One of the ways to make mining profitable is to partner up. One person flies around in a heavy-duty mining ship and dumps everything into a secure cargo container or a jet can, while the other person flies around in a hauler and once every few minutes picks up whatever has been mined. Haul to the nearest station and then trade to one or the other and refine or sell the ore outright.
I did this with a friend yesterday and within an hour we made over 30 million ISKs. It wasn't too difficult and gave us enough time to read/study/screw around on the internet :P
Playing EVE online with a friend is more fun and way more profitable, whether you're mining/hauling or doing missions together.