Starting an Internet Business and optimizing it using a
search engine
Obviously, you're here because you want to learn how to start an internet
business. If you are a self starter and you read the marketing information
here carefully and thoroughly, you will have most of the information you
need to start a successful online e-marketing business. Our menu is
organized so that if you follow it step-by-step, you should learn how to
start an internet business. You'll also find useful online marketing and
internet business links on nearly every page of our site.
|
|
You don't need a lot of money to be successful in internet business,
although it is not realistic to expect to do it for free. Even small,
home-based internet businesses that can fill a niche can operate
successfully and profitably. The number one mistake someone thinking of
starting an online business can make is to think too broadly, and/or to try
immediately to sell products to other people that teach them how to start an
internet business. Ironically, many people with no knowledge whatsoever seem
to think that they can teach others how to do what they, themselves, have
not accomplished.
The Internet , e-marketing, and e-commerce can make a lot of money for you.
You need to have a niche to fill, then design, buy, or represent as an
affiliate a product or products to fill that niche.
As we go through this section, we'll refer you to examples of successful web
sites. Every web site reviewed here is successful because they found a niche
to fill and found or created products or services to fill that niche!
That said, how does one go about starting a business online?
There are four general types of internet businesses that you can start.
-
A portal site or a portal that sells digital products.
-
An e-commerce business that sells a digital product.
-
An e-commerce business that ships tangibles to people.
-
A business to business and/or service-selling web site.
In addition to the above, you can also start either an affiliate
marketing business, or can do network marketing online. In both cases, you
can start and run these types of online businesses with or without a
website.
One other type of internet business or web site is called BrochureWare. This
is a site that acts as an online catalog for your company or organization,
but from which people can't purchase online. These sites do serve a purpose
but have very little to do with running an online business for profit, so we
won't be discussing them.
OK, let's dive in and see some examples of successful online businesses.
Portal sites or portals which sell digital products
This a very exciting model that requires mostly knowledge and time. A portal
site is a site that provides information to people for free, or for a fixed
price, and sells digital products to site visitors. You might be asking
yourself, how do I create a portal, or do I have what it takes to build a
portal site? To build a successful portal you need the following:
A lot of information to share on a particular subject that people are
interested in. If you have this, then creating a portal site can just be
just plain fun and sometimes\ very profitable.
You need to learn how to build and edit your own web site.
A product of your own creation, or products you advertise as an affiliate,
so that you can "monetize" (i.e., earn income from) your web site.
One man, in particular, specializes in teaching people how to create and run
successful portal sites (he calls them "content sites", but they are really
the same thing, as we use the term). If this type of site interests you, you
owe it to yourself to learn about internet business at Sitesell.Com.
This is some of the most solid information you can find on how to run an
internet business, and the cost is a fraction of what many other people
charge for information that is of lesser quality, and lesser volume. You
simply cannot go wrong following Ken Evoy.
The truth is you don't need a lot of money to build and launch a web site!
You can start your first Internet business with an investment as small as a
few hundred dollars. Where else in the world can you open a business with
world wide exposure for so little? Only on the Internet! Let's look at an
example of a very successful portal site that sells and promotes digital
products, while providing a great deal of free information.
The Newbie Club is an example of a great portal site dedicated to helping
people who are new to running a business on the Internet. Their web site is
not only a portal but they also sell their own digital products to club
members and nonmembers. This type of web site, a portal that sells digital
products, is really the wave of the future. Most of the products available
at the Newbie Club are related to how to use computers and how to use the
Internet effectively.
Examine the site layout and content. Their design is very deliberate and
straight forward. Visit this internet business information site and see for
yourself. This is a classic, high quality portal site.
A somewhat different type of portal site is exemplified by my own work at
home resource portal. While the site itself is short on information, it
contains numerous links to affiliate programs, other free resources, and
sources of information on how to work from home and start an internet
business.
By looking over these sites, you'll not only learn about how to start an
internet business, you may even find a product or two that will help you.
These are very popular sites for people who are interested in internet
business startups, for good reason. The content and products are first rate!
If you've studied this model, I'm sure by now you realize that this site,
Emarketingman.Com, is also a portal site. The information here is free, and
many of the links you'll find here for suggested and recommended products
are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission when you purchase
the product through my link. I also run another "content" portal that
teaches you how to start an internet business
E-commerce business site that sells a digital product
This is becoming a very common approach to selling on the internet. Imagine
having a downloadable digital product, like an e-book or software program,
that can be sold online. All you have to do is find the market that needs
this product, create the product, set up your web site and start raking in
the money. Yeah, right! This isn't all that difficult, but neither is it as
simple as some people make it sound.
