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How to start an online business

How To Start An Online Business

Starting an online business is a great way to make extra money. Below is a quick guide on how to start an online business.

* This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and then purchase the product, we’ll receive a commission. No worries though, you’ll still pay the standard amount so there’s no cost on your part.

1.Choose a product or service

We want you to succeed in building an online business, so it’s important to choose the right product. First you need a product or service. Most online entrepreneurs are offering services.

You can write a blog, design graphics, sing or train people on bodybuilding or weight loss. Whatever your passion is, you will be able to make money doing what you love.

If you’re a writer, you can make thousands of dollars online by writing for individuals or companies. If you’re a photographer or designer, there is room for you to make money doing what you’re passionate about. If singing or piano-playing is your thing, create a YouTube channel; and start monetizing from what you love.

If you’re a writer, musician, graphic designer, web developer or any trade you may think of, you have to check Fiverr.com, create a seller account, create a Gig and start accepting jobs from clients all over the world. There are no limits to what you can do on Fiverr.com.  Here’s your opportunity to make money doing what you love most! Remember, you can horn your skills by taking a course on Fiverr here..

Pick a professional writer from top Fiverr sellers here and they will write copy for your online business.

2. Check product viability

Want to start an online business? Check if your idea is worth the investment. It’s quick and easy, and we’ll give you tips on how to make it work.

Product viability refers to the business potential of a specific product — that is, how relevant and interesting the product will be to target buyer personas. 

Stay away from products with too little demand or too low a profit margin. 

When evaluating products, analyze these factors: 

  • Demand: Is there enough interest in this product for you to build an entire business around it or add it to your product mix?
  • Profit margin: Can you sell this product at a price point that is both competitive and allows you to generate a return on sale (ROS)?

Check more here: https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/evaluate-product-market-viability/#undefined

In this guide we’ll cover some of the costs you’ll encounter when starting an online business. Here are some of the costs:

(i)FREE domain name on HostGator.

A domain name is the web address of your website. It’s the first thing people see when they visit your site. Your domain is the name of your website, like abc.com or coolwebsite.com. It should be short and memorable.

Get a FREE domain name on Hostgator and save 12.95 per year. Click the image below, choose your preferred domain name and you’re good to go

Gator Website Builder

(ii) Web hosting from USD 2.75/month on HostGator.

If you want to start an online business, it’s likely that your first thought is where to get web hosting… and while there are tons of options out there, some of them are better than others. The hardest part about starting an online business is choosing a web host. There are so many options to choose from, and all of them offer eerily similar features. They go with HostGator, for the reasons that it offers a free domain name, it’s fast and very reliable. Click the image below and choose a hosting plan of your choice. We recommend the Baby plan so that you can host Unlimited websites.

Below is an image of the Baby Plan that we recommend…

Choose the Baby plan once you come to this page
Contact us if you face any challenges with regards to hosting

(iii) Ecommerce platform (Choose an e-commerce theme here).

Setting up your own online business doesn’t have to be difficult. Features like drop shipping and WooCommerce will help you get started quickly and easily. You’ll need an e-commerce platform like WooCommerce to run your own store.

In order to start an online business, you need to create an e-commerce platform. This platform will allow customers to buy your products and services. It also needs to be reliable, secure and scalable. WooCommerce is one of the most trusted and popular platforms for creating an e-commerce store. It has been integrated into more than 100 websites and shops around the world and can be used with few minutes of coding.

Click the image below and sign up for an Envato account. This will allow you to create virtually any website for your business. From a blog to a newspaper website, from a learning management system to a fully-fledged e-commerce system. It has all the functionalities that one needs.

(iv) Email marketing software from USD 10.

You should always start with a business idea in mind and see how you can automate it. Email marketing can be a great way to make email marketing work for you. You could start with things like auto-responders for emails and sending scheduled emails at specific times. Whether you promote blog updates or create a lead magnet, utilize one of the more popular email marketing platforms like ConvertKit, Aweber or InfusionSoft to implement the systems necessary to begin marketing via email.  Check 20 other popular email marketing softwares here

3. Conduct market research

Are you thinking of launching an online business? Consider doing a little market research first. It might be surprising to hear that more than half of Americans have no idea where their online business is going to be located. A good start will tell you things like: Are you planning on doing mass e-commerce or focused on niche market sales? How much time are you going to put into marketing? Where are you going to sell your products? Establish a website, but don’t forget about marketing!

4. Conduct competitive analysis

The best way to determine which online business ventures are profitable is to conduct a competitive analysis. Competitive analysis is an important part of any business’s planning and management, but it’s especially important when you’re starting an online business. Competitive analysis helps you identify barriers to the growth, strengths, and weaknesses of your potential competition. This analysis helps you decide whether an online company is better positioned to succeed than your existing business. Competitive analysis is an important step when starting an online business, whether it’s a web design company, an eCommerce website, or an online training academy. Ask yourself: Who are your competitors, How are your competitors successful? What are they doing to increase profits? Write down what works and what doesn’t.

