Being successful online is hard work and there are no silver bullets. Consistent application of focused effort will lead to your success.
Spending a fortune on the next “get rich quick” scheme will only ensure the success of those who create the schemes. Some will give you limited success but there are many GRQ products that are created just to make money for the owner of the product.
This is a multi-part post and this is step 1. Each step will be published a couple of days after the previous step and will contain links to other steps. Sign up if you want to be notified of each new step.
This series is packed with solid pointers and inside information on how you can build a successful online business using a model that can be scaled up – promote more products – and out – more sales of existing products. It is not the only way but it works for me and it is a great way to start if you’re not sure of where to go to from here.
It’s a funny thing but I’ve found that some people are more likely to appreciate the value of something if they pay for it. So, if it will help you to read all the steps and take action I am happy to charge you for it 
Otherwise, here we go.
Building an online business
There are two ways of building an online business. Well, there are many ways, but just stick with me on this as I compare just two of the many ways.
Approach A. Use hard data, niche research, SEO, traffic + link building, social networking, affiliate marketing, an auto-responder sequence, squeeze page, sales funnel.
Approach B. Use your head to identify a real problem lots of people are experiencing right now, find a solution you can sell them that is currently selling well – that is, other people are making money from it, and then … use the tools in approach A above.
These 10 steps to internet business success are based on the principles outlined in Approach B.
To make this work you don’t have to be an expert at something or great with building web sites or top of your class at school. It’s not about being really smart, it’s about helping others enjoy a better quality of life. You will need to put in some effort though. If you are not prepared to work a bit in order to earn money online then this post series will scare you away.
I have a solution for those who shy away from hard work but you’ll have to wait until step 2 to read it.
Remember these three terms – health, wealth and relationships. They will come up a few times. In a way they are the key to people enjoying their lives – better health, more wealth and great relationships – three big pillars of human desire. There is a fourth one – recreation – that is worth a bit of a look too.
But for now … a little bit of history.
Traditional internet marketing (IM) wisdom says that there’s money to be made anywhere there’s lots of traffic. Simple traffic data was – and still is today – used to identify “high-value” search terms and then websites were built around those search terms, often with little or no thought about how to convert each visitor into a dollar value, or what motivated people to enter those search terms in the first place.
You can’t easily make a fortune with only Google ads anymore. They will make you some money but unless you have 100,000+ monthly visitors and some really hot keywords for which you rank well, it’s not going to be a big money maker for you. And you’re at the mercy of supply/demand fluctuations in online ad pricing.
It worked well in the earlier, heady days of IM but your average website visitor has become a lot more savvy and doesn’t click on just anything anymore and especially not ads.
Internet Business Success in 10 Steps (step 1)
1. Have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and be sure you are passionate about being successful online. There’s little point in pursuing something half-heartedly. Doing so will surely reflect in your writings, business results and long-term success, or lack thereof.
Hang on – everyone is using the word “passion” nowadays. So think of it instead as “a strong desire to succeed“.
A clear vision need not be complicated. It simply needs a central idea and a time frame. That’s enough to get you started. Here are some examples.
Vision example 1: It could be that you want to build a business around your special talent of making fishing flies and that in five years time you want to have your fishing fly design book sold to all corners of the world and be making better than $10k a month. It’s a moderate income target, a reasonable time frame and something you can sink your teeth into if fishing is your thing.
Vision example 2: Maybe you have a strong desire to help people in relationship crises. You’re happy in your current job and you want extra money for a big holiday when you turn 30, a new car by the end of next year or to donate to a local charity.
Vision example 3: Perhaps you are unhappy in your job and you see an online business as a way out of the misery, and you want out in under 2 years. This situation actually makes you a good target for scammers so read through these 10 steps carefully and discover one way you can realise your dream without getting hit by the scammers. You might also end up helping others get out of their daily grind.
A word of warning. Be very careful if the 3rd example above appeals to you. It also appeals to millions of other online hopefuls and many spend months and even years plugging away with little to show for it. I know. I started playing with online business models in 2009 and spent a few hours each week building a site and putting Google ads on it. It earned me a few dollars a month! I think I was earning the equivalent of $0.17 an hour. I could make more delivering newspapers!
I took a break till about 8 months ago when I made my first decision to get a little bit serious. I researched different methods and examples of online businesses and acted on what I had learned. I put together several sites using a mix of techniques and they started earning me $100 a month half way through 2010.
It stayed that way till December 2010 when I not only got really serious about being successful online, I put in place a clear vision for my online business activities and set some real goals to guide my daily activities. That was a couple of months ago. Since then, the $100 a month has become around $300 a month and is steadily growing.
