How to Create an Online Business starting today!
Different people have different reasons to have an online business. Some want to help others by creating an informational website to give other people valuable information and some want to generate some income by selling other company’s products or services on their websites to people.
Whatever your reason is to start a successful online business, you need to take a few key steps in order to start your online business.
The great think about creating an online business is that you don’t have to quit your job today, but if you act successful, our new online business will eventually help you to quit your day job and pursue the dreams you always dreamed.
Leverage is an important process you must use to maximize your output. You can always hire a few experts to do some of the work for you in whatever areas you require assistance with and today this can be done easily and remotely from your computer by spending a few dollars. If you have a longer time line than you learn and do all the tasks by yourself who can be more rewarding because you evolve through the processes and understand all the components of creating and running a successful an internet based business.
Step 1: You start with an idea
What is your idea? What is your business or website about? What do you want to talk about? What it is that you are promoting or selling? Do you have a hobby or a passion that can be of interest to others?
Maybe you have some unique life experiments that can help other people.
Every one of us has some unique experiences we can share with others, but it is not always easy to package that information and create a product. Brainstorming will help you to discover the business ideas that you need to start your online business with, and obviously it might take some time, but it is worth to take the time and find out what it is that you are passionate about or interested in. Make a list of things that you would like to share with others and then narrow down your list based on your best interests until you just have a few that stick out at the top of your list.
Step 2: Do market research to find a profitable niche
You have to do market research to see how many people are searching for the keywords associated with your idea that you have in mind and how many people per day are searching for it? Google Keyword tool is a free tool that you can use to get all the necessary information about the topic that you are searching for. This step will allow you to see if your niche has enough interest online to sustain your new business and also it will give a list of keyword phrases that you can use to target your audience.
It is important to see what people want, or need by researching what they are searching for on Google, Bing and Yahoo primarily, instead of developing a web site and then finding a market for it. You might have a great idea, but there if there is no market for it, or very few people are interested in that topic and are searching for it, then your web site will not produce sustainable results in the long term. Many times the key is too see what others are already doing online and what niches are working best and replicate their online model instead of trying to reinvest the wheel. Sometimes the process of researching and selecting a good solid online niche can take a while and it is always best for you to choose topic or Niche that more people are searching for and there are already others competing in that market.
Step 3: Buy a domain name related to your niche or keyword phrase
You can buy a domain names from www.godaddy.com or www.Hostgator.com
What should I know about choosing a domain name? The domain name should be short and easy to remember and if at all possible contain your primary keyword phrase that is related to your new company, service or product.
Step 4: Create your website
You need to have a website to represents you and your message whether it is an information product or actual physical products. A few years ago creating a website was complicated and required you to know HTML and be proficient at coding and most times you had to have a web designer and pay thousands of dollars to get a website.
Today it can be done by a few simple steps because of WordPress. WordPress is free super content management tool that you can use to create a website in a few days and even a few hours when you get good! It is free from WordPress.org and it is very easy to use for the beginners all the way up to advanced levels. WordPress is also easily accessible from most hosting accounts such as Hostgator or Godaddy in the admin area where you would manage your web site. It installs with a few click of a mouse and is ready to go in minutes.
Adding a theme and plugins to your new basic WordPress install will bring it to life and give it your site the desired look and feel. Plugins are like apps on your smart phone. There are thousands of free plugins you can add to make your website perform any task or functionality you desire and most are free.
Themes or skins will add a new awesome look to your site and deliver the professional look we all want from our web presence. Some themes are free however the best ones you have to buy from places like ThemeForest . The average theme will cost you anywhere from $40 to $50 but it is well worth it. Your site will stand out among the growth by using a great looking theme with enhanced functionality already built in.
Step 5: Promoting your website
Today with the help of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest and along with lots of other social media sites you can bring in tons of new traffic to your site as turn them into customers to your grow your online business. Social media sites are a sure way to get targeted traffic to your web site today as there are millions of users frequenting most social sites. Of course SEO, or “search engine optimization” still plays a role in receiving targeted traffic to your site over the course of time but social media should be highly leveraged to develop a solid online audience and build a following you can be proud of after a few short months of effort on your part.
Step 6: Building a quality mailing list
Most successful online marketers today have built mailing lists with thousands and even hundreds of thousands of targeted subscribers who routinely receive informational materials from the sites they opted-in to in the form of written material, videos or even webinars that deliver quality content to them and create tangible value and develop trust. Of course there is always a sales pitch at the end of most of the content in but your sale pitch should be subtle and be delivered to your target audience after trust has been built over of series of content that you give to your subscribers. Never cold sell to your list or you will find yourself cold handed very fast.
In most online markets today there are always a good number of other competitors, so your job is to be the best you can be and do a better job than what your competitors do in order to stand out and get more attention. One of the best ways to do that is to give people quality content. A few years ago, some marketers put a few free PLR (Private Label Rights) articles and give them for free and to build up their mailing lists, instead of giving prime value to their customers, but today that does not work anymore. If you want to stay ahead of your competitors you need to give people honest, valuable, high quality information to build trust with your prospective future customers.
Develop a solid strategy to execute and deliver content of interest to your niche and offer people value. Today with the advent of social media it has never been easier to stand in front of millions of potential future customers and to build a huge mailing list as a result of your social media efforts.
AUG