Information comes to you in multiple formats. You’re listening to teleseminars, the audio replays, watching webinars, reading email, ebooks and articles. There is rarely a moment when you are not consuming some type of information. And all of this leads to information overload.

Information coming in is great when you are in a learning mode. All of us have had the experience of getting excited about a new topic – then consuming everything we can get our hands on to learn more about it. It may have been your new puppy, your new car or your new computer. Regardless of the topic, you recognize the symptoms – insatiable curiosity and appetite for information.

The problem with that behavior comes when you don’t step out of the learning mode into the action mode. You see the symptoms in every area of interest – someone becomes a Learner – but never seems to take action. Particularly in money-making endeavors like real-estate investing, business opportunities and making money online, this is a self-defeating pattern seen in a lot of “newbies.”

So what is the cause of this problem – that someone continues to learn but never earns? In fact, it seems that the longer they are in a topic, the less action they take.

Their information pipeline is full. And until they can clean it out and “reverse the flow” they are stuck.

We talk a lot about the “possibilities” online – how you can become rich and famous practically overnight. Yes, a lot of it is Hype – but you know what I mean. Everyone is trying to get you to achieve at your top level.

Under ideal circumstances we all WANT to be the best we can be – but what if you just can’t do it all right now? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone else address this, so I wanted to give you what I consider the “minimum” you can do online and still keep up.

Here are the things you MUST do every week to be sure you are still participating.

Credibility is defined as “The quality, capability, or power to elicit belief.” No place is credibility more important than online.

After all, when you visit a website you don’t know anything about the person behind the site. Are they honest? Do they provide quality information? Will they deliver what they promise?

Obvious credibility takes on added importance when you make your living as an expert. You must assure your site visitors that you *are* an expert – and that you are *the* expert with whom they want to do business.

So how do you assure the site visitor that you are credible – that they can believe what you say? That you are the expert they seek? Here are five ways to get started.

1. Publish articles in your area of expertise. Not only should these article appear on your website, but they should also be on others’ sites. That means you want to distribute them via article sites, such as EzineArticles.com Articles are an easy way to display your expertise – and build your credibility.

2. Provide questions and answers on your site. People love to get advice from an expert. Not only do your prospects return to read your advice, but the search engines do too!

3. Host teleseminars and webinars. By serving as the host you can tailor the content to your target audience’s needs. You can invite the guests your prospects want to hear from – and you’ll automatically gain credibility by being associated with these guests.

4. Offer an online course. Whether it’s via email, teleseminar, webinar or an online learning system, a course puts you into the role of instructor – and expert. Your credibility automatically rises.

5. Write a book. Polls reveal that one of the professions held in high esteem is “author.” When you introduce yourself as an author, there is an automatic rise in your credibility.

Start today to implement these five steps – and watch your credibility climb.

I spend a lot of time thinking about how to help more people become successful online. You see, my background is as an Instructional Designer. In that profession, we interview experts to determine how they think and how they do what they are an expert on. Then we take what we learn and turn it into good instructional materials – to teach other people to do what the experts do.

That’s why I love helping people get started online – because I’m helping them recreate what the experts (aka the Internet millionaires) do.

So you can imagine the amount of time I spend on this question:

Why do some people come online and make money – and other people spend years and thousands of dollars NOT making enough money to cover their costs?

Obviously I have some ideas of my own, but let me ask YOU – why do people NOT make money online? What holds them back?

Please share your ideas and comments below

My grandson JR is an active Cub Scout. Each year his pack sells popcorn to raise funds for all of their scouting activities. 70% of popcorn sales goes to support local scouting, with 40% of that going directly to J.R.’s unit.

This money pays for the family campout, the pinewood derby, the blue and gold banquet honoring those cub scouts moving to boy scouts, and many more activities for his pack.  Cub scouts has helped J.R. understand the meaning of being a productive part of a unit – be it family, den, pack, or community.

He values his time in the pack and has enjoyed participating in the ropes course, learning to camp, earning badges, and winning a prize in last year’s pinewood derby. It has taught his the value of giving back and honoring our heroes, as they did  on Memorial Day, when they placed flags on every grave at the Ft Sam Houston National Cemetery. I believe in the values scouting teaches to young men like my grandson as well as other boys nationwide.

Popcorn sales from the cub scouts offers a special advantage. Not only can you enjoy the popcorn for you and your family (we do every year). But you can also order popcorn as a gift for a member of our military. It’s another way that the Scouts are serving.

If you would like to help support J.R. and his pack – or gift a military person – by buying some popcorn or making a donation to support the scouts and our military, please click on this link to begin shopping: Popcorn Sales