Rocket yourself into your own profitable Internet business
On each activity sheet, list all types of business that can be
related to such an activity. This is where you should be
imaginative on new products that can be offered that is not yet
in the market.
Encircle the businesses that can last even during crisis. Basic
human needs such as food, shelter and clothing, for example,
will have demand at any point in time, so these maybe businesses
that will last. One of those encircled items maybe your business
of choice.
Once you have a shortlist of businesses in mind, ask your self
the following questions to narrow your choice further:
Will I enjoy doing this? Most successful businesses thrive
because the owner is passionately dedicated to it. Thriving in a
business requires endurance, especially during the start-up
phase, so you must love what you're doing in order to continue
doing it for a long time.
Can I be an expert in this field? When you have a toothache, you
don't go to the Family doctor and expect to be relieved of it.
You naturally go to the dentist, because he specializes in tooth
care and repair. Your intended internet business will be
preferred by consumers if you are specialized in the field that
you intend to do business in.
Will this succeed in an internet-based set-up? Traditional
business schools will teach you that the location of your
business is a key factor to its success. The Internet is, as any
address, a good location for your business. In fact, since 2001,
internet-based transactions have been growing exponentially from
14% to 44% per year. This alone can inspire every businessman
out there to carve his own niche in the world of e-commerce!
If, after careful consideration, you are still not decided on
what product or service to sell, there are other options into
establishing an Internet Business, described below:
Resell Products You Bought in Bulk. If you are at a loss for
your own product, why not sell those of others that already
established their name? Wholesalers often sell at a lower price
for those buying in big volumes regularly. This mode of Internet
business is ideal for products that have not reached rural areas
due to limited distribution capabilities.
Internet Business with Direct Sales. There are companies who
choose direct sales as a mode of distribution for their product,
that is, they do not go through retail stores or don't have
their own retail chain. They partner with individuals or small
companies to sell their products. The advantage of partnering
with these Direct Sales companies is that they have established
a structure for sales, marketing and after-sales support. All
you have to do is apply those and you earn commission.
Affiliate Programs: This last type of Internet Business deals
with marketing someone else's products by being their affiliate.
By taking on an affiliate program, you are paid based on the
percentage of sales made through your referral.
By now, you would have picked one specific business among the
four types above. Now it's time to begin your e-venture.
Create a Business Plan. This step is important in the success of
your Internet business. A well-written plan is specific
narration of your business' objective, strategies, financials
and success measures. This will be the entrepreneur's guide in
breathing life to his Internet business. Also, he can use this
document as he invites investors, business partners or
suppliers. The plan can be further developed into the business
proposal, which he will use to entice his buyers.
Carve out your E-Niche. The best way to take a place in the
Internet is to have your own website. Before learning how to
crate one, you need to understand the following terms:
Web Host - the company that provides the network of computers to
stores the files of web sites.
Domain is a group of networked computers that share a common
communications address. Examples would be .com, .org, .ws. In
order to obtain a place in this network of computers (e.g.
www.yourbusinessname.com), one must register with the company
owning (or more aptly hosting) the network and pay the
corresponding fee.
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. This is the standard
way of specifying the location of one's website. In the example,
http://www.yourbusinessname.com, is the URL, and .com is the
domain, where the URL is located.
Server - a computer hardware that that provides the file hosting
services to other computers (like yours and mine) that access
the websites it stores. Some web hosts can offer dedicated
servers for websites, while other have multiple websites in a
shared server. Depending on the reliability that your Internet
Business requires and also the speed that your clients need in
accessing and operating your website, you may choose between a
dedicated and shared server. Consequently, prices for web
hosting will vary.
Now that you understand those terms, you can think of a name for
your Internet business in order to carve out your e-niche in the
World Wide Web. Things to remember about naming your website:
It is best to purchase your own domain name instead of using a
sub-domain for free. For example, a free name would be
www.internetserviceprovider.com/yourbusinessname. A purchased
domain name is www.yourbusinessname.com. To customers, having
your own domain is more professional than being just a part of
another business.
Pick a name that is easy to remember and immediately identifies
your Internet business. If you are trading books over the
Internet, for example, naming your website www.bookstore.com
will ensure that all those looking for books will visit your
website.
If your capital can afford it, buy all domain names that maybe
closely related to your Internet business. By the above example,
you may choose to buy also www.bookstore.us, www.book-store.com,
etc. You may channel all those addresses into a single webpage
(called domain forwarding), which ensures you have a monopoly of
the trade.
Upon registration of your domain name, you will also sign-up
with a Web hosting company. Make sure to research the best deals
and offers of each company before signing up. Aside from file
size (amount of data you can store in their server) and band
width (speed of data transfer from your website to the users),
ask about website designing, e-mail hosting, historical uptime
(amount the server is up and running, you want this 100%),
back-up schedule and 24/7 support. The last thing you want is
for your business to suffer just because your clients cannot
access your website whenever they need to.
Lastly, promote your Internet Business. The first step is to
make sure that your website ends up in the top 10 listed sites
of search engines like Yahoo, Google, etc, called Search Engine
Optimization (SEO). As a beginner, you may opt to sign up with
companies that do this professionally for a fee. However, you
can also do it on your own by reading up on tips on how to do
SEO.
Another way of promoting your Internet Business is to use your
e-mail signature to inform your friends about your new website.
You can easily program your e-mail to have an auto signature to
include your website name and a catchy phrase to lure your
readers into clicking it.
You can also have an affiliate program. Above, this was
discussed as another Internet Business in itself, but it can
also be a means of promoting your website. Affiliate program
means asking other people to promote your website through their
website or e-mail programs. Sale made from referrals by your
affiliate will be tracked and will be the basis of their
payment, as a percentage of the sale. This is a very effective
tool in getting wider coverage for your Internet Business.
With the Internet Business still rocketing, there are endless
possibilities!
About the author:
Daegan Smith is the leader of the fastest growing team of
successful home business enterpernuers on the net. Find out how
we're creating financial freedom all across the globe and how to
get in on the action FREE =>http://www.comlev.com