Before you can start doing business online you have to decide what business to be in. This isn't as easy at it seems. I tried to do many things online from being a software reviewer to a cornbread guru (if you ever tasted my cornbread you'd know why!) to teaching people how to care for cast iron cookware (that evolved from the corn bread thing), to selling things on e-bay to getting involved with several different network marketing (mlm) type businesses, to teaching people how to cut their home mortgage in half, to building websites for people to teaching people about social media to... to... to...
Get the picture? I've done lots of stuff!
And I've also dropped lots of stuff. Why? Lots of reasons like:
- They went from being fun to drudgery.
- The return on investment wasn't there.
- I realized I didn't know enough about certain niches to provide quality products or services (quality is VERY important to me).
- They were too time consuming.
- They took over my house (the e-bay business did that and ultimately I think the Post Office benefited way more than I did on that one).
- I treated them more like a hobby than business so when life changed I let other things become more important.
- I wasn't mentally or emotionally invested so when things got a little tough (which they invariably do) I didn't stick with it.
- I did them for someone else and it really wasn't my thing so I eventually bowed out.
- They never made me any money (and some even cost quite a bit) - Note: Now I know this was in large part because I hadn't learned how important it is to become a MASTER MARKETER! Now that I know this I can see the mistakes I made in those businesses and how I could have made successes of them.
- Some of the things I had to do in order to take them to the next level were outside of my comfort zone and I just didn't take those steps (this is probably something you'll run into also and we'll talk more about it later).
- New projects came along that seemed way more exciting so I lost interest and kind of back burnered the old ones.
I'm sure I could come up with even more reasons but you get the idea. Today I primarily run just two online businesses, this one and my Law of Attraction business, and both of them are enjoyable, fulfilling and profitable.
But this isn't about me....it's about YOU. So how do YOU figure out what online business to go in? And more important: How do you figure it out without all the stuff I went through? The following tips will help you sort out:
- Pick something you enjoy. If you already like doing it chances are you're going to really like having a business related to it. Not sure what you enjoy? Then think about what you spend most of your free time doing. If you don't know then ask your friends and family. I'm sure THEY know!
- Hint - Don't pick something you used to enjoy but don't do anymore. There's a reason you don't do it now and if you really enjoyed it that much you'd still be doing it today.
- Hint - Don't pick something that you spend a lot of time doing unless it's also something you really enjoy. I was talking to someone about this and the only thing she could come up with was that she spends the bulk of her time chauffeuring around her kids. That's great if you really like that. Heck you could organize a business around hooking up people for carpools, sharing the best places to grab a cup of coffee between soccer practice and ballet, and helping people plan more efficient routes. But she hated all that running around so obviously the thought of doing it as a business felt like torture to her. The bottom line is: If you do it but don't like it... don't do it as a business.
- Hint - Don't jump on someone else's bandwagon. I've done that before and it just didn't work out long term. Yes, the idea of having a partner is really tempting but unless it's something you both really want to do then at least one of you will end up losing interest, and possibly even dragging the other one down. If you want to help someone with their business idea that's great. Just set it up as a contract deal where they own it and you get paid for your participation.
- Don't expect to see the business in what you enjoy at first. Ok this may sound a little strange so let me explain. When you really enjoy something it can be hard to see it as a potential business. I mean it's fun, right? Who would pay for it? But think about it.... if you really enjoy it then I bet you're paying for it in some way. You may pay to participate, to buy information or education about it, for accessories and equipment related to it, or for other things. The point is that if you're willing to shell out cash to participate in the things you enjoy then others are too. They may as well pay you, right? In the beginning it's ok to not see how you can turn what you enjoy into a business. That will come later. For now simply concentrate on deciding what business to be in, and then you can figure out how to make money doing it.
- Think about what bugs you about your thing. Now that you're getting some ideas about what to do, start thinking more about it. What would you like to see done better? What is inconvenient or frustrating? Have you ever said something like: "They really should change this about that." All these things are potential angles that you can use to create a business around your area of interest.
- Think about the resources and solutions that are already available. For instance if you're a gamer the game you play probably has fan sites or help sites dedicated to that particular game and it's players. If you're a voracious reader of a certain author, you can find websites or blogs dedicated to that author. While these people may be fans of what they're blogging or fan siting about, you can bet they're not doing it out of the goodness of their heart (well some are but they are hobbyists... not online entrepreneurs like you and me).
- Think about how you could improve on what's available. Can you combine information from several sources? Add different features that aren't there? Provide information that is lacking? Start making a list of all the things you could do differently or better? Oh and don't worry about how you might accomplish that. Just make the list for now and we'll figure out the details later.
