Simple And Easy Way To Start An Online Business

Ok, now that you know the basics of the what the internet is I can teach you the


simple basics of starting your very own online business! So lets get started:

Setting your online business goals

The process of setting goals and objectives and then designing strategies for attaining them is essential when starting an Internet Business. So, you end up with what is called a business plan.

To set specific goals for your new business, first ask yourself this question:

Why do I want to start an Internet Business?

We already covered this in the early chapter, which is why you’re reading on!

Okay, next question:

What product or service can I offer to the people on the Internet?

OR

Do I have a product or service that people are looking for on the Internet?

To save you some research work, I’ve included the list of Top 17 Best-selling

items / categories on the Internet below:

1. Clothing

2. Toys and Video Games

3. Electronics

4. Computer Hardware

5. VCDs / DVDs

6. Books

7. Greeting Cards

8. Home Furnishing

9. Jewelry

10. Health

11. Travel

12. Automobile

13. Real Estate

14. Online Trading

15. Music

16. Food

17. Sports

When identifying a need, doing market research is part of your homework. One of your first steps should be to find out what it means to do business online and to determine the best ways for you to fit into the exploding field of e-commerce (electronic commerce). The more information you have on the following aspects of the Internet, the more likely you are to succeed in doing business online:



Competition: Familiarize yourself with other existing Internet Businesses that are already doing what you want to do.



Customers: Research the various kinds of customers who shop online and who

might visit your site.


Environment: Explore the special language and style of online communication – in other words, know the culture of the Internet. If you are not yet familiar with the culture of the Internet, then the best way to learn is to subscribe to e-zines (electronic magazines) and newsletters for your reading.

Write all your ideas down on a piece of paper. Ask yourself, “What do I have that people are looking for on the Internet?” Take your time. This is not supposed to be an overnight activity. So, don’t be surprised if you take days. Taking your time and doing a thorough market research on the Internet beats jumping onto an opportunity at first sight.


What if you don’t have any products to sell?

I would like to take this chance to get a HUGE MYTH out of the way. If you think you NEED to have a product to sell to make money – then you’re dead wrong, really.

You’ll be glad that you’re wrong after I tell you this. You still CAN make money without having to create your own product. And there are several instances you DON’T NEED to HAVE a product to sell at all in order to make money!

How?

Quite simply, you can either be a referral to earn a commission or sell advertising

spaces on your website or newsletter. That, my friend, is just a speck of a dust.

There are still many other ways you can make money on the Internet WITHOUT having to have your own product to sell.

Furthermore, you can either:

•Buy Resell Rights to someone else’s product and start selling it on the internet. All you would need to do is buy resell rights to an info product, upload it to the internet and drive traffic to it via Google Adwords (Google's paid advertising service)…and there’s your 1 hour online business. Make sure to read the chapter on becoming a reseller. You could also…

•Sign up as an affiliate and promote someone else’s product (this is even easier than the first business). All you’d need to do is sign up to an affiliate program and drive traffic to your affiliate link…Again, you can use Google Adwords to drive traffic to the link. There is a chapter about affiliate marketing, be sure to read it over. This is good news to those who are already sweating over the thought that of needing to create or have their own product to sell to make money!


Picking an online business model

The next thing to do on the list is to choose the right Internet Business Model.

Now this is crucial to your Internet Business success. The Internet Business Model has to be right for the type of product or service you’re offering to your customers. When choosing the right Internet Business Model, you will want to take the following factors into consideration:

•Profit Margin – the higher the profit margin, the better.

•Delivery – can be easily delivered to your customers via a system.

•Shipping Cost – as low as possible or even none.

•Marketing – different Internet Business Models have different marketing strategies. Choose the model that has the best marketing strategy for your product or services.

I have listed 10 Internet business models on the Internet that might help you think of a what you want to do. Later on I will show you what they are (page 36 if you are in a hurry).



Identify your target market

Already decided what you have in store for your customers?

The inside secret is to search in search engines (such as Google and Yahoo)

with keywords related to your product or service to find out if many websites, newsletters, and community groups focus on this interest.
For example, if you are interested in a golf club site, type in “golf clubs” into the

search engines. At the top of the search engines there will be number, listing how

many other sites are out there that are about golf clubs.

