Steps
- Choose what you want to do. Stick with a hobby or interest. This means you'll already have good product knowledge and, more importantly, be passionate about what you are doing.
- Assess the competition. See what they do good and look even more closely at what they do bad. Work out your unique selling point (USP) or competitive edge. This can be something obvious like cheaper prices, better customer service, newer products, and so on.
- Brand yourself. Your company brand is extremely important and the first part of marketing. Do you need a sharp executive logo or a family friendly feel to sell your product? Get an appropriate name and get a rough idea of who you are appealing to.
- Build a website. The website should be themed around your brand image. For the layout itself, you might copy a successful competitor. If you need a web designer, then find someone local. You'll need to meet them face-to-face and make sure that you know exactly who you are dealing with.
- Market shamelessly. Tell everyone you know about your site. Add it to every directory and search engine that you can find. There are plenty of good free ones. Get onto related forums and chat rooms. Word of mouth is a very effective marketing tool; however, be sure to abide by forum rules.
- Utilize PR marketing. You can submit an article about your new business to newspapers. If you are savvy enough to be able to get a story printed. then you'll have thousands of resultant visitors.
- Close your sales. Now you need all these people to buy from your site. Don't be arrogant, but tell people about how great your product is. Use testimonials. Create a "need" for your customer to purchase your products, as opposed to a "want". Having sales and limited editions creates a sense of urgency; people don't like to miss out!
- Distribute newsletter sales. Offer a free email newsletter on your site, where people can enter their email and receive great hints and tips on your area of expertise. Within these e-mails, you can suggest some new products and offers, as well. Don't be aggressive in your technique though, as it will scare off potential and repeat customers.
- Work hard, and commit to it. Remember that success comes to those who work for it, which generally most people don't like to do. That means there's less competition.
Tips
- Don't be intimidated by big competition. Remember: They were at your stage once.
- If you're getting plenty of people to your site, then you might consider making money from advertising.
- Find a proven online business system that will allow you to succeed.
Warnings
- If getting a site built, only ever pay for work done.
- Always set realistic time lines and beware of companies that miss them.
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