First Steps To Getting Started In An Internet Business – Part 1
Very Important! The FIRST thing you should do is NOT go out and purchase any domain names or web hosting. Please wait until you have a better idea of exactly WHAT you want to do online. Then you will know what you need and won’t waste any money, time or effort.
One thing you’ll discover very quickly with marketing on the Internet is that you can easily get diverted from what you “intended” to do.
The BEST way around that to bring yourself back on track, is to develop a WRITTEN PLAN of what you are all about!
And write it down using either pen or computer. Don’t just leave it as an “outline” in your head! Putting things down on paper provides you with clarity – lots of it!
And whenever you find yourself veering off course – go back to your plan and see if/how this new direction might fit in! And if it doesn’t? Well.. you know what to do!
This series of articles outlines several steps you could take to create your online plan. I’ve also presented my response to each step. You’ll see how and why I’ve gone about developing my plan. Hopefully you can adapt to your circumstances as appropriate.
So… Kick back… Make yourself a cuppa… And look at my plan for making this particular web site an integral part of my existing online portfolio.
Step One – Look To Your Background
- Write down a quick outline of your relevant personal and employment history.
- What existing skills do you bring to your online business?
- What things are you “passionate” about? What do you really enjoy doing? (passion = possible niches to go into)
- List 3 to 5 strengths AND 3 to 5 weaknesses that could have a significant impact (good or bad) on your online business!
- What skills are you lacking?
Essentially, my strong points are:
- extensive background on the Internet, with sound knowledge of web sites, web site design, cgi programming, online marketing etc (but not so good with php or css -yet)
- skilled in the development of simple yet effective resources to teach people how to do things
- find it easy to pick up new “technical” skills that are needed (i.e. video development etc)
- the development of a fairly “familiar” writing style, which most people seem to be comfortable with – and it’s something that I actually seem to like doing!
- passionate about people getting the right advice and not have their dreams crushed!
- have had many failures, which only make me even more determined to succeed 🙂
My BAD points? There’s a few…
- I get distracted too easily and always have a million things all happening at once so I find it hard to focus on finishing tasks, especially BIG ones.
- I would much prefer to listen to others speak than dominate a conversation… except when I know what I’m talking about
- Because of that “shyness” I am a little worried about putting myself on the line and risking public ridicule if something I do or say doesn’t work as intended (but I’m working on that otherwise I wouldn’t be blogging)
- There’s more, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll stop here!
So once you’ve got your list of good and bad points, it’s time to get even MORE seriously honest with yourself!
Step Two – What Is It You Want To Achieve?
In under 100 words… Describe what you want to “do”… what you want to “achieve” by going into business online. How do you think you are going to do it? What is your motivation for doing this?
Make the statement as positive as you can! Don’t include any negatives or “wishy-washy” stuff in it!
In my case, I have an already established, but not so financially stable, business on the Internet. While Google has been kind to me over the past few years, I don’t want to rely too heavily on it and similar income sources which fluctuate too readily from one month to the next.
I really enjoy doing what I do, but am tiring of end-of-month cash flow crises! I’m seriously not chasing the millionaire lifestyle. Just looking for enough so I can feel a lot more comfortable when the bills come in!
So… in fewer than 100 words… I am…
Looking at developing a respectable, consistent and predictable income by creating an “authority” web site which provides excellent quality Internet Marketing (IM) information to people new to the world of online marketing, who want to establish their own successful online business. This site will be monetized through a monthly continuity program, which gives members access to even more quality, detailed information on Internet Marketing.
What’s your “vision statement” for your current/proposed online business?
Do you even have one?
Remember “clarity”? Write it down!
That’s more than enough to keep you busy for a day or so…
The next step (in Part 2 of this series) gets into the nitty gritty of researching your niche to make sure there’s a chance of success for you.
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