Let's take a look at some high quality digital products and two web sites
that are great examples of how to sell digital products. Notice the big
difference in web site style and presentation, by comparison to a "content"
site.
Blogging-Bonanza.Com is the sales mini-site for my newest digital product,
which is a guide to using blogs and RSS for internet marketing.
This type of web site consists primarily of what is known as a "sales
letter", and is often referred to as a mini-site, since it contains only a
few pages, primarily the sales copy, and the ordering page. The sole purpose
of this site is to move you to purchase the product. You will notice that
the design is very different from the design of the typical portal or
"content" site. The entire web site is automated, including the pages for
purchasing and downloading the ebook, and entering the private area of the
site.
An example of a more ambtious sales site is my own online bookstore, which
features emarketing ebooks and software. You'll notice the relative absence
of free information, except as it relates directly to the products that are
sold there at www.best-biz-builders.com.
An e-commerce business that ships tangibles to people
This is probably the most common platform that people use to start an online
business, and also one of the most difficult. This type of internet business
is more familiar to most people than the portal and content sites discussed
earlier. Most people find the concept easier to relate to, because they are
accustomed to buying and selling tangible products in the offline world, and
most people have bought something over the internet. There are thousands of
large businesses using this standard e-commerce model. A great example of a
small business using this model is the web site of Chris Smith.
MagicSmith.com is run by a professional magician. He started his web site
because he loved to teach other magicians new magic tricks. His web site was
started in his house nine years ago, and is now one of the most popular
destinations for magicians on the Internet. He has since moved his business
to a commercial center, sells products to large commercial establishments,
and employs more than ten people. His web site is not a portal, he just
sells magic tricks! Check out this successful internet business site here.
An increasingly popular variation on this model is to sell drop-shipped
products, either through a direct-sales web site, or by using online
auctions, such as E-Bay. For many people, this is a simple and lucrative
e-commerce model. We go into more detail on another of our web sites, and
you can learn about this form of e-marketing here.
A business to business web site
In a nutshell, a "B2B" web site offers a product or service that other
online business owners need and use. It could be an ezine directory, traffic
generation, accounting services, autoresponders, or countless other things.
In a sense, this is a very shrewd business move, since your target market is
not the general public, but other business owners. You know they have money
to spend, and you know they need your product, and you know where to find
them. By doing internet business "B2B", you've solved many of the dilemmas
faced by people trying to start an internet business.
Let's take a quick look at several of these business to business web sites.
If you're going to sell anything from your website, you need some way to
take payments. You can go to a lot of trouble getting a merchant account,
and doing all of your own fulfillment, or you can "hire" this software to do
it for you. Check out this business to business web site to see how a
well-known internet marketing guru capitalized on this need.
Another service that many internet business owners need, especially if they
intend to do any aggressive e-marketing using permission e-mail, is an
autoresponder. This particular one is a product developed for and marketed
by another well-known online businessman. See how he capitalizes on the
needs of other online entrepeneurs and sells this needed e-marketing tool.
The Internet continues to spawn more and more services geared to helping
other Internet business owners succeed. If you want your web site to be seen
by web surfers, you need to understand what key words or phrases people are
using on the search engines to find your type of product or service.
Wordtracker has created an affordable service that allows you to research
the optimum phrases and words to use for your page title and your key
phrases. This is another great example of an internet business selling
services.
I don't have a product but, I want to start an Internet business!
If you, like most people, have the desire, but no idea where to start, you
have a couple of choices. One is to take up either Affiliate Marketing or
online Network Marketing, and represent someone else's product for a
commission. Most people doing this don't make a great deal of money, but
those who are dedicated have a shot at the elite, that 5% or so of who
become "Super Affiliates" or "Network Superstars" and do extremely well.
Affiliate Marketing can also provide a great second income stream, if you
already have a web site and can pick up some products to represent as an
Affiliate. Your goal, of course, is to find products that complement rather
than compete with or contradict the theme of your existing web site.
Regardless of whether you're an internet business "newbie" or a web site
owner looking for additional income, you can find tons of products to
represent at two of the biggest affiliate marketing portals, Clickbank and
also Commission Junction
A more lucrative way to start internet business is to develop and sell your
own info-products. In the long run, this is a better approach to starting an
online business, because you own and control the product, and instead of
competing with hundreds or even thousands of other affiliates, you are only
competing against other similar products.
If you're going to create your own products, though, you really need to do
some research, and find an internet business niche. It's been said that "the
riches are in the niches", and it's absolutely true.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
