Starting up your own web business can seem daunting if you’ve never done it before. But there are a few simple concepts that will guide you and make sure everything you do contributes to building an effective – and profitable – business!

Here are some of the tips we’ve given in recent Consultation calls…

• Your Goals: Spell out your objectives in starting a web business, as they are what will keep you going through thick and thin… Map out the development of your web business against your goals, so that every element of what you do represents another (identifiable) step towards achieving your goals. Occasionally stop and look back at what you’ve achieved and give yourself a pat on the back, identify what needs adjusting, and learn from your experiences.
• Your Strategy: The beating heart of your web business is your business strategy. This is all about identifying a niche that you can target effectively, monetise and dominate and then working out how to do this most cost-effectively. Where do your prospects ‘hang out’ and how can you reach them? What ‘Irresistible Offer’ will bring them flocking in? Can you use viral products or videos to market your offer? How do you keep your customers coming back for more?
• Your USP: What’s different about you/your offer/ your approach – why should someone follow you or buy your products? You need to have some unique offering or angle that ‘stands out from the crowd’. SOS – the ‘Same Old Stuff’ may bring in the odd customer but we all look for something New, Different or Better all the time, don’t we? Look through your prospects’ eyes.
• Your Funnel: To maximize the benefits from your work, try to identify suitable products that represent steps through your funnel – from freebie to front-end product, mid-price, high-price, etc. You don’t have to have all these in place when starting out, but mapping out how you’re going to lead your prospects through your funnel will help make sure every element of what you do is productive in building your business and everything makes a coherent whole.
• Your offer: See how you can make the offer on your website (your free report) ‘irresistible’ – ie a no-brainer for people to sign up for! Then try to make sure that the expectations of those that sign up for it are exceeded, so that they want more! Again, look through your prospects’ eyes.
• Your Website: You have 6 to 10 seconds to grab your visitors’ attention – and hold it! Your headline should immediately ‘answer’ their problem and there should preferably be a relevant graphic that reinforces this. Your call to action (the ‘Most Wanted Outcome’) should be clear. Think about the changes you could make to increase conversion (reinforce your ‘irresistible offer’) – and keep testing them.
• Monetisation: The whole purpose of your web business is to make profit (by helping others), so try to think of all the opportunities to make a sale – I covered 16 at the Mastermind Workshop but web biz expert Rich Schefren says there are at least 45 different opportunities…!

Sure, it may look complicated but the final ‘bonus’ tip is KISS – Keep It Stupidly Simple! Oh so many businesses have failed because they got too clever or too complicated. Keep it all absolutely as simple as you possibly can – and simple enough that your prospects and customers can clearly see ‘What’s In It For Me’ and why they should do business with you!

Oh – last thing… Nothing will happen without taking Action. Small steps at a time… As the Chinese Philosopher, Lao Tze, said: “The journey of a thousand miles is started with a single step…” So start taking those steps…!

All the best with your web business…

John Thornely
Internet Tycoons

With annual purchases on the Internet well in excess of $100 Billion, I think it’s pretty obvious that there’s a lot of money to be made online.

There are people out there right now raking in millions from Web businesses and Internet Marketing – which should be a major source of motivation for anyone who wants to be successful with an online business!

However, while it’s nice to dream, in reality, success really only comes with hard work.  And you’ll also have to address these 4 crucial success keys…

Goals: The first key for succeeding with any business – Internet or otherwise – is to set goals – both long-term and short-term goals – and then work up a plan to implement them.

Think of your long-term goals in terms of your vision as to what you want out of your business and what it will give you – lifestyle, freedom, whatever. Don’t just say ‘I want to be rich’ – who of us knows what we mean by that? Be specific: how much income a month will give you the lifestyle you want?

Your short term goals or objectives can be cumulative and should all build to you accomplishing your long term goals. If you set your goals and then make sure you work hard to reach those goals then you will be well on your way to being successful.

To make sure you achieve your goals, you need to have a Business Plan that forms an outline of what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it.

Setting your goals should be a major part of your plan. And your plan will need adjustment from time to time – but I always find that thinking through the business in order to formulate a workable plan is some of the most productive time you can spend on your business!

Belief: Life and business for few of us is a ‘bed of roses’, and you’re going to have to weather the storms that you’ll inevitably face. So you need to ‘keep the faith’ – in yourself and in what you’re doing. You need to have an unshakable belief that you’ll make it and always believe that your plan will produce for you. If you don’t believe in yourself and what you’re doing then without a doubt you’ll fail. No one has ever been successful without believing in themselves. Your belief will help you to work hard, since you know your work will ultimately pay dividends.

Focus. As Humans, we’re pre-programmed to look for the next thing and we love to believe it’s going to be better, even though in reality it rarely is! But that’s how evolution works, after all. Every language I know has a similar phrase to ‘the grass is greener on the other side’. And I’ve seen so many people flit from one idea to another for their business, often abandoning good ideas for awful ones – and I’m the first to raise my own hand and shout ‘guilty’! We all do it, don’t we?

Look – there’s nothing new under the sun! So there’s plenty of experience out there of what works and what doesn’t. Don’t think that your bright idea is going to be any different.

Most successful businesses do the same thing that others are doing but do it better, cheaper or with a different spin on the marketing. And they only succeed by focusing on one thing at a time. Yes, Richard Branson has lots of different businesses in his Virgin empire – but he built them one by one from the ground up, by focusing on one thing at a time!

So it’s absolutely critical that you don’t allow yourself to get distracted by the latest and supposedly greatest ways to make money. Stick with what works and let it work for you. Focus, focus, focus!

And the last key to being successful with Internet Marketing is to always stay the course. Choose how you want to run your business – preferably using a proven method for how you will make your business successful. Then tweak that method as you move forward – but try to stick with the same basic philosophy.

Plan, focus on what you’re trying to achieve, stick to your plan and believe it’s going to work – and you’re 90% of the way there!

And, as Winston Churchill said, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!

PS: If you want to see belief in action, check out Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

PPS: Watch out for your free Business Plan Template an upcoming post on Planning Your Way To Business Success!

Happy Planning!

John Thornely
Internet Tycoons