Starting Own Business Online – The 5 Gold Rules
If you want to start your own business online you should do it following a proven set of rules in order to avoid the mistakes done by the majority of new internet entrepreneurs. This set of rules is not a magical formula that will make you millionaire overnight or become fabulous rich in a few months.
It is, however, a set of rules that allows you to setup an online business that will create value for you and for your customers and will let you create a stable and long term source of income.
Before I give you the five rules that allow you to start a journey to a successful online business, there is something I want you to understand: starting a business online is simple but it is not easy.
What I mean with this last statement is that a business online, in general, follows a very, very simple business model:
- You setup a website with your offer (products or services);
- You drive traffic to your website;
- Some of your visitors become interested in what you are offering, becoming your prospects;
- Some of your prospects buy from you, becoming your customers;
- You can send, later, other offers to your customers.
As you can see, it is a very simple business model, but for having success you must understand that for each of the previous steps there are some skills, techniques and knowledge that you must acquire, either by learning them or by working with someone who knows them.
To get the necessary knowledge on how to implement and optimize the tasks listed above, you can find plenty of information on the internet, free or paid, that will help you to achieve the results you want.
Regardless you do it by yourself or you pay for someone to do it, it is important to acknowledge that all of those steps are just tactical, not strategic. And they are what a great number of internet marketers will try to sell you. But what are they good for if you miss the strategy?
That is what I want to present to you, the gold rules that you must use to build a strategy. When you have your strategy in place the tactical tasks will be done with in a natural way.
- Know your market. Before you start building your own online business you must be sure that you have a market. Nothing can be more frustrating than spend months of hard work to setup a business to discover that you have no market. If you do not have a market you do not have a business.
- Prepare your offer. What will you offer to your market? Your own products or services? Other people products or services? Your offer must answer to the market demands. You must provide value, a solution or the satisfaction of a desire. Remember this: every time someone visits your website is asking “What Is In here For Me?”
- Do a business plan. What, when, who, why and how. Your business plan must represent your business as you see it when it will be fully developed. Then you do a reverse engineering until you identify all the “W” and all the tasks and phases you must go through until you reach your vision.
- Identify the resources. Once you have your business plan properly outlined, you can analyse what resources you will need. Which skills you need to learn and which tasks you must outsource, how much money you need to invest, and how much time you need to spend.
- Know your numbers. Measure everything. Compare the results with what you have determined in your business plan. If you do not measure, you do not manage. You need to get the numbers, analyse them, tweak your business, and make the necessary changes, in order to meet your business objectives.
In summary, these are the five gold rules: Market, Offer, Plan, Resources and Measure. You must do them in the given order. Unfortunately, the majority of online entrepreneurs start their own business online jumping over the first step. Several do not do step three. In addition, some others go directly to step four! Very few do step five.
No wonder so many people fail when they start a business online. Because the model is simple, people tend to forget that is does not means it is easy. It is a business; you must treat it like any other business.
For additional information about the five rules and to get some precious resources you need to build your strategy stay tuned for my next articles. Better yet, subscribe to my newsletter to receive the new articles as soon as they’re published. Starting own business online can be the answer to your dream life if done properly.
Hi Jorge,
Nice little diagram you have up there! You nailed it in the head on your last sentence when you said “if done properly”.
Sometimes things are too simple that we overlook them but it definitely is key to follow a proven system and implement it then rinse and repeat for more profits!
Anna
Anna Haller´s last [type] ..Planning – The key to your success
Hi Anna
Thank you for your comment. Yes, following a proven business model is key for a quick success, otherwise you are re-inventing the wheel and do a lot of mistakes you can avoid.
Congratulations for your videos in your blog, I think you’ve found a talent.
Cheers
Jorge
Jorge:
Nice job on explaining the proven set of rules to build a successful online business.
Even though people want to make money online, too many of them do not treat it as a business. I think it is mostly because people do not understand waht it takes to run a business, whether it is online or offline.
- Rick
Rick Byrd´s last [type] ..50 Free Gold Affiliate Summit East 2010 Passes to Given Away
Hi Rick
Thanks for you comment. Yes, you’re right, most of times people try to start a business without understanding what it takes to run a business.
And I believe it’s worse in the internet because the front investment is lower or almost zero and everybody believes you can make money just like that, overnight. Which is not the case.
Cheers
Jorge
Jorge, this is a brilliant post.
It highlights the fact so many people miss when they come and try and make money online.
That this is a REAL BUSINESS.
You need to know your market and you need to have a plan. Too many people assume they know what their market wants.
Thanks again,
Reach new heights,
Nathan
Nathan Rufus´s last [type] ..The 60 Day Challenge…
Hello Nathan
Welcome and thank you for your business.
That’s something that our mentor Alex Jeffreys has been teaching us, that this is a business, not some kind of make money scheme.
I hope that more and more people learn that and can start to have some success in their businesses.
Cheers
Jorge
Great Post!!
Simple (in a good way) diagram and a fundemental principle explained. This IS a BUSINESS and NOT a hobby!!!
It’s takes time, effort and dedication and it’s not making $100,000 in 20 minutes from now on autopilot!
If people follow you 5 golden rules they’ll be on the right track! Good Job!
