Chadrack
After our unpleasant experience last week we want to once again turn our attention to providing you with practical and useable tips to help you run your your online business with much success. We are indeed happy that those who tried to bring down this blog have failed for I sincerely believe that someone must have tried some backhand tactics on this blog. Any way let's put that behind us and move forward!
Have you noticed that many more people these days desire to be their own bosses? And do you know that many of these have found comfort in the internet?
That indeed is the fact.
Unfortunately, many of these are discovering that as much as the idea of starting a profitable business online looks attractive, the reality is far from what they dreamed of. The truth is there is so much you need to do to keep your online business afloat. Though this is contrary of course to the picture we were made to believe when we started!
In this article I want to reveal some insider tips that will help the aspiring internet business entrepreneur to, not only get their business off the ground, but also build an enduring business empire online.
Every business entrepreneur who has ventured into building a business in the real world will readily confirm that the two biggest factors that put many off starting their own businesses are money and the risk involved. Starting even a small business takes a fair amount of money. You need a space to run the business, you need to purchase stock and equipment and of course pay for other expenses like advertising. And all of these require money. Those who are lucky enough to get the capital to start face yet the big challenge of risk. This one is so big that it has stopped many from even starting. With business statistics showing that nearly 90% of all small businesses fail in the first year many are never ready to take the risk. Of course the risk does not stop there as you’ll need to put in years of labor both of time and invested money to build up the business. And this, most times, could be anywhere from 5-7 years before any significant profit is seen. Unfortunately not many of us will want to wait that long.
This is why the idea of starting and building a business online is such an attractive offer to many of us.
It must be noted however that, though building a business online involve little or no cost and less risk to you, you must understand that what you put in will determine the reward you receive. Besides, there are challenges involved. Unlike what you may have heard before you’ll have to work very hard to build up your online business. You must get it into your mind that there are no “sure-fire” ways to success online but there are some good tips that you can follow to make your success possible. The truth is it is down to you and how much you want to put in.
This being said, I want to offer the following online business success tips which have been proven to be effective no matter the business model you choose to pursue online.
Online Business Success Tips
1. Choose Something Familiar
The internet is replete with different business models and programs that promise you the moon. However, to get started you may want to choose something that you are familiar with. Choose the product or service you want to market online with care. Of course, this product or service may not be the hottest thing on the market right now, but the good point is that you will come off more confident and sincere with something you know and believe in. you must understand that choosing something familiar has a lot of advantages. For example, working with something familiar will give you some experience which will help you when creating your business site. You will be more able to bring in your personality and creativity when you’re treading on a familiar turf. Trying to create a business site around something you know little about will soon turn out to be a boring and tedious experience.
2. Identify the Demand
Of course, this is the golden rule of succeeding in every business. Not minding the point above about choosing what you're familiar with, you must check out the demand of any product or service you want to market or sell online. If you desire to build an enduring and a long term business, you must stay away from trendy items. These may sell like mad one minute but you’ll be giving them away the next. You should build your business around something that you know people want and need. That way your long term sales objectives will be met.
3. Don’t Limit Yourself to Just One Product
This may sound a little out of place but the truth is that if you want to build a business online that will still be there years to come then you need to note this very well. It is a confirmed fact in business that those who purchased from you in the past are more open to buy from you again. Now if you're offering just one product, how do you expect these ones to come back for that same product? Because of this and other reasons you should offer a variety of products. These may be your own products or affiliate products which you promote to earn a commission. What you should note however is that these products should be related and complement each other. This way, some could be offered as front ends and others as back ends.
4. Set Your Business Apart
One very important business success strategy that the savvy entrepreneur takes seriously is your unique selling position. This simply means what makes what you offer better or stand out from others. It’s about everything your business offer that sets you apart from the competition. This could be your product/service or your peculiar way of delivery it to the customer. Besides, in trying to present you unique selling position, you should always use tact when talking about your competition. Putting them down or being rude will only backfire on you. Talk up the advantages that you offer and leave it at that.
