Just like any other occupation, running an online business is burdened with collective beliefs, common knowledge, and myths that are sometimes far from the truth. In this post I am going to tell you about some of these myths.
1. Building a successful online business is easy
A lot of self-styled “gurus” may lead you to believe that starting an online business is as easy as a stroll in the park. Get a website going, put up a few ads and money starts pouring in. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Starting a business on the internet is just as hard as starting a business in the “real” world, it is just as competitive – if not more so -, and can be just as demoralizing. That being said, if you are an authority in your field or a hard worker with great ideas, then you will climb to the top. But it will take time.
2. An Online business requires a different skills than an “ordinary” business
An online business is just that - business. Almost everyone who has a blog or website talks about “social media” and “web 2.0″ and the amazing opportunities tools like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter create for online businesses. And it is true, these sites do open up new ways to make money – if you know how to use them to stay connected to your audience.
But if you do not know how to connect to people in the first place or do not have a valuable service or product to offer, then these social networks and blogging services are not going to magically help you get your message out and make sales for you.
If you have sales skills or marketing skills or the ability to create a buzz around your blog or website, then you will be able to make a huge impact in the internet business world. Remember, the rules are just the same as in the real world. Create a great product, provide great service, and get as many people as possible interested in what you have to offer. Hit it out of the park for people, and you will win.
The only difference is that instead of having customers come into your store from the street, your store is visiting your target audience via computer screen or mobile phone display in their living rooms. Or any other place that has wifi.
3. Online business is just for nerds
This could not be farther from the truth. Sure, it undeniably helps to know your way around a computer, but internet tools are now so easy to use that you really do not need a lot of technical or design expertise. If you can operate a keyboard and a mouse and are willing to put in a little effort to learn about things you do not as yet know much about, then you will be able to create a viable online business.
You can also make use of existing skills if you are interested in working on the internet. If you are a writer (copy-writer, journalist,..) you can start a freelance writing business, and if you are a web designer or social media pro you can do likewise. You can even become an information entrepreneur and provide information and advice via blogs or websites and monetize your sites in many different ways. For all of you content writers out there, please read my post on how to make money with HubPages.
4. Internet marketing is nothing but spam
Sure, there is a loooot of spam out there, but there are also hundreds of thousands of legitimate companies doing business online. Every single brand name company has (and has to have) an internet presence. If they did not, they simply would not exist. There is nothing shady about doing business online. In fact, I would be surprised if in the foreseeable future you will be able to do any business at all without using the internet.
As people gravitate more and more towards the web to do their shopping, find information, communicate with friends, and plan trips and flights, there will be ever more opportunities for online businesses. If you are not preparing your small business for an all-internet world you may be left behind.
5. I cannot start an online business because the Internet is too crowded
The internet is crowded and it gets more crowded every day. But guess what, the streets of many town are also crowded with businesses, but new businesses start and established businesses fold every day.
Google and all the other search engines are becoming better at weeding out the fraudulent, worthless, and spam sites, which makes it easier for the high quality online businesses to shine. Search engine traffic is probably the most important factor in becoming a success on the internet, and if you play by the rules and create a great product or offer a valuable service, you will rise to the top, as the best often do.
6. I do not have time to start my own online business
Building an online presence is probably the easiest as well as cheapest way to further the success of almost any business, big or small. Precious few companies will be able to avoid doing business online. A website or an e-commerce store selling your product is virtually a must.
A good and easy way to start is by creating a blog. It is not as time-consuming as you might think – and you can do it for free. Start a free blog at Blogger.com or Wordpress.com, find a custom template online that fits well with the product(s) or service(s) you offer (you want a professional-looking online presence, don´t you? ), and start getting your message out. There are a lot of things you can do with a blog with regard to promoting your company and your brand. Even just getting out there and promoting yourself will help you a great deal.
The people who work the hardest and are willing to try out different ways of doing business in order to find out what works best will be the most successful. The internet just helps by making everthing faster. This means that your business can become successful within a short period of time, but it can go down the drain just as quickly.
One of the best things the internet provides though is free access to your target audience, world-wide. You can find and reach out to your community on so many fronts, it is ridiculous. And you can do most of it for free because all it takes it time and the willingness to work hard. Getting your message across and driving targeted traffic to your blog or website are important aspects of the online game. But having an amazing product or service is the most important thing.
Create an amazing product that fulfills a need or solves a problem in an interesting or new way - and you just might become the next online millionaire.
Good luck!
Related article:
12 Steps to Successful Blogging
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