Your "New Year's Resolution is to do something to bring more money into your household. Yes?
The easiest and least costly business to start is an online business. It offers many benefits. For example, a "WORK AT HOME MOM" can earn an income and be home to take care of a new baby. There are many other reasons someone may think about this path to a paycheck.
Start with the basic question: "What are you offering that people want to buy and why." Only you can answer this first question. Once you know the answer or at least have an idea, here's some beginning information to consider.
This may not be you,
but many startup entrepreneurs fling money at their new business without
any thought as to what needs priority and when. Soon the available
money is gone, credit cards are max’d out and the spouse is unhappy.
Take your time when starting an online business. I don’t mean
procrastinate, or unnecessarily delay taking action. "Take
your time" means be smart. Invest your time to investigate and write as
detailed a plan as you can. A "detailed plan" is a "what am I gonna do"
plan and includes five elements. What, how, when, how much and the
expected result by what date.
Recommended marketing formula:
Due to the evolving landscape for online marketing, you may wany to follow the typical 30-25-45 formula as a guide for starting a new business.
30% for online startup, which includes everything from hosting to your website and fax machine
25% for copywriting and search engine optimization. Why? Simple. Good
copy sells. The sooner you have sell copy on your web pages, the sooner
you sell and make money.
45% for marketing. Yes, that much. No matter how great your offers are,
without people to visit and see your offers… you miss sales. It is
essential to invest most of your available funds in marketing.
Example budget
Here is a budget, but it does not include the cost of developing or
acquiring products or the cost of any ongoing monthly expenses. Funding
available: $2400 plus $600 for unexpected incidentals:
30% = $720
25% = $600
45% = $1080
The formula is a guide. It might be slightly different for your
particular product or services. Make a plan. Write your plan down.
Without having a blueprint on how to reach your goals, you may find that
not just your efforts, but the resources may quickly disappear. Have a
plan so you know where you want to go and how you’re going to get there. Create benchmarks. Goals to reach or else. What's the "else?" You have to know when to stop, or at least redo your plan.
Just think about it. If a good friend that you hadn’t seen in over a year showed up for a visit and he’d lost 100 lbs, wouldn’t you want to know how he did it?
If you happened to be overweight, you’d want to do what he did so you could get the same result.
It’s the same with online marketing. When you do what other successful marketers do… you get the same result. Maybe.
Do NOT jump in the water and start throwing money at your online business, or you will soon join the gazillions of business sites in the forgotten Internet graveyard never to be seen again.
There's a lot more to know, This post barely touches the surface. Be cautious. Don't spend on a new venture what you can't afford ro lose. It's not a sure thing or everyone would be doing it. You can be successful.