Before I'll discuss an investment strategy I'll briefly discuss attitude and due dilligence. 

Attitude

Making an online income isn't always easy. It might seem that way but it's not. If you have been investing in online programs for a while you probably know that by now. Programs that seemed very solid have disappeared for various reasons. Maybe they were a scam from the get-go, maybe their underlying business failed and made an unrecoverable loss, maybe they were raided by the government... there are so many reasons why programs can cease to exist. No matter how good a program looks, you never know how long it will last. That brings us to rules number 1 and 2:

1   Treat online income opportunities as a business

Don't consider it a hobby. Hobbies cost money, business can make you money. Your primary objective is to make money here.

2   Keep in mind that a program can disappear at any time.

Your objective is to get in profit as soon as possible and then stay in profit. 

Due Dilligence

Early this year I looked over the programs that I invested in during 2007 / 2008 and found out that of the 40+ programs only 3 survived. That's a very bad statistic!The programs that did survive were the ones that I expected to, they are always on top of things and the persons behind the business are motivated, even obsessed, to make it work. Some things they have in common is that the biz is legit, above board and there's a good team of people constantly working to keep things neat and tidy.

Did you know that in The Netherlands only 1 of 3 businesses (on and offline) that register with the Chamber of Commerce actually makes it to their third year? I assume it is not much different in other countries. It just shows how hard it is to setup a good running business and it tells us that it can be very hard finding the right programs to invest in and work for.

Knowledge = Power! Before you get into any program you have to look for information about it. Are they legit, registered, do they have a verifyable address, can the identity of the owner/CEO be verrified, what do others say about this etc. Google is your friend, simply search for <opportunity name> or <CEO name> and 'due dilligence'. Check forums, websites like this one, ask your sponsor what he or she knows about the program etc. Do all the footwork you can. In other words, rule number 3:

3   Do your own Due Dilligence.

Strategy

With the right mindset and available facts at hand we can decide on a strategy. First of all you need to decide how much you want to invest in an opportunity. This will vary per opportunity of course but the it's important that it's within you comfort level. Never ever spend money you can't afford to lose. Remember that your money is at risk. Rules 4 and 5:

4   Never spend money you can't afford to lose.

5   It is your money and your responsibility.

With these rules in mind you can execute your strategy. Most investors, including myself, use a simple 4 line recipe:

Spread your investments.

Never put all your eggs in one basket. It's really very simple; you don't know how long a program will last so you don't want to stick all your money in there. If you do you'll either win or lose it all. If you want to gamble I recommend a casino. It's best to spread your investments because that will spread your risk. You have the rest of the strategy to get in profit.

Determine how much you want to invest.

Once you found a program that is worthy of your investment you will need to decide how much money you want to invest in it. This is your 'seed money'. Depending on what you know about this program you decide what is good for you. I personally invest anything between $10 and $500 if I favor a program. 

Get your seed money out as soon as possible.

The sole purpose of this rule is to minimize your risk. Once you are at a break even point you can't possibly lose. 

Build your profit.

Usually the more you have in a program working for you the higher the returns. You can build up your stake by reinvesting some of your earnings. But there is no point doing that if you would't cash out some of that money either because we're assuming that the program will end soon or later. Depending on your assessment of the longetivity of the program you decide how you want to divide up your profit.

As a rule of thumb I usually reinvest half of my profit and cash out the other half. I sometimes bend this rule a bit, especially if a program has just started. If I think a program will last for a longer period of time, say at least half a year or so, I sometimes cash out less and reinvest more. The most I reinvest is 75% but that is exceptional. If I have some doubts regarding the continuency of a program I might cash out 75% and reinvest only 25%.

Common sense

Whatever you do, abide rule number 6:

6   Always use common sense.

If a program looks to good to be true it probably is. There are many programs out there that sell themselves as networking programs, or MLM businesses, while in fact they are ponzi schemes. I've seen many of these programs selling some worthless ebook with resell rights, or 'gifting' programs etc. Eventually they all cease and the only one that really makes any money is the owner. Whatever he and some others earn comes out of the pocket of others. 

If you think a program might be in some sort of trouble get your money out asap. The only safe place for your money is in your own hands. Don't think that it's probably not that bad, don't sit around waiting another week for better news.. get your money out. Plain and simple. You can alwas reinvest later again if it turned out there wasn't a problem.  

If the underlying business is obscure don't invest to begin with. If the management is making a mess of it, get your money out and leave the program alone until they clean up their act. 

I can post a lot more tips and examples but you'll get the idea. 

Most important

The above strategy works well for me and it could work for you as well. But whatever strategy you use, always keep rule 7 in mind:

7   Stick to your strategy.

 Trust me, there will be times when it is very tempting to reinvest everything or to invest more seed money. But if you do it's going to bite you in the posterior sooner or later. Find your strategy and stick with it!

Happy investing