Rob
(** RJB **)
** RJB **´s last [type] ..Really Important But Often Overlooked…
Hi Rob
Glad you liked and agree. Thanks a lot for your visit to my blog and your comments, it’s always a great pleasure to see students from previous Alex Jeffreys’ coaching sessions to visit my blog.
By the way, loved your post about the Safelist Credits.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
You have it right there with all the steps. It is sadly true that too many people jumps this order and do not follow it as a step by step process, and do not treat their online activities like a business with the right foundation, and as a result fail to get anywhere.
Louis
Louis | Internet Traffic Specialist´s last [type] ..The Importance of Keyword Research – Part 2
Hey Louis,
Yes, it’s true that jumping the tasks order led people to become lost and not knowing exactly what they’re doing. Usually people give up after a while.
Also I think that there is too much hype in the IM world with so many products and schemes and courses claiming for instant riches and to make tons of money in no time. People jump on that (didn’t we all sometimes?) and when they realize what they’re doing they see they spent a lot of money, have no results and are lost in a maze of techniques, tricks and all that “enchilada” from which is not easy to get out.
This is a business, not a game or a lottery, in my point of view.
Cheers
Jorge
Great Summary Jorge.
Starting a business online has so many facets to it and I think you have summartised the important points nicely. I especially like no. 5 because knowing your numbers is vital. It’s funny, if it was an offline business, 99% of people would focus on the numbers massively, but since it’s online the mindset is ‘ oh its like Im on facebook but I have my own site’ so the business side of things is not looked at as important.
Great read and glad I came over to continue the conversation.
Alex
Alex´s last [type] ..Do you Want FRIEndS with that
Hi Alex
Thank you for your comment.
You’re right, the mindset of the majority of online entrepreneurs is not a business mindset, it’s more something like “let’s see what will happen”. Of course, after sometime, what happened was money spent and disillusion. And they say “doing business in the internet doesn’t work, there are to many scams, they all lie”. Imagine you start your brick and mortar business opening a store without thinking about what you going to sell, how to attract customers, how to sell, how much money you need to make every month to pay salaries, stocks, employees…
Cheers
Jorge
Hey Jorge, great post, showing the correct steps is very good information, clear and precise and I really like the diagram
Keep up the good work.
Reagrds
Ken
Hi Ken
Thanks a lot for your visit and your comment. I want to provide information useful and without any hype. I know it’s quite possible to create a great business in the internet and I’m tired of the mega-hype products that promises everything for nothing. I think if we want to help people we must provide true and solid information.
Cheers
Jorge
Hey Jorge,
Fabulous post of yours! You´ve made it perfectly clear: Online marketing is simple but it is not easy. Sometimes I talk about our business as being a game. But in the end I know – and I needed to realize that- it is certainly not a hobby.
It is a proper business and every proper business needs a specific plan. What I especially liked about your post is that you gave clear directions as to how to succeed in online marketing.
Once one has identified the parts of the business and set up the plan one needs to start to get all the pieces together. And there is no need to do it all by yourself -this can even be counter-productive. If there is areas one doesn´t feel comfortable with all you need to do is get someone to do it for you.
Thanks for sharing this concept of a successful business.
Mirko
Mirko Gosch´s last [type] ..Backlink To The Future – How Article Marketing Helps Your Off Page SEO
Hi Mirko
Welcome again my friend. You pointed a very important issue, that at some stage you can’t do everything by yourself. And the need to outsource or to find JV arises. But if you don’t know exactly what you need to do, where it fits in your plan, that your outsourcing can give you more problems then benefits. You don’t need to know the details, but you need to know what is the input and what is the expected output. The how-to can be done by a skilled outsource resource.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge
Thank you for this blog post.It is very clever, and useful, how you showed ‘planning’ as being the centre of your online business.
I tend to right a plan and then leavve it. The wrong kind of ‘set it and forget it,’ I know!
But understanding where we are going, means coming back to the plan often enought to make sure that we are on track, or to gather enough new data and resources to change direction without getting lost.
Thanks again
And speak soon. Keep up the excellent work you are doing in the forums etc.
Jaycee
Jaycee´s last [type] ..The Million Dollar Question is What Would You do With the Money
Hey Jaycee
Thank you for your comments.
You said it right: understanding where we are going is key. If you have a plan of course you don’t need to look at it every five minutes. You just check it every time you need, to make sure you’re on the right path. And even if you made a wrong movement, looking at the plan you can always go back to the right track. Without one, you don’t even know you made a wrong movement.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
Only noticed this post now. Love that “mind map” you have there. I agree to both you and Jaycee about knowing the importance of knowing and being aware of EXACTLY where we are in our plan. It do make a huge difference.
Thanks again for another great post!
Look forward to you up-coming Know Your Numbers post.
Cheers
Jason Ser
JasonSer@Most Powerful Inspirational Quotes Of YOur Life´s last [type] ..The Bigger Life – What’s The Most Powerful Life Changing Inspirational Quotes Of Your Life
Hi Jason
Thanks a lot for your comment, glad you like the “little” graphic.
The know your numbers is coming, just finishing a very little Excel file to give as a simple example.
