One advantage of doing business online is that you can start from scratch without investing much money. Here is a 27 Step Action Plan to help you get started...
1. List 5 hobbies, interests or areas of expertise. If you want to start a new business, you'd better choose a subject that you like and a subject where you can show expertise. You will have more fun and you will be more competitive.
2. Brainstorm a list of keywords and phrases related to those hobbies and interests. For example, if you are going to sell small airplane collectibles, some possible keywords could be: airplanes, aeronautics, war airplanes, etc.
3. Research those keywords in Wordtracker.com to locate problem statements that have high search results and low competition. Wordtracker.com is a web page that helps you find out how many times your keywords are searched online, how popular your keywords on search engines are. Those keywords may represent problem statements. Wordtracker shows you how many people are buying traffic on those keywords and how much are they paying. You need to find popular statements with low competition.
4. Research those problem statements further to determine if you can develop a product to solve the problem stated. You may use search engines to see how many people are offering products that can help to solve those problems. If you find a popular problem and there are not many people offering solutions online, you've got it!
5. Find or create a product based on previous research for you to sell. Once you found a hungry market, you just need to find the food that your customers want and they will eat from your hands. You may find companies online that can manufacture the products for you or you may find a different way to create the product yourself. If the product is an e-book, you may write it yourself or you may hire someone else to do it.
6. Write a long copy sales letter for that product. The experience of the most important internet marketing gurus reveals that long copies sell much more than short copies. It is also recommendable that you try to sell only one product on your web site. Focus on one product unless the solution you are providing is the offer of a wide catalogue.
7. Register a domain and set up a hosting account. There are many places online where you can register a domain and set up a hosting account in minutes.
8. Register for a merchant account (to set up quickly use PayPal.com). If you don't want to register a merchant account that will allow you to take credit card payments online, go to PayPal.com and sign in. It can be a little bit more expensive, but it is a simple way to take credit card payments online very quickly.
9. Set up a simple web site using an automatic site builder or pay to have someone set it up for you. Do not try to design your own web site unless you are educated on html. Do not waste your time. Hire someone else to do it or buy automatic web site builder software. There are many of these you can buy online.
10. Set up an opt-in form on your web site to collect e-mail addresses. You need to start collecting e-mail addresses for your newsletter. The major part of your business will come from the emails that you will send to your customer list.
11. Build an extensive keyword list based on the initial list of keywords you developed. Use Overture.com. For each keyword on the initial list, Overture can help you find different combinations with other words that you may find interesting. Check the popularity of each term and write down on a spread sheet your final keyword list.
12. Submit those keywords to Overture.com to start driving traffic right away. You need to start driving some traffic immediately in order to test your web site. The best way to do that is to buy this traffic at overture.com
13. Optimize and submit your web site to organic search engines (Google, Altavista, etc...). Once you have proved that your web site works and sells, you will be ready to make the business bigger. It is then time to start working on building free traffic to your site.
14. Continue to test and tweak your web site until target conversion rate is met. Your conversion ratio should be that 1-2% of your visitors should buy from your web site, and 11% should subscribe to your newsletter. Continue testing until you get those stats.
15. Set up an affiliate program on your web site. Affiliate programs can double your business with no additional effort. Others will make the job for you. But you cannot set up an affiliate program before you are sure that your web site can produce results. If your site does not work, you will loose your affiliates and they will never come back to you again.
16. Approach complimentary web sites to sign up as affiliates to promote your product. Get in contact with people that can promote your product and ask them to be your affiliates. Just try to find your first 100 affiliates, and your affiliate list will boom alone.
17. Start publishing a monthly newsletter. You have started collecting e-mail addresses much earlier, but it is not the time to start working the newsletter until you can prove that everything else works.
18. Submit articles to related newsletters and e-zines on a regular basis. In the articles you should always have a link to your site, so that you can get more traffic and you can get more people joining to your newsletter.
19. Continue the development of a content rich web site to further increase search engine rankings. Search engines love content. You must have many web sites which are rich on your keywords and which have links to your main page. A good way to do this is to add as many articles as you can related to your business and link them to your home page.
20. Once keywords have been tested in Overture, roll out in Google Adwords. It works similar to Overture, you bid for traffic. But do not go to Google Adwords first. You must first prove your success with Overture and then go to Google Adwords.
One advantage of doing business online is that you can start from scratch without investing much money. Here is a 27 Step Action Plan to help you get started...
1. List 5 hobbies, interests or areas of expertise. If you want to start a new business, you'd better choose a subject that you like and a subject where you can show expertise. You will have more fun and you will be more competitive.
