Article
“Start Your Own Internet Business in Seven Steps"
Take a tip from the ancients: know thyself. Particularly in the competitive business arena,
you have to know what your skills are as well as your strengths and weaknesses. A lot of
entrepreneurs are very sociable and find it easy to relate to people of all types—employees,
customers, bankers, and vendors. Sociability is not just a personality trait; it is also a skill that
can be learned, just like public speaking or bookkeeping. Other business owners keep more
to themselves but have associates or business partners who are more comfortable
socializing. What you have to know is: what type of person are you? What skills do you have
in the areas that are needed for business success? What are your strengths—personal,
financial, creative, intellectual? Start a notebook or journal and write it all out. On our “A New
Success” website, you will find free articles and eCourses to assist you in your analysis.
And don’t forget to take a hard look at your weaknesses as well. But don’t let a fearless
analysis of your weaknesses discourage you—see it as an opportunity to plan out how to
improve. If you are really good at seeing “the big picture” but weak in taking care of details,
you may be able to hire in administrative assistance or study up on how to focus on enough
detail to keep things running smoothly. Or you maybe able to schedule your time in a way that
permits you to focus on the big dreams part of the day or week and the details at other times.
The scheduling solution is used a lot by those who own more than one business as well.
Step 2: Evaluate your available resources.
Once you have a pretty good handle on knowing your personal resources in Step 1,
move on to your environmental resources. By this I mean that you should analyze your
location, finances, credit, and potential market. Marden, a business writer in the mid-
nineteenth century, exhorted American youth to “seize your opportunities” right where you are,
when you are, and considering who you are. He said to look around and see what is needed,
then create a product to meet the need, and sell it to support yourself. It’s important to
remember that times haven’t changed that much in terms of creating a successful business.
Right now, for example, there is clearly a need for education and motivation for people to start
small businesses in the areas of internet technology, publishing, educational materials,
internet marketing and so forth. Even in economic hard times, small businesses have been
vital in creating jobs for people.
When my son and I decided to start this new web-based multimedia publishing company
with our own creative content devoted to helping people plan and achieve their goals for
success, we were really surprised that our research turned up so little in terms of real
guidance. Of course, that’s the void that “A New Success, LLC” tries to fill as a resource.
When we realized that we each had our own other small businesses to draw on, as well as
extensive education and experience, we decided we had a wealth of information and
practical advice and tips to share with others. We also realized that we could share what we
learned in the new internet world with others, both from a younger and older perspective. A
great combination!
You can do the same. Look around you and see what the needs are. They may be
related to your “day job” or completely different. Your special area could be drawn out of that
dream that has been on the back burner for a couple of years (or decades). Or it could be
something entirely new.
Step 3: Decide your strongest market niche.
This is a tricky issue. Do you start up a general enterprise that could draw in a number of
markets or do you risk everything by narrowing the field to one market niche? It’s a bit like
deciding whether you want to be a department store or a specialty boutique. This may
depend in large part whether you are skilled at marshalling and organizing many resources or
want to do it all yourself. For another example, you may want to do an art gallery by drawing in
many fine artists or you want to be the potter who spends most of the time making the
ceramic pots to sell.
The decision could be crucial in whether your business succeeds or fails. On the other
hand, it’s always possible to correct your course later, by adding or subtracting or
reorganizing the areas of your business you find that you are good at and are profitable—or
not.
A web-based or internet business takes surprisingly little in terms of initial investment,
depending of course on the type of product or service you are providing. This is true
regardless of the number of departments in your electronic store. In self-publishing for
example, print-on-demand techniques mean that there is no need for storage facilities or
shipping and handling charges. That fact adds up to great savings in business expenses.
Step 4: Do a business plan.
You should take the time to do a business plan. There are resources out there to help
you figure out the details which are beyond the scope of this article, but your business plan
will set out the nuts and bolts of the company and forecast your expenses, income, and goals
for a specified period of time. You can follow the plan for six months and then tweak it to
reflect your experience as you go along. If you seek financing, it is likely that the bank or other
lender will require you to produce a plan.
Step 5: Get legal assistance to create your company.
I am a lawyer as well as a writer and teacher and business owner, and I cannot
emphasize enough how important it is to get professional legal advice when you are setting
up your company. There are important protections built into the legal formation and
registration of a business for the owners or partners involved. Your attorney can advise you of
the pros and cons of the different types of company structures so that you can choose the
best one for you. You will also find that you will be treated with more respect and interest if you
set your business up properly and establish yourself as a serious business owner.
