Simple Steps to Building an Online Business

Simple Steps to Building an Online Business
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Cole_Hirschfeld]Cole Hirschfeld

Many guides you'll read on starting an online business have complex steps involving business plans and market research and this and that... things that seem over our heads. Today, I'll give you a few simple, but effective, ways for you to create a website and attract visitors that are looking for what you have.

Step 1: Satisfy needs *for those without a website or idea*

A big mistake that most people make during market research is looking for the product before the market. To be able to fill someone's needs, you must know what those needs are first. This is not as difficult as you might think. A perfect example: the internet is designed to fill your need of market research, and this is exactly what you're going to use for said purpose.

Search online forums to see what people are having problems with, what they need, and how to fix it.

Figure out what a lot people are searching for that doesn't have a lot of competition. One great resource you can use is Google Trends. Here you'll be able to see what part of the world is searching for the term you enter.

Don't forget to research your competitors and emulate what they're doing, if it's proven successful.
Step 2: Write a compelling sales copy
A sales copy is what determines whether or not your visitor clicks "Buy" or "Back". There are countless examples of sales copies on the internet, but the most successful sales copies follow a specific formula which guides the visitor to the buy button from the moment they view it.

Arouse interest with a compelling headline.

Describe the problem your product can solve.

Show them why you can be trusted.

Add testimonials from people who've used the product.

Talk about the product and how it benefits the user.

Make an offer or guarantee.

Create urgency (usually through a special offer).

Ask for the sale
Make sure that in the text of your sales copy you are being concise because if people can't figure out what your product is straight from the start, they will often get frustrated and leave.

Step 3: Building your website
If you know nothing about building a website, there are plenty of resources available for you. If you plan to make a website that is fairly simple you can use any site building tool. Such tools can be found on download.com, or just searching Google until you find one for free. If your site requires more than just html (for example databases) than consider going to the site www.rentacoder.com. This site has over 180 thousand coders from almost every country in the world and you'll be able to find the right coder to fill your website's needs. (here again is an example of filling a need)
Things to remember when creating your site:

Make your site easy to navigate, and be consistent with the navigation throughout your site.

Use simple fonts that are easy to read.

Add an opt in option so you can collect e-mail addresses

Choose a domain name that is easy to remember
Step 4: Search Engine Marketing
One problem most new websites suffer from is getting traffic. Obviously pay per click advertising is not something you haven't seen, or probably used before. But using search engine marketing techniques gives you a lot more than just visitors to your site.

Allows you to test ad wording, prices, keywords, and headlines

Use these keywords and headlines in your sales copies, titles, and meta tags in your website.
Knowing this information is not enough. You must apply this to your website and marketing approach because you can get a step ahead by advancing your websites SEO (search engine optimization) and have more successful ad campaigns.

Step 5: Establish yourself as an expert
I cannot stress how important this step is. People feed off information from experts and they'll do the same to you if they're convinced that you know what the hell you're talking about. There are a few ways of accomplishing this:

Be an active member in discussion groups and forums that talk about your subject and put a link to your site in your signature.

Write valuable content and post it on social networks, article directories, and other places where people will be able to find it.

Make it easy for to use your content on their site (as long as there is a link back to your site), or to send your content to a friend.
By letting people use your content you are also working on one of the most important factors for your website's rank: link building. Having links to your site from other sites with similar content is crucial if you ever hope to raise your website's rank in the search engines.

Step 6: E-mail marketing
Utilize the e-mail addresses you collect from your opt in offer on your site. Many website owners collect the e-mails and let them rot in the database. Treat the people who give you their e-mail address like Gods. Send them coupons, special offers, updates to your site, etc. The best part about your e-mail list is that it is 100% targeted marketing. The people who have willfully given you their e-mail address are people who are interested in what you're selling, so don't let them down. Keep up their interest and make them come back to your site to see what you have to offer.

Step 7: Back-end selling to increase your income
There is a 36% chance that a first time buyer will be a repeat buyer. This partially goes along with e-mail marketing because if they buy from you once (and are satisfied), you've gained their trust to spend money on your site again.

Coupons, and special offers are a great way to get them to come back.

List items on check out page, or thank you page that compliment what they bought.

Reward your customers for being loyal, and chances are they'll stay loyal.
Step 8: Set up an affiliate program
Once you're up and running and you've gotten enough traffic that you're making sales on your own, you will be ready to set an affiliate program.

An affiliate program is an easy, low maintenance way to make money, get traffic, and grow your business. All you do is give your affiliate sign ups something to sell, share marketing materials, and write checks when they make sales. This will save you a truck load on advertising costs.

In today's age, the internet is like a vast city filled with opportunities, but unfortunately finding those opportunities is like finding a hay in a needle stack. I phrase it this way because it can often be discouraging trying to find an opportunity or to make your idea work. And even though you know that you have a million dollar idea, getting other people to see that can sometimes make you pull your hair out. So... following the simplest of steps first is where you'll find the greatest success.

Cole Hirschfeld is the owner of http://www.pennybush.com PennyBush.com is an internet business resource for young and established businesses. Be a part of a community that's willing to help you succeed in your online business. http://www.PennyBush.com

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