The Basics of Starting an Online Business: A Newbie Guide
If you had been following along so far, you may have noticed that my latest endeavour was to create a successful internet business from scratch.
When I first told my friends what I was doing, they laughed at me and commented saying that an online business was not a real business. You probably have heard that before as well.
As someone who has friends who own a physical business, I have realized that the mechanics of running an online business is quite similar. Here are some online business basic steps that I have learned so far and would like to share with you.
Step 1: Generating Traffic
Just like any business, getting relevant traffic would be the first step.
In a physical business, traffic is often obtained through foot traffic, referrals and advertising.
Although foot traffic would not make sense in an online business, referrals and advertisement are the two ways to bring targeted customers to your business.
Here are some examples of referral and advertisement traffic:
Referrals
- Search Engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo)
- Blogs
- Word of mouth
- Social media posts
- Other mentions
Advertisement
- Paid social media ads (Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.)
- Search engine ads (Google, Bing)
- Solo ads
- Private ads on blogs
Step 2: Collecting Leads
Once you drive relevant traffic to a squeeze or landing page, you will need to start to collect leads. A squeeze or landing page is a web page that asks for the potential customer’s contact information.
To get the visitor to opt in (enter their personal info), a lead magnet is often used to entice the customer. This may be a free e-book, video, webinar or any other useful resource.
Collecting leads is extremely crucial in both a physical business and a digital one.
Step 3: The Follow-up
After getting some leads, you will need to follow up through e-mail marketing. I would suggest using an autoresponder to automate your email campaign.
Your email campaign is where you can build trust, establish yourself as an authority and pitch affiliate products.
Following up with the customer is something that is a must when it comes to making a sale or closing a client no matter if your business is online or offline.
Step 4: Making The Sale
A good follow up sequence is what will probably determine whether you are successful in making a sale.
Although I have yet to make any strides in this area, I have read that the sale process can be quite difficult. Sale techniques such as upsell/downsell, pricing and pitching other products to current customers is what’s going to maximize your profit margin.
This is going to be something I will have to look into once I learn how to consistently start making sales.
That’s it! I know this was just a broad overview of the mechanics of how an online business works but I intend to further explore each of these steps.
Like always, once I learn something worthwhile, I will share it with you.
When I was buying the commercial space and I told my co-workers that I rented it out to a couple who would turn it into a cat cafe, cat rescue place.
They can also utilize the space to do Cat painting class, and Cat Yoga. They laughed at me. LOL 🙂
But it turned out, the Cat cafe business is running quite well. There are a lot of cat enthusiasts out there. hihi… I guess, if you have a concept, surround yourself with people who are more positive, and make it happen. Proceed with negative reaction, and criticism with caution, as some of that could be from jealousy. Or they are just generally negative and lazy.
Best of luck with all of your endeavors!
Cheers!
The haters and people who make fun of others are only jealous!
The best profit places are usually the most unusual haha. Thanks Vivianne!
First of all, start by making a business plan. This will help you raise fund from investors; set your goals and have a clearer image on what you need to do in the future.
Next, you should research the legal procedures for incorporating a company in your country. Since I am not a legal expert and I don’t know the laws in your country, I cannot help you with this. But you definitely need a legal company before starting the actual store.