What You Need To Know Before Starting An Internet Business
Who needs what?
Business is about filling needs and to be successful with business you need to be more than a marketer. You need to be a person who helps people achieve their goals.
Advertising can seem fake, dishonest and downright scandalous at times. However, the goal of successful advertising should be to encourage and motivate your target prospect to fulfill their dreams.
Perhaps this is why we see so many marketing messages that promise the world.
“Get Rich Quick.”
“Lose Weight in 3 Days With Our Magic Pill.”
“Hypnotize Your Ex And Get Her Back!”
Obviously your product must fulfill on it’s promise but creating an internet business isn’t just about your product.
You need to fulfill the needs of a person who knows they have a problem. Here is how you start…
Can You Even Make Money Selling That?
“I have a great idea!” he said. “I am going to sell book mark holders! When you are reading a book you won’t lose your book mark.”
“Who is going to buy that?!” His dumbfounded friend replied.
“Hmmm…Librarians?”
Just because you think a product is a great idea doesn’t not mean that you can make money selling it.
There needs to be an active community of people with a deep desire to buy what you are selling.
The most important thing is to make sure that there are already people looking to buy what you want to sell.
A good place to start is with the people who are already making money in the niche.
Firstly, is anyone even making money in the niche? If not that is usually a sign you need to move on and choose a better niche.
If there are other people making money in the niche then you should buy their product or at least study their sales system.
Do they lose money selling their first product and make it up with repeat buyers? How are they getting customers? Is there anything you can do better than your competition?
Another very important thing to know is how deep the market is.
Market depth is judged by how many products of increasing price are sold.
For example, if a market supports selling extremely high priced products then you can be confident that you can sell low priced products, medium priced products and high priced products.
On the other hand if everyone is selling extremely low priced products then there is not much depth in the market.
Select a niche that has a deep back end and increase your long term profits.
A great place to answer these questions is in the community forums.
If your niche doesn’t have a forum then it is probably not a good niche. A healthy buyers niche will almost always have an active community.
What Are The Top 10 Questions Asked?
A community forum is a great place to do market research and find out what your target prospects really want.
In every forum you will find large amount of beginner level members who ask the same questions over and over. This is an indicator that their is a desire people have that is not being met.
They are actively searching for a solution to their problem so you can be confident that you can make money selling a product that fulfills their needs.
Another great part about a forum is you can learn about the things that drive your target prospects.
You can intimately learn their behaviors, motivation, desires, interests and goals and you can use this information to create new products and service them more fully as well as learn how to market to them.
For example if you find that many forum members say over and over again that they have a particular frustration or fear then you can target the language of your marketing around these issues.
This will let them know that you are providing the solution to their problems as well as help motivate them to take action.
These emotional ‘hot buttons’ are an important part of marketing because often we have to motivate people to better themselves.
When you know what dives a person deep down inside then you can help them get off at the right stop.
This guest post was written by Ryan Parenti, who runs the site Marketing On The Web by getting free gifts with his Money Newsletter.
Wait... before you leave, consider these top resources:
I love your post! It's so true, we are constantly getting great ideas but the talent truly lies in being able to sift through ideas and chase the one that will provide you with the most benefit.
It's easy to come up with an idea you think everyone will love – less easy to convince everyone why they should love it. Thanks for this post – it's a nice reminder that not ALL ideas are gems that will make money instantly, and that people should definitely think about what they are undertaking before trying to implement their ideas on a larger scale.
Laurie
hey ryan, nice post. You made good points, i think before starting a business, you have to ask yourself if it will help people or find a solution for clients
My recent post WordPress Plugin: Page Links To
Hmm this is a very basic and necessary tutorial for those who are going to start online business like me……..Get a lot of things…….Thanks
Many have failed to know the right tips that they have to follow before getting started online that you for the tips that you have offered.
My recent post Consistency the secret of your success in online business
Absolutely spot on advice. I have a friend who has written an eBook about her own recovery from an illness.. The book contains very good information that would really help people. But she has aimed it at two particular niches within the health niche but the eBook is not selling that well. She wants to change the sales page so the book appeals to a wider niche but I think that is wrong. I think the problem is the sales letter. It does not push those so very important emotional triggers.
