An online business plan should not be hard to comprehend, or difficult to follow.
So many people go about it the wrong way, thinking they can just throw a single-page website onto the Internet and start making money immediately.
But it doesn’t work that way, and the people who have actually made money online know this all too well. Those same people don’t have any secret strategy or special tactics. Their online business plan is actually really simple - it relies mostly on some common sense business practices.
One man who learned all this is Marc, an Englishman who first started building websites way back in the mid-‘90s, when average people were first starting to hear about the Internet.
Marc became proficient in Internet Explorer and Microsoft Windows. He could write HTML and PERL code and all that other high-tech “computer geek” stuff.
But what he couldn’t seem to do was draw in any heavy online traffic, much less take advantage of the traffic to make money. He really had no online business plan worth talking about.
In 1999, he happened to discover SiteSell.com, where Dr. Ken Evoy offers his “Site Build It!” product. SBI takes you through the basic steps of creating a lucrative website: first you come up with solid, useful content; then you bring in visitors; then - and only then - can you start making money from them.
SBI can help anyone create an attractive site, even if they have no previous Internet experience. Of course, Marc didn’t need to have his hand held during that part of the process, because he already knew how to make a good site. But for so many others who do not have Marc’s knowledge, SBI works just as well for them.
Marc did need help in the next step, though: bringing in visitors. SBI took him through all the easy steps of submitting his site to search engines and optimizing his site’s content so that it would rank high on Internet searches.
His site, UpdateXP.com, is now a leading site for Windows information, tips, and resources.
The final step in Marc’s online business plan - making money - comes in the form of advertising and affiliate sales. He already had thousands of people visiting the site; now he’s added links to useful products that his readers are interested in, and Marc gets a small commission every time something is sold.
That’s right, even when Marc is sleeping, he is making money from his websites. Ka-ching!
So you see it’s not complicated or tricky. In fact, making money on the Internet is not unlike traditional business. It entails offering something of value; knowing your target market; ensuring a quality customer experience and slowly but surely diversifying your business offerings.
Good common sense business practices are key. However, you can skip the high overhead costs, storing inventory and high risk that comes from leasing office space. Cool huh?!
Unfortunately, it’s being over-eager to make money that makes people put the cart before the horse. If you do it right, though, you can create a profitable, fun site that can provide a steady source of income.
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