Cheers
Jorge
Hey Jorge,
Awesome golden rules man. You’ve mentioned some awesome steps jorge.
Thanks for sharing this awesome Post.
~Dev
Dev | Technshare´s last [type] ..4 Great Blogging Lessons I learned from Children
Hi Dev
Thanks for stopping by and leave your comment.
I’ll develop the 5 gold rules in my next post shortly, so stay tuned.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
This was a really good post and you made it crystal clear the steps involved in marketing online.
The 5 golden rules are priceless information for any marketer starting up online. Actually I truly believe that your golden rule number 1 – “Know Your Market” is the key and where many marketers take a short cut.
As you say it’s essential to get this right or you just waste so much time, energy and probably money.
Well done mate – very much appreciated. I also like your diagrams as part of your explanation – very cool mate
Peter Beckenham´s last [type] ..My First Product Creation…This is My Plan-
Hi Peter
Thank you for your precious comment. Yes, you’re right, knowing your market can avoid you many pains. Usually people start their business online promoting something they believe it will sell good or something other people said it will sell good. And don’t stop a few minutes to do a basic market research. Dollars and weeks later they give up because didn’t sell anything.
I’ll develop the 5 gold rules in more detail on my next posts, so stay tuned.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge, I love the diagram. I agree with you that very few people really have a plan. I think one of the reasons is there are some successful marketers who tell the story of how they ‘fell into’ this and just happened to become successful. New IMers I think believe they can just roll along and it will happen for them too without any significant input.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Mandy Allen´s last [type] ..How do you relax
Hi Mandy
Thank you very much for your visit and your comment. You’re right, the majority of the “hype” out there is about how someone “fell into” some marketing secret and made 1 million dollars. This make newbies to fuss around for some magic trick that will put money on their bank account.
And we all fell into something like that, didn’t we?
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
yep, I agree… great post to not only show some great rules/tips for being successful online….
But also to teach and show newbies that this is a business just like any other – so they really do need to plan it like a business regardless of how cheap the cost of entry is!
The more professional their approach from the outset – the easier they will find it is to achieve some success!
OH, and welcome to the 100 blog challenge
Randy
http://www.RandolfSmith.com
Randy Smith´s last [type] ..Warning – Guru’s Are Like Governments!
Hi Randy
Thank you for your comment, you’re right about the fact that because Internet Business has low entry costs, people don’t bother to plan the business carefully. And that will cost them much more then they think, because they will spend a lot of time working for no results. And time is money, right?
I’ll be participating in the 100 comment challenge full power on the following days.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
An excellent set of golden rules.
As we have been taught, no plan, no business.
As I have said before, if you don’t know where you are going, how would you expect a reader of your blog to know.
No plan, no brain.
Very well described in your article.
Pete
Pete Carr´s last [type] ..Blogging-Why You Should BePart 1
Hey Peter
Appreciate your visit and your comment. You just highlighted a very important issue: if you don’t know where you are going, how would you expect a reader of you blog to know. We see too many bloggers just posting about “blogging” and other boring stuff again and again, filling their blogs with adsense, and expecting to get a lot of cash… they forget one of the main reasons that will keep their readers coming back frequently: what’s in it for me? No value, no back visitors. No plan, no value. I myself I’m trying to get away from the vicious circle of blogging just because so. Added value is what get people coming back, and we must try to provide it to our readers.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge, thank you for commenting on my blog.
Your 5 golden rules are very true and easy to follow. All of them are vaild points especially 1 and 5. We can often throw ourselves into something only to discover we’ve wasted our time effort and quite often our money.
I do try and stick to number 3 as well, however, due to health issues i find it hard to stick to any plan, other than do what i can when i can to move my business forward in some way.
Fingers crossed i’ll have my health issue put behing me in a few weeks time and can pick up the baton again.
Excellent post Jorge, catch up very soon, Barry
Hi Barry
I’m also crossing my fingers for you and I hope you get rid of that health issue as fast as possible. But being all the rules very important, I also thing that 1 and 5 are the most, without following those rules you’ll never make one penny online.
Wish you the best and hope to hear from you soon.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge, very well put. A lot of would be marketers don’t realize that starting an online business takes work like in any other business.
There is so much misleading information out there that many are mislead and are conditioned to easy street with out knowing the true facts and fail. Terry Conti
Terry Conti´s last [type] ..Sell your ebook on its own or put it on Clickbank What do you think
Hi Terry
Yeah, too much misleading information… but the problem is our own expectations, I believe. Just think for a minute: would it be possible to make 6 figures in one month just like that? Reading it from a $27 report? Aren’t we jumping over the cliff, even knowing that those are empty promises? I think that at some point of our journey we blind ourselves with the “gold fever” and we just don’t think. And of course there are some hell damn good copywriters out there….
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge
You are dead right…Knowing the market is the key to how successful you will become. It doesn’t guarantee success if you find the right market, but it sure does save a lot of time and effort when you discover the wrong market.
Great to have you on board the challenge
cheers
Steve
Hi Steve
You just summarized the first rule very, very well. Thanks a lot for your comment, I’ll use it in some of my material
As I said in my answer to John, I must be updated with all the fellow marketers in the 100 comment challenge, I’m a little behind.