By now you should have lots of ideas swirling around in your head. And since they're related to something you really enjoy, you're probably starting to get excited about them. Heck I'm getting excited for you and I don't even know what you're thinking about doing! Now let's go on to the next part of the equation...
How do you turn this into an online business?
It's one thing to start a blog or website about something you like anyway. But to make it into a profitable venture is something entirely different. You need a good business model that will take you from being a hobbyist to a successful entrepreneur. To do this you have to do two things:
First, narrow your field down to a specific area, or niche.
Second, become an expert, or authority in that niche.
Narrowing it down. The reason you narrow it down is because most fields are simply too broad for one person to handle, and also to capture the attention of your audience. Going back to the gaming example above, it's probably too broad to cover the entire scope of "gaming." But if you specialize in a specific type of game, or even a specific game you'll not only make your life easier but attract a more targeted audience who will be more likely to spend money with you.
The trick here is to narrow it down enough so that you can offer a wealth of information, products, and services to a targeted audience while not narrowing it down so far that your audience becomes too small. Ok let's say you're all about golf. And you've narrowed it down to the perfect putt. I'm sure you could create a whole online business around that with no problem and attract a wide audience too. Every golfer has to putt sometime, right? And I'm sure they all want to do it better. If however you narrow that down too much... to the perfect left-handed putt from 3' away from the hole with the wind blowing SW at 6mph well... can you see how not nearly as many people will be interested in what you have to say?
As another example, on my Law of Attraction website I specialize in helping people who are new to the Law of Attraction. Now this is a pretty large field, but by narrowing it down to people who are new, I can connect much better with my audience and provide products and services that help them specifically.
Remember also that you're one person. There are only so many hours in the day and only so much of you to go around and you will do a much better job for your prospects and customers if you focus on a more narrow aspect of your field and really go into depth there.
Becoming an expert. The reason you become an expert, or authority in your field is because people tend to buy from people they look up to and respect. To do this you have to have a working knowledge of the subject at hand (another reason to choose something you enjoy) and to present it in such a way that shows you "knowing your stuff."
Honestly I had a hard time with this at first. I thought I needed multiple degrees and credentials to be a "real expert" and I doubted whether people would take me seriously. I also wondered why anyone would listen to me when there were already so many other experts out there.
Here's the thing... in most cases you don't need degrees, credentials, or endorsements from famous people to help people or be good at what you do. It's more important to provide the best information, products and services you can. If you do that people will feel your authenticity and they will begin to see you as an expert and buy from you.
Besides, you are probably already an expert in some areas just by virtue of your personal experience. Some examples include:
- You may not be a child psychologist but because you're a mom you are an expert in how to deal with toddlers.
- You may not be a doctor but because of your personal experience with a certain condition you may be an expert in finding resources for people with that same condition (note - if you're not a licensed professional NEVER give medical advice)
- Same with legal issues. Maybe you're not a lawyer but you've been through a legal issue and you can help people understand that issue and provide resources for them (again, if you're not licensed you should NOT give legal advice).
- You may not be a teacher but you've helped your kids with plenty of homework and you're an expert in tips and shortcuts to help them get it done in fun and easy way eays.
- Maybe you're really great at researching the best cars to buy.
- Maybe you know virtually everything about a top author or band.
- Maybe you make the world's best cornbread. No wait... that's me :P
- Maybe you built an awesome tree house for your kids and you want to show others how to do the same.
Get the idea? See.... you already ARE an expert in something :)
The truth is that no matter what your level of expertise there will always be people smarter than you. But don't let that stop you! For every person who's smarter than you there are also people who are just learning about what you have to offer and to them you'll be the expert. So determine your level of expertise in your chosen niche then target the people who can best use your help. I promise they're out there.
Ok you should be pretty well set. You've decided what to do based on what you enjoy, you've narrowed it down to a manageable niche within that field, and you're going to become an expert in that field... or at least an expert to your target audience.
One final note: I know some of you may think I'm doing this backward. A lot of gurus tell you to find a profitable niche first and then jump on board. In my experience that simply doesn't work. It takes a lot of time and effort to get an online business up and going and I just don't have what it takes to force myself through the steps of setting up a business that means nothing to me. I'm in it for the long haul and I expect to be in these two businesses for years to come. Since you're taking the steps needed to start and run your own successful online business I assume you're in it for the long haul too. Therefore I say this again:
Choose something you enjoy.
Narrow your focus to something manageable.
Commit to becoming an expert in that area.
Create a business model that will make you money doing that.
In the long run it will pay off.... I promise :)
