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Starting An Online Business!

Whether you have an existing business that you intend to take online or you’re starting an online business from scratch, there are several things you need to first consider to give yourself the best chance of success. We’ve boiled everything down into three main areas, what we call the 3 P’s:

  1. Planning
  2. Production
  3. Promoting

We’ve seen literally hundreds of people considering starting an online business and often times it appears as though they’re seeking advice from a web developer on business model. The reality is, however, that a web developer will be skilled in giving advice on how to take your business model to the Internet and the type of site to use, but they’re only part of big picture in making your business work.

Planning

Enough emphasis cannot be put on a proper planning. Here are several points to consider:

  • The Idea – You need to make sure you have your ideas clear. If you’re starting a new business make sure you look at what others are doing in the same area and how you can improve on it if necessary. If you’re taking your existing business online look at what advantages the Internet can bring you. It can be so much more than another place to advertise.
  • Legals – Ensure you have all your legal matters in order. For instance, make sure that you have all the terms and conditions and privacy matters you need adequately covered, any contracts you require drawn up and that you’re not going to infringe on an existing trade mark, just to name a few.
  • Business Plan – Make sure you have a clear business plan. For this you can consider similar businesses online and an idea of how many visitors they get, how many sales they make and what your marketing budget might be.
  • Domain Name – Your domain name is extremely important, and you need to consider that a domain name with a key term relating to your business may greatly increase your online presence. Another important point to consider is that domain names need to be remembered, or memorable, so the shorter the better and consider how someone might tell another person your domain name. If it’s hard to pass on then, it’s not on!
  • Budget – Ensure you have an adequate, realistic, budget to achieve your goals, both for the Production of your web site and for Promoting your web site.

Production

There are two basic types of web sites, a brochure site, which is just a re-production of your print brochure and an interactive, functional, web site. Here are some points to take onboard when getting a web site built:

  • Planning – Planning for your big picture business model is different from planning the build of a web site. Don’t scrimp on planning as doing so will inevitably cost you more in the long run. Be prepared to take your time at this step to get it right, and consider carefully all the functionality your site will need. Doing this properly will make the build faster and more efficient.
  • Technology – The technology you need use really not that important, what’s more important is achieving your business objectives. There are so many different ways to achieve a particular end, the difference only really comes down to cost, both in development costs and running costs.
  • Web Developer – Don’t just rely on the advice of one web developer. Get quotes from numerous web developers and look at their portfolio to consider their suitability.
  • Budget – Make sure you’ve got an adequate budget to achieve your goals. Remember that something that sounds too good to be true usually is and you get what you pay for!
  • Ongoing Maintenance – Inevitably, a successful web site needs to be constantly updated, so you need to consider who will do that, and at what cost.

Promoting

One of the things that makes the Internet such an amazing place to do business is that there are so many ways to reach people, or more importantly for people to reach you. Ultimately, the goal of promoting your web site is to increase traffic, but your web site is not going to be a field of dreams so here’s a few points to consider:

  • Online Advertising – Online advertising is extremely effective because you can track it, finding out how many people use the advertising and the results you get from your advertising. There are two main methods of advertising online, these include:
    • CPM (Cost per Thousand) – This is where you pay set fee for every thousand times your ad is shown online.
    • CPC (Cost per Click) – This is where you don’t pay anything for your ad to be displayed, only when someone clicks on your ad. Generally, CPC advertising is better than CPM because you only pay for performance.
    • Opt-In Emails – This is where you place an ad in an email, such as a newsletter, that users have agreed to receive. It’s best to use emails that are targeted to your area of business and can be very effective. However good quality Opt-In email advertising can be scarce, and very expensive if you do find something suitable.
  • Search Engine Placement – Your position on the search engine results can make a massive difference to your traffic. There are numerous articles right here to help you optimise your site for the search engine, or you can enlist the services of a SEO specialist.
  • Traditional Marketing – There is a whole plethora of traditional marketing strategies you can undertake, including newspaper advertising, billboard advertising, radio advertising and pamphlet drops, just to name a few. These forms of advertising can be less efficient than online advertising in that they are harder to track the results of, but they can be effective none-the-less.
  • Viral Marketing – The idea of viral marketing is that people will pass on interesting information, generally by word of mouth (if even through an online medium). There are thousands of techniques, but you can do such things as attend conferences and hand out your business card, visit online forums to share your specialist knowledge, provide free, reusable, content on your web site and create a “tell-a-friend” service on your web site.

Now you have an excellent understanding of the core concepts involved in starting an online business. You can research each of these areas some more to get a better picture for yourself.

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