Want to start an online business? That's GREat because there is an amazing amount of money to be made on the Internet and you can get a piece of it. In the following paragraphs I will talk about some must-have tools and tips that will get you going on the right foot. You'll find that starting an online business is not just about getting any old hosting company, putting up a one-page site and hope for the best. It's important that you get a host which specifically caters to the Internet Marketer needs, learn how to promote your website and building a loyal clientele.
1. Build a List
Building a list is the most important thing you will ever do to market your product on the Internet. This is something that every successful Internet Marketer does. If you would shut down your website today, this is the one thing you would keep and continue to make money with it.
Having a list means that you have established a trust relationship with your prospects or customers. Specifically, it allows you to communicate with them via email. With strict spamming laws in effect, having an opt-in list is increasingly valueable.
By far the simplest way, to build a list is to add a Newsletter or Ezine to your site and include a subscription form and encouraging visitors to subscribe.
2. Autoresponder Marketing
Gone are the days of collecting email addresses in an Excel sheet or in a folder in your email software to later send follow-up letters. With today's technology, you can now set-up your business email so that it automatically sends follow up letters to your prospects and try to convert them to customers. If a prospect becomes a customer, he/she will automatically be moved out of the Prospects list and move to the Customer list, where the style and offering of your email will be totally different.
Another way to use this type of autoresponder is for Email courses. People can sign up for a "10-week Marketing Course" for example. With this tool, you can pre-configure the emails to auto-send the weekly courses automatically.
3. Web Hosting for Internet Marketers
One of the first things you do when you start an Internet Business is set up a web hosting account to house your website. With the fierce competition in the Web Hosting industry it's quite difficult to make a choice.
The Internet Marketer having completely different needs than that of the average website owner, may find himself buying different services for the website from different providers. For example, every Internet Marketer needs an automated autoresonder. Now there are website services which sell these services at a monthly rate.
The best solution for this scenario is to find a web hosting company which specializes in services for Internet Marketers. Many hosts now offer a 30-day money back guarantee so you can try out the services at no-risk.
4. Learn the Trade
Before you build your site, invest some time and money on educating yourself on how to market on the Internet.
How to use AutoResponders
How to write copy that sells
How to structure your site using proven effective layouts
How to place Google Ads on your website to maximize click-through.
You can either search for all the info on the net, costing you time - a lot of it - or if you want to get up and going quickly, get yourself a package which is pre-researched containing all the tips and tricks.
5. Get Traffic
One of the best ways to get targetted traffic on your website is to get a high ranked website to place a link on their page. Since these type of links are not easy to come by, try contacting webmasters with websites with similar content to link to your site and you can reciprocate a link on your site.
Although, this will help get traffic from other sites it will not help you get your website higher on Google. The reason is that, Google does not give reciprocal linking a very high value on their ranking system.
Try getting inbound links to your site by writing informative content and distributing it to other sites looking for similar content. In your article, include a link to your site.
In conclusion, like anything else in life, whether your're building a shelf, a boat, or an Internet empire, it takes planning. Once the pieces are all together you are sure to succeed!
by Frank Mamone