Cheers
Jorge
My ears were burning when I read this Jorge – you WERE talking about me weren’t you?
I ran a direct mail business which was all planning and measurement, but on the Internet you are quite right, I just went straight to step 4 – learning skills.
However, now I have enough skills to get me going, I shall be following all 5 steps in sequence. Thanks for the summary, it will be a useful post for reference.
Good luck with the 100 comment challenge Jorge.
John
John McNally´s last [type] ..JESUS “Son of Man”
Hi John
Thanks for stopping by.
I must confess that when I created this series of posts (is not finished yet) I was talking to… myself.
Yes, that’s true, in the first year or so online I didn’t follow the rules, so as you can imagine the success is nothing I can be proud of.
We are all learning and comments from you and other fellow marketers also help me learning a bit more everyday.
Cheers
Jorge
PS: I must pay visits to all people involved on the 100 comment challenge :p
Hey Jorge, Excellent post!
This is really great advice for anyone starting a new business the 5 step process that you have outlined is a great way to start out. I wished I had followed that process when I first started would have save me a lot of money and heartache. I look forward to your further follow up posts. Many Thanks
Stan Young´s last [type] ..Technology is changing our world-Entrepreneurs- Did you know-are you ready for the Challenge
Hi Stan,
Thank you very much for your visit and your comment.
I also wish I had this process laid out when I first start… and I should had, after all I’ve been 20 years in corporate world and started two offline businesses with some sort of success. So I knew that is needed… but I felt to the hype.
I hope some newbies can take advantage of our failures and do things better, after all it’s why we are posting advice and experiences.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
I am here thanks to the 100 post challenge… has been a gold mine of information.
Excellent post…we tend to think because it is online that we do not need a business plan…you are so right … it is a real business runon a different format.
We have been feed too many get righ scams that people starting a business here start with the wrong idea.
Good to meet you… I will be back to read your followup.
Cheers
Bryan
Bryan McHeyzer@The Internet Intern´s last [type] ..Increase Your Squeeze Page Conversion Rate!
Hey Bryan
Good to meet you too and thanks for your comment.
Indeed this 100 post challenge is a gold mine of information and new contacts, that I’m appreciating so much.
I still have tons of blogs to visit and comment, but I’ll get there.
Cheers
Jorge
Jorge,
Number 5 – know your numbers: that’s the one that jumps off the page at me. I follow my alexa ranking – even though many people disregard it – because it fluctuates frequently and I can see whether my actions for building backlinks and traffic are having any influence. At least it gives me something to measure against. Good job on this post!
Cheryl from thatgirlisfunny´s last [type] ..Link Bait – Posts That Get Stumbled
Hi Cheryl
well, you hit the point. Knowing your numbers is critical. Someone told that if you can’t measure you can’t manage and I can’t agree more.
There are other techniques you can implement: Google Analytics to see the number of visitors and page views. Easy to install, gives valuable information. To check backlinks and from where they come you can use Yahoo Site Explorer (https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/mysites) that shows you all your backlinks and the sites where they come from. This two pieces of information gives you additional information on top of Alexa.
Cheers
Jorge
Excellent post Jorge.
Because an online business can be set up for such a low cost people just don’t treat it like a business. They can’t be bothered to do the work so they just walk away. They’d work much harder if they had a couple of grand at stake as they would with a brick and mortar business. It’s no wonder so many fail.
Best Wishes
Lynn
Hi Lynn
Thank you for your kind comment.
You are right, I think I made (and sometimes still make) the same mistake. If I buy a e-book I read it as soon as I download it. If it is a free e-book, I can save it for reading later (which I seldom do) and no worries about that.
The money we invest plays a big trick in our mind… if we invest little or nothing, we don’t care too much, because we know, in the back of our minds, that the loss is not big.
In order to have success in our online adventure we must focus in the earnings we expect, and when, instead of the investment we made. It is simple but not easy to re-program our minds.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge
I agree with your 5 points. It is all about knowing and planning and this is where a lot of people fail.
A little about me – My name is Sue McDonald and I am a student of Mark Terrell and I am actually going through the course a second time – by invitation. I love it and know if I do all he says, I will be successful. I am Australian but the US is my second home as I have family there and visit quite often. This is why I started Internet Marketing so I can travel whenever I want and have the money to do what I want.
Well I hope you are doing well and you become very successful. I would love you to come visit my blog and leave a comment.
Kind regards
Sue
Sue McDonald´s last [type] ..Week 3 of the Newbies Course
Hi Sue
Thanks for visiting my blog and I’m glad to meet you
Internet Marketing can really make up for the style of life we want. I too love travel and I hope Internet Marketing allow me to travel as much as I desire.
I’m going to visit our blog, that’s for sure.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge
Great diagram and very well put. The difference between success and failure is often the presence of all 5 of these steps in your plan, miss any one of them and you can miss by a mile or an inch.
Remove luck from the equation and plan for success.
Hi Igor
Thanks for your visit and your comment.
I guess a little luck is always needed, but you can expect for it to build your business or you can use it just to make things happen fast. I prefer the second approach and plan my business to grow without luck, If luck happens, I’ll use it.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge
I think most newcomers fail because they don’t have a plan at all, they like the idea of making money online, they try a bit of this, then try a bit of that, make zilch and quit.
