So, you want ideas to build an online business.
First let us see options for small operators like you and I.
Content and information based business – are low hanging fruits that are easy to start.
May be you are already running one of these.
When I was starting out – I was confused and faced challenges to decide which way to go in the maze of online marketing and related terms that were hard to differentiate.
I took me almost a year to figure out and get started – and wish that it doesn’t take you that long.
This post is written to speed up your online business journey.
Before you start – please understand that it takes time to succeed and build a foundation, so good to be patient. Persistence also pays – do not stop experimenting because one of your efforts failed.
And never believe someone who says that you can make money online for free.
It is not free – you need to invest some money – and a fair amount of time – to get started on the path to success. 500-800 hours spread over 6-12 months is a fair estimate.
Building An Online Business
1. Find a topic (or a niche) to build your business around.
2. Get a domain. Here is a brief guide on how to buy a domain.
If you want to build a lazy business – one that gets you a lot of search traffic – go for a keyword based domain.
In this case – your domain should contain – your niche keywords. For example, if your niche is “baby feed” then your keyword should contain the keywords “baby feed”. So your domain will be “babyfeed.com or babyfeedguide.com”
3. Once you get a domain – create a blog or a website where you can post new content and edit existing content when you want.
Check how to build your first website – if you want to do it yourself. You can also pay someone else to set it up for you.
4. Do not go for a topic which is highly competitive.
It is important – vital – that you do not choose a highly competitive niche.
What does this mean?
Just trying searching for – baby feed – and see how many results come up in Google. 1,340,000,000 results. This means if you choose to go ahead with this topic – and build a website around – baby feed – you will be up against these many webpages.
Try to find blue oceans – where there is less competition. Anywhere between 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 is good enough to start with. Some of you may think then go for topics with even lower competition. But it does not make sense because a reasonable competition is an indicator of an active market segment and opportunity for new players.
For keyword research go ahead with simple (and free) – Google Keyword Tool. Look for search volume of your chosen keyword. Based on this volume assess – whether people are searching for your niche or not.
There should be enough search volume for your niche (topic).
When you finish your research and come up with your niche then go to step 2 above (book a domain). If exact match domain [BabyFeed.COM] is not available, check for the variation of your keyword [BabyFeedGUIDE.COM OR BabyFeedDIGEST.COM].
Next step is host your domain – pick from any of these – Dreamhost, Mediatemple, Bluehost or Hostgator.
5. After you get your website ready – go on building the content for your website.
6. Content creation. Resource type – time less articles works best. Aim for 500 posts (400 words each) in your first year online.
7. Promotion. Do it by participating in your community and guest posting (It still works).
8. Linkbuilding. Build links by commenting on other posts and creating link worthy content.
9. Creating revenue streams. Will write about this in a future post.
How to do it fast or with less effort.
If you have money to spare then you can outsource activities like design, article writing, link building and promotion. This way you can build a successful online business almost on auto-pilot.
If you looking for help to build or promote your business, feel free to contact me.