One Stop Web Support Newsletter #71
August 31, 2008
##################################################
One Stop Web Support Newsletter #71
Jeff Baas - One Stop Web Support
http://www.OneStopWebSupport.com/
##################################################
Unrealistic expectations are one of the biggest killers of online businesses.
So we'll continue this week with our four-part series on the realities of starting an online business and what to expect. This second installment is about planning how you will get your business to the point where you want it to be.
The Reality of Starting a Business Online -- Part II -- expect to plan
Is this how you take a trip?
My son goes to college about two hours southwest of where we live. Let's say I've never been to his college before and I decide to drive out and visit him there.
I know his college is somewhere 100 miles southwest of us, so I head south and turn west on the first cross street. I follow that until I reach another cross street and turn south again.
I keep doing this, turning south and west and south and west an equal number of times, expecting that in two hours, I'll reach his school.
I'd have to be crazy to think that driving like that will get me to my destination, wouldn't I!
The reason new business owners fail
Yet that's the exact way that the vast majority of prospective online business owners approach starting their business. And it's the exact reason why the vast majority of prospective online business owners fail to reach their goals.
Following a faulty "road map" to success
Most people start out with a vague goal of "making money online." They don't know how they'll accomplish that and they don't have an specific amount they're shooting for. They just know that their goal is "somewhere off in that direction."
So they impulsively try one thing that promises to take them in that general direction, and then another, and another, hoping—actually irrationally dreaming—that these random efforts will lead them to success.
Most people want to skip over the planning stuff and get right to making the money. But, just like with checking the route before you head out on a trip, it's the planning stuff and all those other boring details that lead you to your business destination.
Planning a successful "road map"
Planning your business involves five things:
- Set reasonable financial expectations for your business
- Identify a specific group of people who are looking for a solution
- Find a solution for their problem that you can offer them
- Determine ways to show your solution to the people who need it
- Determine how to build an ongoing relationship with those who have used your solution
Set reasonable expectations
A woman who was starting her first business once told me that she was determined to "think big" about her goals. She set her financial goal for his first three months in business at $5 million.
She had no business started. She didn't even have any idea of what her business would be. But she fully believed that by "thinking big enough" she could make $5 million in her first three months.
I never heard back from her, so I assume she spent three months "thinking big," put little to no effort into her business, and ended the three months waaay short of her goal.
Setting goals should never be done randomly, and it should never be done in isolation from your business plan.
Look at what you sell. Look at the resources you have at the moment and the plans you have to reach your target audience. Determine, from those things, what is reasonable to expect you can sell over the next month or two. Set that as your short-term goal.
If you don't reach it, don't despair. Figure out how to build on what you did and set your goals for the following month or two based on what you learned in your first couple of months. Keep building, keep learning, and your income will keep growing.
Identify your target audience
Rather than looking for a random product to sell or a random business model to adopt, look for a group of people who have a common problem. Maybe they have a common health problem. Maybe they have a common financial problem. Maybe they have a common interest they are passionate to find out more about.
Find out what "itch" keeps them uncomfortable. Find out what keeps them looking for a solution.
Find a solution for them
Then find a solution for that "itch." A lot of unsuccessful business owners make one of two mistakes:
- They find something they think people will like and then count on them to find it and buy it
- They try to push something at people that they aren't interested in buying
Neither approach works well. But if you see a problem that people have then put a solution for it in from of them, they'll gladly grab it.
Find ways to put your solution in front of them
That leaves you with determining ways to let these people know that you have a solution. Like I said before, you can't just sit back and wait for them to find you. You have to figure out where to find them and how to get your solution in front of them.
In other words, you can't stop with simply putting up your website. You have to plan the best ways to reach them and market to them.
Build an ongoing relationship with them
Finally, once you've found them and solved one problem for them, you want to build on the positive relationship you've developed with them. They don't have only one problem, after all. They likely have a number of other, related problems as well.
Walking away from people who already trust you because of the help you've given them is like leaving money on the table. Find ways to keep in touch with them and provide them with other solutions they need. You can easily turn a single sale into a recurring income stream without much further effort.
Final thoughts
You wouldn't dream of starting a trip without planning your destination or the way to get there. Similarly, trying to skip the planning process so you can "get right on the road" toward a successful business is bound to disappoint you.
Expect to plan your business in order to give it the best chance of being successful. Rather than slowing you down, it gives you the best chance at success.
******************************************************
Q and A with Jeff
In this section, Jeff answers your questions about starting a business online. Here's this week's question.
With all the changes that eBay has made lately, can I still make money on eBay?
The answer is a resounding YES.