A plan is vital, particularly a plan endorsed by a successful marketer.
Stuart Turnbull´s last [type] ..We need your ‘make money online’ ideas!
Hi Stuart
Thanks a lot for your comment. I think that if a newbie survive the blind experiments phase and the buy everything phase and finally the get all possible free information phase he’ll realize he needs a mentor. And a good mentor, of course, start by helping the newbie creating a plan.
I think only a very tiny percentage of newcomers reach the phase…
Cheers
Jorge
Jorge,
“If you do not have a market, you do not have success”…very important, as you point out. How many of us pick something without checking to see if the market wants it?
Good point.
Cheryl Jones
Hi Cheryl
Thanks for your visit and your comment.
Although it sounds common sense, the fact is that a lot of newcomers venture in Internet Marketing without having a market, or at least without knowing if they have a market. They find a PLR, an affiliate product or create their own product based on their own perception and after several months of hard work they conclude nobody wants to buy their stuff.
It’s very important to know if there are buyers for the product. otherwise you just spend time and money.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
A very useful and thought provoking post.
I think items 1 and 3 are the ones where most people fall down at the beginning.
It is strange also that most people will plan everything for an offline business life but not for online business.
I suspect it relates to the start up costs.
Cheers,
Dave
Dave Whittle´s last [type] ..Resale Rights Products Explained
Hello Dave
Thank you for you comment.
Let me add to your comment that I’ve seen people failing also at the rule 5. It’s common to judge the success of a new business by the sales it makes and do not pay attention to what costs it represents, either in money, time or work.
You’re right, from my point of view the low start up costs leads to careless planning.
Cheers
Jorge
Hey My Friend Jorge!
How are you? Its been quite some time that I have interacted with you.
)
First – your blog is very well designed and you have excellent post topics. Honestly, I looked around your blog and could not resist commenting even before I read any of the topics completely (though I have read the summaries for most
Great stuff going on here .. keep up the good work.
I would like to participate in GiveAways – would be nice to know which of the good GiveAways are lined up in the next few weeks.
Cheers!
Abizer
Hi Abizer
I was wondering where you have been
Thank you for your comment, I’m glad you like my posts. I’ve been working, researching and trying to put all in a nice format so that people can enjoy read my content.
For the giveaways why don’t you take a look at Paul Teague blog? Usually he’s on top of all giveaways that are happening.
See you soon.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge
Thanks for the info on giveaways. Will look at Paul’s site for more info. Are you on facebook ? Trying to get connected to all our fellow MWA buddies there …
cheers!
Abizer
Hi Abiser
Yes, I’m on Facebook. Search for Bento.Jorge
Cheers
Jorge
Hey Jorge
I have just come for a visit to your site. How are you going?
Yes it’s Mark and I am following my students as they post on other peoples blogs. They don’t know that I am always checking to see they are getting results. I am passionate about helping them achieve and then they are able to make some money online exactly the same as I am doing. It is not really difficult as long as they are willing to put in the effort.
Always pleasing if I can see some of my students have posted comments. There are one or two here. Keep up the good work.
Regards
Mark
Mark * Coaching Newbies* Terrell´s last [type] ..Giant Giveaway Event
Hey Mark
Thanks a lot for your visit and for your comment.
Well, I must say that you must be proud of your students. I don’t know who they are but everybody is leaving great comments and I’ve been visiting the 100 comments challenge blogs and the majority are great blogs, full of valuable information and quite entertaining.
I’ll also pay a visit to your blog and grab one of your free offers. You have something it’s getting my attention these days: list building.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
Great base plan and a recipe for success too. It’s strange because three years ago my accountant said to me “Dan what is a hobby is now turning into a serious business” It was this that made me think for a moment, that I run a business now so I must treat it like one.
I used to just go with the flow and run on the fly most of the time! I now check my numbers and plan more effectively on a weekly basis.
Great post Jorge thanks!
Daniel Sumner´s last [type] ..Self Learning – Outsourcing – Student and Teacher
Hi Daniel
Welcome and thank you for your comment.
Do you think you were lucky? I mean, you turned your hobby into a business. The great majority of newbies can’t make a cent ever! Even facing it as a hobby, there must be something you did quite well, right?
Planning and checking numbers is the core beat of a business, any business. People don’t plan and they just think about checking the bank account. That’s why they fail.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Daniel,
I agree that planning and knowing your market are the most important aspects of starting a business. The proper research upfront makes all the difference!
Thanks for the post,
Lesley
Hello Lesley
Thanks for your visit and for your comment.
If you find a market, an hungry market, and the right product, you’re done. No better recipe for success.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
Thanks for reiterating the steps! I forget that things need to be done in order and I get all mixed up and nothing gets done!!
I have been blogging for a while and I still don’t have a plan! I keep telling myself that I am going to make my business plan and then something comes up like a 100 comment challenge!
What is your plan? how did you come up with it? What is the easiest way for me to make a plan and stick to it?
You know I don’t have a lot of time, so the little bit of time I do have, I have to make it count!!