Step 6: Create quality content.
There is no substitute for working hard on the content of your materials, services and
products. As we say in Internet circles: “Content is king.” While no one is perfect, you should
strive always to create and present to your visitors and customers the very best you can do.
Once you have interested people in visiting your website, you don’t want to lose them through
careless errors or inconsistencies. Proofread everything. Invite a second set of eyes to look
at your work and critique it. Do your own reading and research into the areas that you
present. If you use other people’s articles or products, make sure that you have reviewed
them so that any links you agree to have on your site lead your visitors only to top quality
relevant content. This, more than anything else, will bring visitors back and encourage them to
become repeat customers.
Step 7: Plan your marketing
Planning your marketing involves a lot more than setting up a website, although getting
that up and running can launch your business rapidly once it is ready to go. Marketing on the
internet can be time-consuming and tedious work. It requires data entry into many directories
of the same information and keywords for a simple 800 to 1,000-word article. There is
software which helps “blast” your articles to many directories at a time, but there is still much
work involved. You can also set up marketing campaigns with other internet businesses. You
can pay for advertising also, through such services as Google or Yahoo! Advertising. But if
you are looking to hold costs down, then you will need to devote time in your schedule to
getting out there on message boards and forums and blogs and all the other internet spots
where people will see and read your work or pitches. Free materials, like a weekly or monthly
newsletter and articles, are always popular on the internet. This is the best way to send
people samples of your work to motivate them to seek out more quality relevant materials on
your website. Free materials have come to be expected in internet marketing.
About the author: Celia Ann Rooney is a writer, teacher and attorney in Philadelphia and is
co-founder and chief financial officer of A New Success, LLC. She is the author of a series of
e-books devoted to self improvement and learning the principles of success through study of
the life stories of famous people, including Success Stories: the Science and Art of Success,
Success Stories II: Early Risers and Late Bloomers, and Success Stories III: Success in Hard
Times. Her books and articles are available on the website: www.anewsuccess.com. You
may contact her at: crooney@anewsuccess.com.
“Start Your Own Internet Business in Seven Steps"
- In these hard economic times, more and more
people are looking for alternatives to traditional jobs. It’s
not only the fear of losing a job with its income and
benefits that is pushing people to look for other ways to
earn a living. Many people want the positive rewards and
independence of owning their own business. Not everyone
is cut out to be an entrepreneur, but anyone can learn the
basics of starting up your own company. As a small
business owner myself, I can tell you that it is worth all of
the extra effort and work that it takes to do it and do it
right. You have to start at the beginning and plan it right
from the start. Here are the first seven steps to starting
your own Internet business.
Take a tip from the ancients: know thyself. Particularly in the competitive business arena,
you have to know what your skills are as well as your strengths and weaknesses. A lot of
entrepreneurs are very sociable and find it easy to relate to people of all types—employees,
customers, bankers, and vendors. Sociability is not just a personality trait; it is also a skill that
can be learned, just like public speaking or bookkeeping. Other business owners keep more
to themselves but have associates or business partners who are more comfortable
socializing. What you have to know is: what type of person are you? What skills do you have
in the areas that are needed for business success? What are your strengths—personal,
financial, creative, intellectual? Start a notebook or journal and write it all out. On our “A New
Success” website, you will find free articles and eCourses to assist you in your analysis.
And don’t forget to take a hard look at your weaknesses as well. But don’t let a fearless
analysis of your weaknesses discourage you—see it as an opportunity to plan out how to
improve. If you are really good at seeing “the big picture” but weak in taking care of details,
you may be able to hire in administrative assistance or study up on how to focus on enough
detail to keep things running smoothly. Or you maybe able to schedule your time in a way that
permits you to focus on the big dreams part of the day or week and the details at other times.
The scheduling solution is used a lot by those who own more than one business as well.
Step 2: Evaluate your available resources.
Once you have a pretty good handle on knowing your personal resources in Step 1,
move on to your environmental resources. By this I mean that you should analyze your
location, finances, credit, and potential market. Marden, a business writer in the mid-
nineteenth century, exhorted American youth to “seize your opportunities” right where you are,
when you are, and considering who you are. He said to look around and see what is needed,
then create a product to meet the need, and sell it to support yourself. It’s important to
remember that times haven’t changed that much in terms of creating a successful business.
Right now, for example, there is clearly a need for education and motivation for people to start
small businesses in the areas of internet technology, publishing, educational materials,
internet marketing and so forth. Even in economic hard times, small businesses have been
vital in creating jobs for people.