Get a domain name

I have already explained to you what a domain name is. You also know that your

website address can ALSO be your Internet Business name.

You will want to take out another new piece of paper again to write down ALL the

keywords related to your Internet Business. You see, you want your domain

name to:

•be short and easy to remember (and catchy, too!),

•be relevant to the product or service you’re selling,

•include keywords of your product or service to improve search engine

rankings. This will help you get more visitors to your site.

For example, if you want to sell a product teaching people how to break-dance,

then you will want to start writing down all the keywords related to break-dance.

For starters, write 100 keywords. What next, you ask? Write some more! Write

200 or 300 if you have to. The more keywords, the better. That is because this is

a one-off activity. And remember that you will be using this domain name for a

very long time, if not forever.

Okay, I’ll offer you some food for thought.

Are you a parent to any child? If you are not, then imagine you are one right now.

You and your spouse have a child for the first time. You and your spouse would

want to give the best name to your child, right? Of course you both would! You

and your spouse would brainstorm on giving your child the best name. “How

about John?” “Aw, John is too common a name!” “Then how about …?” “I think

the name…” and finally, your child has a name to be addressed by.

When brainstorming on your child’s name, you and your spouse consciously or

unconsciously know that giving your child the best and meaningful name is

VERY important because your child will be living with that name from the cradle

to the grave.

So, on the same token, why would you not think the same when brainstorming on

a good domain name? This is your Internet Business. You need to nurture and

grow it during its infancy stages before it rewards you. Are you not going to give it

your best attention, too?

Now, back to the keyword activity…

With the help of the list of keywords you have written down, you will find it easy to

get a domain name that fulfills the 3 guidelines stated above.

In the same example, you would probably come up with a domain name like www.yourname.com
Next, check whether the domain name has been registered or not. If the domain

name has been registered by someone else, you will have to use another domain

name. Another example of a keyword rich domain name is www.yournewsdaily.com.

You can easily tell by looking at these two domains what the site is about.

To register a domain name, you have to do it at a domain name registrar. These

are sites that will allow you to purchase a domain name, for usually under $10

USD per year, but try to purchase for two years at a time. One registrar that I

personally like is www.namecheap.com. They have been great for me, and their

service department is top notch.

When brainstorming on a good domain name, be sure to come up with at least a

few names in case the domain name you wish to use is already taken.
Remember me telling you that there can never be two houses bearing the same

address?

Another thing you have to consider is the various kinds of domain name

extensions on the Internet. So you will have to choose carefully.

Below are some of the common ones:

•.com - stands for commercial / community. The most used domain entity

on the Internet. Recommended for your Internet Business.

•.net - stands for network.

•.org - stands for organization. A lot of online communities use this

domain entity.

•.gov - stands for government. All U.S. government web sites other than

the military use this domain entity.

•.biz - stands for business. Recommended for your Internet Business.

•.info - stands for information. Good for an informational site.

There are many other extensions available, but these are the most popular. Try

to get a .com domain if possible.

The next thing to do is find a web host. Any business needs a place to call home.

If you run a conventional business, you have to rent space in an office or

shopping complex. In the case of setting up an Internet Business, you need to

set up virtual space. You do so by creating a website and finding a host for your

site. A web host company that makes your site available 24/7 (24 hours a day, 7

days a week) by maintaining it on a Web server. I have covered this topic with

you briefly in a previous chapter.

When looking for a good web host, you want to make sure that your host has a

fast connection to the Internet and can handle large numbers of simultaneous

visits (also known as hits and Bandwidth) that your website is sure to get

eventually. You also want to make sure that your web host offers a variety of

related services, including some or all of the following:

•E-mail addresses. You’re likely to be able to get several e-mail addresses

for your own. Many web hosts also give you special e-mail addresses

called autoresponders.

•Web page software. Some web hosting services include web page

building / editing software.

•Multimedia / CGI scripts. Some web hosting services have the ability to serve complex and memory-intensive content such as audio sound files or video clips. They also let you process web page forms that you include on your site by executing computer programs called CGI scripts.

•Shopping Cart software. Most organizations provide you with Web page

forms that you can fill out to create sale items and offer them in an online

shopping cart.

•Site statistics. Site statistics give you an idea of how many visitors you

have received.

•Shopping and electronic commerce features and more.