Thanks for this info and I will be back to see how you did it
Lisa~
Lisa´s last [type] ..How Did I Get HERE
Hi Lisa
Welcome to my blog, I must tell you that reading your last post was very inspirational.
It’s because you have little time that you must plan. So you can take the most of every minute available. If you plan today what you’ll do tomorrow, you can focus on productive tasks. If what you do tomorrow is a detail of a weekly plan, that is a part of a global plan, then you are setting up a business.
Read my post http://jorge-bento.com/starting-own-business/starting-own-business-online-create-a-plan/ and subscribe, on the right side, to the Easy Cash Webinar. Don’t get tricked by the title, is a powerful webinar with my mentor Alex Jeffreys, and he teaches in detail what you must do. Watch it, I know you’ll be thrilled by the info and you’ll be able to start on the right path.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge…
Very sage advice…
One of my favorite quotes…I don’t even know where it came from is:
“treat your business like a business and it will produce like a business…treat your business like a hobby and it will produce like a hobby.” I’ve never forgotten those words.
How right you are that most people never do step 5…the measuring. I am guilty there too…and I hear it over and over from successful marketers that you must analyze everything! I can fully understand that without that knowledge, you cannot position yourself correctly.
Thanks for this very educational post with powerful reminders
Kathy
Kathy Dobson@Outsourcing to the Philippines´s last [type] ..HiveDesk…Track Your Outsourced Workers Time
Hi Kathy
That is a very wise quote.
I can’t say which is the most important step… and depending on the business model, you can mix some of the steps, although they must be present in the overall strategy. For example, you may not need to list all the resources you need for each blog you’ll develop for each niche, because you already developed several blogs… but if you have all the resources you need already in place, like plug-ins, auto-content generator, themes, and so on, the task to setup a new blog will be much more easier to complete in less time, wright?
Now, measuring what you need is paramount. How many subscribers for 100 visitors? How many e-mails opened in each broadcast? How many sales to expect in 1000 visitors? And so on… knowing the numbers you find room to improve and you can focus on special features of your business, like conversion rate, mail open rate, bounce rate, and correct your strategy so you can become more effective. And this is very important if you outsource, because you must make sure you are getting a profit.
Well, this is almost what I’m going to write in my next post. so come back and visit in a couple of days.
Cheers
Jorge
Hey Jorge,
It’s as easy as 1,2,3,4,5 not 2,3,5. Sticking to a proven plan and taking action is vital in this game (NO BUSINESS). Many marketers or newbie marketers jump straight into the deep end. “Wheres the money give me the money”
If they only research and do things properly the money will come automatically. Following your 5 proven steps gives you a full proof plan to success. Great post and will be a good reference when I stray off my own plan.
Cheers
Craig
Hello Craig
Thanks for your visit and comment.
Glad I can be of any assistance when it comes to understand the need of treating IM as a business. Is not hard, is just takes some time to start and get some results. But with a good plan, those results tend to increase and become constant over the time, which is what we all look for, tight?
Cheers
Jorge
Great post Jerge,
It’s so important to track your numbers. That was something I didn’t do when I first started marketing on the internet. It’s vital to find out what is working and what is not so you don’t waste your time and money on things that are not making a difference to your business.
Sandy
Sandy Halliday´s last [type] ..Failure Is Not An Option In Making Money Online
Hello Sandy
Welcome back to my blog
Love the title of your post, indeed failure is not an option, just a step on the learning curve.
Tracking the numbers is one of the most important things you can do to have a successful business, unfortunately people tend to look only to the sales side of the business.
Cheers
Jorge
Sound advice Jorge.
If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail! This is as true in an internet marketing online business as with anything else!
I’ve posted a link to this page on identi.ca for you (makes a change from Twitter!)
Martyn Boaden´s last [type] ..What Was Your Biggest Challenge When You Started Your Internet Marketing Online Business
Hi Martyn
Thank you for your comment and for the link at identi.ca
I don’t know ident.ca but I’m going to take a look at it
Cheers
Jorge
Hey Jorge,
I think the number one reason that most people fail both online and offline is that they fail to understand their target market. Good post!
J
The Cartoon Coach
Carstarphen´s last [type] ..Which Online MLM System is really the best
Hey Jeremiah
Thanks a lot for your visit and your comment.
It seems quite consensual that not knowing the market will lead you to failure, but the reality shows that the majority of people just try to sell whatever they think it will bring a profit without knowing if there is a market, if it is a buyer market, and all the market data you need to get a nice start.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
I agree in principle with your 5 rules though I hope marketers look to sell more of their own products to their existing customers. I’m sure they will (maybe wishful thinking) and not depend on too many offers
It is much better to be more in control by knowing exactly what products offers you can make in the future simply because they are your own.
I would even go so far to say that when a marketer looks at a market they should be thinking of their fifth product not just their first one. They should be asking is there scope to expand way beyond the first product at the outset.
If make seem a small point put to many internet marketers they look for a quick fix and think once the first product is up and selling that’s game over and they are off to look at something else when really there is ample space to sell to existing customers in their current market if a little thought is put in up front.
All the best.
Cheers
Andy
Andy Brown´s last [type] ..The 4 Essentials Every Affiliate Program Should Have
Hi Andy
Thank you for your visit and your comment.
