The internet is full of opportunities, but it’s possible you’re ready to leave the cubicle and restrictions of office life behind but don’t know where to start. If you’re ready to start an online business, give the following some consideration.
Research
The first thing to do when you’re ready to start an online business of any kind is to research the internet from the back office. You are already familiar with how the consumer side works, but do you know what all the webmasters do to make it tick? Visit forums, read articles, find books on the subject. Learn all you can about internet marketing to prepare yourself. If you jump in before you’re ready, you will end up wasting a lot of time and money.
At the same time, don’t expect to learn everything. There are too many business opportunities and money making options online to ever learn about all of them. Start with the basics such as affiliate marketing, blogging, directories and ecommerce to get a feel for the industries. Plan to continue researching and growing throughout your entire online career – it is absolutely essential.
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Plan
Once you’ve done your research and know what to expect, it’s time to formulate a plan. An online business is a serious undertaking and deserves quality time spent preparing a business plan – even a simple one will do. Map out exactly what steps you need to take and where the costs will be. Of course things will pop up that you can never anticipate, but having a roadmap and list of what you need to get started will help keep you on track and help keep your initial costs low.
For example, if you’re interested in starting a blog, one of the simplest way to make a bit of money online, you’ll need to prepare. First, consider what you’re blog will be about. Certain niches and keywords have greater earning potential than others, but it’s also important to find something you feel compelled to write (or have someone else) write about.
Once you’ve got your topic and keywords, find a domain and host. Import a WordPress or other theme into the domain and get started. A blog can make revenue through link sales, advertisements and Google Adsense. The trick is finding a blog topic that will work for you.
Start Small
When you begin to realize the full power of the internet and the countless number of opportunities available, you will be tempted to dabble in many things. Your original plan might include your simple, monetized blog. As you work on the blog, you realize you could expand the blog into a full directory. You begin building the directory when another idea comes to you and you start work on that. Before you know it, your costs are out of control, and you have little or no time to focus on any project in particular since you have so much going on.
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This is a classic mistake of internet newcomers. What begins as a reasonable plan becomes a tremendous undertaking that saps resources and, in many cases, simply never gets off the ground. It is far better to start your blog and then build up. Start small and grow your business as you learn more from your experiences. Your first project will certainly not be your last and you will learn much along the way. Despite what many ebooks and websites will tell you, success does not come instantly – it comes through experience and knowledge.
Stay Connected
Once your new blog is off and running, you must stay connected to others in the industry. Working online is very different from traditional office work. There is no quitting time and it’s easy to lose contact with other professionals. Work at staying connected through forums and online communities. This networking can seriously pay off as you begin to expand your business and seek out new opportunities.
