It was six months ago when I started to build a business online on my own and half-year later my first website was successfully launched! From personal experience I can tell you that it is not easy building an online business. I can also tell you, with complete honesty, that taking the plunge to train myself to become an online business professional was the best decision I have ever made in my life.
A successful online business is really dependent on the sufficient knowledge you have in this field, how much time and effort you put into your business and your gut feeling be ready for any failure on the way, but do not lose the hope. This site is for you if you are ready to start your business online and ready for to overcome these challenges mentioned above. So let us get the ball rolling by exploring the following steps to start your first online business.
- Find good business idea suitable to you.
- Design and build a website.
- Apply strategies to help grow your business.
- Use web analytics to analyze the performance of both your site and your competitors.
Step 1: Find a good online business ideas
There are tons of online business ideas that can help you make money online. Unfortunately, most people who just start out make the mistakes of simply choose one without considering whether it is suitable to them. In other words, people shouldfind their niche first and then chose theproper ideas to fit their niche. If you are good at creating music, for example, start building your own online presence and showcasing your talent by having your own download site is good for your niche. If you are professional on a certain field, such as cooking or nursing, writing an eBook and selling it on your topical site is a good fit to you. Please see more details about online business ideas.
Step 2: Design and build a website
There are several ways to create your website and each method has its both pros and cons.
Create a website on your own
If you have certain knowledge about HTML, JavaScript, CSS and Photoshop, and if you are really want to establish yourself as a long term successful online business, then creating a website on your own is a proper choice. The pros are that you can cut the cost down for your design and you have the flexibility to change and tweak your website content. The cons are that you have to donate your extra time on your design that requires repetitive tasks in the process of design.
Find a web design company
A web design company can help create your website professionally and efficiently. The disadvantage is that it may require higher price for their professional services.
Find a Freelancer online
Hire a freelancer online will probably save money and you also have the flexibility to hire any freelancer you want. The disadvantage of hiring a freelancer online is that you have less control over your workers. My favorite outsource sites are as follows:
- Elance.com
- Guru.com
- Freelanceswitch.com
- Odesk.com
Find a template online.
You can start your online business right away by selecting a website template on the following website:
- WordPress.org
The advantages are that the costs for templates online are comparatively low and even some are free. However, as website templates are downloaded and used by many hundreds of users, they are not exclusive and unique to your own company. Moreover, as a website template cannot be tweaked beyond a point, so it may end up being non-specific to your requirements.
Step 3: Apply strategies to help grow your business.
Once your website is established, the next step is to how to apply online marketing strategies to meet the current online marketing trends to grow your business as fast as possible. I’ve seen thousands of people start and grow successful businesses by applying the following online marketing strategies:
- Content rich
- Diversified social media
- Mobile-friendly website
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Inbound link building
- Google AdSence
- Google AdWords
- Email marketing
- Online advertising
- Affiliating
Each strategy above is a big topic itself that I dig further in my separate posts.
Step 4: Use web analytic to analyze the performance of both your site and your competitors.
We live in a data-rich environment nowadays. Numbers, data, math and analysis have become important foundation for our decision-making on our business. Web analytics is not only a tool for measuring web traffic but also for evaluating and improving effectiveness of a website. The most popular web analytics tools are as below:
- Google Analytics
- Yahoo Web Analytics
- Crazy Egg
- Compete
