Monday’s Tip of the Week: Before you launch your blog or website take
the time, days hours, or even months, to research what it would take to make
that blog or website successful.
As you surf the internet you come across thousands of blogs
and websites many of whose owners were just like you at one point. They wanted to start an internet
business. The opportunity to start an
online business is open to everyone. You
can even get your blog and/or website started for free. So, it is easy to start an internet business. The challenge is how to start an internet
business that will make money. If you
want to make money with your internet business you have to consider more than
whether or not you can get started for free.
You have to consider your goals, your targeted customers, your marketing
plan, and your mindset.
To Start an Internet Business Successfully You Must Have Goals
Before you choose that blogging platform or hosting company
you must set your goals. Think of your
internet business as a road trip. You
usually know, before you get into the car, where you will be driving to. That end result is one of your goals if not
the most important goal of your trip.
The same concept holds true with starting an internet business. How will you be able to drive your business
to success if you don’t know where success is?
So you have to plan your goals before starting out on your road to
success.
One of the goals that you must set in place is how much
revenue you intend to generate. This may
be a broad goal, nevertheless it must be set.
Your goal could be as simple as ‘to increase profits.’ My question then would be to increase profits
by how much? This would be a question
that you should have an answer for.
Another goal that is relevant to internet businesses is ‘to increase
branding.’ Branding might not be
something that you think about when you are small and just starting out. However, there will come a time when you are
going to want the general public to Google your name and search for your
site. A third goal would be how many
leads you wish to generate. So therefore
your goal would be ‘to increase lead generation.’ A fourth goal would be ‘to increase sales.’ A
fifth goal would be how many visitors you plan to convert. You get the picture.
To Start an Internet Business Successfully You Must Know Who Your Targeted Market Is
There are two ways that you can target your market. You could target a market that you have a
passion for or you could target a market that you know produces a lot of
sales. Once you choose your market you
must begin to do your homework. You need
to find out what’s in the minds of the prospects that are within your target
market. You need to know their wants,
needs, likes, dislikes, passions, etc.
You need to know their demographics.
Which group are they in culturally?
What they are offended by and what they are drawn to.
To Start an Internet Business Successfully You Must Have a Marketing Plan
Today’s marketing world is very competitive. You must plan your marketing strategy before
making contact with your first customer.
When you encounter your first customer your brand, website address,
logo, etc. should already be in place.
Another thing that you should do before encountering your first customer
is to study your competitors. Mimic the
successful ones. Take note of their
marketing strategies, past and present.
This way you can get a jump start on what works and what doesn’t. Are you a part of a niche market? This is a question that you will need to ask
while planning your marketing. If you
are part of a niche market your marketing would have to be tailored to that
niche instead of to everyone.
Your marketing plan should have many facets. It should include social media, SEO articles,
email lists, videos, and ads. Each one
of these facets should be accompanied by a tracking mechanism. This is the only way you will know what
facets work the best and where you should concentrate your efforts. Consistency is important. If you start out posting on social media on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays then continue to post on those days throughout
your marketing campaign. Also be
consistent with posting articles and using other marketing facets.
To Start an Internet Business Successfully You Must Have the Right Mind Set
Prepare yourself for the truth. Starting an online business may be less
expensive than starting an offline business but both require the same amount of
determination. They both require the
will to succeed in spite of all obstacles.
You have to be dedicated to your cause and vigilant.
Discipline is paramount.
It might be tempting to lax on your marketing campaign or other business
duties because you don’t have to punch a clock, but doing so would be a huge
mistake. Business on the internet is
open 24/7. More likely than not when you
are sleeping your competitor is posting ads, writing articles, answering
customer service inquiries, etc.
Therefore, you must be disciplined and consistently show a good work
ethic and meet the needs of your growing consumer base.
Conclusion
To start an internet business successfully you need to
prepare for your opening. Your goals
should be in place, you should already know who your target market will be,
your marketing plan should be in place and you should have the right
mindset. Starting an online business
without these very important things in place will inhibit your success.
To Your Success!
If you learned anything new from this article then please leave a comment.
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