By http://upandcomingmarketing.com/

Table of Contents

The Distinctions Of Online Businesses.................................................................3

The Idea Behind The Business..............................................................................4

PayPal Versus Online Shopping Carts...................................................................5

Choosing a Web Address.......................................................................................6

Choosing A Web Host............................................................................................7

The Importance Of Web Design............................................................................8

Sell It With Copy...................................................................................................9

Free Marketing Mania.........................................................................................10

Establish An Expert Reputation...........................................................................11

Email Marketing Makes It Happen......................................................................12

The Distinctions Of Online Businesses

Starting an online business has become a very popular venture in recent years as more

and more people become acclimated to using the Internet in their everyday lives. As little

as twenty years ago, the Internet was new to the average consumer and not much more

than a novelty; today, it’s rare to encounter a home in the Western world that’s not

stocked with at least one computer. Most middle class houses in America have multiple

computers at this point.

What this means is that starting an online business can be profitable if done correctly,

given the predominance of the Internet in the average household. People who are natur-

ally entrepreneurial or those who have already started a non-internet based business will

definitely have a leg up on the rest of the game, but for the right person who’s willing to

take appropriate steps to ensure success, starting an online business can be easy, fun, and

even profitable.

In general, the differences between online business and traditional businesses are slight

but distinct. Here are a few things that potential online business owners should take into

consideration before jumping on the Information Superhighway:

· Lower start up costs/high effort. One of the greatest things about on-

line businesses is that they typically don’t cost much to get started. There’s no

need to rent out a space or pay utilities, and there are lots of free avenues to ad-

vertise with over the digital waves. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that

“less money invested means less work,” because nothing could be further from

the truth. Online business owners often feel like their computers are grafted onto

their hands!

· Be a jack of all trades. It’s not good enough just to have a stellar idea or a

fantastic service. In order to be successful, you need to be able to do graphic

design, understand web server technology, programming, and knowledge of the

Internet as a marketing medium. For those that can’t do all of this single

handedly, outsourcing is an option, but this raises overall cost.

· Think globally. This isn’t opening up a small Mom and Pop store in your

neighborhood. The business will be able to reach all corners of the globe, thanks

to the Internet. The good part is that this potentially means more business – the

bad part is that owners will have to make provisions for costs such as international

shipping, and maybe even pay for translated versions of their websites.

· Marketers make the market. There are thousands of ways to market on

the Internet, including pay-per-click, viral, drip, social networking, AdWords, and

The Idea Behind The Business

Obviously, the first place to start with any business is to come up with an idea. What, ex-

actly, is up for sale and what is the best way to attract the customer to the product? This

has been the main focus of all businesses, whether online or brick and mortar, for centur-

ies.

For those who already have a traditional business, this is the obvious place to start. Even

businesses that primarily work in the “real world” can benefit from having an online out-

let, if for nothing else than to reap the benefits of the worldwide marketing aspect.

However, one of the most common mistakes that a “real world” business makes when

transitioning to an online outlet is that they become what is known as a “brochure web-

site,” where the website itself offers little information other than scanned brochures and

directions to the store itself. While there is some merit to be had in this sort of website –

and it is, indeed, better than no website at all – this doesn’t maximize the potential that

the Internet has in furthering the cause of businesses.

For businesses who are looking to transfer from the “real world” to the digital one, it’s re-

commended to consider looking at the website as if it was the main focus of the business,

rather than a peripheral concern. If a business owner was starting from scratch with a

website and trying to sell the product, how important would the website itself be? It

would be vital, because the website is the medium that sells the product. Websites who

have “real world” businesses should view their site in the same way.

For those who are looking to start an online business from scratch, the most important

thing to do is research. What are competitors offering in the field? How much are they

charging, and what do their websites look like? Try Google searching for others who are

offering the same things that you would like to sell, and check out their quality and pri-

cing.

Next, sit down and consider how you can improve upon what your future competitors

have already brought to the table. Do most of the sites you see have uninspiring websites

or difficult navigation? Take note and make sure not to make the same mistakes when it’s

time for you to launch your own site.

