An Online Business Plan That Really Works
By Jeff Smith
You want to start your own online business, and to begin with you must build it with
limited time because of your existing job, life or family situation - sound familiar?
I was the same way - the last thing I wanted to do is use my hour each day to work on a
dead-end project or worse yet, work my butt off only to put money in someone else's
pockets without putting me in a better situation.
The fact is that most unsuccessful attempts to start an online business fail because
they a. Don't follow a plan of any kind - instead taking the shotgun approach or b. Follow
a faulty plan that is designed to make other people money - not you.
When I first started out online 8-years ago, we hit some dead-ends pretty fast - but in
doing so found one specific online business plan that really works no matter who puts it
into action.
It works mainly because YOU have a product that can be controlled and sold 100% by you
- you are not relying on making someone else wealthy, but instead can leverage your
product to finally achieve the time and financial freedom we all seek as
entrepreneurs.
There are ten steps to this proven online business plan, and while this may seem like a
great deal of work, the fact is that you can master this entire process in as little as
six weeks while still working away at your current job.
So here is the plan.
1. Uncover a hot desire within a target market by visiting forums, discussion groups,
blogs and social networking sites that clearly indicate a niche market with an interest in
a subject area. Then, pull out the biggest frustration, challenge or desire from withing
that market - this will tpyically be a question like "How do I keep ten pounds off for more
than six months" or "What investment plan should I follow given today's highly volatile economy?"
2. Publish a blog on your topic posting daily for a few weeks to build traffic. By
blogging and submitting to various blog directories as well as social networking sites you
will get more traffic along with some backlink advantage from authority sites improving
your search engine position over time. You are "putting up your sign" for your new online business.
3. Start building your list right away by putting an opt-in forum with a bonus download
on your main page(s). List building is so important because...
a. Eight out of ten visitors will not buy on first visit to your site
b. You can double (and often triple or more) your conversion of visitors to sales by
exposing them multiple times to your sales page
c. You can survey your list for further ideas, case studies, or sell them other people's
products and make affiliate commissions
d. You'll have an eager group of customers highly motivated to buy from you in the future
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