There are some truths about having an online business that it seems like many people don't want to talk about. It seems that most everyone wants to talk about how simple, easy, and financially rewarding online businesses are while skating around some truths the entire time. Some truths that can be incredibly expensive and time consuming to overcome. This is probably because of one simple thing. Most people online that write, advertise, or talk about the subject of online business Have on thing in common. They want your money in one way or another. In this article I'm going to do my best to tell you some of the truths that I've learned, if for no other reason than to simply make you aware of them.
Traffic Is Everything - This might sound simple, but I wasn't truly aware of it until I had our website up and running. Without traffic (that is people visiting the website) none of it matters. Don't labor under the delusion that traffic will automatically come because you have a website, because it won't. You have to literally go out and get it, either by advertising (which costs money), writing A LOT of articles, or becoming creative. Otherwise no one will visit your site, which means you will be lacking the "business" part of the term online business. All I can tell you is to start researching ways to get traffic, because traffic is everything!
Be Careful Who You Listen To - There are a ton of weasels out there who have the "next big thing" to help you with your website. Be very leery of all of this and make sure you do your due diligence on anything your going to try. Many people and companies simply want your money. Just be careful who you listen to.
Research SEO - SEO stands for search engine optimization, and you need to have at least a basic understanding of it. When we started, our weasel webmaster charged us $50 a month to do our SEO, which consisted of him submitting our site to search engines for keywords we chose. This resulting in squat! What I've since learned is submitting your site is only a part of SEO, and a small part at that. But our weasel webmaster didn't tell us this, he just wanted the $50 a month. Educate yourself so you know what the weasels are supposedly helping you with.
Have Patience - When it comes to having an online business, patience is key. These things don't happen overnight, contrary to popular belief. Have patience and work daily towards your goals. All of this "get rich quickly" crap is just that…CRAP! Getting rich or being highly successful quickly simply doesn't exist.
Hopefully one or all of these truths will help you on your online business journey. I know if I had been aware of them before we began, I would be much farther along. Never forget what Lao Tzu Said, "A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving."
Make Online Business Cards
Your expertise needs to be "chunked" into bite sized pieces because what seems very easy and natural to you may completely overwhelm your clients when they first start. When you have been working offline you can get instant feedback from your clients faces if you are going too fast or being too abstract.
The first step you need to take is to carefully define your product. When things are very clear to you, it is easy to miss the small steps that make it clear to your clients also and this can result in them becoming frustrated and confused.
Your first big decisions are vital to your online business. These are deciding on the platform you will use and then how you are going to "chunk" the information.
The starting place needs to be thinking about your target client because if your product does not suit their needs they simply will not buy it.
There are a number of things you need to find out including what style of delivery suits your clients. You need to know the speed of your clients internet connection. Some people are not able to access high speed broadband and my even still be on dial up connections. If your prospective client is in a remote or rural area, their internet connection may be so slow that it is necessary to post CDs to them because they can only receive limited size text emails.
You also need to be sure that you know and can cater for his or her learning styles. Some people learn best by reading, others learn by listening and most people benefit from having both. You may decide to send your client MP3 files that they can either burn to audio CDs on their computer or put them on an MP3 player or IPOD and listen to them while traveling or doing routine tasks. Thee are low cost and effective systems available to allow streaming downloads of audio files and also of video files. Or you may decide to send clients to a password protected webpage to download information
Busy People often don't have time to sit down and read and you may well be surprised at how many people can't read or have limited reading ability. I have actually trained a number of very intelligent people who for one reason or another did not learn to read but they function very effectively in the workplace and often hide their lack of reading so effectively that few people realize.
At the end of a day, busy people are often exhausted and unable to take in more information that needs left brain logical processing. If you can provide them an easy option that is relaxing to listen to or watch while they sit and relax with a drink it will be taken in by the emotional part of their brain and the learning may actually be more effective.
You also need to "chunk" your information into small bites with the size depending on how much they can take in at a time. You should put yourself in your client's shoes. You are working full time and trying to learn something new. How much can you take in at a time when you are tired? Careful planning is needed to deliver small chunks in a logical order.
Without going into your delivery platform at this time, you do need to think through the format of your information. The most common formats are Word and Power Point or their equivalent turned into PDF files to reduce the file size and secure the data to some extent. Which one you choose depends of your clients and the research into their needs and likes before you started. Both file types can be very effective. while pDF's of word processing files are smaller and useful for those with limited band with it is easier to put one idea per page with slides. You clients will find that this method works well for skimmers as well as those who read every word.
In order to deliver a good market product match, it is critical that you do your market research. While you may well decide that the bells and whistles and high resolution video is wonderful if it does not work on your clients' computer or arrive reliable on his email he will not only be unhappy but unhappy clients do tend to pass on the word.
Both Trevor Kugler & Jean Cannon are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Trevor Kugler has sinced written about articles on various topics from Acid Reflux, Fishing and Fishing. Trevor Kugler is co-founder ofhttp://www.JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business a. Trevor Kugler's top article generates over 27100 views. Bookmark Trevor Kugler to your Favourites.
Jean Cannon has sinced written about articles on various topics from Health, Management and The Internet. Jean Cannon runs an award winning online business as an energy and sustainability consultant working with clients around the world. When she wanted to take her business online to reduce her air travel she found there was no one program to cover all the i. Jean Cannon's top article generates over 4400 views. Bookmark Jean Cannon to your Favourites.