2. Brainstorm a list of keywords and phrases related to those hobbies and interests. For example, if you are going to sell small airplane collectibles, some possible keywords could be: airplanes, aeronautics, war airplanes, etc.
3. Research those keywords in Wordtracker.com to locate problem statements that have high search results and low competition. Wordtracker.com is a web page that helps you find out how many times your keywords are searched online, how popular your keywords on search engines are. Those keywords may represent problem statements. Wordtracker shows you how many people are buying traffic on those keywords and how much are they paying. You need to find popular statements with low competition.
4. Research those problem statements further to determine if you can develop a product to solve the problem stated. You may use search engines to see how many people are offering products that can help to solve those problems. If you find a popular problem and there are not many people offering solutions online, you've got it!
5. Find or create a product based on previous research for you to sell. Once you found a hungry market, you just need to find the food that your customers want and they will eat from your hands. You may find companies online that can manufacture the products for you or you may find a different way to create the product yourself. If the product is an e-book, you may write it yourself or you may hire someone else to do it.
6. Write a long copy sales letter for that product. The experience of the most important internet marketing gurus reveals that long copies sell much more than short copies. It is also recommendable that you try to sell only one product on your web site. Focus on one product unless the solution you are providing is the offer of a wide catalogue.
7. Register a domain and set up a hosting account. There are many places online where you can register a domain and set up a hosting account in minutes.
8. Register for a merchant account (to set up quickly use PayPal.com). If you don't want to register a merchant account that will allow you to take credit card payments online, go to PayPal.com and sign in. It can be a little bit more expensive, but it is a simple way to take credit card payments online very quickly.
9. Set up a simple web site using an automatic site builder or pay to have someone set it up for you. Do not try to design your own web site unless you are educated on html. Do not waste your time. Hire someone else to do it or buy automatic web site builder software. There are many of these you can buy online.
10. Set up an opt-in form on your web site to collect e-mail addresses. You need to start collecting e-mail addresses for your newsletter. The major part of your business will come from the emails that you will send to your customer list.
11. Build an extensive keyword list based on the initial list of keywords you developed. Use Overture.com. For each keyword on the initial list, Overture can help you find different combinations with other words that you may find interesting. Check the popularity of each term and write down on a spread sheet your final keyword list.
12. Submit those keywords to Overture.com to start driving traffic right away. You need to start driving some traffic immediately in order to test your web site. The best way to do that is to buy this traffic at overture.com
13. Optimize and submit your web site to organic search engines (Google, Altavista, etc...). Once you have proved that your web site works and sells, you will be ready to make the business bigger. It is then time to start working on building free traffic to your site.
14. Continue to test and tweak your web site until target conversion rate is met. Your conversion ratio should be that 1-2% of your visitors should buy from your web site, and 11% should subscribe to your newsletter. Continue testing until you get those stats.
15. Set up an affiliate program on your web site. Affiliate programs can double your business with no additional effort. Others will make the job for you. But you cannot set up an affiliate program before you are sure that your web site can produce results. If your site does not work, you will loose your affiliates and they will never come back to you again.
16. Approach complimentary web sites to sign up as affiliates to promote your product. Get in contact with people that can promote your product and ask them to be your affiliates. Just try to find your first 100 affiliates, and your affiliate list will boom alone.
17. Start publishing a monthly newsletter. You have started collecting e-mail addresses much earlier, but it is not the time to start working the newsletter until you can prove that everything else works.
18. Submit articles to related newsletters and e-zines on a regular basis. In the articles you should always have a link to your site, so that you can get more traffic and you can get more people joining to your newsletter.
19. Continue the development of a content rich web site to further increase search engine rankings. Search engines love content. You must have many web sites which are rich on your keywords and which have links to your main page. A good way to do this is to add as many articles as you can related to your business and link them to your home page.
20. Once keywords have been tested in Overture, roll out in Google Adwords. It works similar to Overture, you bid for traffic. But do not go to Google Adwords first. You must first prove your success with Overture and then go to Google Adwords.
21. Roll out tested keyword list in other major PPCs. When you are sure about your stats, and you know how much money you collect per visitor, you must buy as much traffic as you can get as far as your income per visitor is higher than your bids.
22. Create a viral e-book to generate more leads. Create a free e-book that you can promote and which sells your product or service. Give it for free, and this will bring more traffic to your web site.
23. Have an expert review and critique your web site. Even if your site works, you can always improve. Listen to others and learn from their experiences.