I have now started to put these 10 steps into action – yes I get a head-start on you – and I’m really excited to be sharing them with you. There’s plenty of online success to share around for those who want to put in the effort.
So, with your strong desire to succeed in an online business, coupled with a clear idea of what you want to achieve – or as clear as you can make it for now – proceed to step 2. (link goes live 2 days after date of this post)
As always, I really value your opinions and would love to hear from you below.
Related posts:
Twitter: icebluebanana
says:
Hi Michael,
I agree with you – there are no silver bullets when it comes to building a business. And, I would say that B before A is a good call. After all, IM can be tricky as keywords are not used for the same purposes by all searchers or marketers.
Wow – $0.17 an hour. Well, that is probably better than average, actually.
I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with for this.
Have a great day!
mark@promote my blog´s last post..Finding Niche Ideas and Why I Love Naughty Emails
Hi Mark, I have sometimes considered the keyword thing a bit myself. When you drill deeper into some keywords you can see that they are being searched many times a month with >90% being from some obscure country that features a lot on oDesk.com.
It could be that when a keyword looks hot, a couple of hundred IMs outsource keyword research, article writing, etc and in doing so inflate the apparent keyword demand as the outsourced contractors go pinging the keyword dozens of times a day while completing their assignments.
In the posts to come I will not be getting too tied up with keyword theory rather, I will take keyword data on face value and then add some common sense.
Michael.
Michael
Have a vision is something that is extremely important. In fact, I meditate on my business vision everyday. It’s a part of my daily positive affirmations.
I believe that mindset of any entrepreneur is probably the biggest and most important challenge to overcome. As children we are constantly told NO, we are told to stop asking so many questions and all of those things play into the subconscious that we have today. If you simply don’t try new thing because you’re scared to fail or scared to be”rejected” than its going to be hard to ever gain any momentum
Getting back to my vision, I have made it a habit to think about my business in the future, to think about what I want to accomplish, how I’m going to accomplish it, what difference I will make and how I will be rewarded. It’s all a part of the vision that I have for myself and for my by business and that vision plays an important rewiring of m subconscious and of what I perceive is a reality in my life.
I look forward to the series Michael!
Thank you Hector for sharing your experience and philosophy. I hadn’t thought much about the “no” thing when we were young but you’re right, most of us have probably been discouraged on many more occasions than encouraged. I love the proverb that goes something like this “Without a vision the people will perish”. It probably holds true as much as it did back then as it does now in the internet business world.
Twitter: RoaringPajamas
says:
Thanks, Michael, for your wonderful blog (and thanks for sending me a message on Twitter). I love your ideas and I really appreciate this post on creating a vision for your online business.
One of the first things we do for our clients is help them create a vision and strategy for their online marketing campaigns. How can you create a plan of action if you don’t know what you want to achieve?
Best regards,
Melanie Yunk
Melanie´s last post..Social Media Strategy- 5 Steps to Success
No worries Melanie. I love the name of your website and your crazy graphic. It is unique for sure.
I have learned that a vision is not the first step. It actually takes place before the first step in that it is formed more as a picture of where you want to go and then it starts to become firmer as a plan and strategy are created around it.
See you around,
Michael
Twitter: garagefairy
says:
You’re right about the GRQ schemes. They are everywhere online nowadays deceiving more and more people everyday. There are many legitimate ways to earn money online, but like you said, you have to have “a strong desire to succeed.”
Yes, and a good nose to sniff out the good stuff from among the scams
[...] that, read on. Otherwise see the paragraph below called No Hard Work.If you haven’t already, read step 1 first.The approach … identify a real problem lots of people are experiencing right now then [...]
[...] work over several weeks. If you’re prepared for that, read on.If you haven’t already, read step 1, step 2 first.The approach … identify a real problem lots of people are experiencing right [...]
[...] work over several weeks. If you’re prepared for that, read on.If you haven’t already, read step 1, step 2, step 3 first.The approach … identify a real problem lots of people are experiencing [...]
Twitter: ryancritchett
says:
All about it! For years I watched people (including myself) navigate the land of their lives with no definitive mission, getting pulled in hundreds of different directions.
Then, when the vision comes, things start lining up and people take targeted action.
Since this titanium rule applies to life, and online business, this article rocked.
Thanks Ryan. Without vision we really do grope around in the dark, literally and figuratively.
[...] work over several weeks. If you’re prepared for that, read on.If you haven’t already, read step 1, step 2, step 3, step 4 first.The approach … identify a real problem lots of people are [...]
Hi Michael,
I don’t know how I managed to stumble onto your site, but boy am I glad that I did. I have read step one and definitely agree that there are no easy answers. I look forward to reading the rest.
