Relationship Marketing | Build Your Online Business

This is the 2nd part of How to Move Forward in Your Online Business.  Here is the link for Part One :  https://mysuccesscircleonline.com/how-to-move-forward-in-your-online-business-part-1/

5.  Avoid being a procrastinator. People usually procrastinate as an avoidance strategy.  Identify the reasons why you procrastinate and take steps to correct them.  If you are putting off writing posts for your blog because you don't like to write, ask yourself how important is it that you learn to do so?  You may be able to use PLR articles to provide you with the foundation for your posts allowing you to build on the ideas.

6.  Moving Forward in Your Online Business Requires FOCUS. It is hard when you're just getting started to focus, because you're quite likely still searching. But herein lies failure.  Without a focus you get easily distracted and like a butterfly flit from one “promise of gold” to the other without accomplishing anything meaningful. I don't recall where I read this but someone suggested that you should try something for 90 days and if it doesn't appear to be working, try something else.  There's nothing dogmatic about that, but the point is that you need to give a particular tool or method time to prove whether it has merit or not; rather than jumping from one thing to the next.  Remember FOCUS = Follow One Course Until Successful!

7.  Have a plan: I've written in other posts that a plan is essential to your success.  However, many persons new to internet marketing feel that they cannot really devise a plan because they do not know all of what is involved. This is true, but remember that your plan can be modified or even changed altogether to meet your specific needs.  The key is to have a basic outline or framework of where you are at the outset, and determine where you would like to be as far as knowledge and income in the short-term and long-term are concerned.  As you gain more knowledge you will become more equipped to set the steps in place that you need to effectively to move forward in your online business and reach your desired goal.

Here's an example:  You are brand new to the internet: 1) In your research you find that one of the quickest way to get started online is to set up a blog rather than have a static website.  Your next step would logically be to research where you can set up your blog by learning about blog platforms.  Once you've gathered your information, then you take action.  You can set up a blog on a free platform like blogger.com or you may learn that typepad.com offers a better solution.  Your research may also reveal that a hosted blog on wordpress.org may be even more effective.  Make a decision then set up your account.

2)  After learning what blogs are, including the fact that Google loves blogs, you also learn that blogs allow people to get to know, like and trust you.  Your next step would be, to decide what you will write about?  My advice would be to start with something you know something about, something you will enjoy writing about, and something that there is much to write about.  It wouldn't make sense to select a topic that after a few posts you run out of things to write about.

3)  Once you develop a pattern and become familiar with the process, you can continue investing time in learning, not necessarily money, until you get to know who you can trust to provide solid information.  I say this without reservation based on my own experience.  When I first came on the internet I wasted lots of money on courses and ebooks that turned out to be ‘fluff' and did not provide solid “how to's”.  My hope is that you will avoid that happening to you.

As you get started and continue your research your knowledge will grow so that you are able to continue building your plan for success and learn how to move forward and get beyond the “Newbie” phase.

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The definition of an Internet Newbie is very subjective.  For some it could mean just getting started; for others they consider themselves a Newbie until they have made their first $1,000 from their marketing efforts.  Still there are others who consider themselves Newbies even though they have had a presence on the Internet for more than a year.

Regardless of where you are in the “Newbie” stage, your desire should be to move forward in your online business.  No one wants to or can follow a parked car…it's going nowhere, and unless you are on online just for fun or as a hobby, you will want to take steps to move forward.

1. Do you treat your internet marketing as a business? Then you must do something in and for your business everyday.

2. It's often said, “Your attitude determines your altitude.” Are you a self-starter and are you self-motivated?  You must take action to implement what you re learning.  Sometimes you could over-analyze the pros and cons for so long that it leads to paralysis.  I was guilty of this for a long time, not only in my online business but also in my Direct Sales business several years ago.  A simple statement by a Direct Sales leader helped to get me to see beyond my own limiting beliefs.  She pointed out that all the lights are never going to be green at the same time, but you keep going and will eventually reach your destination if you don't let the red lights stop you altogether.  Simple illustration that had a big impact on me.

