To start an Internet business you must decide WHO, WHAT and HOW.
Step One : WHO are you going to sell to?
People fail to start a business on the internet because they adopt a product and then wonder who they are going to sell it to. Don’t fall into this trap. Instead, follow the top marketing gurus and before you begin to plan, create or sort out products, work out WHO you are going to sell to. That simply means you’ve got to decide what your niche market is going to be.
Step Two: WHAT are you going to sell?
Once you know your niche market you can ask, what do they want? What products will satisfy the desires of the people in this particular niche market? For example, it’s a complete waste of time, energy and money trying to sell a book on ‘Choose Your Pony,’ to a boating enthusiast.
Step Three: HOW are you going to create or acquire your products?
This is where you can choose to team up with suppliers or create your own product from scratch. Obviously this depends on what you are selling. Here’s a tip for you – don’t forget you will need more than one product – it’s unusual to get rich from selling one product. The inventor of cat’s eyes for our roads is one success story that springs to mind.
Step Four: HOW are you going to market your product to potential buyers?
There are lots of advertising systems for the Internet. Start with your own website and work outwards from that. Best advice I can give you is to learn all this stuff from a business entrepreneur who’s been there, done it and got the badge of success. It’s worth putting in the effort, you can make a fortune, but only if you know what you’re doing. Another tip for you – Don’t forget hidden motivators.
Step Five : HOW are your customers going to pay you?
You need to set up an order form and a merchant account. Many marketers now use Paypal. If you want to make sales available via the telephone, consider offering credit card facilities. Another tip for you – always offer at least a 30 day money-back guarantee on your order form – it can increase your sales up to 30%.
Step Six: HOW are you going to deliver product?
Some business entrepreneurs don’t actually send out their own product. They use fulfilment companies or have it sent direct from the production factory. When you first start an Internet business, if you send out products yourself, it keeps your costs low until the income starts coming in.
Some Internet Business Criteria
Find a product or service that meets this criteria:
- Easy to ship to customers through the Internet.
- Easy to advertise on the Internet.
- Appeals to many Internet users.
Internet Business Ideas To Consider There are lots of online business ideas. Before starting an online business do a lot of market research to make sure you choose an online business idea that is going to be popular. Here are some popular choices:
- Personalized greetings cards sent online and printed out by customers.
- Personalized calendars sent online and printed out by customers.A newsletter, ezine or book on subjects in the financial markets.
- A newsletter, ezine or book on subjects in the property markets.
- Online business ideas for the hobbyist.
- ‘How to’ information for sports enthusiasts – for example: polo, golf, tennis.
- ‘How to’ information for arts and crafts enthusiasts – for example: painting, sculpting, toy making, soft furnishings.
- ‘How to look after’ information – for example: tropical fish, guinea pigs, horses.
- Personalized calendars with photos of favorite wild animals or pets.
- Devise games and crosswords.
- Design knitting patterns.
- Collect and collate recipes.
- Write short story collections.
- Publish other people’s stories.
- Run online competitions.
And if you don’t know much about the Internet, then take the time to find a good marketing tutor and learn as much as you possibly can. Be careful who you choose or which books you read or which courses you take on the subject. The best advice I know is to make sure the person you are learning from ‘walks the talk’. Make sure your tutors have made money on the Internet before you decide to learn from them.
About the Author: Janice Le Norreys wrote this article on behalf of home business reviews UK .