24. Survey your existing customers to find out what other products or services they are looking for. Once you have a big list of customers, use it to find out what other problems do they have. Try to find or create a solution for them and you will boost your sales instantaneously.
25. Create and find back-end products and market them through your e-mail list. Continue finding more products that meet your customer demands and promote them via e-mail.
26. Continue to test and tweak your web site and offers. Nothing is perfect the first time and can always be improved. It is very important that you take action, even if you make mistakes. Learn from your errors and improve your skills.
27. Repeat process to create "Multiple Streams of Income". Once your business is working on automation, then you can start the process again with a new business. Build as many businesses as you can, and reduce your risks. If one business fails, but you have another 5 working businesses, who cares about it?
If you have read up to this point, you are probably asking yourself how much it will cost to get started? The answer is very simple; it depends on how much time and money you have available to invest! If you have a lot of time, you can do everything yourself. On the other hand, if you don't have time, you will have to pay other people for building your website and/or for optimizing your site on search engines.
If you can do nothing else...just launch a web site and start promoting online...
Businesses of all sizes are expanding with ebooks. An ebook is a paperless book in digital format that you can download to your computer, handheld or other reader device. It can be read by using a software program like Adobe (for .pdf formats) or Microsoft Word.
Here are several ways to expand your own business operations with ebooks.
Marketing – An ebook offers an inexpensive means of producing full-color marketing materials complete with graphics and audio components. Find good software or hire someone to help create your ebooks. Grab a digital camera and start snapping shots of your products, people using your products and services, your workers, etc. Then show off your shots, your products and describe your services with awesome power-packed presentations; web pages with interactive links for sound, visual presentations, communications (emails or forum posts) and more.
Education – When your products or services need explained, educate your prospects and clients with ebooks. Have sample or short versions available for trial offers or free downloads. Then include full-fledged detailed editions with product / service purchases. Educate with visual, sound and interactive point-and-click methods. Invite questions and feedback from recipients for improvements on future product and service development.
Communications – How many times do you get an email you with a question - the same question over and over gain it seems – that requires a book-length answer? Maybe questions like, “How do you create a basic website?” or “How can you market on a tight budget?” inspire lengthy replies. Well, now you can write one long reply, turn it into an ebook and send it out – over and over again and free up more time for other things. AND include your own marketing information inside so that readers can look you up on the Internet, pass your information along and give others the opportunity to find you, too.
New Product – Use surveys and take polls for new product creation. Include a link to a web page with a questionnaire and free download for recipients upon completion.
Sales Reps – Arm your sales representatives with professional, top-notch full-color media / product / service information kits presented via your ebooks to share with local newspaper, radio, television and other media reps, visitors and potential clients at trade shows and other events. Set up an introductory page in your ebook, then an index where people can click and quickly find your History, Mission Statement, product and service descriptions and images, Contact information, Testimonials, etc. Then copy the ebooks to disks and CDs to distribute at events. This gives people the opportunity to learn much more about you when they have more time afterwards.
So grab your cyber-pencil or keypad and start writing! Ebooks can definitely enlarge your operations.
_________________________________________________________________
Top Resource: Creating an ebook can be incredibly easy with the right tool for the job. You'll never believe this until you try it.
Now, even if you are the Greenest Computer Newbie, you can create Professional Talking eBooks, Tutorials, Audio Seminars, Business Presentations, Talking Photo Albums, and much, much more with NO HTML experience, NO Web Page Editing, and NO additional software (NO web editors, NO word processors - everything you need, is there!). All you need is an ordinary microphone and the Staggering, Revolutionary ...
Dead Easy eBook Maker!
To Learn all about this fantastic tool
CLICK HERE When you visit this page, you'll find a Free Software Sign-Up form that offers retail software from our Free Software Download page.
(The product described on this page is not included as a free title.)
Are you aware of how vitally important and valuable CONTENT is to your online business? In fact, content can do more to build your business and profits than just about any other resource or service available.
Following is a list of 5 key ways that content can help build your traffic, subscribers, and customers starting today!...
1. Boost your search engine ranking and daily visitor count by posting keyword rich articles and content on your web-site. For example, if your business involves offering products and services related to fitness, posting fitness related articles and content will attract unlimited prospective customers on a regular basis!
2. Generate double or even triple the number of newsletter subscribers you do currently, simply by offering content in the form of "special reports" or manuals as bonuses for subscribing to your publication. People love freebies, so give them what they want and watch as your results increase!
3. Create an automated cashflow by using content to formulate multi-part email training courses with related web-site or affiliate links "sprinkled" throughout each course. Use an autoresponder service to automate the delivery of your training course (such as a 5 part training course delivered over a 5 day period).
