In this article, we want to discuss how to start an online business for free or virtually with little cash upfront. This is based on personal experience and doing my research for various ways to get an Internet business off the ground. There are so many ways to start an online company that there is something to keep in mind.
A wise old Internet marketer once said making money online is not that hard. All you need to do is find a product someone needs and sell it to them for a profit. So with that in mind, let me give you the basics of starting an online business.
1. Your Niche
Virtually everybody is going to tell you to decide what niche you want to be in. A place is your topic or category. My advice to you is to think in terms of a micro-niche. This is simply taking a big niche and narrowing it down a little bit.
Micro niches have less competition. If you start an online business in a micro-niche you enjoy or are an expert in; you will have a significant advantage in moving forward. Also, think in terms of needs. In your niche, what are the needs of your potential customer? Your place might solve a problem. This is a great way to dig down and find micro-niches in a large market.
2. Products
I am a big believer in choosing a product to sell you have bought yourself. The great thing about this is you can sell that product with confidence based on your own experience.
This gives you a significant advantage over other Internet marketers who might be selling the same or similar product they are not a customer of. They don’t know what you know.
Also, if you blog like I am doing, you can write about your products based on personal use. This makes for more exciting content and articles. Do you have your effect right now? If not, do not worry. You can find products to sell in affiliate marketing, MLM, e-commerce drop shipping, digital products, and so on.
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3. Domain Name and Website Hosting
Purchase a domain name that relates to the theme of your niche. Use quality hosting, so you don’t run into the problem of downtime. Hosting can be as cheap as $5 a month. Domain names run around $15 a year. If you purchase a domain at Bluehost for as low as $3.95 a month, you can get hosting for free.
If the opportunity presents itself, you may be able to buy an old domain name that somebody else had and let it expire. This gives you an advantage over Google and other search engines.
4. Content
One of the reasons many of us choose to use a blog as our website is how easy it is to add content to it regularly. WordPress templates like what I am using are an example of that.
There are many reasons why you want to add fresh content to your blog. Some of the most popular include search engine bait, helping establish yourself as an expert in the niche you are in, and selling products through text links directly in the body of the content.
Content is not only just articles. Videos, podcasts, and graphics or pictures make for great content as well. Learning how to start a business at home is critical, and I can direct you to the right platform.
Plus, in the world of social media, sharing your content and having others share it can be done on YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and many others. Use a social sharing plugin to let your visitors share right from your site.
5. Email List Building
It’s essential to build an email marketing list for your new Internet business. Think of your list as an asset.
Please take a look at other competitors in your niche to see how they’re doing it. One of the best ways to sell products is through email marketing to an established list that has permitted you to send an email to them.
Your email list can be a great source of traffic back to your blog as well whenever you make an update shoot a quick email out briefly explaining it and include a link back to your blog post for more information.
Plus, there are many products available in business models, such as affiliate marketing if you do not have a product of your own to start with. I highly recommend affiliate products as an income stream or even your primary business model for your new online business.
Final Thoughts
These are some of the basics of how to start an online business. Getting your business off the ground is not very expensive to do.
It is always better to start an online business for free or low cost at the beginning. This way, you do not have a lot invested other than your time at first.
Internet marketing lowers the risks by starting an online business with very little cash out of your pocket upfront. It’s also easier to monetize an online business with various products, including affiliate marketing, network marketing, drop shipping, digital products, and so on.
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Hi David
I like the straight forward way you go about telling people the best way how to start an online business.
There’s no nonsense here, it’s just right to the point information and that’s good for people like me who don’t want to read pages of irrelevant stuff.
I see you have Wealthy Affiliate on the page, how do you rate them out of all the ways to start online that’s out there?
Mark
Hey, Mark, I definitely do not like reading the irrelevant stuff myself. Wealthy Affiliate is a class by itself. they are the University for Online Businesses. The community here surpasses everything that one can imagine. I wish I had see this many years ago. One thing I can say is that, a few years from now, I would have a lifestyle makeover because of this business. Take care.
Hi David,
Starting your own online business follows a path, as you say, starting with choosing your niche, getting a domain name and hosting and then building your site. Selecting the right niche is important, ideally it should be something you are passionate about or a hobby. You will be writing about this subject very often and perhaps for a long time. Therefore, if it is something you enjoy and are interested in, you will find it easier to write new content.