Remember that your online business doesn’t have to necessarily be unique in order to be

successful. It just has to be a more appealing option to the consumer than the others

already on the market. Take note on what your competition is doing and envision making

it better. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel to find success – but if you can package it

PayPal Versus Online Shopping Carts

One of the most often discussed debates when it comes to the world of online business is

the method with which owners offer their customers to pay for the services rendered.

Everybody has heard the tale about the witless consumer who gave his or her credit card

number to some nameless company on the Internet and ended up with thousands of dol-

lars charged to his or her card. There are about a thousand variations on the same horror

story, which means that customers have high standards when it comes to giving out ac-

cess to their financial resources online.

Namely, your site is going to have to offer your customers a way to conduct transactions

with you in a method that is both secure and user-friendly. Not having a payment method

listed on your site that is well-respected and trusted will seem unprofessional and send

the vast majority of potential customers elsewhere. With the competitiveness of the on-

line market, there’s no reason to lose a customer base due to perceived overtures of unre-

liability.

Most online businesses these days conduct their transactions through PayPal or through

some form of online shopping cart. The pros and cons of both can be debated for days on

end, but here is a quick overview of both.

PayPal is well known and proven, and has high levels of customer satisfaction. Even

more intriguingly, it’s free of monthly fees for the user. The payment for services through

PayPal is docked through a service charge, which is taken out of every transaction. There

is much debate about at what point PayPal starts to become less cost-effective than a

shopping cart, but the overall rule of thumb seems to be that if your business does less

than 1000 dollars a month of money exchange, PayPal seems to be the best option. If

your revenue level is higher than that, it’s best to have both a PayPal option as well as a

shopping cart.

A shopping cart system requires a monthly maintenance fee, which can seem prohibitive

to smaller businesses. However, once your business sees serious growth, it’s a good idea

to invest in shopping cart services, if nothing else than for the peace of mind they can

bring. Paying the fee means that somebody else deals with the hassle of embedding the

software into your site, takes care of all the bugs that pop up, and generally ensures that

things are running smoothly. With a PayPal account, the owner has to add this to the list

of responsibilities.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that as a respectable online business owner,

you must offer your customers some form of reliable payment method. Otherwise, you

Choosing a Web Address

A web address refers to the title your customers will type into the toolbar at the top of the

screen. The web address of the media giant Amazon is amazon.com. You can check out

what Disney is up to at Disney.com, and so forth. When you have your own online busi-

ness, people will be able to type in your web address in order to see what you’re up to, as

well!

This may seem like a somewhat obvious concern, but you will have to think up a web ad-

dress that is catchy, evocative, and easy to remember, which is no small feat. By this

point in the history of the Internet, a great deal of the short, snappy names have been

taken. For instance, if your business is called Good Times, well, it’s highly unlikely

you’ll be able to land goodtimes.com for the purposes of your site.

It’s gotten to the point where many people choose to name their businesses based off of

what web addresses they can land rather than basing the web address of the name of the

business. In fact, it’s probably a smart idea to check out what web addresses are available

before building your site if you have the luxury to do so: those who are building websites

to bolster a previously existing business won’t have this luxury, obviously.

There is a lot of fuss on the Internet regarding using hyphens in web addresses. In an

overarching sense, whether or not to use hyphens in your web address comes down to

personal preference, but it is true that most people don’t stop to note hyphens in the

names of addresses unless giving specific directions to a site. Thus, if you have a great

name that is available only when you use hyphens (“blue-money.com”) but goes to a dif-

ferent site when the hyphen is removed (“bluemoney.com”), it’s probably best to think of

another name, lest you end up accidentally sending customers to an unrelated site or,

worse, a competitor.

Also of contention are the extensions for web addresses, which can include .com, .edu,

.net, .org, .us, .info, .biz, and many others. There are also country specific web addresses

such as .co.uk. Of course, the most popular one of these is the .com, and in general, if

you can land the web address of your dreams that also happens to be a .com, then the

stars are smiling on you and it’s your lucky day.

