When starting an online business, you must have some type of direction you want to take, something you can work with. In order to meet this crucial criterion you must do one thing very carefully: choose the product or service you want to sell/promote. It should be something you are passionate about and/or have a strong interest in order to stay involved for the long haul.
Once you've established your direction and/or product(s) the next essential step is to be willing to do the work that lies ahead of you. Starting, creating, marketing and maintaining a business requires a special kind of dedication and determination. Remember, success does not happen overnight and you must be committed in order for your online business to begin growing and gaining customers.
When choosing a product, if you don't already have an idea, brainstorm. Make a list of your interests and talents. Something is bound to surface. When it does, you may keep it as is or modify it to create your own tailored "niche." A niche is a void in the market that you stumble across and/or identify and can fill with your product or service. If you are lucky enough to find a niche then you may find success sooner provided that you successfully create and market your site to target potential consumers. We will explore these issues in a bit.
Once you have decided on a product or service you are going to sell/promote then you must create a website. I have an easy solution to anyone who may be computer illiterate or not knowledgeable in programming skills like HTML or CSS. At this juncture you have two choices: you may create your website and then get a web host (you will need a web host if you want your website live on the Internet) or you may first get a web host and then create your website. My recommendation, if you are unskilled or unfamiliar with basic programming is to go with the latter.
My solution to the website issue is WordPress. WordPress is an excellent open-source web publishing system. Almost all reliable web hosts offer free instant installs for WordPress. With WordPress you not only get a website but also a blog that you can put on its own page. Blogs are imperative marketing tools as you shall see later.
Created primarily as blogging software, WordPress makes a great website for an online business and uses posts which are more versatile than pages and more easily managed. It is ideal for managing content that is frequently updated. You also have the option of using pages, static pages, categories, menus, etc. In addition, WordPress has "plugins". Plugins are tools developed by programmers that will do anything you need done. There are literally tens of thousands of them and all you have to do is enter a keyword into the WordPress plugins page and all the potential options will pop up. Best of all, they are all free. You can always upgrade or purchase a paid plugin, but my experience is that free versions are just as good if not better than the ones that cost you.
So, to get started with WordPress, you must first choose a web host that offers a free install of that platform in their hosting plan. When choosing a web host always check to see they have a high reliability and customer support rating. Reliability is paramount to keeping your website up and running. Customer support is particularly important to individuals new to building their own website. If you have problems, you want someone readily available to help resolve the issues. Without reliability or great customer support they are not worth your money, so keep looking. You will soon find one that meets your needs.
After you have chosen your web host, purchase your hosting plan. I recommend a 12 month commitment. It may be a tad more expensive on the front end, but you will often save money by getting a cheaper monthly rate. You're not locked in for a long term should you decide you want to change hosts. Most decent hosts will give you a prorated refund after their full money back guarantee which is usually 30 days.
Now, you have a host and have installed WordPress. The next step is to download a free WordPress theme and header. Simply type what you want into Google search. It will pop up and you will have tons of themes to choose from; headers as well. Personally, I am fond of the Platform theme by Pagelines. It comes in a free version which I have found does everything I could ever want.
Once you have downloaded your theme, find a header; a design you envision for your business layout. A great place to use for creating the header you want is Pixir. They are a free photo-imagery service and you may download images from your computer, resize and crop them, add layers to, then add text in various fonts and sizes.
After you have a header with your business name and a theme, you will see your website start coming together. It will now no longer be a dream, but a reality. If eCommerce is your aim you will have to choose a shopping cart that meets your needs. You will have to research proprietary vs open source carts as there are pros and cons to both. Open source carts, such as osCommerce and Zen Cart, are free but somewhat limited. Proprietary carts, such as CubeCart, cost but offer more services that you may or may not need.
If Affiliate Marketing is your interest, check out Commission Junction for affiliates of the product or service you want to promote. Affiliate Marketers promote products/services for other sites and receive commissions for any referrals from their site that result in a sale.
When creating your site, carefully choose your keywords (a word that someone will enter to search for your site) and place them throughout your content. If you are truly passionate about what you are doing keywords will naturally occur within the content of your website.
For an online business to be successful you must add fresh and unique material to attract visitors and keep them coming back. Two great WordPress plugins are "Custom Sidebars" and "WordPress All In One SEO." They allow you to create sidebars to any post, if you choose not to use the primary sidebars, and help you better prepare your site for search engine optimization (SEO) respectively.
Market your site!!!
You've chosen a product/service, found a web host and created a website. Now it's time to attract some attention to your site. The basic thing to remember regarding marketing is "links." The more inbound links (links you have coming "into" or "back from" your site) the more you reach potential customers and increase traffic to your website. Here are some ways to create "links".
Submit articles related to your keywords to article directories like EzineArticles (include a creative resource box)Post comments on blogs related to your chosen field or industryEngage in social media (Facebook, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon and Pinterest to name a few)Maintain fresh and unique material semi-weekly on your own blog and moderate incoming commentsListen to what your target consumers need and fill the void, find out where they are, go and listen, ask questionsBe willing to offer your visitors something of value for nothing in return, that will help develop trust over timeI'll be honest with you, the work never ends. You must not give up. Your perseverance will eventually pay off. You will learn what marketing tools work best for you and what social media sites you receive the most traffic from, so you can further concentrate your efforts. Always be on the lookout for SEO and Internet marking articles so you can expand your knowledge in the field.
Starting an online business and creating a website is not as hard as you imagine. Trust me, there's a lot to learn, but if you're willing, patient and dedicated you will soon be amazed at how much you have learned in a relatively short period of time. More than that, you'll be amazed by the results of your efforts: a successful, working website to market your service(s) or product(s).
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