Is your online business off to a good start? Which of these three mistakes are you making?
If you are planning to start an online internet business to make money online, here are some things you ought to know so that you can avoid wasting time and even money.
Disclaimer: I am not an attorney and I am not giving you legal advice. This information is my opinion only. You may contact an attorney and or the government agencies that regulate and provide the legal requirements you need to put in place.
These mistakes: knowing about them is really going to help you avoid trouble and frustration.
I wasted quite a bit of time floundering when I first decided to build an online business back in 2005. I discovered three mistakes that are common for someone starting out and do not know exactly where to get guidance.
1. Before jumping in, have a crystal clear game plan of action.
Know the answers to these standard questions:
Who – will be your customer and are they currently looking for someone like you online?
What – what will you be selling them. For example, an eBook or a physical book, coaching, a product you have created crafts, etc.
When – how many hours and what days do you plan to work your business. It must be consistent.
Where – will you also sell offline, attend trade shows, do your business only on a local level, or go Global!
How – will you get your message out there? Via paid advertising (expensive), through social networking like twitter, Facebook and linked-in? Through articles and press releases?
So sit down with some paper and a pen and plan out the above. Go online and see who else is doing what you plan to do.
2. Make sure you have all the business licenses required by your state, county, city and IRS not to mention that in some states we need to collect the sales taxes and mail them in at specified times.
When I first started and some of my women business partners did not have a clue about all the business licenses required and that in some places we were not allowed to have a home based business in our residential area!
You can find this information by going online to the revenue offices in your state, county, city etc.
One thing some of us discovered was that some states do not allow for us to sell Amazon products as affiliates. This was a big blow to a few. Amazon does have a list of states where affiliate sales are not allowed.
3. Figure out how much money you need per month to keep your business afloat.
Some things are not optional like having a hosting service that maintains your website. There are some free ones but I have known people who used them exclusively only to find one day for it to be wiped out. Plus, they have a lot of restrictions.
Needing to purchase a domain name or two. You only pay once a year about $12.00.
Now, it is not necessary to find and pay a webmaster to run your website. There is a great easy fun way to create a site that you control and comes with tutorials. It is becoming the industry standard and is called WordPress. Use the one that comes with a hosting service, not the free one.
On average I need $200.00 per month to keep my business afloat. But I do buy programs; join memberships to keep me informed of Internet changes, security and how to make my business better.
The solution I found to solving many issues was in belonging to a community where there are a variety of instructors who are held to high standards. If they do not live up to them, they are dismissed from the group.
The instructors walk their talk. They are successful in their business and also receive business coaching from those that are even more successful than themselves.
This commitment proves they are dedicated to excellence and provide the best information to us.
The information is up to date and covers the good the bad and the ugly.
Source by Ceci Davis