Do a competitor analysis on Semrush. Hit this link and you’re good to go:

Start Competitir analysis here

5. Learn the laws of starting an online business and protect your business for years to come.

When you start your own business, it’s important to learn about the legalities of doing business in your new location. This is especially true if you are planning on doing work with people outside your geophysical boundaries. Understand how local, state, and federal laws affect you before taking any steps toward starting up a business. Any legal activity that takes place while you’re in motion is considered part of your business and is not considered deviating from your normal routine. Get to learn about (Taxes, registration, payment gateways, copyrights, trademarks, IPR, shipping restrictions (for physical products), etc)

6. Analyze your target market.

To succeed with an online business, you must analyze your target market. Before you even open your eCommerce business, you’ll want to examine your target market. Maybe you’re interested in a niche that appeals to women, men, or both.

Choose your target audience. Who’s buying the product? Are they comfortable on the web?

Figure out who your potential customers are. What areas do they live in? Are they young or old? What income level are they at?

7.Choose your preferred platform.

Your platform for starting an online business can be a website (your own website or others’ websites), a mobile app or software. The platform must allow you to set prices for your service. If you can get automation software, the better. You must be able to monetize from the platform. If it is a blog, you can monetize by following these ways.

8.Create a business plan

One of the most important things to know before starting an online business is the difference between a passive and an active online business. A passive business simply means that the owner of the website does not have any involvement in its daily operation. An active business, on the other hand, is characterized by a team effort between the owner and someone else—usually an entrepreneur or consultant who is providing IT services for the business. If you are thinking about starting an online business and do not have a specific plan in place, then the following article might be useful for helping you get started and making sure everything runs smoothly.

Check business plan templates here: bplans.com/downloads/business-plan-template/

9. Launch your online business.

Launching an online business is just easy! It’s a matter of having the website or blog go live and you’re off to go! Here are a few start-up ideas that you can make use of when starting your online business.

  • A marketplace connecting talented creatives (designers, copywriters, marketing designers), vetted, to products/business in need of design. Check: Fiverr.com or Upwork.com
  • An online marketplace for everything related to starting and running a business such as tax, accounting, consulting, insurance etc. Convert ideas into businesses.
  • Designing a website that allows its users to design websites for celebrities and earn commissions from the designs of their choice.
  • A web hosting platform aiming for ease and automation.
  • making a website and doing social media marketing for any business or startup.
  • Design tools to incentivize design discussion on websites, blogs, and offline.
  • Start a multi-vendor website, get commissions from people who will be selling on your site.

Tie in your store launch with a giveaway or contest outside of your store, like for instance, give away free grocery hampers to people who have bought groceries more than USD 100 on your website.

10. Drive traffic to your website

Traffic is one of the most important goals for any business owner. If you don’t get traffic, you can’t make money. How do you drive traffic to your site? It’s simple…build an audience that is interested in your brand and product. There are several ways you can attract visitors to your site but you must use them in order to drive traffic. The first step is determining what kind of traffic you need.

Traffic is critical to any successful e-commerce site. You need to get visitors to convert from passive visitors into active buyers who are going to put money down on your products or services. Every time someone clicks on your links or comes to your site, they are earning you a sale. On average, 25% of buyers will leave reviews after visiting a product page, so if you can get these unique visitors to leave positive reviews, you will improve your odds of getting more sales from buyers that visit again.

Here are 8 ways to increase traffic to your website

  1. Get Listed in Online Directories.
  2. Build Backlinks.
  3. Post to Social Media.
  4. Include Hashtags in Your Posts.
  5. Use Landing Pages.
  6. Target Long-Tail Keywords.
  7. Start Email Marketing. .
  8. Guest Blog.

Read more ways to drive traffic to your website here

11. Measure online success.

Making money online can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. But the more successful you become, the more likely you are to want to consider starting your own business. What measures to take to determine if your business is an online success? The most common method involves online traffic statistics. Another popular way to check is social media activity around your brand or product mentions.

(Popular KPIs to track: Website traffic (including new visitors and returning visitors), Conversion rate, Bounce rate, Referral traffic, Click-through-rate (CTR), Pay-per-click (PPC), Pageviews, Average time spent on your site (or specific landing page), Average order value, Site speed.) Check Google Analytics for some of these stats. We will do a different blog post for these stats.

12. Scale your online business.

You don’t need extensive experience or a large marketing budget to start your business online. We have the tools and connections to help you start and grow your business. Growing your business online is easier than you think! In fact, there are so many ways to do it, it can be kind of overwhelming. Read this guide on the best digital marketing tools you can use to scale your business online.

The 10 best digital marketing tools to use
Get them now!

It’s time to hit the ground running and start a business online.

Get started with your online business by getting a free domain name & hosting here:

Gator Website Builder

Start your business online by picking a great WordPress and building your site in seconds.

Need any assistance with regards to start your online business or to scale it? Contact Us

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