I know. Plenty of eBay sellers see eBay changes as the end of the world. More savvy eBay sellers, though, see these changes as weeding out the less committed sellers and making it easier for those who are serious about making a living on eBay.
Closing loopholes
Take, for example, the change in feedback policy.
Previously, sellers could give either positive, neutral, or negative feedback to buyers. Now, sellers can give only positive feedback. Many sellers worry that this change will lead to vindictive buyers leaving negative feedback that the sellers cannot then return in kind.
Personally, I've never encountered any vindictive buyers.
The only problems I've ever had with feedback came from dishonest sellers who ripped me off on the transaction and then threatened to ruin my feedback rating by leaving me negative feedback unless I first inflated their feedback rating by giving them undeserved praise.
This change in feedback procedures attacks the ripoff artists and bullies among sellers by removing their ability to blackmail the people they ripped off.
Similarly, other changes close some of the most common loopholes that some sellers were using to make money without offering value to their buyers.
Selling smarter on eBay
As I said before, you can still make money on eBay. You simply have to work smarter and not content yourself with playing the loopholes.
In my opinion, nobody knows this better than marketer Jim Cockrum, author of eBay classic Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay.
Cockrum is an encyclopedia of ways to make money on eBay. He recently updated Silent Sales Machine to bring it up to date with the most recent eBay changes. Believe me, Silent Sales Machine is dirt cheap compared to all the ideas it contains.
Cockrum also founded My Silent Team, a membership site that constantly tests and shares the latest techniques for making money not only on eBay, but through multiple sales channels. The ideas, tips, and strategies you get just in its bonus materials is worth more than you would pay for several years worth of use of the site.
And if you're one of those whose interested in marketing tips only if they're free, check out Cockrum's free newsletter. He reveals a ton of things that are working on eBay right now even in the free newsletter.
Basically, the money is still there to be made on eBay. You just have to be more business-minded and less shortcut-minded in order to do it.
*****************************************************
HOTTEST OFFERS
Each issue, I feature what I consider the best offers available each week on worthwhile business-building tools. Check here to see what's hot this week.
http://www.OneStopWebSupport.com/hot-offers.htm
Or check to see my growing selection of ebooks and training tools that you can use for free to build your Internet business.
Free Ebooks:
http://www.OneStopWebSupport.com/dir-ebooks.htm
Free Training tools:
http://www.OneStopWebSupport.com/ongoing-bargains.htm
*****************************************************
Success quote
'One comes to believe whatever one repeats to oneself sufficiently often, whether the statement be true of false. It comes to be dominating thought in one's mind.'
Vince Lombardi
******************************************************
This newsletter is published by One Stop Web Support, where our business is helping your business succeed.
http://www.OneStopWebSupport.com/
TELL A FRIEND:
If you enjoyed this newsletter, please recommend it to your friends.
OR LINK TO OUR ARCHIVE:
Or, if you feel that visitors to your business would benefit from these articles, feel free to link to our newsletter archive at:
http://www.OneStopWebSupport.com/newsletters/nl-archives.htm
RECEIVE THIS NEWSLETTER FROM A FRIEND?
Why not subscribe to it on your own? I'll give you over $250 worth of free Internet marketing gifts if you do. Bet you can't argue with that!
http://www.OneStopWebSupport.com/newsletter-signup.htm
PRIVACY and SPAM POLICY:
I don't rent, trade or sell my email list to anyone for any reason whatsoever.
MAKING CHANGES TO YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:
If you want to change your email address or unsubscribe, the link is at the very bottom.
COMMENTS? TIPS?
Also if you have any tips of your own, questions or comments, please send then to me at:
succeed@onestopwebsupport.com
MY EMAIL LIST SERVICE:
Looking for a service to host your own newsletter or ezine? I personally use 1Shopping Cart, which incorporates list building, unlimited autoresponders, newsletter publishing capability, ad tracking, form building and much, much more into a state-of-the-art shopping cart program that my clients and I have used for years. It packs a LOT into a nice, neat package.
http://www.OneStopWebSupport.com/1shoppingcart
Or, if you're looking strictly for a list-building and ezine publishing tool (also with unlimited autoresponders), you can't go wrong with the industry leader, aWeber.
http://www.OneStopWebSupport.com/aweber
WEBSITE BASED RESOURCES AND TOOLS:
And for other Internet marketing and auction products that I have tested and recommend:
http://www.OneStopWebSupport.com/dir-reviews.htm
Helping you become the successful business owner you want to be.
LIKE THIS PAGE? ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS: Blink Del.icio.us Digg
 Furl Google Simpy Spurl
 Technorati
 Y! MyWeb
|
