Learning how to start an internet business can be exciting but it is not always easy to know where to start. Here is a quick and easy guide to getting started.
Start at the beginning
It might seem like stating the obvious but starting an internet business is as simple as finding something that you want to sell.
Many 9-5 jobbers don’t like the idea of “selling” but that is ultimately what you will be doing, so you need to get comfortable with that right now. There really is nothing mystical about it.
Now that we have overcome that hurdle, the question is how to begin.
Just choose something to sell
Starting an internet business is really all about marketing and selling but in an amazing new way.
The internet has opened up the whole world as potential market for you, so getting started is both easier and harder – easier because you have a bigger audience to sell to and harder because you have more distractions. So you need to stay very focused!
The best way to find something you want to sell is cruise the net to find stuff you like. Don’t get distracted and waste time though…ask yourself a few smart questions to learn what your interests are. It is always easier to sell in areas you are already an expert.
When you have found an area of interest ( health, technology, party, music, family albums, whatever), start looking for relevant products you would like.
Types of products you can sell
- your information products you create,
- physical products you can mail out,
- services such as writing or coaching,
- other people’s products (called affiliate marketing)
- or network marketing plans (think
How to start and internet business basics (recap):
- find your favoured niche/topic
- choose a preferred product or company
- Sign up, buy a sample or create your own.
So now you have the basics sorted, what next?
Set up a place to sell your product
This is where the rubber meets the road – think traffic plus shopfront.
You want to set up a simple website to drive people traffic to your offer. Traffic equals potential customers, so you want as many website visitors as possible.
There are endless tutorials on this process and once you have an idea, you can also pay someone to create a website for you.
How to get visitors to your shop
Next you need to become familiar with marketing.
Marketing your opportunity can be as simple as writing ads for online or offline. Or it can be as easy as commenting in forums, writing articles, blogging or SEO. Most of these require good copy. Copywriting is a skill that can be learned or outsourced.
The wonderful thing is that marketing can be learned. There are many great videos and tutorials to learn from and of course practice really does makes perfect. The quickest way to fail is to put nothing into action. So go out there and learn the basics of marketing.
Adopting the principles of attraction marketing is the quickest way to get results.
The key to success is to persist.
Remember most of the great inventions of today were only possible after many, many failed attempts.
For example if Thomas Edison gave up after the first, 10th or 100th failed attempt, we would not have the electric light bulb today.
If you keep at it and keep learning and adjusting your campaign, you will succeed.
Overview of how to start an internet business:
1. find your favoured niche/topic
2. choose a preferred product or company
3. Sign up, buy a sample or create your own product.
4. create a simple website for your product
5. drive traffic using good marketing techniques
6. build a list of potential customers
7. make sales using follow-up
8. rinse and repeat
The next important step is to master your own habits and learn to become an entrepreneur because remember, entrepreneurs are not born, they are made through learning and application of correct principals.Francine Pullman is a pajama-writer and small business marketing coach
Success always follows a plan.