Training courses can also serve as excellent bonus offers for your prospective newsletter subscribers.
4. One of the most important keys to a successful online business is not JUST having a list of mailing list or newsletter subscribers... It's about building a trusting relationship with your subscribers (ie, "cultivating" your list)...
By sending informative articles (content) to your list on a regular basis you will establish yourself as an expert on your topic of business, as well as gain the trust of your subscribers over time. As a result, your subscribers will be EAGER to take advantage of your "paid" product and service offers. (Just make sure that you NEVER take advantage of the relationship you develop with your list by offering products or services of poor quality just to make a quick buck!)
If there is one "constant" in Internet marketing, it's this: A cultivated list of subscribers is as good as money in the bank. Write that down and never forget it!
5. Another excellent way to generate no cost traffic is by submitting ready-made articles to "content hungry" web-site and newsletter publishers with your "resource box" attached. A resource box is nothing more than a little 3-6 line "bio" about you and/or your web-site - including a link to your site (or even instructions on how to subscribe to your newsletter)...
When submitting or offering your article(s) for reprint purposes, just make sure to specify that each article is to be reprinted "as is" with your resource box attached.
...Even one article can go a LONG way towards generating no cost traffic and visitors for you. Just imagine your article being sent out to a newsletter subscriber base of 100,000 individuals - many of whom will be reading YOUR included resource box and clicking on your URL to learn more about what you have to offer!
Well there you have it, 5 sure ways to build your online business exponentially with the help of articles and content...
With the declining effectiveness of many of the online advertising methods that we've relied on in past years, content is only strengthening its position as the ultimate KEY to generating unlimited traffic, subscribers, and customers!
___________________________________________________________
Here's a few resources we suggest:
Looking for great content but hate to write all of your own. We found a few excellent resources that we use constantly and they are as follows...
For articles, we use
Infogoround and also www.ezine-articles.com
For Health information, we like
PushButtonHealth For Self Improvement Private Label Information we use
Self Improvement Millionaires
Just wanted to let everyone know that our CFHSoftware site is up for business.
We are starting out with 2 great web titles.
Dead Easy Ebook Creation Software - If you have a website and want to create your own info product or special report, This makes the process incredibly easy. You'll never believe this until you try it.
Now, even if you are the Greenest Computer Newbie, you can create Professional Talking eBooks, Tutorials, Audio Seminars, Business Presentations, Talking Photo Albums, and much, much more with NO HTML experience, NO Web Page Editing, and NO additional software (NO web editors, NO word processors - everything you need, is there!). All you need is an ordinary microphone and the Staggering, Revolutionary ...
Dead Easy eBook Maker!
Check it out now at: http://www.l1nk.com/sAm/deadeasy.html
The main page of CFH Software can be accessed from:
http://www.cfhsoftware.com
________________________________________________________
Superlinker - "How To Use Brand New Cutting Edge Technology To Multiply Your Profits WITHOUT Any Knowledge Of HTML, CGI, Java, FTP Or Any Other Technological Gobbledygook"
"This Super-Smart No-Brainer Web Tool Literally Forces Both Professional & Newbie Marketers To Explode Their Profits With - Just 4 Mouse Clicks!
By Using Responsible PopUp Information Pages, FAQs, Testimonials, Help & Contact Pages, & Links To Other Sites, But STILL Keeping Your Visitors On Your Site!
CLICK HERE NOW! -- http://www.l1nk.com/sAm/superlinker.html
Visit our software blog at http://64.192.220.31/software-softshop-blog.htm
Get free software just for stopping by
Setting up a home office is one of the most important tasks you will face when you make the decision to work from your own home. Your home office can be a corner of your kitchen or living room or, if space permits, a former spare bedroom.
Size is less important that functionality. When deciding on where to set up the nerve center of your business, there are some factors you need to consider.
Is the area well lit?
Proper lighting is extremely important. Spending hours at a time in a dimly lit work space can create eyestrain which, after long periods of time, could lead to more serious problems with your vision.
Are there plenty of electrical outlets?
Take into consideration what appliances you will have in your work space. Your computer system will require an outlet for your cpu, monitor, scanner, printer, speakers (sometimes) and other ancillary equipment you may have.
Is the area well ventilated and dust free?
All of that computer equipment needs to “breath” to remain cool and functioning properly. If you have ever “fried” a computer you know how important it is to keep the fan clean and dust free.
Do you have telephone access?
