Tag Archives: online business

How To Automate Your Online Business

Automating Your Online Business

Automation makes running any online business as simple as 123.

More importantly, only by automating your whole online business will you achieve the freedom and lifestyle that makes Internet Marketing so attractive to millions of people worldwide. Here are a few pointers on how to automate your online business…

Automation makes running any online business a total breeze. More importantly, only by automating your whole online business will you achieve the freedom and lifestyle that makes Internet Marketing so attractive to millions of people worldwide.

The Internet is tailor made for automation. It can retrieve, process and transmit data at a lightning speed. It can keep track of billions of pieces of Continue reading

What you must know before starting an online business

What you must know before starting an online business

Here are some cold hard truth about having an online business and knowing this may decide your path. Having an online business is not for everyone.

You can’t get rich in a day.

A lot of so called secret system promises you that you can make a fortune straight away but this is just a way to get you to buy their system. The truth is that it will take a while and you have to be patient.

Beginning is the hardest part

Getting your first commission may take a while. You get so much different information from so many different people that you get into information overload. Stay focused on one thing and get it done. Work hard at it and don’t get distracted.

There is nothing for free

Every business is the same – you have to spend some money. The amount of money you need to start an online business is relatively low when compared to bricks and mortar businesses. However, you will have to spend money on advertising, autoresponders, traffic, some software, courses, outsourcing etc. Don’t let this phase you. Think of it as investing in your business. Expect that you will have to pay and be OK about it.

You have to take action

You have to take action and consistent action at that!

Push button system etc. just don’t exist. Believe me they just don’t exist. I’ve tried them in the past and wasted a whole lot of time and money trying to get some of them to work.

You have to take action on a daily basis to keep the business moving and this can be hard, especially when starting out and you still have your 9-5 job.

Forget the hype

There is a lot of hype in this business and it easy to get sucked into the shiny object syndrome. I believe that the is the reason why many people keep spinning their wheels and don’t succeed online.

When you buy a product such as an eBook or a course make sure that you actually go through it and implement what is being taught before buying the next product.

I have a ton of eBooks and courses on my computer that’s collecting electronic dust which I bought with the intent to use but never got round to doing so. You need to realize that there are product launches practically on a daily basis.

By all means read the sales letters – look at the way they are set out and deconstruct them into the various copywriting elements – just don’t buy everything that comes your way.

How To Escape The 9 – 5 and Start An Online Business

How To Escape The 9 – 5 and Start An Online Business

Hey, thanks for watching this great video on “How To Escape The 9 – 5 and Start An Online Business” by Alex Ikonn. I’ve made a few notes relating to the above video which you’ll find below.

How you can get started

    Conception

    Identify why you want to build an online business. What inspires you to want to start building an online business. For instance “The Four Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferret is the book that inspired Alex Ikonn in the video above to take action.

    Considerations

    Realise that you may land up working a lot harder than you do now when working on your online business. You should consider the following with regards to creating an online business:

    • Identify how much time and /or money you are willing to spend
    • Think about the life you want to live
    • Identify your vision for yourself and your business
      • Having an online business may not be for you and that’s OK
      • It is important to have purpose
    • You should try to create a balanced lifestyle
    • You need decide what your ideal work life balance consists of
    • You need to work on work that you are truly passionate about
    • Your work may become your lifestyle
    • Realise that in the beginning you may have to work a lot
    • Businesses don’t stop – you will have to maintain and grow your business
    • If you are in a business, it needs to constantly grow and you will always have to work using:
      • systems (automate your business as much as possible);
      • teams (direct hire or outsourcing); and
      • Yourself.
    • You have to provide value to your clients

    How do you start?

    • Follow people who have already done it
    • You will have to figure it out as you go along
    • Jump into it. Don’t wait! You;ve got to take action. Its no use learning about stuff – you’ve got to apply what you learn.
    • Absorb information constantly to get ideas
    • You have to love it
    • It will get harder but it wont seem like work
    • People may not want it but its OK
    • So many people have too much expectation about an online business due to the way it is being pushed by Internet marketers to sell their stuff
    • Your business is your classroom
    • Creating and testing out your theories
    • Being with people who want to do this
    • It all depends what level you want to achieve
    • Your business is a reflection of you
    • Hiring people is like parenting
    • Things will not always go your way
    • Be efficient with your time
    • Design your life to what you want
    • For most people a 9-5 job is not really that bad
    • You wont succeed unless you do the work
    • It is a journey not a destination
    • There is nothing wrong if you are on the other side helping grow a business
    • If you a 9-5 mentality you will not go far online
    • You’ve got to grow and keep growing
    • You’ve got to want more from yourself
    • You’ve got to be more and want more
    • You’ve got to raise yourself
    • You’ve got to create – help others to excel and rise to a different level
    • Your commitment and responsibility starts with you
      • You’ve got to make a commitment to succeed
      • You and only you are responsible for your success (or failure)

How to start an online business – Six steps to success online

How to start an online business – Six steps to success online

Hey, thanks for watching this great video on “How to start an online business”. I’ve made a few notes relating to the above video which you’ll find below.