5. Ensure Fast and Efficient Service to Your Clients
The world of online business is a fast paced one indeed. The distance between you and your competition is a click away! Word of mouse travels fast and what you do to one customer could spread over the web in a matter of seconds – thanks to the social networking sites! Bearing this in mind you should aim for efficient and fast service when building a business online. However, there will come a time when there is a glitch. In times like this you need to keep your customers informed and aware of what is happening. Things happen that are beyond your control. Most customers are very forgiving if they are made aware of this. Keeping your customers in the dark could result in losing them for good. This is where adding a blog to your business website or offering a newsletter is necessary as you will be able to easily pass across urgent information of this type to your customers.
6. Keep Your Customers Happy
One cliché that has become very familiar in the business world is, the customer is king! And as the king you must be ready to serve him well! Make your customers happy and they will be more likely to come back. You can do this by offering them incentives such as savings on their next purchase. This may cost you more but only in the short term. Besides, keeping your customers happy will result in them referring you to others.
Conclusion: After years of being involved in marketing online, I have come to realize that building a successful business online is not about having a perfect product or service for there is really nothing like that. With much of the risk and cost of starting taken out of the way, what you simply need is to start with something you know and have an interest in. Build a site that is attractive to others and work on satisfying your customer. It is really up you for what you put in will determine what you get out of it.
Over to You: What are some of the challenges you're facing presently in building your online business? Feel free also to add your own tips that could be of help to those who are just starting out.
Great Tips. They are very useful for my business blog. Thank you very much.
The pleasure is mine!
What a great share you have here mate. I got more good lessons for my online business techniques. Thans a lot!
@Andrew, you’re welcome. It’s a pleasure to know that this is helpful.
Thanks for the tip, I also have one site about baby child care and I was spending a bit much on my site, thanks for your tips.
Hey Chadrack!
Glad to see you’re back, man. =) I was kinda worried there for a bit.
Delena
Thanks Delena, my greatest joy is that I didn’t lose anything. I must appreciate the support everyone has shown. I’m grateful.
Nice tips. Especially the third one related to diversification of business. Really informative. Thanks
@MOhammed, I’m glad you found this article useful. thanks for the comment.
Hi Chadrack, thanks for the great items and tips mentioned, I am going to start implementing them ASAP!
@Sandy, I love it when you said, “I am going to start implementing them ASAP!” It’s unfortunate that many get these useful tips and do nothing about them. For me that means you really did not place any value in them. But when you take the decision to implement them so that you can try them out and enjoy the benefits then you’ve really shown that you value them.
Will be glad to know how useful they are to you. Thanks for joining the conversation.
Hey Chadrack,
Nice post.I completely agree with you that we should always invest in different products i.e. diversification of portfolio.This will certainly provide more variety to our business and will also cover a certain amount of risk factor.
@Shivam, that truly is the idea. It’s just being prudent and not putting all of your eggs in one basket!
It is so nice to read your post again Chadrack. It is easy for others to say that they will succeed but when they started their business online, they are having hard time to work on it. Good thing that there are some people who are deeply concerned with their fellow bloggers and shared their insights how to be successful. 🙂
Hey, are you in any way refering to us? If it is then I consider myself highly honored! 🙂 Thanks for the compliment!
I agree with the closing statement – you literally just need to have a strong interest in your subject matter. Without this, your business probably won’t succeed.
@Matt, Interest is definitely necessary to business success. Your interest will fire up your enthusiasm which in turn rob off on your prospects. And whe you’re able to get them to be enthusiastic about your product/service you’re on the road to success.
@Chadrack, agreed, though sometimes it can be difficult to convey a sense of excitement, especially if you’re talking about something fundamentally boring. In my first job I had to write about ink cartridges…
@Matt, and you were not interested in cartridges, right? That shows that job was not for you! 🙂 You know sometimes we get ourselves doing what we are not interested in. That happens most especially in a job as most times the only motivation is the money from that job.
But truth is even when talking about cartridges were not interesting to you, there are people who will see everything interesting about that subject. It is in situations like this that I advice, love what you’re doing. Note, I did not say, do what you love!
