Starting a Small Business Online

I recently read an article called:

7 Steps to Help You Launch Your Internet Business!

…and I could not believe what I was reading. The gist of it was this:

1. Check for an available domain name. (Don’t do this)
2. Register your trading name. (Don’t do this)
3. Determine your payment method. (Don’t do this)
4. Design your site. (Don’t do this)
5. Find a host. (Don’t do this)
6. Promote your site. (Don’t do this)
7. Maintain your site. (Don’t do this)

Do not follow the steps (in this order)…

…you will guarantee your own failure.

Note: I have put (Don’t do this) as there is a better process detailed further on.

What’s Wrong?

The list sounds very reasonable and you could say what’s wrong with it after all it is the same process followed by thousands of small business owners…

…nothing except that…

I know it does not work…

…I know because it’s exactly the way that I tried starting a small business on the internet.

If you follow those steps above YOU WILL FAIL.

To ensure your success download this (FREE) ebook.

This will give you information on stating a small business in the right way (and there are examples of successful businesses included in the book).

Traffic

The lifeblood of your business will be visitors - called traffic in the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) world.

In the offline world in the shops and malls the most important thing for getting visitors to your shop is:

location, location, location.

In the online world you have to know what is the equivalent and it is:

information, information, information

If you think about it the internet is used by people mainly searching for information (hence the popularity of Google) so you must create a site geared to giving people the information that they are searching for.

Real steps to starting a small business online

If you look at the seven step list above none of the steps are about understanding your visitors or what they want and that is why those steps will fail.

There is one process that will guarantee a successful business and it has ten steps:

1. Content
Understand what it takes to make a site work
(information, information, information)

2. Theme
Choose a theme for your site
that you are passionate/knowledgeable about.

3. Demand
Determine if your site theme is in demand.
Go back to step 2 if not.

4. Plan (not execute) Monetization
Plan how you will make money
from the site (you may already know this).

5. Domain name
Regsiter an ideal domain name.

6. Create a site
Build a site that works (one that gets the click).

7. Build Traffic
Build FREE traffic (I do not use paid services such as adwords) and I get over 650 visitors per day to my site (see below).

8. Build Relationships
Learn how to improve traffic by getting people to return to your site.

9. Understand Visitors
Know your visitors by using
stats gathering software to see who visits.

10. Monetize your site.

Things to notice from this list

You have to put your desire to make money last because your visitors are first of all looking for information (not how they can send you money). This process is known as C T P M and it is a method that works. The letters mean:

C - Content (information, information, information).

T - Traffic (build this before any other step - no visitors means no money).

P - Presell (How to write a website without being a pushy salesman).

M - Monetize (add your presold offerings to visitors in a friendly trusted way).

Note: This book Make Your Content Presell has a lot more information on the C T P M process and you can learn exactly what pre-selling is all about. Also it’s free!

So your initial objective is to build a site that people want to visit. First you must give (information) - the visitors will then get to know you and start buying your offerings.

Notice how the last list is a complete contrast to the first one and virtually every step is in the opposite order. In addition there is no discussion of what it really takes to make a site work.

So How is my site doing?

1. It has over 650 visitors per day (15/Aug/07) and is increasing month on month.

So that’s about 20,000 visitors per month!

You can view that site here: www.best-microcontroller-projects.com

It is a niche site created on a subject I am familiar with - you can do the same for any subject that you are passionate/knowledgeable about.

Note: It does not matter that it is a technical site since the principles of building a site that works are the same whatever the subject.

For more information on starting your own small business online and maiking it successful and profitable:

Download this ebook - click here.

P.S. The 10 step process is discussed further in a book called the Action Guide (it’s really a business plan) and the tools provided make it easy to carry out each step (anyone can apply those 10 steps to their business and succeed).

CLICK the above link to start finding out about that process.

Filed under: Small Business