Reality Check About Blogging for Money.

Does all this mean that it’s not going to happen? That you’re not going to make money on the Internet? That you can’t become a professional blogger or have a successful online business? No, it doesn’t mean that. What it does mean is that it’s going to take a plan and work. By plan, I mean that you really need to know what your goals are and then make a plan of action to achieve those goals. Do you want a website business, become an Ebay Powerseller, be a professional blogger, become an expert consultant? Obviously different goals will require a different plan of action. That’s why it’s important to define your goals from the start. If you’re overwhelmed by all the guru info thrown at you and are trying everything that is suggested, you’re pretty much just throwing crap at a wall to see what sticks. That’s a pretty haphazard way of starting a business, and if nothing “sticks” you’re left with disillusionment and frustration and many just give up.

While there are many ways of making money online, I prefer blogging over static websites or selling on Ebay or other online businesses. It’s easier to reach your audience when you provide fresh, quality content on a regular basis. While it’s not easy to build a strong readership for your blogs, there are a few key methods to increasing your audience size. Obviously you need to start with content that people want to read, but just as important is getting your content distributed. In other words, you need to talk about things that people are interested in and get others to link and talk about it too.

Assuming that you’re already writing excellent content, you need to develop a loyal circle of readers who will in turn help you distribute your content. The best way to do this is often called linkbait. It’s really just showing interest in another blogger’s work and contributing something of value to their blog, such as a review, a link to one of their articles, a virtual high five, or an educated comment on their blog.

In my last article I outlined how to build community around your blog. Building community is not really about more comments on your posts as it is about building relationships with other bloggers who will push your content because they think you have a great blog.

Building Traffic

Naturally, in order to develop a loyal group of readers, you need traffic. Let’s assume that you are not listed on page one of Google for “Make Money Online.” Don’t feel bad, you’re in good company. You need to develop alternate methods of driving traffic to your site. Here are some of the methods I use to drive traffic to my blogs without having to rely solely on the Great Google God:

  • Social media (submit and participate in social media sites such as Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon, Newswire, Propeller, Entrecard, etc.)
  • Guest blogging (you get traffic from the article and build relationships with other bloggers)
  • Intelligent commenting (note the word intelligent — don’t comment spam)
  • Article marketing (generates viral traffic and backlinks when your articles have wide distribution and are popular)
  • Promoting your RSS feed (ask your readers to subscribe and submit your rss feed to rss directories)
  • Linkbait (link to interesting articles written by other bloggers and write about them)
  • Forum participation (actually participate and help people rather than just promote yourself in the forum)

These methods should be a beginning point to start building your own online business. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably a lie. Building an online business takes planning and work but the rewards can be great, not only financially but in the satisfaction and freedom that working for yourself provides.