Let me explain a little. In that job what you should have done is take a deeper look at the cartridges and focus on what benefits they have for the prospect. See how helpful they are, how they can save them money, how they can produce better results for their own jobs, etc. By the time you see all of these and you discover that you’re actually helping someone to get better results and save money, your focus will not be on the cartridges but the person you’re helping. I bet you, you’d be excited that doing something worthwhile and that job will be exciting and the interest will be there. Know what you’re doing? You’re being creative in that job. So the interest can always be created no matter the subject you’re talking about! 🙂
“Ensure Fast and Efficient Service to Your Clients” – one of the most key things in business! Provide great customer service, let your customers feel great!
Over to me… well Chadrack, something I find at the moment is that it seems to be very hard to ‘attract people our way’ if you know what I mean. How do people find out about your business, site etc. marketing can be costly! :-/
A good article Chadrack 🙂
@Christopher, marketing is definitely the backbone of every business. If it’s done right you can really be sure of making it. But like you said, attracting people your way is getting more competitive online. Yes, time was when setting up a website means getting a whole load of prospects finding you with ease. But if you really know much about how this internet marketing thing works you can make a head way with your marketing.
Now, I must say it’s not just about how people find out about your business. Before you spend money on your marketing efforts there are a few things you need to work out first. Like, what is your business about and then who needs the product or service your business is offering. Once you work these ones out you’ll know with much ease where to look for your prospects. All of these will help you to know what seo strategies to employ, which of the social networking sites to focus on and when you are there what to really do. Well I think I cann’t do much about this on this comment. Maybe that will an idea for a post sometime later! 🙂
What is the most effective online marketing strategy? With so many different online marketing techniques, which one is tried and tested and can drive the most traffic that actually works? Thanks
Hi Chadrack,
A lot of your visitors may have already told you that you did a great post. Well, I’m joining their club. Sometimes, we think that we don’t need these kinds of tips because we already know what to do. But when you get to read these tips, you realize that you never did one of these important steps to successfully establish your business.
@Ira, thanks for joining your voice to the compliments! As we can never be tired of hearing of these things, I’m not really tired of hearing the compliments!
It’s true, the extra efforts you do for your customers take you a long way. Running your own business is great, especially when it’s succesful, but the ones that think it’s easy money are just plain wrong. It takes a lot of work and dedication if you want to do it right!
@Kim@themafeestjes, that’s why your mindset must be re-aligned to pursue shadows but focus on the real issues that will help you succeed. Thanks for the comment.
Nice tips. Especially the third one related to diversification of business. Really informative. Thanks.
@Radz, that old saying, never keep your eggs in one basket, is true anyway 🙂 We just need to know how to apply these things for our good!
This is so true, especially the part about not being a one product business. I think many entreprenuers get stuck in their past glories and wonder why their “hit” product is no longer bringing in the salary, and they continue to try to squeeze whatever’s left in that single idea. Need to learn to let go and move on to greater income ideas.
@Salary Singapore@Salary in Singapore, “Learn to let go and move on to greater income ideas” great advice indeed. Thanks for the comment.
Hi Chadrack, I like your tips, in special “Choose Something Familiar” because you will have experience to begin your online business :). Thanks for sharing.
@Melanie@Dating Help, Thanks Melanie, glad to know you love the post.
Some great things have discussed here which will be rally helpful for the people who are involved in the online business really a worth reading article thanks for sharing.
@Payday uk loans, glad that you find this useful. Thanks for the comment.
I love this tip “Keep Your Customers Happy” because this rule applies in all businesses !
Yes you can bring in water containers and they have water fountains so you can refill them. Some drink places if you ask for ice will let you grab some ice. I usually bring my own water bottle and do that.
Did you know that if built correctly a business is basically unlimited on the amount of credit it have? I am wondering if there is enough interest on building your business credit out there to make marketing my webinar worth while. Thanks
I would like to start selling wholesale body jewelry online as a side gig.I have a distributor that I buy from but would like some advise on how to actually set up an online store as well as any steps I would need to take as far as taxes and business licenses go. Also how would I set up payments for credit card processing? Thanks in advance.