However, if there’s no chance of that happening, .org and .net are well-known as well and

most customers find them perfectly acceptable alternatives. Just make sure to publicize

your website with the full web address should you not have a .com extension. The coun-

try-specific domain names are great for local businesses – after all, if you’re working out

of Australia and are only serving the Australian community, having a .co.au site helps

Choosing A Web Host

In addition to buying a web address, an online business will need to be hosted some-

where. After all, a website is essentially a collection of graphic and text files uploaded

onto a remote server so other surfers can access your files. If you don’t have a web host,

then what you basically have is a lot of files on your own personal computer that nobody

else can see.

The first major choice that an enterprising business owner will have to make in regards to

web hosts is if he or she would like a free or a paid web host. There are advantages and

disadvantages with both.

The major advantage for a free web host is, of course, the fact that it’s free. Taking ad-

vantage of not being forced to fork out cash monthly for web hosting can save a business

hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. For those of you who are starting on a shoestring

budget, a free web host can be a real option for saving money.

There are several disadvantages inherent with free web hosts, though. The first being ad-

vertisements – the vast majority of free websites force ads onto their pages in order to pay

for the hosting, which can be a major turn-off to visitors. (There are some free web hosts

that don’t force advertising, but many of these close due to lack of revenue – since if

people have the option to turn off advertising, most will!) In addition, several of the free

web hosts don’t allow FTP, or File Transfer Protocol access. While this may mean noth-

ing at all to you at the moment, once your online business really takes off, having FTP ac-

cess means that you will be able to do so much more in regards to customizing and op-

timizing your site.

Generally speaking, it’s much more recommended for businesses to spring for the paid

web host if at all possible. There are some places where you can get basic web hosting

for under ten dollars a month, and you can switch web hosts at a later date should your

requirements exceed the capabilities of the cheaper web hosts.

Should you elect to go with a paid web host, the amount of options out there could com-

pete with the number of stars in the universe. You can choose to be based out of your

own country or go international – while being based in your own country may seem like

the obvious option, if you’re trying to appeal to an international crowd and your target is

English speakers, being based out of the US is probably the best idea, even if you are loc-

ated in another English-speaking country. You can choose to pay as little as five dollars a

month or as much as five hundred.

The Importance Of Web Design

Many online businesses, in their haste to get up a website as soon as possible in order to

start raking in the customers and the revenue, completely forget about the importance of

web design when it comes to selling online.

It helps to think of your website as a physical store. Before you invited the customers in,

you’d take care to make sure that everything was organized, the place was easy to navig-

ate for as many people as possible, and that the store was clean. If your store is cluttered,

hard to navigate, and dirty, many customers will turn around and walk right out upon see-

ing the place, without giving a second thought to the products inside.

Web design is important in the same way. When you present your site it needs to be

presented in a clean, clear-cut fashion that draws the customer in and invites them to ex-

plore the website more, rather than sending them running due to an onslaught of blinking

graphics and clashing colors.

The best web designs, thankfully, tend to be the more simplistic ones. Make your links

obvious and your text a reasonable size with appropriate colors. Note that “appropriate

colors” doesn’t necessarily mean that the website has to be in shades of white – in fact,

pops of color add interest and make your website memorable – but having a yellow back-

ground with pink text is going to shock your customers in a way that you’ll likely find

less than desirable.

Also fortunately, while most of us might not be web design gurus, there are a number of

people who have dedicated their lives to the art of website design and maintenance. If

you are a person who struggles to put italics into your HTML documents, there’s no

shame in admitting that you’re not the grandfather of code. This is one place where out-

sourcing can be a great idea. Yes, a look at many website design sites might make you

reel with the prices they quote, but there are ways to keep the costs low when it comes to

outsourcing web design.

Consider purchasing a ready-made site and then buying customized graphics on top of

that as opposed to getting a site made from scratch. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

Also consider talking with students from design schools – yes, you’ll have to pay them,

but they often charge much lower rates, and many students will jump at a chance to build

their portfolios.