When my son and I decided to start this new web-based multimedia publishing company
with our own creative content devoted to helping people plan and achieve their goals for
success, we were really surprised that our research turned up so little in terms of real
guidance. Of course, that’s the void that “A New Success, LLC” tries to fill as a resource.
When we realized that we each had our own other small businesses to draw on, as well as
extensive education and experience, we decided we had a wealth of information and
practical advice and tips to share with others. We also realized that we could share what we
learned in the new internet world with others, both from a younger and older perspective. A
great combination!
You can do the same. Look around you and see what the needs are. They may be
related to your “day job” or completely different. Your special area could be drawn out of that
dream that has been on the back burner for a couple of years (or decades). Or it could be
something entirely new.
Step 3: Decide your strongest market niche.
This is a tricky issue. Do you start up a general enterprise that could draw in a number of
markets or do you risk everything by narrowing the field to one market niche? It’s a bit like
deciding whether you want to be a department store or a specialty boutique. This may
depend in large part whether you are skilled at marshalling and organizing many resources or
want to do it all yourself. For another example, you may want to do an art gallery by drawing in
many fine artists or you want to be the potter who spends most of the time making the
ceramic pots to sell.
The decision could be crucial in whether your business succeeds or fails. On the other
hand, it’s always possible to correct your course later, by adding or subtracting or
reorganizing the areas of your business you find that you are good at and are profitable—or
not.
A web-based or internet business takes surprisingly little in terms of initial investment,
depending of course on the type of product or service you are providing. This is true
regardless of the number of departments in your electronic store. In self-publishing for
example, print-on-demand techniques mean that there is no need for storage facilities or
shipping and handling charges. That fact adds up to great savings in business expenses.
Step 4: Do a business plan.
You should take the time to do a business plan. There are resources out there to help
you figure out the details which are beyond the scope of this article, but your business plan
will set out the nuts and bolts of the company and forecast your expenses, income, and goals
for a specified period of time. You can follow the plan for six months and then tweak it to
reflect your experience as you go along. If you seek financing, it is likely that the bank or other
lender will require you to produce a plan.
Step 5: Get legal assistance to create your company.
I am a lawyer as well as a writer and teacher and business owner, and I cannot
emphasize enough how important it is to get professional legal advice when you are setting
up your company. There are important protections built into the legal formation and
registration of a business for the owners or partners involved. Your attorney can advise you of
the pros and cons of the different types of company structures so that you can choose the
best one for you. You will also find that you will be treated with more respect and interest if you
set your business up properly and establish yourself as a serious business owner.
Step 6: Create quality content.
There is no substitute for working hard on the content of your materials, services and
products. As we say in Internet circles: “Content is king.” While no one is perfect, you should
strive always to create and present to your visitors and customers the very best you can do.
Once you have interested people in visiting your website, you don’t want to lose them through
careless errors or inconsistencies. Proofread everything. Invite a second set of eyes to look
at your work and critique it. Do your own reading and research into the areas that you
present. If you use other people’s articles or products, make sure that you have reviewed
them so that any links you agree to have on your site lead your visitors only to top quality
relevant content. This, more than anything else, will bring visitors back and encourage them to
become repeat customers.
Step 7: Plan your marketing
Planning your marketing involves a lot more than setting up a website, although getting
that up and running can launch your business rapidly once it is ready to go. Marketing on the
internet can be time-consuming and tedious work. It requires data entry into many directories
of the same information and keywords for a simple 800 to 1,000-word article. There is
software which helps “blast” your articles to many directories at a time, but there is still much
work involved. You can also set up marketing campaigns with other internet businesses. You
can pay for advertising also, through such services as Google or Yahoo! Advertising. But if
you are looking to hold costs down, then you will need to devote time in your schedule to
getting out there on message boards and forums and blogs and all the other internet spots
where people will see and read your work or pitches. Free materials, like a weekly or monthly
newsletter and articles, are always popular on the internet. This is the best way to send
people samples of your work to motivate them to seek out more quality relevant materials on
your website. Free materials have come to be expected in internet marketing.
About the author: Celia Ann Rooney is a writer, teacher and attorney in Philadelphia and is
co-founder and chief financial officer of A New Success, LLC. She is the author of a series of
e-books devoted to self improvement and learning the principles of success through study of
the life stories of famous people, including Success Stories: the Science and Art of Success,
Success Stories II: Early Risers and Late Bloomers, and Success Stories III: Success in Hard
Times. Her books and articles are available on the website: www.anewsuccess.com. You
may contact her at: crooney@anewsuccess.com.
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