Proven Steps to Start and Grow Your Own Profitable Online
Business
Are you serious about the success of your online business? Do
you want to know how to make REAL money on the Internet? Then
you need to know how to successfully start and grow your online
business.
Thousands of people start an online business each year, but most
of them fail. If you follow these steps you won't be one of them.
STEP 1: Do What You Love
When you do what you love, everything feels like fun. You never
get tired because there's an unlimited power inside you: the
power of love.
Your articles, books and sales letters are full of excitement
because you're talking about your passion. You enjoy every
minute you spend growing your business and the result is one
thing: success!
If you're in business just to make money or going to sell a
product just because you think it will make you a lot of money,
quit right now. Move on and start doing something you do love.
It's extremely important.
Do what you love and the money will come!
STEP 2: Find an Easy-to-Target Market
Who do you want to sell your products to? Your target market, of
course! But if you don't know where to find them, how are you
going to sell to them?
Let's say I've developed a pill that cures the common cold. If I
take my pill to the pharmaceutical companies and market it
offline, I'm going to be a billionaire. But if I try to sell it
online, it will be a failure.
Why? Well, let's think about it.
Where do people with colds hang out? Do they go to "Cough and
Sneeze" chatrooms? Do they hang out at "You & Your Cold" forums?
Do they look for "common cold pills" in search engines? No!
Targeting this market online will be extremely difficult,
because they can be anyone, anywhere.
However, if gardeners were my target market, it would be easy to
find them online. There are many gardening forums, newsgroups,
websites, chatrooms, etc.
Make sure your business has a targetable market on the Internet.
Search for websites, discussion boards and chatrooms where your
target market hangs out. You should be able to find them easily.
If you can't, you will fail.
STEP 3: Create a Product that Solves Your Prospects'
Problems
Now that you know where to find your target market, it's time to
find their problems. Discover what they want, then create a
product that gives it to them and solves their problems.
Let's suppose say you're a writer and have decided to target the
college students ready to graduate. You see that one of their
biggest concerns is finding a job after graduation. So you write
a book full of tips and tricks to help them get the job they
want.
Soon you make a lot of sales, even more than you expected.
That's because you've helped them get what they want.
STEP 4: Be Unique!
It's a competitive world out there. To rise above the rest you
need to be unique. I can't emphasize this step enough! Without a
brand, without a unique product, without an offer that they
can't find anywhere else, you won't make it.
Let me give you an example...
Let's say you have a restaurant with very tasty food at a
reasonable price. There are other restaurants nearby (your
competition) but their price is higher or their food isn't as
good as yours. So people keep coming to your restaurant.
Why? Because you're unique. Get your prospects to see you as the
only solution to their problems. This is the key to success of
every business.
STEP 5: Gain Your Prospects' Trust
If you've been surfing the Internet for a while, you know there
are many dishonest, so-called "experts" out there who use hype
and trick to sell their products. They give promises that they
can't deliver, and it kills people's trust.
That's why you need to gain your customers' trust. Show them
you're a real expert. Make them believe that you know what
you're talking about. You should prove to them that you're an
honest person and really want to help them. Here are some tips:
* Publish your own newsletter to establish your credibility and
build a strong relationship with your customers * Write valuable
articles and give them away for free * Treat your customers like
gold because that's what they are * Be honest, nice and friendly
* Love your customers and do your best to help them!
STEP 6: Sell Backend Products
What's a backend? It's something you sell to your customers
after they make their first purchase from you. Selling backend
products is one of the most essential parts of your marketing
strategy, because when someone buys something from you and he's
happy with his purchase, it's easy to sell to him again.
I give you an example.
Let's say you make a lot of sales selling cleats. You spend a
lot of time and money turning your visitors into customers, but
once they buy from you, you'll lose them forever.
Then you decide to use the lifetime value of your customers to
sell football T-shirts (your backend). You email the people who
bought the cleats to promote the T-shirts. In a couple of days,
10% of them buy the second product, too. Just by sending a short
promotional email, you've generated a lot of sales.
Your customers bought from you once and are happy with their
purchase. When it comes to buying a football T-shirt, who do you
think they will turn to? Will they come to someone they know and
trust or someone else out there?
That's the power of backend selling!
You can sell anything as a backend, as long as it's related to
your main product and you know your customers are interested in
it. Affiliate programs are a great way to backend your product.
Although it's easy to sell backend products, you should never
recommend a book you've never read or a software program you
haven't tried. Your customers trust you and believe everything
you say. If they buy the product you recommend and aren't
satisfied, they'll lose trust and it will destroy your
reputation... and your business.