From my opinion if any body going for Internet Marketing then he needs to do each and every thing with plan like he/she should set his/her target regarding his product and he/she knows very well what the customer are actually want in online purchasing.
My recent post Goa Carnival Date 2011 (5th to 8th March)
There is no doubt that the internet has forever changed the world in which we live. So it can only be expected that it would change the way we sell and marketing our businesses globally.
Thanks for sharing the post.Its a very useful thing.The use of Internet is growing day by day.So, the Internet businesses are also getting more popularity.But we need to do the SEO for the sites to get a better indexing of the site in the SERP.
You are definitely right! Business can be found everywhere and it is seeing an opportunity to every problem because it is an answer to one's difficulties or problems. 😀
This is pretty good for the newbies who are about to start Internet Business.
My recent post iPhone 6 could debut in March 2012 suggests BusinessInsider
Zac,
I would expect more from a guy like you! This guest post is filled with missing information and grammatical errors. I recommend screening guest blogggers better in the future. When I first read this I thought you had gone stupid until I realized it wasn’t you who wrote it.
– a concerned citizen
I have to agree with Bill. I had to double check who wrote this post after I read it. Still had some great information in it though.
I was away in Florida and dealing with flight/hurricane issues. I didn't get to proof read this one again. It slipped through, won't happen again. 🙁 A week later and I'm back home!
Hi Ryan,
Perhaps you could provide some advice here. I'm looking at developing a website focused on affiliate products for golf. However, when I look at Adwords bidding for very common search terms I see very low bid prices and very low competition. Would this be an good indicator that affiliates or golf training products don't sell very well online? It's a huge market and I thought I'd see way more competition and high bid prices.
Thanks – A Newbie
I would look at your competition and other golf affiliate programs out there. It's all about getting in front of the right audience. There are plenty of golf information and fan web sites out there who can promote your products. Unfortunately, in the sports realm, this stuff usually doesn't convert well unless it's very relevant. I know StubHub converts horrible on sports web sites.
Thanks for the f/u Zac. Actually, I was looking to set-up website and promote affiliate products. However, in addition to what I said above I'm finding very few products/manufacturers that have affiliate programs. Those that do pay a very low commission (5%) without f/u commissions (cookies?) and are sold through a large online website(s)…similar to Amazon but for golf. Anyway, perhaps i should just move on to something else…you have to get alot of traffic to generate good revenues at 5% commission.
Sorry to hear about your travel challenges. I trust you and your family made it home safely.
Kief
Nice post! Find a niche where you can make good money in. Look for forums in your niche to see what your target audience is interested in, and fulfill those needs by supplying them with what they need. All part of a good business plan.
My recent post How To Make ( Earn ) Money Blogging Your Free Blogging Tips Video Lesson.
Zac
Starting an internet business is full of challenges
Your are correct before going online learn the techniques in Marketing on the Web. Otherwise, you get zero views for your site.
Zac,
You're often pretty active in responding to comments (see mine above…no response). I think I've also seen where your past guest bloggers reply to comments (at least I think I have on your site). Personally, I think it's a 'best practice' for a guest blogger to respond to comments.
Take care…usually enjoy your posts and articles.
It's been a busy couple weeks. Was in Florida all week, then had flight delays with the hurricane. Responded to your comment above. Yes, guest posters should read and respond to comments as well.
Starting an online business is completely different than go for traditional style of business. It uses the internet / web and we all know people get smarter in terms of its usage. They know what and where to buy from online resources.
A community forum is great advice, thanks! It's a good way to get the feelers out and see who'd be interested in your idea, if it's something that would even work, etc… Any forum in particular that you'd recommend?
-Kayla
I love what you say here: "Just because you think a product is a great idea doesn’t not mean that you can make money selling it." I can not believe how many things are out there that just make you stop and think "do you really thing that you will make money on this.. and, how much did they loose on it already?" I this the first question you really have to ask.
It’s sometimes hard to get started, but if you can get the ball rolling then your set!
My recent post Project Fast Cash