Buy or Build a Successful Internet Business
Many people who don’t make their living online believe that the Internet has become very crowded. They are convinced that there are now few opportunities to develop a hugely successful online business. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have launched several websites that were late comers in very crowded niche markets. These websites now dominate their perspective niches and each generates a six figure profit – before the government takes their huge share for contributing nothing.
Of course, there are mainstream areas that have become extremely saturated. These markets are easily identified by the absurd pay per click (PPC) costs for keyword phrases targeted at these markets. To succeed you will have to cater products or services to a niche market.
The majority of people who start an online businesses do so with little thought and no planning. They find a wholesaler who dropships products directly to customers and then they build a web site. The barriers to entry are non existent. Any a high school student with a parent’s credit card can quickly build a web site, pay for keywords on PPC engines and have a sale all within a few hours. This works because that student comes in at the lowest price and is thrilled making 10% margins or $200 dollars a week.
If you wish to develop a successful eCommerce business then it is very helpful if you can create high barriers to entry. As an example, having the exclusive right to distribute a product over the Internet or distributing a product you manufacturer would create high entry barriers. If you don’t currently have access to any exclusive products or services then consider approaching companies who do not market their goods via the Internet and secure an exclusive right to offer their products or services online.
Another method of creating high barriers to entry is just plain hard work. When I developed my website for schools there were already many similar websites on the internet. Each of these websites provided information on ten to thirty different schools. I launched my website with information on over 600 schools and within a few months I was the highest ranked website in this category. In general, if I can’t offer ten times what is being offered by established websites in a market niche then I don’t enter an established market.
Perhaps you feel that you don’t have the resources to develop a website which will offer ten times the content of services of competitive websites in that niche market. The solution to this dilemma is simple. Think Small! When you wish to enter a new market, first look at your competitor’s websites. Often, what your competitor considers one market can be subdivided into ten, twenty, or even fifty sub- markets. Your opportunity lies in selecting the sub-market which offers the greatest potential for sales. You can then focus on this one sub-market and dominate it globally. After you have achieved global domination in your one sub-market, or market niche, then you can add another, and another and another. I successfully employed this strategy myself with my first website when my resources were extremely limited.
Before you set up and build a web site be sure you have done extensive research and written a business plan. Great web sites can be built for less than a few thousand dollars. You really don’t even need a great website. It is more important to have a great idea. I have seen many beautiful web sites where the owners spent over six figures developing the site only to have the website sit in oblivion on the Internet. In fact, I worked for a company that spent over 10 million dollars to develop a travel website. Although we built a beautiful website the customers did not come.
Like any business you must have a well thought out marketing plan. There are many marketing channels within the Internet. Search engine optimization, PPC, paid inclusion, and affiliate programs are just some of the channels you should be using. Take the time to study how to effectively position your site in search engines instead of paying others to perform this task. Look for inexpensive specific keyword phrases that you can place in the PPC search engines. Using our aquarium directory as an example, consider paying .10 cents a visitor for the phrase” Acme 50 gallon salt water filters”, versus $1.50 per visitor for the keyword “filters”. You will receive less traffic but it will be highly relevant. Affiliate programs are an excellent tool for promoting your site. The program works by allowing owners of websites to place text links and graphics on his/her site that link back to your site. When a visitor comes to your site via an affiliate and purchases a product or service you pay the referring site a commission. All of the transactions are managed by an affiliate manager site. There are many affiliate programs out there be sure to research which one would work best with your business. Finally, avoid paying to have your site submitted to search engines which is no longer necessary.
The Internet is not a place to get rich quick, it requires hard work, dedication, patience and a great long term plan. Stick to this plan and success on your terms will certainly follow.