I agree with you that internet marketers should concern themselves about having several products to offer to a market, either their own product or other people products (affiliates). That’s why I believe that, once you identify a market, you must spend some time preparing your offer or offers. If you have a clear picture of your market, you can identify several products you can sell. You can have a main product and also offer several complementary offers, or make cross sellings and up sellings. This way you can profit a lot more from one market and the effort to enter that market would be leveraged. You make the effort once and you profit for many offers or related offers.
Your comment gives all an excellent insight regarding what you pretend to sell to a market. Usually marketers leave a lot of money on the table by moving to another markets once they start selling one product in one market.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
Totally agree.
I harp on about copywriting a lot and done well one has to immerse themselves in the language of their market and spend time working on copy. This takes a lot of time if you really want to stop the reader in their tracks with a knock out headline, turn up the “pain” dial and offer the solution in the form of your product.
Every time you enter a new market it is like learning a new language. OK copywriting can be outsourced but there is a reason why the best are expensive – someone has to pay for the time they need to immerse themselves in the market lingo.
Smart copywriters will not branch out into too many different markets as they can be more profitable by continually utilising the knowledge and experience they have learnt in just a few.
So as you say jumping into a new market when you have only touched the surface of the one you are in can be a false and ultimately expensive move.
Cheers
Andy
Andy Brown´s last [type] ..The 4 Essentials Every Affiliate Program Should Have
Hi Andy
It’s really sound advice what you are telling here.
“Every time you enter a new market it is like learning a new language.”
That’s so true! You cannot build trust and create relationships with your potential customers if you do not understand what they want, how they want it and when they want it. It’s mandatory to learn their language, their behavior, their expectations. Otherwise, no matter how hard you try, you’ll make no profit in that market.
Thanks a lot for sharing these opinions here.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge
I’ll be back. I need to use this to critique my site. Thanks for the great post. If the first site isn’t that good I’ll call it practice and rework the next one better. I have to use the 5 gold rules.
Thanks
Alex
Alex@first100items´s last [type] ..Heating
Hi Alex
That’s the way. Failure is not something you tried and didn’t work, so you better give up. Failure is something that wasn’t quite exactly what we wanted and we have the opportunity to learn how to do better next time, and we do it.
Cheers
Jorge
Hey Jorge,
Good post. This is stuff that everyone should be familiar with before they set out to try to make money online.
Thanks for sharing this with everyone!
Peace,
Darren L Carter
Darren L Carter´s last [type] ..Free Atomic Bomb Survivor Inspiration Book – Finished!!
Hey Darren
Thank you for your visit. And I wish you all the best with your book. great work.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge, these golden rules are something we all need to remind ourselves of from time to time as it is so easy to forget all of these and get carried away. Great post!
Cheers
Rob
Rob Corrigan´s last [type] ..What Is The Cheapest Way To Start A Business Part 2
Hi Rob
Thanks for your comment.
I hope the simple graphic will help people to remember what is needed to do. Nothing special, just a proven set of steps.
Cheers
Jorge
Just like in any business it takes a lot of work, before you start, to set up a successful online business.
But once the background research is done and the preparations are there, all you need to do is get those 5 steps working and you got yourself an income.
Daniel M. Wood @ Sales Techniques, Motivation and Success´s last [type] ..How to Use Motivation to Accomplish Your Goals and Start Living Your Dream Life
Hi Daniel
Thanks for your visit and comment.
If you use the 5 rules on a systematic mode, they become 2nd nature for you. so every time you start a new “business” you just follow as a receipt for success. The first is more difficult because you have to adapt and fill the blanks with your own business model.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
Your post is yet simple but very valuable. These golden rules have to be followed in order to build your business. Although you are giving away a real business plan (the points), unfortunately there are people that will chose the easiest and shiniest methods.
I am looking forward for your next blog posts (articles).
Take care,
Andreas
Andreas Spyrou´s last [type] ..The Biggest Affiliate Marketing Mistake – Mistake 6
Hi Andreas
Thank you for your comment.
The problem is that most of the time people doesn’t want just the points, they want everything ready to start, just turn the key and that’s it. They don’t adapt and adjust to the specification of their own business model or profile. But franchising is quite expensive, right? And even franchising need some tweaks, some adjustments and a lot of work.
I already posted about the 4 first rules, I’ll try to finish in a few days.
Cheers
Jorge
Hello Jorge, bravo, you’ve written one of the most brief and impressive guides to internet marketing I’ve read! Your observations are laid out very nicely in the 5 gold rules. This information is valuable for everyone, new or seasoned. We should all make it our business to share and to use these gold rules as often as possible. Take care, Steve D.
Hello Steve
Thank you very much for your visit and your comment.
I’m planning to join all the posts under this 5 Gold Rules in one simple report, with a little more juice for each of the rules.
Do you think it would be interesting for marketers?
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
Looks like you have thing down pat here. I have taken several business classes before in the past and have not really applied what I learned from them in my online business, such as having a business plan and a mission statement. How could I be so blind?
Well I have to start from scratch here and get the plan going first.
Thanks for the great post.