Also remember that outsourcing your web design can be claimed on your taxes for an on-

line business. Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish – a good web design will serve

Sell It With Copy

What’s just as important as the quality of your product and the organization of the site it’s

located on? The copy that sells it, of course!

Consider your copy the same way you’d consider yourself before going on an interview

for a job. You’d be clean, you’d look professional, and you might even rehearse a little

bit about what you were going to say. Your copy should present itself like it’s going in

for an interview as well – this is your business speaking for itself, after all!

What are the cornerstones of good copy? Well, let’s start off with the obvious – good

copy is first and foremost well organized and free of grammatical errors. If your copy is

hard to read and misspelled, it looks unprofessional which sets off red flags in the mind

of your customers. Don’t let the incorrect usage of semicolons drive away potential rev-

enue. Also, if nothing else, be sure to run everything through spellchecker before putting

it up.

But if you want your copy to truly pop, you’ll need to do more than make sure that you

cross your Ts and dot your Is. Good copy can accurately describe the product or services

that you sell, as well as inform the customer why your product and services are better

than what’s offered by the competition. It paints you, the seller, as credible and honest,

and it adds a touch of urgency to the transaction, convincing the customer that it’s in

his/her best interest to make a purchase as soon as possible. Good copy is convincing,

but not overbearing.

There are two obvious ways to go about getting good copy for your online business. The

first is writing it yourself. The second is outsourcing. The first is definitely the cheaper

way to go, and even if you are utterly incapable of designing a website, it’s likely that

you know how to work a word processor and use spellchecker. You could write your

own copy very persuasively and well.

But this is another area in which potential online business owners should not scrimp. Be

honest with yourself. Will you be able to represent your services and products to the ex-

tent they deserve - and need to be represented in order to be profitable – with your writ-

ing abilities?

Many people opt to outsource their copy just as they outsource their web design. Just as

there are people who have dedicated themselves to the art of making web pages, there are

those who make a living out of writing the copy that fills these pages. Many of these

places are also versed in writing copy that will make your website appear higher in search

Free Marketing Mania

Savvy online business owners can take advantage of all the free marketing opportunities

the Internet has to offer. In order to maximize the results by using free marketing, you’ll

need to put in a little bit of elbow grease and quite a few hours of time, but once you get

the hang of it, you’ll be astonished by how well you can get the word of your business

out there and start seeing real conversions.

The best way to go about marketing your site without spending a dime is definitely the

social media route. There has been a literal explosion of interest in sites such as Linked-

In, Facebook, MySpace, and Yelp in recent years, and any online business owner who’s

interested in getting the word out about their products and services would be foolish to

not take advantage of these congregation spots.

The trick for making social media marketing effective is the method in which you go

about it. Many business owners simply sign up their businesses for accounts and then

send off hundreds if not thousands of friend requests and expect interest to come flooding

back in.

The reality of the situation is that it’s not that easy – a smaller approach is definitely

much more economical insofar as generating real interest in your business is concerned.

Start by friending smaller groups – no larger than twenty people. If somebody sees that

you’re trying to friend over two hundred people, chances are they’ll think you’re a spam-

mer and not reply to your query. Smaller groups make you look more genuine and inter-

esting. Also remember only to friend groups and individuals who have a stated interest in

the product or services that you sell; to do otherwise is considered spam.

When sending out news feeds on these sites, the number one rule to consider is keeping

your send-offs interesting. Before you send anything out, be it a “tweet” or a status up-

date or an email announcement, take a minute and think about whether or not what you’re

sending out is relevant or interesting. People will enjoy hearing about your product of-

fers occasionally, but not three times a day. Again, you don’t want to come off as a spam-

mer, because then people will stop friending you and the whole process will be for

naught.

Also, be sure to take the time to look at the profiles of your friends and occasionally com-

ment on what they have to say. This helps build your credibility as a “friend” and show

that you take an active interest in the people who are following you on the social net-

working sites. Once again, more personable and less spam-like makes your social media

marketing strategy much more effective.