It is so frustrating that so much webspace is devoted to people who want something for nothing. It seems you are leading the way for someone like me who wants to work to be able to do it.
Now I’m off to work on my vision. Thank you!
Hi Linda, I am glad you found my site. I don’t have all the answers but I do like to tell it like it is. There are no successful, repeatable, scalable get-rich-quick schemes. In practically every case I have looked at the only people getting rich quick are the people who release the junk products with much hype and false hope. That is not to say that I condone the practice, quick the opposite, but I try to warn people away from buying products that promise overnight success for little or no effort.
Having said that, there are ways of making a decent income from an online activity but it will require effort, planning, clear direction and a significant amount of time. There is nothing magical about the internet. It is like any other technology in that it can be exploited for unethical gain and it can be used for genuine advantage.
Cheers and I hope you enjoy the other posts.
Michael.
Have a vision is something that is extremely important. In fact, I meditate on my business vision everyday. It’s a part of my daily positive affirmations.
I believe that mindset of any entrepreneur is probably the biggest and most important challenge to overcome. As children we are constantly told NO, we are told to stop asking so many questions and all of those things play into the subconscious that we have today. If you simply don’t try new thing because you’re scared to fail or scared to be”rejected” than its going to be hard to ever gain any momentum
Hi Michael..
Very informative post. I also feel that deciding on a specific business model is essential to your success. Before we start to even think about traffic generation it’s critical that we focus on our sales process and how we’re going to move our customers through the funnel.
Here are some essential tips for beginners that you might find useful…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDKNVV8OQQQ
Seb Wood´s last post..Who Is Ryan Lee
Thanks Seb. That’s a good video. It sure is more about getting the sales process sorted before bothering to build more traffic. An often overlooked tweak any business can make is improving conversions with existing traffic is not only more productive with your current level of traffic but pays multiplied dividends when you do get more traffic.
I definitely agree, Michael. Too many marketers put too much emphasis on traffic and not enough on their conversions.
Highly-targetted traffic is essential to every business… but it’s important that your funnel is tried and tested before investing in other advertising avenues.
Nano Continuity is going to offer some great strategies for optimizing your sales funnel and building a profitable membership site. I’m currently writing a blog post in response to your question, Michael. I’ll be sure to notify you when it’s live.
Seb Wood@Nano Continuity´s last post..What is Nano Continuity
Seb, I am looking forward to reading your post. Let us know when it goes live. Michael
Hey, Michael…
Blog post is now live at http://www.nanocontinuityreview.com/how-to-create-profitable-membership-sites
Hope this helps you. If you have any questions be sure to get in touch.
Seb Wood´s last post..Nano Continuity Review Update
[...] success doesn’t just land in your lap – you have to really want it. Do you remember clearly defining your vision in step 1? You have to go out there and grab it with both [...]
Hi Michael,
I identify with vision example number 3. I did fall prey to a few scams, but finely, with the grace of God, I found my way to achieving my goals.
Regarding your point of having a clear vision, I remember when I started my venture, I wrote my money goal on a paper and stuck it on the ceiling just above my bed so that I would see it every morning when I woke up. In less than a year I hit my goal.
That’s a great idea – put your idea down on paper and paste it somewhere you’ll see it each morning. It’s also awesome to know it worked in that you achieved your goal in under a year.
[...] 1. Have A Clear Vision [...]
Really Nice Post ,looking forward to more post from you micheal…
I always believe in no pain no gain. You have to work harder to succeed in whatever field you are in to.
I totally agree with this, to be honest in building your own home business it is considered as gamble, weather we will succeed or fail. I think that the easiest way to start it by taking note or trying to monitor your business daily , so that you will know when we are succeeding or failing.
Kate Brown Wilson´s last post..רו פוד
The principles for running a successful internet businesses are not any different than those necessary for a brick and mortar business. The technology of course is different, but the principles are not. In short, you need products or services that are “needed and useful” and then you need to know how to get that product on to the playing field.
In order sell what you have it doesn’t necessarily have to be the best (it does help if it is), but it does have to be good enough for your customers to tell someone else about it and have the ability to become widely recognized. You can’t do that with a bad product or service, especially when people have many other options to choose from.
I think sometimes we can make business too complicated. It is an act of mutual exchange…. if I can find people’s needs to meet quickly and efficiently, I’ll have no problem buying that house, boat, Benz or whatever else I want. But I do have to do my part first, and do it the right way. I might ride high for a while by unethical practices, but eventually that house of cards will tumble.
We really don’t make money, we “earn” it.
Michael M´s last post..Groupon Clone