subject: 4 Tools for Starting an Online Business [print this page] 4 Tools for Starting an Online Business 4 Tools for Starting an Online Business
Deciding to start a business of any kind can be a tedious and a difficult one depending on your personality type and the type of business you are starting. Some people jump in with both feet not knowing everything and others test the waters first. However you do it needs the same four tools for starting an online business.
First. You need a website to market your products. You can build your own from scratch, pay someone to build it for you, which can be very expensive or if you are starting your business in affiliate marketing many times they will build one for you for a much smaller fee.
The advantage of having your own website is that you are in total control to make any changes necessary making your site as lucrative as possible. A little knowledge, creativity and great products and you're on your way to having a profitable site.
Second. So now you have a website but how do you drive traffic to your site. One great way to do this is by blogging and writing articles. This way is cheap, easy and can be fun too. By registering to sites like Blogger.com or Ezine Articles, you can get you address out to large numbers of people. Online businesses are just like a brick and mortar business in the sense that if you don't have products that people want they will not buy.
Keep you web content fresh with good quality blogs. By doing this people will come and check out your site. If they like what they see, your list will grow by the purchase a product, service or asking you for more information. Just remember it is a numbers game and most will leave without doing anything. Regardless, blogs can be fun and a great way to interact with your visitors
Third. You should use a quality auto responder to build and manage a mailing list for future follow up. As you drive traffic to your website, you need a hook. Information that is free to your visitor such as a gift, a subscription to your newsletter or an eBook just to name a few. This becomes your mailing list and this can pay you back many times over.
An auto responder does more than just create a mailing list for you. It will keep important statistics of the individuals on the list. The more that you know your list the more profitable you will be. You can send out surveys to find out the interests of the list and then offer products and service based on their interests.
Fourth. You will need to use a quality payment processing tool to collect money when you make a sale. The most popular payment processor on the internet today is PayPal.
They are very easy to use and you can implement pay buttons directly onto any web page by just adding a small amount of code. PayPal also offers a way for people to pay if they do not have an account with them by paying through Visa and MasterCard and others.
In summary, these are the 4 tools for starting an online business. You have a website to show products and services. You are blogging and writing articles about why people need these products and services. Don't forget to include your address to your blogs! You have an auto responder to manage your patrons list and finally a payment processing tool to receive their money.
