Online businesses became extremely popular since the boom of the internet and the advancement in technology.
We live in the modern world and if you did not catch up with the technology yet – it is the right thing to do! Why?
The internet provides us with the ease of access to anyone around the world and with over 2 billion of daily active internet users – you can forget about starting a local business.
Instead, starting an online business will automatically give you more chance to succeed – and as they say, there’s always room for one more person (no matter the industry).
Down below, you’ll learn more about the advantages of an online business, but also, I’ll show you how to start creating your first online business today (the way I did it) – so keep on reading for actionable steps!
What is the Difference Between an Online and the Offline Business?
The most important difference is the cost and the marketing techniques you can use to bring in the customers/leads.
With the offline business, you have to invest a lot of money up-front to get the thing going, you probably have to quit your day job to keep running your new offline business, and you have to hire people as you might not be able to do everything by yourself.
Also, once your offline business takes off – you will have to do your best to attract local customers/clients.
However, the thing with the online business is that it has a low-entry barrier, it does not require a lot of up-front investment money, and most of the things can be done by just one person.
Also, when it comes down to marketing your new online business – you have multiple channels to reach a specific audience no matter their location.
What Does it Take to Create a Successful Online Business?
Most people think that if starting an online business is that simple – everyone would be doing it, right?
Well, they forget that just because it is online – it is still going to require as much work (if not more) than the offline business.
Anyone can start an online business – but not everyone is going to be relentless, keep improving it, and stay dedicated, consistent, and persistent.
Nothing happens overnight, and so does not the internet business either.
Therefore, in most situations, potential new offline business owners are scared away by the investment required to even start the business.
But since you do not need a lot of money to start an online business and you can build it part-time (do not even have to quit your day job) – things got a lot easier.
However, that still does not mean that anyone can succeed with an online business. Even though it sounds easy, it is definitely a hard and long work before you see any success.
How Can You Start Creating a Successful Online Business?
I have promised you the actionable steps in this post (and that is why most of you are here) so here is the part you have been waiting for!
Remember, anyone can start creating an online business, but not many will continue to put all the effort, time, and energy required to succeed.
My favorite online business model is blogging. You get to create your own online asset (a website), provide your knowledge/opinion through valuable content, gain organic (free) exposure if you optimize your site well, and then you have dozens of ways to monetize your website.
Here are the steps outlining the process:
- Choose your niche (something you are passionate about or have a lot of knowledge)
- Build a website and optimize it for search engines
- Find keywords and write valuable content
- Get ranked in search engines
- Acquire free organic traffic
- Monetize your website
A niche can be any topic of interest and I highly recommend you choose something you are really interested in. This can be something you are really passionate about or something you are deeply knowledgeable about since it is always easier to work on something you love, right?
Building a website and optimizing it for search engines is something that scares most people away. When in fact, you can build a website in just 5 minutes using a super-useful platform such as Siterubix. Optimization is also done with the help of useful plugins and you only have to learn a couple of things as you move on.
Finding keywords is remarkably simple using tools such as Jaaxy. This type of tool will let you know how many people are looking for a topic you are thinking to write about. However, you can also learn more about your potential competitors and whether it is possible to rank for certain keywords you have found. This will help you acquire rankings in search engines such as Google and acquire free organic traffic once your website ranks well.
When you are ranked in search engines, people will spontaneously come across your website and if they like what they see at first, they will visit. This will help you acquire a lot of organic traffic for free, but you can also always run paid ads to acquire paid traffic quickly.
And then when you have built out your website (a blog), you create great & useful content, you’ve ranked well, and you see traffic to your site – you will have multiple ways of monetizing your website.
You can monetize your website in various ways and some of the most common ones are either affiliate programs, self-made informational products, subscriptions, or ads.
Of course, there are many other ways to monetize your content. The great thing about that is that you will not rely on only one stream of revenue so your blog/website will have a steady income stream one way or another.
Conclusion
The great thing about the internet is that anyone can learn new skills and create their own online business. However, online businesses still take a lot of time, sometimes even a lot more than offline businesses.
On the bright side, they require less financial investment and they can be done even part-time. As long as you are dedicated, consistent, and you do not give up – you will be able to succeed.
I wrote many posts on the online business models and ideas so you can really get the idea of what is working and what is not.
However, do not get hooked on the ads from “gurus” that over promise everything you can achieve, but also do not think that success comes overnight.
If you put yourself in the right mindset – you will be able to get far!
What is your favorite online business model?
I would really like to hear your thoughts on creating a successful online business. You may leave your comments and questions in the section below and I will be happy to respond.
All the best,
Barbara
Founder/ Creator: Living On Lean Means 💰
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