subject: Few Steps To Start Online Business [print this page] The economic recession resulting the more self employement. Starting an online business or online store is very low risk business because the start up costs are less, the overhead is low, and the returns can be high. Like any other business, success is depend on tiime, effort,marketplace and how viable the business idea is.
The Internet is rife with exorbitant claims of how much money can be made as an online entrepreneur and that you can be rolling in the dough by next week. Remember, most overnight successes are 1, 2, or more years in the making, and online businesses are no exception to this rule.
Here are the few steps you can take to test your idea without breaking the bank:
1. Research your business line : Brainstorm and found out the list of keywords someone might use to find the product/service that youre offering, Once you have a list of keywords, conduct searches (use quotation marks around your search term for stronger results) in Google, Yahoo, and MSN to see who else is out there.
2. Monetize the idea : After completing your research, have you discovered enough competitors in the marketplace who are making money from doing something similar? If so, how are they making money is it from the sale of info products, consulting services, subscription to their site, advertising, etc? If you dont see much competition, that usually means one of two things:
a. Theres not enough demand for the product/idea or
b. Youre ahead of the curve in seeing the profit potential.
Unfortunately, in most cases, that result means that theres not enough demand for your idea in the way that its been presented.
3. Test your keywords : The idea here is to begin to establish your online presence and your online brand.The easiest way to test your idea is by creating a blog. Buy a keyword-rich domain name for the blog and map your blog to that domain. Then begin to blog about your insights on your topic, or reprint articles others have written on your subject.
4. Build a list : Once youve got a blog set up, you need to begin to build your marketing list. The easiest way to do this is to create a free giveaway on your site (ebook, video, report, audio recording) and a form for the visitor to input his name and email address to receive your giveaway.
5. Drive traffic : Once you build your blog, they (visitors) wont come without some encouragement. Create profiles on prominent social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Start writing articles about your topic and submittng those to article directories. Discover if your target market hangs out on niche-specific social networking sites and start networking there.
