As technology increases, the drift from the offline business world to the online business world is also on the increase. With the rise of internet billionaires and entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Pierre Omidyar and Jeff Bezos; starting an online business is now the new craze for startup entrepreneurs.
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Do you want to start an internet business? Do you want to build a multi million dollar internet business? Then read on because in this article; I will be revealing the step by step approach to starting an internet business from scratch with $100 or less.
Now how do you start an online business?
My answer is I don’t know. There’s no definite path or pattern to successfully starting an internet business. Once you have a good internet business idea or plan; you’ve started the journey to building a business online.
What does it take to start a business on the internet?
Nothing much; all you need is the right knowledge, the right business plan and the right mindset. Once these three keys are locked in synergy; you’ve got a potential internet business in your hands. Note that I never mentioned money because it does not take money to make money online these days. All it takes are the three keys I mentioned above.
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Now what’s the best internet business opportunity to invest in?
My answer is I don’t know. The best internet business would probably be the business you are passionate about and willing to learn it through. But what I do know is that you can build a successful business online around any idea of your choice; provide you are willing to learn it through and stick to the process. Now how do you start an online business? Read on.
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How to Start an Online (Internet) Business with $100 or less
1. Get in the right mindset
The first step to starting an online business is to get in the right mind frame. Why do you want to start an internet business? This is a question you must answer before even drawing up a plan for your proposed online business.
Why Do You Want to Become an Entrepreneur or Start a Business?
The reason I ask this question is because most people start an internet business with the get rich quick mindset. Just like the California gold rush; people are rushing online to start a business with the hope of striking it rich. Everyday I see ads screaming “Make $10,000 in 24 hours.” The truth is that making $10,000 in 24 hours on the internet is possible but it won’t happen overnight.
This is why I emphasize you be in the right mind frame before starting an online business. You can never build a successful online business overnight; building an internet business requires a process, just like every other business. You must pass through the same entrepreneurial process; regardless of the nature of the business you are building, whether online or offline.
The principles of running a business is the same everywhere; regardless of your medium or region of operation. Building a successful internet business takes a lot of hard work, so you must be prepared for it.
2. Increase your knowledge base
The next step to starting an internet business is to increase your knowledge base. Starting an internet business might require you learn new skills, new words and new mode of operation. Running an internet business entails you will be operating on a faster medium so you need to be prepared for the speed. The kind of business you want to start online will determine the type of specialize knowledge you will acquire.
But first of all, you must have a founding knowledge of how the internet works. Then you need to seek specialized knowledge on the business you intend to start. If you want to run an e-commerce site, you will need knowledge of its modus operandi. The knowledge required to start a blog differs from the knowledge required to start an e-bay business or an affiliate site. So you need to decide on the type of internet business you want to start and get to work learning about its intricacies.
3. Find a niche
Is your internet business going to target the mass market like Google, Facebook, Amazon or is it going to target a niche like eToys, plentyoffish and Match? Before I go into the process involved with finding a niche, let’s first define what a niche is.
Now what is a niche?
A niche is a group of people with a common interest; a niche is your targeted market. It’s as simple as that. If your internet business is going to appeal to golf enthusiasts; then those golf enthusiasts is your niche.
Examples of popular niches are football fans, Students, Teenagers, Sports Betting, Forex Traders, Weight Watchers, Pool, Arsenal Fans, Chelsea Fans, Man U Fans, Singles, Game lovers, Housewives, Nursing Mothers, Careers, Dating, Education, Marriage, making Money and so on.
How to find a high paying, low competitive Niche for your Internet Business
Finding a niche online is like doing feasibility study and the first step to finding a niche is to compile a list of niches you have interest in. Examples are book lovers, students, football fans, basket ball fans, game lovers, photographers and so on. If you are short of niche ideas, you can rush now to the following websites for more ideas and research:
Amazon – www.amazon.com is by far one of the best sites to do your niche market research on. Search any of their department for niche ideas. They have certain sections that tell you exactly what’s selling in their marketplace, some of such sections are:
Hot New Releases
Most Gifted
Most Wished For
Movers & Shakers
EBay Pulse – pulse.ebay.com will give you the breakdown of current trends and cool stuff that is selling on eBay. It also gives you a list of popular searches, largest stores and most watched items
Google Trends – www.google.com/trends is used to compare certain niches to see if it is the right time of year to launch am internet business. This will compare the world’s interest in chosen niche markets.
Traffic Potential – After we’ve identified a few potential niches we want to see if the traffic is there or if people are even searching for information or products in this niche. I usually use Google Keyword Tool – adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
How to Start an Online Business on your personal strengths or skill
Now I will explain how to start an online business on your strengths, hobby, talent or personal skill and still make a hell of money from it. You can build a successful business on the internet around your personal life, hobby, talent, skill or anything else.
