There's a lot to getting started online, and there's no doubt that learning how to start an online business takes a certain type of person. If you're currently working a day job, you'll have to be willing to put in a few extra hours of 'work' during the week - probably at night when your family is sleeping or your friends are out at the bar living it up.

Like I said... it's not easy. But have you ever experienced anything in life that made you feel amazing, happy and gave you more freedom or financial stability that came easily? I can tell you I haven't - and that's ok with me, because I tend to appreciate all that I have a lot more because I had to work a little for it.

Of course, there is a difference between a little hard work and a lot of hard work. Personally, I think it is better to work smarter rather than working harder. That is the approach I took when I wanted to know how to start an online business and you can follow my lead by reading the 3 biggest mistakes that I have seen even the smartest of newly minted online business owners make. Fortunately, they are easy mistakes to correct and if you are making any of them, you will start to see an improvement as soon as you stop.

The following are 3 of the biggest mistakes that people make when they are learning how to start an online business.

1.Getting into a niche market just because you think it will be the most profitable. While more money seems like a good thing, you are probably not seeing the whole picture. What you need to do is to work in a niche that you can make money in and that you will actually like working in. Starting an online business means making a genuine commitment to writing content about your market day in and day out. While there are a lot of things that can be outsourced, establishing yourself as an expert in your field or having a real excitement for your business cannot.

2. Passing over a market that you're passionate about because it doesn't have a lot of traffic. So you're smart enough to know you need traffic to build an online business - awesome. Chances are you've heard every guru and their brother tell you that traffic is key to online success - and to some degree it is. But... you can make a lot more money from a small group of rabid fans, than a mass of lookey- loos only interested in free stuff. Some markets only have low levels of traffic and searches - but that traffic can easily be saturated with hyper-responsive buyers just looking for someone like you to hand their money over to. Don't be misled by low traffic counts if you have insider intel on the responsiveness of a market (it's easy to know with a little research).

3. Expecting to be an overnight success. It takes time to learn how to build a website, let alone getting your business up and running and to start generating revenue. Be patient. Your goal is to build a business which will be sustainable over the long term, so remember that it is an investment which will repay your work in good time. Take a little time away from leisure activities and spend it working on your business instead. In the long run, you will be happier you spent a day working on a new product than you will having spent it watching TV.

There is a lot more to how to build a website and getting your online business going, but often, knowing what to avoid can end up saving you more time and money in the end than knowing what to do - and now that you have read this, you know three things that your competitors do not.