Whether you have an existing online business or you're just in the planning
stage, there are a few key points to consider for your ultimate success.
Planning:
All too often, people tend to run before they learn to crawl. No, I'm not
going to start talking about how to potty train your toddler. My point is
simply this, without good planning and research prior to launching your
business, the likelihood of your business failing within the first year is
exceedingly high. (Don't despair if you've already jumped the gun, there's
time to formulate a good business plan now - better late than never!)
Start by making a detailed business plan. You can get free templates and
assistance from a multitude of online sources. A good business plan will
help give your business focus, and may well bring to light issues and
potential problems that you hadn't previously thought of. This will also
help you to form a plan of action. This step is critical in fully developing
your business idea, and will make launching your business much easier. If
you've foreseen and corrected mistakes before they could actually occur,
you'll save time, money and reduce your stress considerably. Once your
business is up and running, don't forget to revisit your business plan from
time to time. This will help keep you focused along the way and is a good
measure of your success.
Marketing and Promotion:
A good marketing and promotion strategy should be made part of your initial
planning phase. However, this will be changed and fine tuned many times over
the life of your business. If you're new to marketing online, and even if
you're not, I can't emphasize strongly enough the importance of education.
Think of it like this, you wouldn't wake up one day and decide to start
preforming brain surgery, now would you? I'm not saying online marketing is
comparable to brain surgery, but I think you get my point. Purchasing a good
Internet marketing course will pay big dividends in the future. The old
"learn as you go," mentality, just doesn't make good business sense. Without
at least a cursory education in Internet marketing, you will, without
question, fall victim to at least a few scams and worthless programs. These
set-backs will cost you time, money and much frustration. I would encourage
anyone attempting to do business on the web to invest a little money very
early on in a little education.
Keeping The Ball Rolling:
If you think you can put up a web site, place a few free classified ads, and
submit your URL to a bunch of search engines, and suddenly be deluged by
people rushing to place orders or join your programs, think again! It is
possible to make a significant income from a simple web site working part
time. However, let me emphasize the word, "working." Many people start an
online business on the side, while keeping their regular jobs. That's fine,
but this takes commitment, organization, and some hard work.
It's a good idea to make a work schedule, setting aside time to work on your
business. Then, divide this time up into segments - marketing and promotion,
web site development, search engine ranking and placement, customer service,
products and programs, etc. It's okay to be flexible, but mapping out how
you spend your time and then keeping that commitment, will make you much more
productive, and in turn, much more profitable.
Stay Positive:
Sometimes the biggest obstacle to overcome is ourselves. We all read about
the huge profits being made online today, and it's easy to get caught up in
the mind-set that if you're not making millions, your not successful. A good
dose of reality often works best at times like these. We need to remember,
for most of us, we don't have some venture capitalist putting up three
million dollars to help launch our online businesses. Take pride and
satisfaction in your accomplishments as you make them. These may be things
as simple as getting ranked in the top ten listings on a few search engines,
or some other positive reflection of your hard work.
It's important to set goals, both long term and short term. Don't go nuts,
set reasonable goals. Once you reach one, cross it off the list and make a
new one. Taking this, "small steps to success," approach, will give you a
sense of accomplishment and pride. Let's not forget one very important
thing, most people only sit on the sidelines and dream of having their own
business. You, however, are in the game! Even if right now you're not
experiencing the level of success you had first hoped, you're still doing
something most only dream about. Give yourself a pat on the back!
About the Author
Todd W. Winslow is the Executive Vice President of TADD Marketing Group,
L.L.C. You can find more helpful information, products, resources, programs
and links to help you start and operate a business online by visiting their
web site. http://www.taddgroup.com