It is very possible to turn any hobby, talent or skill you possess into a profitable internet business. But I think it’s worthwhile you know that not all niches are inherently profitable because the niche you choose, often determines the future size and profitability of your internet business to some extent.
When going this route, it is important to pick a niche that you are genuinely interested in because the natural passion you have for the niche sustains the content creation process and will actually make the whole chore of running an internet business enjoyable. So the first thing you would do is create a list of topics that interest you. So my own list would be something like this:
Making money
Reading
Entrepreneurship
Writing
Martial Arts
So I would start with Entrepreneurship since I love starting and building businesses. For me, Entrepreneurship is my passion and that’s why I created www.StrategicBusinessTeam.com. When building a business online around your passion and interest, it is important to also check the search volume and see the traffic potential so you will not waste your time building a business around a niche that doesn’t make you any money.
4. Choose your internet business model
So you want to start an online business? And you’ve also found a niche? Then what’s going to be your business model? How are you going to serve this niche while still profiting from it? This is where an internet business model comes in.
When it comes to starting an internet business; you have to choose an internet business model. Are you going to build an internet business on the Google model or the Amazon model? That’s for you to decide.
There are different types of internet business models you can use as a benchmark to set up yours. You can run an internet business on a subscription model (Aweber), service provision model (Website designing), product model (Alstrasoft), Affiliate model (Amazon) or the advertising model (Google). Any internet business model you choose, just make sure you understand its intricacies and fundamentals.
5. Write a one page Business plan
One important piece of the puzzle most entrepreneurs miss when starting a business online is the “writing of a business plan.” Majority of internet businesses existing today started as a one person affair or partnership; so most entrepreneurs don’t deem it fit to write a business plan for their internet business.
However, if you are interested in building an online business that will attract outside investors and expand seamlessly, then you must write a business plan for your proposed online business. The business plan must include your online business growth strategy (how you intend to grow or expand the internet business), exit strategy (how you intend to get the core business process off your neck), competitive strategy (how you intend to breakthrough the existing competition).
6. Define your marketing strategy
How do you intend to attract traffic (customers or visitors) to your online business? How much are you willing to spend on advertising? And what marketing tactics will you employee to grow your customer base? You have to figure these puzzles out before launching your internet business. There’s a lot of marketing avenues you can exploit to attract visitors to your online business but I won’t go into its details here.
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7. Register a domain name
If you have successfully completed step one to six; then you are half way to starting your own internet business. The next step you have to take is to register a domain name for your internet business. Registering a domain name for your internet business is like registering a business name for your offline business and just like the offline counterpart, your domain name has to be unique and used by you alone.
Now how do you choose a good domain name for your online business? Well, I can’t answer this question in detail here but I have written an exclusive article on choosing a good domain name; you can check the archives for it.
8. Choose a web hosting company
A web hosting company is like the official location of your offline business. When choosing a web hosting company, there are a lot of factors that must be considered but digging into these factors here will make this article deviate from its original message, so please check the archives.
9. Find an internet business mentor
Finding an internet business mentor or coach is very crucial to your success as an internet entrepreneur. Just as I have business mentors offline, I also have business coaches and mentors online. Now how do you select a business mentor online? While I can’t answer this question directly, all I want you to know is that your online business mentor has to be a person who has passed the level you aim to attain.
If your goal is to build a one million dollar business empire; then seek a business coach or entrepreneur that has achieved this feat on several occasions. Only then will you gain tremendously from his/her experience.
10. Set your goal
What’s your goal? Where do you want your internet business to be in the next five years? When it comes to starting an online business; you need challenging goals, I mean goals that will force you out of your comfort zone. Goals can also serve as a benchmark on which you can gauge your progress or growth. Aside serving as a benchmark; goals will help you maintain focus and boost your productivity.
11. Work it out
After going through step one to ten; the game doesn’t end there. Starting and building a successful internet business is not a one hit affair; it’s an on-going process that requires hard work and commitment.
In fact, the startup phase of your internet business will require you work your socks off. Sincerely speaking, building a successful internet business is not easy as it’s painted to be but the rewards is quite comforting. Once your internet business reaches stability; most of its operations will now be run on autopilot, this is where the beauty of the game comes in.
As a final note, these are the eleven exact steps I took to build my own internet business. As you strive to start your own online business, always remember that success can be replicated and you don’t need to re-invent the wheel; just follow in the foot steps of those who have made it and you will hit your own pot of gold.