3.  F.E.A.R – False Evidence Appearing Real. So many of us struggle with fear of failure.  Oddly enough when you take the plunge, many times you realize that the fear was much worse that the reality.  Do not be afraid to fail forward. It's unavoidable but you can learn from your mistakes. Each time you fail or fall view it as a training ground, sometimes a hard one, but the experience will make you stronger and less likely to make the same mistake. Think of the gymnast or ice skater who takes home the Olympic gold.  He or she did not get there without some tumbles, but they never gave up; they got up, and kept going. Will you?

4.  Stop being busy with tasks unrelated to your business.  Ask yourself, Is what I'm doing going to take me to the next level or stage in my business?  There's nothing wrong with taking care of administrative tasks but they must be done after your key tasks for your online business are completed. An area I still struggle with is releasing tasks by outsourcing them.  And this may be something you cannot afford to do initially, but as soon as you can take advantage of Virtual Assistants who can save you lots of time so you can focus on what is going to make you move forward in your online business.  I'm finally working with a Webmaster as I recognize that he can do things much better and faster than I can and that's helping me to move forward in my own business.

Look for Part 2 in 3 days.

Everyday new businesses are started on the internet.  Some persons start an online business for fun, some with the intent of making some ‘extra money' while others have a purpose in mind: that of starting a ‘real business' to provide a regular income online.  Regardless of the reasons, one factor that most persons omit to take into consideration is the need to have a business plan.  What is a business plan? http://www.google.com/url?q=http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/business_plan describes a business plan as “A summary of how a business owner, manager, or entrepreneur intends to organize an entrepreneurial endeavor and implement activities necessary and sufficient for the venture to succeed.”  Your business plan for your online business should clearly explain the what, why, when, who and how of the project.

Based on the above I can hear someone saying, “I don't need a business plan.  After all an online business is not like a brick and mortar business…”  And that's true.  However, by setting up a business plan, you are laying out a roadmap to success. It will help you to develop your business goals and strategies, as well as provide you with a better understanding of the marketplace. It will also highlight any business strengths or weaknesses that you may have, as well as providing you with an opportunity to take a close look at your competitors. While this is optional at the outset, it would do no harm to include financial projections, historical data and growth expectations into your business plan.  If your goal is to make money, you will need to document what your resources are at the outset, and what it's going to take to reach your goal.

One vital concept of your plan for success in an online business endeavor is to identify your target audience.  This way you will know how your service, your product, or your knowledge can specifically meet or exceed the expectations of your audience.

Your business plan may be broken down into the following seven sections:

1. Business summary – The product or service you want to provide.

2. Market analysis – Research on the product or service and how the competitors are doing.

3. Product positioning – How to make it more prominent compared to your competitors.  Or, what need is not being filled in your area that you can fill.

4. Market strategy – How are you actually going to market it? Every business must have a marketing plan otherwise you are setting-up yourself for failure.

5. Customer analysis – Look at what the customer wants or needs.  How will you find out?  Feedback, surveys, etc.

6. Financial analysis – What you need to invest in order to set up the business and to keep it going while it is just getting started. You'll need at the minimum a domain name, a hosting service, and an autoresponder.  I use and recommend GoDaddy.com for domain name registration, and AWeber.com for e-mail autoresponder service. Click on the links to take you directly to both sites.

7. Overall business goals – What you hope to achieve in, say, a year’s time or even 5 years' time.  Short-term and long-term goals.

Although you may be thinking  you need pages and pages of information, which could cause you to hesitate, keep in mind that the sections listed above can be condensed into just about two pages.  This is for your reference, and should serve as a guide which you can refer to from time to time in order to determine your progress.  And, above all, make it your determination that once you have created a business plan for your online business you will stick with it.  As your business evolves, you can amend as you see fit.

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