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What do you really need to go into business on the internet?
I have lost track of the number of discussion board posts and
emails I have answered about that topic. I admit for those first
venturing into the uncharted waters of internet business it can
be challenging and more than a little daunting. There is a flood
of products out there clamoring for your money and all claim to
be absolutely essential to your success on the internet. Don't
buy it, they are all selling snake oil!
There are some essentials you will need (assuming that if you
are reading this that you already have an email account and
internet access) but you really can start out at the ground
level with nothing but an idea and build your internet business
up from there. You can start your business on a shoestring
budget of just $10 a year. If you are ready for the fast track
then you can start with as little as $10 month. If you are
aiming for the penthouse then you can up your monthly budget to
$30.
What are the essentials?
Ground level approach:
Create a blog account at one of the free blogging sites
available online (we used to use Blogger.com but there are many
other good options). This will serve as your internet base. It
really is the cheapest and easiest way to get online today. Yes,
you could create a free web site at one of the many available
but blogs are more attractive to the search engines. Plus they
offer you the ability to personalize it but most of your energy
will be spent on content which is the king of the internet and
the real reason you want an internet presence.
Now sign up for a free ClickBank affiliate acccount which will
give you immediate access to something to sell --and the added
advantage that many products also come with some handy content
you can use to fill out your new blog. Sign up for a contextual
or pay-per-click advertiser such as Google's Adsense or Chikita
and you'll start earning from visitors as well as customers.
That's it! You are now in business. Keep filling your blog and
promoting it as well and you will soon start earning!
Shoestring approach:
This method is similar to the previous approach with one crucial
difference -- you purchase your own domain name. A domain name
will cost you between $5 and $10 a year depending on whether you
go .com or .info (or one of the many other options available).
You don't need to find a web host or create a site. Simply point
the domain at your blog for now and continue with the
development and promotion of your blog. The advantage of owning
your own domain name is simply that later when you have the
money, time, and
knowledge to develop your web site that domain
name will already exist and have filtered through the search
engines. It also offers some marketing advantages that a free
blog cannot.
Fast-track approach:
You host your own domain and offer your blog either as the site
or as an addition to the site. You should be able to do this for
between $10 and $20 a month with a reputable host that offers
all the tools and utilities you might need for your current
site. Maybe down the line you'll need to upgrade but by then
you'll know your income and your needs.
Penthouse approach:
You add one final tool that will make your internet business
complete -- a mailing list tool. You can do this for just $20 a
month and it will be worth every penny for sales, customer
service, and promotional tool.
That's it for just $90 you can have every tool you need to make
hundreds or even thousands from your internet business and you
can actually get by with a lot less than that for your initial
startup.
Two final notes.
First, I did not include any budget in here for advertising
because there are a lot of free ways you can get started
advertising and promoting your site and I would recommend
exhausting those options before you begin looking into spending
money on advertising. By that time you may well have started to
earn a profit from your internet venture and so you can have a
better idea of the size of your advertising budget.
Second, if you plan to sell products yourself then you will need
a payment processor. You can sign up for free with PayPal so
that is no additional expenditure (you pay a percentage of each
sale so it is self-funding) or you can sign up for vendor
account with ClickBank which will cost you a one-time fee of $50
plus a percentage of each sale. I would not lay out a lot of
money for a shopping cart program or one of the other programs
that charges a monthly fee. I have done business with PayPal and
ClickBank as my exclusive payment processors since 1999. Every
so often I will investigate my other options and every time I
stick with these simple, effective programs.
Good luck with your new internet venture!
About the author:
Deanna Mascle is happy to offer her recommended Internet Business Tools as well as
other advice about Doing Business
Online. Internet marketers can also subscribe to her
internet marketing newsletter Establish Your
Epresence.
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