Online Business – The Naked Truth
February 22, 2010scfm 9 Comments »Making Money Online is a really HOT phrase these days. It’s one of the most popular search phrases for on Google, MSN and Yahoo! It conjures up images of being able to sleep in on a lazy, rainy Monday morning, or taking a leisurely stroll in the park, knowing that your online business is raking in the cash! It’s about being free from the volatile job market and having the financial and personal freedom to work anytime, anywhere, anyway you want. But at the back of your mind, you’re asking yourself, “Is it really that easy to set up an Online Business?” Well folks, the answer is YES… and NO. If you’re considering joining the millions of folk who are clicking on the net hoping to make a quick buck, here are a couple of YES’s and NO’s you need to know:
It’s easy-peasy to set up an online business
YES! - Setting up an online business is ridiculously easy these days. Technical innovations make it possible to have your business up and running in a matter of minutes complete with a ready inventory of stuff “guaranteed” to make you tons of money.
NO! – It’s what comes AFTER the setup that’s difficult. Other than the fact that your business operates in cyberspace, everything else about running an online business is the same. You still need a business and marketing plan, advertising and promotional campaigns. It takes hard (brain) work – initially at least!
I’ll be swamped with orders from all over the world!
YES - The beauty of an online business is that your market world-wide! Even if you manage to sell an e-book for only 10 dollars to a fraction of this market, you’d be a very rich man/woman indeed!
NO! - Setting up a website is pretty much like building a hotel on an exotic island. You may have the best beaches, services and products, but nobody’s going to know you exist until you shout it out to the world. That’s probably the hardest and most frustrating aspect of promoting an online business. Building a substantial web presence can be expensive if you want it done quickly OR a long, lonely and tedious journey if you’re on a budget!
Tons of people will visit my website!
YES! - If you have a VERY unique website, product or service, people will quickly pick up on it and you will see other websites and sources driving (people) traffic to your site.
NO! – One SEO (Search Engine Optimization) report estimates that Google well over 5 billion web pages a day! Yours is probably one of many thousands (if not millions) vying for that coveted top spot in search rankings for your category. Unless you have professional SEO people looking into this for you or you are into SEO, you will probably be languishing in page 20 or more for quite a while. Be prepared for this!
Making money online is dirt cheap
YES! - You can get by with free or cheap web hosting, free email, and a battery of free tools to run your online business. There are many people who have made millions with very little investment, but these are the EXCEPTION rather than the rule.
NO! – Eventually, as your online business grows, you will require specialized services like faster web hosting, autoresponders, link management and SEO tools – just to mention a few. The online business arena is a fiercely competitive one where you will be competing with the big boys so you have to be prepared to invest in your online business. It takes money to make money.
My online businesses will guarantee me passive and residual income
YES! - If you’re hardworking, persistent and you approach your online businesses with the same fervor as you would your career, the results will be quite pleasing indeed, hopefully not just for yourself, but for your family and generations to come!
NO! - Statistics show that about 85 % of people who attempt to run an online business eventually give up after a year. These are the folk who either went into it believing the promises that riches will come quickly (and easily) or those that just gave up too soon.
I can relax while my online business makes me tons of money
YES! - Like I said, if you’re persistent, done your homework and invested in technology to automate your online business, you WILL be sleeping in on a lazy, rainy Monday morning and taking long leisurely walks with your kids in the park while others are stuck in a job they hate!
NO! – Like every successful online business owner, you WILL hunger for more success! I love the fact that online businesses allow you to be anywhere in the world at any time of day, to make money! Once you get into the groove, you’re not going to want to sit still while there are money making ideas floating around in that brain of yours!
Multiple streams of income IS possible
Too many people believe that building multiple streams of income is as easy as setting up a website. The truth of the matter is that it takes a conscious and consistent effort to make things work. Many people fall into the trap of trying to do too many things at once. They join a bunch of affiliate programs thinking that they’ll be able to work on all of them at the same time.
Most successful Internet Entrepreneurs will tell you that the best way is to work on one specific online business (or website) until you’ve achieved some level of success before you move on to building the next one. Work on a schedule and give your online business time to grow. Eventually, you will have a network of money making ventures creating multiple streams of income!
In closing, remember this – the online business pie continues to grow at an incredible rate everyday. There’s enough for everyone so dig in and enjoy! Here’s to your success – and mine too!
Question about online business
Online Business?I am very interested in starting a business online but need pointers on how to get started. Can anyone help? I've done several searches so please no copy & paste. I would like "real" advice from someone who knows.
Thanks!
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Tags: Home-based Business, money making ideas, online business, Success, Work at Home
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 6:25 am
First you have to figure out what type of product you want to sale. Did you want to partner up with a business that's already well established or do you want to start one on your own. This will require a lot of work. You can create a web site (or pay someone to create it) had have your items on their set up like a Internet shopping mall. You can partner up with other stores and have links to their web sites and make a percentage off of saling their items. You can also get together with other business owners and sale their products from the site and take a commission out of it. So many different ways to make money in home based businesses, you just need to figure out which way works for you.
