Frustrating, isn’t it. Because if you’re hoping to establish an online business, working from home, you hardly need to be reminded of people better off than you. You just want to know what the deal is, right?

In my experience there are two key factors you have to have in place if you want to achieve more than part time pickings: a high ticket value to your product offering and personal branding.

Most affiliate programs and products offer a low commission. So you have to network like a luncatic just to break even on your website subscriptions, the videos you keep buying, etc., etc. Your efforts don’t beat the day job or even nudge it off the road.

So what you want is a high ticket item that lies at the back of your sales funnel. It’s this that will help you attract motivated business partners and leverage team building. And with the right mentoring you could earn a six figure income through high end commissions being paid up-front.

Typically this means you have to find more in your start-up budget – but would you expect to go on a college course for under a couple hundred dollars? If you wanted to set up a business as a plumber, you’d need training, wouldn’t you, a van, tools and so on. So even a high ticket product isn’t expensive relative to other business start-up costs. And your long term prospects are stronger than with the likes of Amway and Clickbank.

With a big ticket item, you not only earn a better commission, you also make a bigger residual income from your team members. You have every incentive to work, not just for yourself but for your team: improve their performance and you earn more and gain the satisfaction of helping your team.

Which takes me on to the second thing you need to for online success: personal branding. As Mike Dillard eloquently expressed in his Magnetic Sponsoring, you also have to market yourself as a leader. You might say, ‘Well, I’m no authority on IM, I just started, for crying out loud.’

So educate yourself. Fast. As I’ve done. Sometimes there’s fiddly and frustrating stuff to get your head around, but if you stick at it, you will get it and then you can speak on the subject with authority.

Network through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Set up your own group, brand it – by which I mean give it a name that corresponds with the names you’ve given to your blogs and other websites. Offer help, be generous with tips and information and people will soon start to believe you know what you’re talking about even before you’re an expert.

As a leader, you’ll start to develop a personal relationship with your prospects. They will start to see you as someone who provides REAL VALUE, not just a ‘business opportunity’. Frankly it’s the only way to cut through noise and stand out. You don’t have to be someone – just be yourself. How so? Because people don’t join a system, they join people. So if they find they have an affinity with you, they’re going to come to you.

And if you can come across as generous with what you know, generous with your contacts and time, guess what? People will want to do business with you. So you become a solutions provider and tutor instead of a salesman. Contrary to everything you’ve learnt at school about go-getting, you’ll see the virtue of becoming the hunted instead of the hunter.

With personal branding you don’t need the hype, or the gimmicks, you need only provide the information and expertise you have acquired. How do you acquire that expertise? Well, organizations providing high ticket systems will invariably coach you. And if you have the mindset to apply what you’re learning, you will become a leader. Period.

Be wary of anyone talking about getting rich quick, though. Online marketing is like any other business, you have to take action. If you’re willing to work and work with a MENTOR who is willing to help you maximize your strengths, it’s only a question of time before you reach the heights of success that you’ve always dreamed of.