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Monetize any traffic and get high CPM
also adult and movie traffic can be used. |
EARN UP TO $1 PER CLICK
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12 Things you should know when starting an online business
by Elizabeth McGee
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Having your own business is the American dream. It’s an escape from the day to
day job that we hate or the boss that drives us crazy. For many of us, having that dream was fairly unattainable until the birth of the internet. E-commerce is an exploding business that is turning out new netrepreneurs every day. People have quit their jobs and dedicated their off hours to starting that dream. It’s an attainable goal for anyone but requires careful planning and consideration.
1. Easy or Not So Easy?
Don’t let anyone tell you that a business online is an easy way to go or a way to get
rich quick. If you fall into that trap you’re in for disappointment. Don’t get me wrong,
internet marketing can be extremely profitable and certainly a bit more affordable than
most offline businesses but it’s not a cakewalk. Just as in any business you need to
do your homework. Understand how things work and research, research, research. The
good news is the internet offers lots of information to help your research.
2. Do you have what they want?
This is the million dollar question. Is what I have to offer in demand? Will people
buy it? There are lots of tools out there to help you in this area. Google and
Overture offer tools to help you know what people are searching for. Ask your friends
if they’d buy your product online. Visit forums and see what people have to say.
Is there a lot of competition for your product? Don’t be afraid if there is, this just
means there’s high demand and an opportunity for you to make your product or site
better. If there’s not a lot of competition this may be a huge opportunity for you.
3. It won’t happen overnight.
The internet is a “learn as you” go process. Things are changing all the time and
experience is key. Don’t expect too much too soon and don’t get discouraged if
things look a bit bleak heading out of the shoot. Most internet businesses took at least
a year to show a profit and many took a lot longer. Resign yourself to the fact that it
will take time. Nothing worthwhile happened over night. Stay focused on your goals
and practice patience and persistence.
4. Will you make money on your own product or someone else’s?
You can sell your own product or business – In this process you do it all. You have a
product or service and you to sell it online. You will need to coordinate the logistics
of collecting money and providing delivery. You will do payment processing and you
will perform customer service.
Affiliate sales – Affiliate sales is the process of marketing other merchants products
or services. This can be done with or without a website. You are given a
special tracking website address that tracks sales referred by your URL and you
receive a percentage of each sale. You only perform advertising. There is no money
to collect, or customer service to perform.
Drop shipping- The drop shipping process is where you accept orders for items you
advertise on your website, however you do not hold any items in stock, instead you
place orders you receive directly with the wholesaler and they deliver the items
directly to your customer. You pay the wholesale price and your customer
pays retail price. Your profit is the difference. You don’t have inventory to consider
but you do have payables and receivables to process and customers to respond to.
4. There’s millions of sites out there, are they going to find you?
If you have a website, search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial. You won’t attract
traffic to your website without it. There are things you can do to optimize your site.
Read up on meta tag creation, there are lots of sites that offer free information on this.
Also research website linking techniques. Both of these tactics will help you attain
search engine ranking and acquire decent website traffic
5. Know your customers
Analyze your site traffic. Know what your customers are doing when they come to
your site, where do they navigate to? Put yourself in their shoes. Find out what it is
they are looking for. When they come to your site, how long are they there? There
are free software tools that will help you with this but also you can post surveys, ask
questions and get as much feedback as you can. Listen to your customers and they’ll
respond favorably.
6. Know your products.
It’s a good rule of thumb to purchase and use the products you are promoting. This
isn’t an absolute must but you’d be surprised how your ad campaign and marketing
strategy can take form if you’ve actually used and experienced the product or service
you’re selling. It’s a lot harder to convince someone they need something if you
haven’t seen or used it yourself.
7. If it sounds too good to be true … you know the rest.
I’m constantly frustrated with ads that claim you can make lots of money
and make it fast with little or no effort. There is no legitimate business that can do
that for you. Get rich quick schemes are just that, they are schemes that could possibly
bring in money through some illegal or legal creative maneuvering, but almost always
disappoint you in the end. Check out all programs thoroughly and ask lots of
questions.
8. Getting set up and the various costs.
Internet business costs are not as great as other business startups but you will have a
few costs that you must budget for. For example, if you build a website there will be
hosting costs. These are generally monthly fees and can be anywhere from $10 to $50
a month depending on your plan. Courses/Education should be budgeted. Search
engine submission, with the exception of Google and DMOZ, now require yearly fees
that can range anywhere from $20-$100 or more depending on your choices. Website
building software may also have a fee. If you’ll be selling your own product you’ll
need a merchant account to set up credit cards, etc. Don’t forget internet connection
costs whereby you’ll need cable or dial up.
I may have forgotten a few but these are the most common startup costs that you
should consider budgeting for.
9. What to watch out for.
Scams are the biggest problem on the internet. Keep yourself aware of the latest
scams by going to http://www.sec.gov/investor/online/scams.htm . Also invest in virus
and firewall protection software. These aren’t popular expenses, especially starting
out, but losing your computer to an attack is a dismal alternative.
10. To build a website or not to build a website.
Regardless of your internet business, it is a good idea to start with a website. It will
ultimately become a reflection of you and your business. A website will build
an image and draw viewers to your product or service. It will also allow you
to provide and receive feedback as well as update your viewers on your products or
services.
11. Email marketing.
Email and spam is a huge issue with regard to the internet. Know what the rules are
before emailing anyone. The following site contains all the laws and may help you
avoid unwanted trouble. http://www.spamlaws.com/federal/list108.html
12.The internet can be a lonely place.
Don’t go it alone. Make contacts and ask questions through the use of forums. This gives you the opportunity to learn the successes and failures of others and to also ask questions. You may even develop some great business partners in the process or possibly make a friend or two.
About author:
Elizabeth McGee is the owner of Pro-Marketing-Online, the Expert Marketing Tools site. If you wish to learn more about how to market online from the experts and find expert, trusted tools for promoting your site then please visit Pro-Marketing-Online or subscribe to her newsletter found at
http://www.pro-marketing-online.com or email Elizabeth at webmaster@pro-marketing-online.com
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