After you set that up, you need to network it so that you drive traffic to these sites. You can get together with survey companies and have your web site added on their sites for people to purchase online, and they take a percentage out of what you pay. This gets a little tricky when they pay you by cc, and you pay your distributers and you pay all the expenses. It's a tough business to get involved in. Especially when theirs so many internet malls, sites etc.
I guess because your wanting to do Internet work, your wanting a business to start out of your home, or from a lap top. Theirs a lot of different businesses that you can take a look at that are much easier to do and run and start then this business that your trying to do. You will quickly find out, what a pain it's going to be, and the income isn't like you think. You'd be better off selling things off of Ebay or something like that. Making your own things or selling your old junk.
If you'd like some business ideas to get started in. Your more then welcome to take a look at my 360 page Blog that I created on home based businesses. There are over half a dozen different ones to chose from on there to give you different ideas for different industries. Most have online web sites that you'd have, as well as phone calls and Internet work to do at home. Depending on what it is your looking into doing.
Well, I hope I've shed some light on Online businesses. If you can do the time that it takes to be successful, then I say do it. But if how difficult and the length of time required is an issue, then I suggest you look into other avenues.
Tiffany
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 6:28 am
You don't have to register with the state. When you are up and running get a business license from the city. It cost less than $200 to start an online business, so you should be able to save that in a week or two…. if not perhaps you are not the type to be success in business?
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 7:40 am
I use both Paypal and Alert Pay. Never had a problem with either one.
Posted on February 22nd, 2010 at 11:11 pm
Yes, I can help…
I use a step-by-step approach and it works all the time. Here you go:
1) First validate the demand (FREE keyword tool):
Are there people searching for what you want to offer?
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
2) Build your website with this FREE tool:
http://www.officialsitebuilder.com/
3) Select a URL and setup Hosting (not FREE but darn cheap and reliable – something like $4 per month…):
http://www.officialsitebuilder.com/domain-checker.php
4) Drive traffic (not FREE but you cannot do without):
https://adwords.google.com/
5) FREE Online Business Creator:
(http://www.sandrosalsi.com/tools/online-business-creator.html)
This is a list of tools and resources I use myself to build and market my websites.
Highly recommended. Hope this helps…
Posted on February 23rd, 2010 at 1:31 pm
I recommend checking out the SBA, Entrepreneur, The Start Up Journal & Nolo. All 4 are great informational resources for the new/small business owner. I posted links for you in the source box. These 4 sites should get you on your way in terms of what needs to be done (e.g. licenses, permits, taxes, etc.)
Associations may be a good avenue to explore as well. These organizations will address many of the thoughts, questions and concerns you'll inevitably have as well as many you haven't anticipated yet. See the source box for some relevant links.
Research, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can about the industry. Here are some book titles that are relevant:
* Too Good to be Threw: The Complete Operations Manual for Resale & Consignment Shops by Kate Holmes
* A Common Sense Entrepreneurial Guide: How to Open & Run a Successful Consignment Shop [DOWNLOAD: PDF] by Nancy L. Nolan
* How to Start and Run an eBay Consignment Business by Skip McGrath
* Specialty Shop Retailing: How to Run Your Own Store Revised by Carol L. Schroeder
There are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.
Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!
Posted on February 24th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
My suggestion is to do some research on the subject before starting. Check with your local Chamber of Commerce, the Secretary of State, the Small Business Administration. Read up on it — go to your local library, check Amazon, etc. Write a business plan — there are plenty of books available on this subject.
Prior to investing your time, money & effort into an online business name, it is strongly advised that comprehensive research be conducted to ensure that the name you're interested in is truly available.
This entails searching the pending & registered Federal and State trademark files as well as the US National Common-Law files. Then, if clear, you can decide if you would like to file for a Federal or a State trademark.
Research is needed to make sure your trade name is legally available, before opening, before expansion, before incorporation or before designing your logo. Similarities in sound, appearance and meaning affect you too!
There are 16+ million trade names in use in the United States. Similar names matter, if close in sound, appearance or meaning. Similar names in related classes, distribution channels and customer matter too. You are affected by Common Law use (14 million), State Trademarks (500,000) and Federal Trademarks (2 million).
Posted on February 24th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
you might try to contact an established school and see if you can offer your course through them.
Barnes and Noble has a line of online courses where this might fit.
Posted on February 25th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Hi Teddy,
I don't like very much the approach of focusing in "how much" before having a very good idea about "what", "to whom", "how", and "why".
The way I like doing this is:
1) I think about the target market (who do I want to send the message to?)
2) I think about ways to reach the target marketing: the media they use, the language they like, the keywords they use, etc.
Once I've defined the target public and the product, I can think about message options (what to say and how to say it). Each message option has its own cost and limitations and that is the point where I start thinking about budget.
As you see, each marketing action has its own cost and it doesn't have much to do with your income. This situation is even worse at the very beginning when your income is expected to be lower.
Posted on February 25th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
two guy's in my town just started a web site. It's actually doing very well for them. It's a yard sale web site. Where people from the town can take pictures and post things for sale ( yard sale prices) and other people in the town can go on the web site and purchase the item. THe guy's who started the site just charge people $8.00 a month to post their items. It's kind of like e-bay but they don't take a percentage of what you make. Here is the web site address, take a look at it.
hollomanyardsales.com