Establish An Expert Reputation

One of the most important things that any business can have, whether online or not, is le-

gitimacy. If customers think that a particular business knows how to get a job done cor-

rectly or sells flawless products, not only will they come back, but they’ll also offer your

name to others. And all business owners crave that word of mouth referral like nothing

else, as it’s marketing gold.

But how to get that reputation? With online businesses, it can be a little bit more difficult

to cultivate word of mouth recommendations simply because your customers might be

from all around the globe, and thus are less likely to ask each other for referrals as com-

pared to neighbors in a single community are. Like everything else about online busi-

nesses, it’s possible to get that reputation you want going, it just requires a bit of ingenu-

ity and unconventional thought.

One of the best ways to start building your reputation as an online business is to start off

with a bang – give away free content. This doesn’t mean that you need to give out free

products; though, certainly, if you can afford to do so, freebies are a great way to get a

customer’s attention. What you can do, however, is start giving out your advice. If

you’re a construction company, set up a “how to fix it” section of your site that anybody

can visit. If you’re a shoe repair shop, make some videos about how to do simple things

like fix shoelaces and upload them to YouTube. This is a great way to draw in potential

customers who may not have originally been looking for your services, but advice – but

these surfers can quickly become customers if they believe in the strength of your advice.

Another great way is to get involved with online forums relating to the product or ser-

vices that you sell. If you’re a car repair shop, consider joining some forums based on

car repair and start offering up your free advice on the subject. Most of these forums al-

low their users to post “signatures,” which are little text/picture snippets that appear at the

bottom of every post. If you use this opportunity to advertise your site, you’ll start gener-

ating interest when you build your reputation within that particular forum. Just be sure

to actually contribute to the conversations in the forum itself, though – most forums have

moderators and if your account is deemed to be producing too much spam, you’ll be re-

moved from the community. Not to mention, people who only use forums to place ad-

vertisements and not contribute to the topics at hand are looked at with derision. Besides,

if the topic of the forum is something that you are interested in – and assuming that you

started a business in a particular topic, it hints that you are - you might even end up hav-

ing fun by participating in forums.

Fun? Online business? Who knew?

Email Marketing Makes It Happen

One of the most valuable assets an online business can have is an opt-in list. What’s this

and how does it work? We’re here to help!

An opt-in marketing list is where a customer (or potential customer, but it’s most often

somebody who has purchased something from your site) gets an option to include them-

selves in on an email list that your company sends out.

This is very different from spam, which is where unscrupulous business owners go

“phishing” for random email addresses that they find on the Internet and relentlessly pelt

these poor souls with emails. Spam does nobody any good and basically ends up costing

a business a lot of money only to irritate people.

An opt-in list, though, is a brilliant for business because the people who receive your

emails are actually interested in receiving them. You can send this list of people who are

interested in keeping constant correspondence with your business occasional emails – no

more than twice a month, usually, and only when you have something of worth to say or

offer – which can detail everything from the current goings-on of your business to deals

and offers and promotions. Many companies offer special promotions to those who join

their opt-in list as an incentive to, well, opt in.

Opt-in lists give customers who are interested in you your attention. Even better, the ef-

fect of an opt-in list is entirely traceable, as if you start offering promotions through your

list you’ll be able to tell how many of them get redeemed. Opt-in lists are also another

great way to get out more of that free expert content you offer, specially designed for

those who wish to follow you. Many smaller businesses offer Q and A sessions through

their opt-in list, where followers can ask specific questions that can be answered through

the general forum of your email.

These lists are also the digital equivalent to having “regulars” at a store and engaging

them in casual chat. Through an email list you can develop more intimate relationships

with customers as compared to the normal “anonymous buyer” that hops into your site to

pick up a few items, and then hops out without you knowing anything more about them

other than what they bought. Close relationships with customers generate brand loyalty,

which is a hot commodity.

Want another bonus? Email marketing can also be entirely free if you manage it yourself.

Even if you choose to outsource your email marketing or leave it to an employee to

handle, it is much cheaper than print advertising because of how targeted it is. Individual

We are a professional company that specialises in

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http://upandcomingmarketing.com/