Pre-framing

We are first going to take a look at the necessary fundamentals to creating a successful online business.

Who, What, Where and How

Who

Who is your customer? The importance of defining a customer avatar is that it helps answer questions concerning your products.

  • Problems/ specific customer avatar
  • Who are you?

You’ve got to figure out what type of micro niche you want to dominate.

What

What are you talking about

  • Consider at least 20 to 30 problems your ideal customer may have
  • Go to forums to find out

Where

Where are you taking them?

  • Your job is to provide solutions to their problems, educate them and teach them through your service (this could be articles, podcasts, videos, eBook etc.)

Future frame

    Show them where you are taking them (Tip of the iceberg)

How

Through the medium of communication you’ve got to show:

  • Where you can take them (from the 100 lb weakling to the Hulk)
  • How do they get there
  • Fundamentals (The rest of the iceberg under the water)

Online marketing

4-Pillars of online business – T, H/M, C, S

But first a quick detour before we carry on

Your Home Site – How you appear online

Above the fold i.e. the first 30% (mobile) is really important

You should have your USP (Your Unique Selling Point) (Either as Imagery/Text) as a headline and a sub-headline

Be clear on who you are and what you provide

And don’t forget to include a subscriber button

OK, Let’s get back to the 4-pillars of online marketing

T – Traffic

Where will you get your traffic i.e. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest etc.

If your customer avatar is female then you may pick Pinterest as it is well known that the majority of people on Pinterest are women.

If your customer avatar is male then you may pick Twitter and YouTube

However, you shouldn’t discount the other traffic sources

Use the 80/20 rule to get targeted traffic – know where your tribe is online and focus the majority of your marketing effort there.

H/M – Home site/Mother-ship

You’ve got to hustle and maintain momentum especially when starting out

Post at least three times a week to get the ball rolling – more if you can – once a day if possible.

Create videos and then convert them into multiple content i.e. podcasts, transcribe them, create slide shows etc.

C – Conversion

Use good quality lead magnets, and i really do mean good quality, in the form of checklists/free report/courses etc.

You should aim for 10% site wide conversion. You can do this by strategically placing subscriber buttons and hyperlinks.

S – Sales

Create sales funnels

4 stage funnel

Opt-in (lead magnet) >> Case Study >> Case Study >> Call for action (phone call or otherwise)


6-Skills You Will Need to Start an Online Business


Here they are, in no particular order:

Mindset

You’ve got to leave the 9-5 employee mindset behind. You are now an entrepreneur and as such you must cultivate a ruthless determination. This will not only help you succeed in your business, but it will also dramatically improve your life. Never give up. If something is blocking your way find a way around it and keep going.

Pragmatism

Learn to be pragmatic. There is no room for an ego in your business. \learn from others who have trodden down the path before you and copy what works. Don’t get caught up in hype be realistic about your business.

Failure

If there is on thing you will do is fail. You will fall flat on your face. However, don’t let failure be a negative experience. Learn from your failure. All you’ve done when you fail is found out what does not work. Failure is a learning experience. to succeed all you have to do is be more right than wrong.

Focus

You have to learn to focus on the right things to get the right results. You’re not here to play. You have to work on YOUR business and not in your business. Remember you you started this business to be your own boss and not an employee.

Delegation/Outsourcing

You have to learn to delegate or outsource what you’re not good at or what you cannot do yourself. Pay someone to take care of the things you don’t want to do or cannot do. Delegating or outsourcing doesn’t have to be expensive. There are many sites that have people with the necessary knowledge to do what you don’t want to yourself. Being an entrepreneur is all about finding ways to make things easier for yourself, so you can focus on your strengths.

Action

You have to take action. There is no better way to learn than through action. There comes a time when reading the next book or following a course becomes irrelevant. At some point you have to apply what you’ve learned to get results.

Content Creation

You’ve got to become good at creating content. This can mean writing, recording podcasts, or even creating videos on a week to week basis.

And lastly:

This is a business treat it like a business.