Februari 29, 2008 
Making your presence online with a small business website only requires 4 simple steps. They are very do-able for everyone who has decided to go online.
A lot of people however can't decide whether to make an online presence or not.
For the most part because they don't know what it takes to create a successful online venture. They just don't have any arguments on which they can base a solid decision.
So that's exactly today's 'mission': "what does it take to establish an online presence and why would you do that?"
Strange thing is...
thousands of people DO go online without even asking themselves what exactly they're going to do there. Numerous 'marketers' plunge into this business without ANY direction whatsoever. They wander from one strategy, program or game plan to another and seldom stick to anything long enough to even find out if it’s working or not. They may be interested to read this article too, because their actions leads us to ...
Online presence fact #1: No business is going to make you money on day 1.
Lots of people are attracted to the Internet because of the outrageous promises to get rich quick, in whatever form. That doesn't work folks! Get a lottery ticket if you want to take this route. Increases your odds.
These exorbitant promises often also imply that hardly any work has to be done. Working only a few minutes a day (or even week) will make you rich.
Again, that doesn't exist:
Online presence fact #2: It takes a lot of work to become successful online.
Yes, you can do it part time and still become successful, it will only take longer. And yes, the stories you may hear about these 'experts' who only shoot one email a month to their list and make enough money to live in wealth may be true, but then they just reap the benefits of all the hard work they've put in it in the past to achieve such a position (and they still have to work hard to stay there!).
There's work to be done. Lot's of work, certainly when you're starting out.
And that's because ...
Online presence fact #3: Any online presence is a business.
May sound stupid to some, especially when the goal is just to make a personal website, but if you don't treat it like a business, it's no use. And that's because all the off line business rules apply to any online venture as well. Ignoring them is a huge mistake.
So remember: Any online presence IS a business.
So, all the business rules apply, which means you got to have some form of a business plan. Now, this shouldn't be too complex and extensive, but you have to know what you want online and, more importantly, you have to stick to your plan.
So, your first step is to make a decision about what to do and then ...
Online presence fact #4: Focus on achieving your plans.
Anything else that has nothing to do with your plan is NOT to be bothered with.
Now we're running in circles, because -as we've seen at the top- we want to make a decision wheter or not to make an online presence and we just don't know what we can do or achieve online, right?
Here are a few basic options:
- Affiliate Marketing
You promote other people’s products. There are virtually millions of products online in thousands of different niches. The possibilities are just about limitless.
You'll need to learn a mixture of skills like advertising techniques, copy writing for sales letters, how to apply marketing instruments such as autoresponders etcetera.
Affiliate marketing can be very lucrative and maybe is one of the easiest things to accomplish on the Net. It can also be very frustrating because of all the pieces that need to be fit together. - Product Creation
This strategy very much looks like affiliate marketing, except you promote your own products instead of somebody else’s. Therefore, besides picking up the skills required for affiliate marketing, you also need to learn matters such as web design, market and topic research, content writing etcetera. Bit more difficult (unless you have an off line product business, see below), but do-able. - Service Creation
This is identical to product creation except in that you’re producing an ongoing service for people. Aweber, an outstanding autoresponder service, is an example of this. As you can imagine, producing your own service requires a lot of work. Aweber isn't a one man show, it's a whole team that runs this service. Not recommend doing as your first thing out of the gate (unless you already have an offline service, see below). - Freelancing
This is where you offer your skills like copywriting or programming to others. A skilful copywriter can easily earn as much as $2,500 for a sales page even if he’s just starting out, if only that page delivers sales.
Naturally you need solid training on whatever it is you do. If it’s PHP programming (an excellent choice, as is copywriting or creating graphics), you’ll need to take courses, read books and practice a lot to be better than the others. Often you'll need to start out offering your services for free in exchange for testimonials, thus establishing your reputation. - Bringing an off line business online
You can do this as an off line business owner yourself, or you can create a service to help off line business owners to get online. The latter is a hype lately and only recently an appraised home business thread emerged , but I've written a report about this many years ago. It's called
How Your Local Business, Service, or Shop
Can Increase Profits 100% Simply By Getting Online
and is meant for both off line business owners as well as those who want to provide a service to this target group. You can download your free copy right here.
Ok, now we've discovered some serious arguments that we have consider whether or not we'll make an online presence.
But are there any advantages?
YES!
Online presence fact #5: Establishing an online presence is dirt cheap!
That is, compared to an off line business. It depends on what you put into it money wise, but you certainly can establish an online presence with just a couple of hundred dollars. In general, the more you spend, the faster you will grow online, but big money isn't really necessary.
That's another advantage of going online: it levels the playing fields between big and small! Because ...
Online presence fact #6: It's World Wide!
The reach you have with your online presence is limitless. As long as you can deliver what you promise, every person in the whole world can be your customer. Of course it takes some extra measures to serve the whole world, like translating your content into foreign languages (can be automated too!), but it IS possible.
Also, your online business is open 24/7, 365 days a year! Showing your sales story, that you don't have to tell to every person individually, because your site takes care of that.
And you know what else?
Online presence fact #6: Testing strategies and techniques online is superfast and dirt cheap!
Your online presence allows you to test all kind of variables in your marketing and sales process, from niche research to after sales support.
And that on its turn allows you to create a prosperous online business, either standing on itself or as an extension of your brick and mortar business.
These are the main arguments to make a solid decision whether or not to make an online presence.
Now it's up to you. If I've missed something, just let me know and I'll get back to you.
If you decide an online presence is something for you, then check out this simple business site.
Or ...
You can go here and discover 18 ways to make $100 a day online. That's just $1.50 per idea, which again proves that the Internet is dirt cheap!
Wishing you success,
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