This is part 3 of my series on How To Automate Your Income Online. Be sure to read part 1 and part 2 before continuing below.

In the previous article in this series, I discussed the strategy of using your calling to create something of value. The method for automating your income online has progressed as:

1. Identify your calling.
2. Learn to use your calling to create value.

The third step in the method is to know your limitations, so that you can overcome them.

Being realistic during this step is incredibly important because it involves trying to take your idea “prime time” with a .com Internet Domain. The problem is that not everyone has the technological know-how for creating and running a successful website.

It may be necessary to hire, contract, or partner with a computer savvy individual who can set up the money generating systems for you if you are unable to piece them together on your own. One word of caution though — once the money generating systems are in place there is still no guarantee that your site will earn any money.

Professional bloggers claim that a new blog is created every two seconds, the majority of blogs are abandoned within a month of their creation, and that only one in a hundred blogs will turn a profit. Before investing your money on a .com Internet Domain, make sure you are truly prepared to bring your value to the world at large using the Internet.

To help determine your level of preparedness, I’ve compiled the following lists that describe certain computer skills that are used regularly while maintaining a website:

Basic Skills

1. You are motivated to invest considerable time and effort into developing your idea.
2. You have broadband access to the Internet.
3. You can touch-type and are familiar with word-processing, web browsing, and e-mail.

Intermediate Skills

1. You understand HTML code.
2. You are comfortable using an FTP client program.
3. You know the roles of a domain registrar, hosting service, and DNS.

Advanced Skills

1. You recognize or are familiar with the following:
   1. Linux command-line syntax
   2. CSS
   3. PHP
   4. SQL
   5. Apache and .htaccess
   6. 301 Redirect
   7. XML
   8. Permalinks, Pingbacks, and Trackbacks
   9. Search Engine Optimization
2. You are willing to do research about things you don’t know about, love experimenting, and are comfortable learning things quickly.

If you are at the Basic Skills level, then you will need to swallow your pride and ask for help. Seek a computer professional who would be willing to help you set up a website with a user-friendly blogging platform like WordPress. Once the site has been set up, the daily maintenance would not be very much different than operating a word processor inside a web browser.

If you are at the Intermediate Skills level, then you have obviously had your hand in some kind of website development before. It will be relatively simple for you to follow the instructions on how to set up the WordPress blogging platform using their online documentation and support forums.

If you are at the Advanced Skills level, then you are likely disappointed I did not describe your skills as 1337, and could have written this series yourself. You are at a considerable advantage because you know what it takes to raise your site’s ranking in search engines, and are likely to know how to draw high traffic to your website.

Don’t become discouraged if you currently possess only the most basic skills. Remember that the number one skill to have is the motivation to follow your passion, and if you are truly passionate about the site you create, you will quickly advance from one skill level to the next. Learn to overcome your limitations and in time you will be an expert at your calling.

[Next article in this series: How To Automate Your Income Online 4 – Use Multiple Income Streams]

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