In addition to having a telephone handy for business purposes, you will also require telephone access for your modem. You may also consider a separate telephone line for your business. It is much easier to track telephone business expenses for tax purposes if you have a separate phone line. It’s also important that your clients can reach you. If your clients have to compete with your teenagers telephone habits, chances are they will call someone else. Make certain that this separate line is set up to receive phone calls while you are online. Most major telephone companies now offer that service. You may pay a few extra dollars a month for it, but it will pay for itself over the long haul.
How much ‘foot traffic” is there liable to be?
You want your office to be as isolated as possible. Can you imagine trying to speak with a client or figure out html code with kids screaming in the background? Not a very professional picture. If you have no choice but to have your office in a high traffic area, adjust your work schedule to coincide with family activities. Sit your family down and explain the importance of your work and why you need their cooperation. It won’t always work out that way but at least it’s a step in the right direction.
It goes without saying that you need to have normal office supplies. Even if your work is online you still need the pens, pencils, note pads and so on.
One of the stickiest challenges you may encounter comes from your friends. People who do not work from home seem to think that if you do, you have all the time in the world to visit. This can become a major problem if you do not set the parameters. Setting out the ground rules is important to the overall health and well being of your business. Let your friends and extended family know your business hours and explain to them that you are not available during those periods of time. The sooner you do this the better.
Conduct your business in a professional manner. Just because you work at home does not mean that you should throw out the rule book. Maybe you have read the humorous comment about “working in your pajamas. It sounds good in sales messages, but the truth is you are much better off if you awaken in the morning and prepare yourself for your work day as if you were still trekking off to the office, because you are.
You will be much better prepared to focus and get down to business if you dress the part. That doesn’t mean that you need to squeeze into the normal “office” attire. It does mean that you set the standards for your business and much of that has to do with “mindset” and self-image. Dressing comfortably is a one of the serendipities of working at home, but you will be much better prepared for business if you dress the part.
I have one final word of advice for the new work at home entrepreneur. Having your office right down the hall can be a blessing, but it can also be a curse. Remember to take time out for yourself. Most people believe that working at home comes with certain privileges, and it does. However, it can also become all-consuming and take total control of your life.
Don’t allow that to happen. Create your schedule and live by it. Make sure you turn off the lights, shut down the computer and “go home” at the end of your work day.
It’s just a matter of time before you experience a hard drive problem. Are you prepared to loose your data? If your hard drive crashed right now do you have an action plan to follow?
Most people only think of backing up their data after they experience a problem. Don't set yourself up for a data loss disaster.
Your data integrity action plan should consist of the following:
1) How often you will back up your data
2) What data you will back up
3) What back up procedure you will use
How often you back up your data can only be determined by how important you feel it is. Answer this question "If my hard drive crashed right now, I would be alright if I had the data from at least (time) ago". Of course you would want everything but if you could have the data from 1 month, or 6 months ago would that be sufficient? Whatever time is sufficient mark it on your calendar both a hard copy and set up a meeting on your PC to remind you. You change your smoke detector batteries when you turn your clock back and when you turn it ahead right? Well back up your data then too. If you don't change your clocks then pick some holidays or special dates that happen close to the timeframe you want to back up your data so you won't forget.
What data you back up depends on how you use your PC. Some of the key directories, if you are using Windows, are the My Documents, Favorites and Desktop directories. Remember if you are using multiple profiles on your PC then the three directories above can be different for each profile and each one would need to be backed up. You will also want to include your email data. Don't forget to write down the email accounts you have. You should also write down any username and passwords so they are not lost. You should look at every directory to see if it has information that you would need. Make a list of all the software programs you are using. If you have the physical CDs put them all together in a safe location. Don't forget the CDs for your peripherals like your scanner, digital camera, PDA etc… Collecting these CDs may remind you of additional data that you need to back up. If you are running software that you installed from downloaded files, burn them to a CD-R and add it to your collection. If you use a CD-R or
DVD-R you can update it as you download and install new applications.
What procedure you use to back up your data can be determined by the amount of data you want to back up. Your data might fit onto a CD or DVD in which case you just need to burn it and you're done. If it spans multiple DVDs then you might want to consider getting a second hard drive to copy your data onto. If you are not comfortable with adding a second internal hard drive or you are using a laptop then you can purchase an external hard drive to back up your data. The information you have on your hard drive could disappear in a flash. If you don't want to spend up to $3,000 to have a data recovery company retrieve what information they can from your hard drive, then take a few minutes right now and create your back up action plan.
If you ever have a data emergency your action plan will be your insurance policy. If you adhere to it, your valuable data will adhere to you!