It is always a great advantage to start a business for free and I know this is possible with your recommendation, Wealthy Affiliate. I encourage anyone who is thinking of starting their own business on line to take a look at this excellent training platform.
Hey, Peter, thank you for your comment. Yes indeed, Wealthy Affiliate is one of a kind. The only regret I have is, I wish I had stumbled onto this company many years ago, my business would have been way advanced. But as I go through all the training, everything is coming together. I am glad you feel the same way about Wealthy Affiliate. Take care.
Hi Bishop,
You mentioned about list building as part of starting an online business. I am quite new to this strategy. How soon would you suggest I get into list building after establishing my website?
I also heard that you can use some tools for this. Do you have any recommendation?
Thank you for your input.
Hi Cathy, thank you for your comment. Yes, list building should begin right away. If you would like to get started and what tools you should use, Click here.
Make it a great Day!
Oh. So that how people do business online. I never imagine it would be this simple. But then again, you will need a lot of hard work to build a successful online business. I never do business before, and a total newbie in IT stuff. But if is this simple I will try to build 1 myself. Thanks
Lucas,
Glad you see some value in how to start an online business. If you follow these strategies that I have laid out here, you will be well on your way in building a business from scratch that will last a long time.
You can get further training from Wealthy Affiliate on the step by step process you need to take. It is working for me, and it will work for you as well. Thank you for your comment, if there is anything I can do to help, please do not hesitate to ask.
Cheers
Fantasic tips on starting up an internet based business, Bishop!
I can see how the things you have listed go hand-in-hand and how they can contribute towards the success of an online business.
I have always struggled with picking a niche, so Thanks for the tip on narrowing one down because that will be a major help to me!
Cheers!
Neil
Neil,
Glad yo get some value on how to start an online business. Simplicity is the key to success. if you follow some simple guidelines and follow your heart, you will open the lock to your success. I believe people complicate things, and that hinders them from going forward.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need further clarification. Thank you for your feedback, and good luck with your niche and your online business.
Cheers.
Hi David
It is very surprising to know how easy it is to start an online business these days. You can even start one for free as you mentioned.
It is also very hard to have an online business without a website because it is the foundation on which your business is built.
Totally agree with you Viljoen, that is why I am recommending Wealthy Affiliate for all who desire to build a business from home on the Internet. Although it is easy to do by the step by step training, your website needs time to develop for the search engine to give it recognition and value.
We are wasting valuable time when we put off building our site. Google will always pay attention to the aged domain before the new ones. Glad I was thought this lesson well. I wish you all the best with your business and thank you for your feedback.
Cheers.
Hello David
Getting started on line is hard, and not knowing where to start or not finding the right help one will be lost.
To me l find that content is what fails most people online,when you get started, it`s like ok l will write 10 posts then im done, most newbies do not realize it`s a nonstop writing to keep your readers engaged.
Niche is another matter, most newbies online unknowingly choose niches too broad and it gets too hard to work on a broad niche so they give up.
Really enjoyed your post,very informative and written in an easy to understand way.
Hi, Roamy.
You are right about starting an online business; it involves consistent hard work. The good thing about that is that if you do it right, it will last for a long time. And this is what we have to convey to the new people that is starting out.
Glad that you enjoy this article. if there is anything that I can do to help you move your business to another level, feel free to let me know. All the best with your business, and thanks for the feedback.
Cheers.
David,
A really good starting point for those who want to learn about online business. It is important to understand that niche, is the foundation of someone’s business to start off with. But it is good to know that there is always a free training program out there to start. Good post.
Abraham, thank you for the comment. Yes, finding a niche to build your business can be difficult, but with the right training, you can be guided on the right path. Thank you for the input
All great points David, and I believe point No.4, Content, is the most critical, this is what will get you ranked in search engines and ultimately get you traffic.
Although SEO is a long term process, the wait is so valuable, that your website will gain authority on the search engines. Thank you for pointing that out.
Nigel, the term content is king is so true. Once you build your website on a solid framework, it would be around years to come, earning you revenue that surpasses most website on the net.
Thank you for the comment and the understanding of why SEO is important for your website in the long run. all the best.