Take Care,
Steve
Steve Troutman´s last [type] ..BoilerMaker 15K Roadrace July 11- 2010
Hello Steve
Thanks a lot for your visit and your comment.
I know what you mean, usually I also have some difficulties applying what I learned in classes.
That’s why I think we need to make things easy. This model has 5 basic rules and you read the, so far, 4 posts after (one for each rule) you’ll see it doesn’t take a lot of work to follow the rules.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
Thank you for an excellent post which explains perfectly why we all need to plan when starting a business online.
Your golden rules are so clear and concise which makes it very easy to understand your formula for succeeding.
Very good to meet you on the challenge Jorge and I look forward to visiting your blog soon for some more great advice.
Regards,
Brian
Brian Alcock´s last [type] ..So You Failed…So What!!
Hi Brian
Thanks for visiting and posting your comment.
I’m also very glad to meet you and I0m happy to be in the challenge, I’ve found lots of very interesting blogs and people. It just takes me a lot fo time to go visit all the blogs because I like to spend sometime in each blog to see other posts and understand better the blogger.
Soon I’ll be visiting yours.
Cheers
Jorge
Hi Jorge,
Great article and absolutely perfect for the challenge! Perfect choice!
I finally got here!
Now that all the contributors are on board and I have finished some other work I was on a deadline to do I finally get to finish my blog hopping.
Some of the blogs that have joined the challenge are amazing, you could get lost in them for hours. I never realised the amount of workload this little challenge would cause! Oops on that one!
I do hope everyone gets around to everyone’s blogs. I am doing a table as I go around. It is up to the contributors now as to how successful this will be!
Now re your roadmap! It is awesome. The points I like the most are 1. Knowing your market and 3 The Business plan. The other points are just as relevant, however I think number 1 and 3 are my important ones!
Having been in offline business that have failed due to bad planning I can relate to that!! Plus not choosing the market wisely was also my downfall.
Online business is no different to offline business and I do not understand why people think it is.
Having a plan is key! The last 18 months I have mainly been learning what I want to do, yes I do have a product online, however I think of that one as my learning vehicle. Now when I think about new ideas I sit down and plan them before I begin, that way I work out if I need to learn more or if I can start or even if the product will be viable or not.
Had better get back to blog hopping and checking up on everyone. Will be back here in the next few days. I am taking a table of everyone’s comments as I go around.
happy Blog Hopping!
Cheers
Jacinta
Jacinta Dean´s last [type] ..The 100 Blog Comment Challenge Update!
Hi Jacinta
Thanks a lot for your visit, your comment and for the challenge. It’s been quite interesting to participate in this challenge and meet new people and find some awesome blogs.
I also favor rules 1 and 3, but my main favorite is number 5, know your numbers. Number 5 must be present all the time, since the very beginning, when you identify the market, how many potential visitors, how many can become subscribers, to the very end, when you see the business develop and you start to see if the predictions are being met, and you know exactly what is failing or what is doing better then your expectations.
Sometimes we feel that having a rough idea of our numbers is enough, and we “manage” by “gut feeling” instead of a proper measuring. I remember some time ago I had a little PPV campaign and I was paying more then what I was selling, but I didn’t realize that some of the persons that visited the sales site and didn’t buy at the spot were coming back later. After I stopped spending money in advertisement I continued to make some sells because the affiliate cookie was valid for 45 days. It ended with a nice profit for me.
Tracking, measuring, testing and improving cannot be done properly if you don’t know your numbers. That’s why I believe this is the most important rule.
Cheers
Jorge
Great info! So many ppl miss this when starting their business. Its something that is truly needed. Thanks for sharing!
Amy Steelman-Prueter´s last [type] ..Are you up for the Challenge
Hi Amy
Welcome to my blog and thank you for your comment. Create a great plan and you may develop a great business.
Cheers
Jorge
Hey Jorge,
How you doing?
Your golden rules are certainly a recipe for success, I am glad to see you moving forward to quickly.
Not only that, you seem determined to share your findings with others on your blog which is a very endearing trait.
Speak to you soon,
Sally
Sally Neill´s last [type] ..Writing Testimonials Benefit You Too
Hey Sally
How are you? Thanks a lot for visiting.
I’m not moving as quickly as I would like but… I’m getting some background information and I’ve been testing some cool strategies that will help me developing my business really quick. At least, that’s my hope
Soon I’ll be posting what I’ve found and how to take the most of some strategies that everybody talks about but really few people master.
Cheers
Jorge
Hey, Jorge,
The golden rules are very and easy to understand. Now the power will be in the implementation.
Thank you for sharing,
Fran T
Fran T´s last [type] ..Nopalea and My Knee
Hi Fran
Thank you very much for your comment.
Implementation is a challenge because it forces you to take action. And we have been told that 95% of people doesn’t take action, that’s why they fail.
I think it’s not so true, I think people take action but they do not follow a complete blueprint. If you buy a very nice course about Article Marketing and you start implementing what’s there without integrate Articles correctly on your SEO and business strategy, you’ll get poor results, right?
Also if you don’t know your market, you may do tons of things and make no money at all, because they were the wrong things.
That’s what I believe people is doing, they take action, they just don’t know where they are going and some time they take the wrong actions for their markets.
Cheers
Jorge