It is so easy to go off in all directions at once and not have a clear idea about where you are going.
Let's face it you wouldn't order a cab without having a destination in mind!
So what are the six key elements you need for a business on the web?
1.First you need a market.
2.Then you need a product for that market
3.then you need a website to sell that product
4.You need visitors to the website selling your product
5.You need a way to get visitors and customers coming back for more!
6.And of course you need a way of attracting visitors to your website.
If you compare an internet business to a regular bricks and mortar business just substitute "Shop"for website!
Some internet marketers have the misconception that the internet is a new way of doing business and the old way is dead in the water!
No, the principles and rules are the same just the tools are different.
You still need a product that somebody wants even if your product is digital or a toilet seat!
But even before having a product there is the task of finding a market, preferably a hungry market or one that can be made hungry.
Some can sell sand to the Arabs by sheer force of personality, but for the rest of us,we want to sell something that somebody else needs or wants.
It would be a lot easier to sell fresh drinking water to the arabs!
How do you find a market, well go into your local large newsagent and survey the wealth of topics covered by the magazines being sold.
You can bet if there is a magazine on something there has to be a demand.
Same thing if you check on Amazon too.
Lot's of books covering lots of different interests or niches!
.Now the next step is sourcing a product for that market you can sell.
There are three popular ways of doing this.
The first is becoming an affiliate of a product in that niche you have chosen.
The second is buying a licence to a product that would be in demand from your market.
The third is creating your own product to sell to your niche.
Ok you have a product for your hungry market, next you need a presence on that internet which is usually a website but can be blog such as Wordpress or even a Facebook page.
In bygone days this was a "shop"!
Ok you have a website now how the hell do you get the right visitors to your website or shop?
Well that's quite a creative area, the same way you see businesses coming up with great advertising schemes such as monkeys selling breakfast cereal or tea.
The concept is no different on the internet!
The idea is to stand out from the crowd, not be boring or predictable.
Remember how Skoda were rehabilitated using a clever marketing campaign?
They used the negative image of Skoda as being wheelbarrows on wheels and changed peoples views probably for good.
Obviously the product has to be good too or the marketing campaign will grind to a halt.
Another important ingredient is capturing the address details. of your customers or visitors so you can keep in touch with them and either sell them something later or sell them someone else.
Again, using the bricks and mortar business analogy.
If a customer walks into your shop and doesn't buy anything then try and get his details by offering an inducement then allows you to market to that person in the future rather than the guy walking out of your front door and never seeing them again!
Most successful businesses do this.They build relationships with people.
Those businesses who do not see business in this way are not long for this world.
So many businesses blame the recession for their woes when there customer service and marketing stinks!
Bye For Now
Mike
PS:Do you need thousands of subscribers or customers on your list to be successful?
