Articles

Attention Online Internet Marketeer Starters: YOU NEED A BUSINESS PLAN!

by Paula van Dun Retired
When you are starting a business, let's say a restaurant, you need a business plan. In Holland it is mandatory to have one by law, except for a 1-person company.

In that perspective is setting up an online business the easiest way to start a business; you do not need diplomas, certificates and lots of other things needed for setting up a "brick" company. (I do not know the right expression, I mean a business that is not an online business).
So a lot of people start an online business without any preparation at all.

Of course everybody has their own unique approach but in my opinion there are some things that are crucial when you want to succeed in online business; in short:

YOU NEED A BUSINESS PLAN!

Preparation:

If you were never in online business before it is important to educate yourself in the following topics:

  • How to choose an online business opportunity that has good potential. How to avoid scams.
  • How to generate traffic and leads. Do not forget to do research about laws for sending emails. Use an autosreponder that is in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act.
  • How to set up a campaign.
  • learn to brand yourself by writing articles, writing e-mails and e-mail headline, setting up a blog, creating splashes and banners.
  • Make sure to include social media in your marketing. Take the time to learn how to use them effectively. A good social media presence is nowadays even more important than SEO. Next to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter I recommend  APSense. On APSense in particular I recommend setting up a Brand Page. A promising fairly new paid only business network is PinOpps Pro; since the free pinboard is an APSense add-on it is likely to grow very fast.
  • Learn to track your results
  • You can't be an expert in everything. Learn to find resources and people with qualities and skills you lack your self.
  • Explore possibilities of social networks and ad-ons and learn to use them to your advantage.
  • Learn to say no, regardless how tempting a new opportunity is. There are only so many hours every day you can spend on your online business. If it is a good opportunity it will still be there in 6 months; just put it in your long term to-do-list.
  • Do not believe everything they tell you but keep an open mind.
  • Be patient and never give up: when you are a newbie in online marketing you need to realize that it takes time to build a online network of people that know you and trust you enough to consider buying a service/product or sign up for programs you recommend. You can speed up this process by investing in your business where in my opinion diverse advertising is the most important.


There are plenty resources for that to find; at the bottom I listed a few recommendations. Actually you can find those here on APSense too if you know where to look. I can not stress enough how important it is on any network to explore features and add-ons and how they work together. By exploring you can find out to have better chances to earn from the APSense Partner program.

Spend a lot of time here and join some groups. Read the comments. Check out the persons that write useful comments, blogs and revpages. Those are the people that are willing to help you if you join their program and very important, can teach you the skills to make funded decisions yourself.


EXECUTION

After you have done your homework it is time to get started. So you sign up for a opportunity and a traffic program. The traffic program has a downline builder in which there is a TE and a safelist. The TE and the traffic program recommend a program with a great free Splash page generator for which you sign up too. I think you get the picture. 

What you need is structure and you need to keep track of the tasks you have completed and  a to-do list. I use my g-mail for that and some excel spreadsheets. Make a habit of it to keep these things updated all the time or you will ending up, as they say in Holland, running around as a chicken without a head.

Make a schedule for daily tasks like surfing TE's, answering e-mail, advertising and branding. Set up short term goals and long term goals. Make todo list for those as well and monitor progress so that you can adjust if necessary.

Be patient and don't give up. Only promote a few programs actively; after reading the above I am sure you understand why.


I hope this was helpful. Additions and useful comments are welcome.

Please visit my business center if you are interested in what programs i am in. 
I can highly recommend Surf-Bar-Traffic TE and the SBT Downline builder for building referrals in many solid opportunities and services, and The Marketers Co-op and ADSactly for affordable targeted advertising, hosting and business services like an auto responder as well as solid marketing advice.


Sponsor Ads


About Paula van Dun Magnate II     Retired

5,279 connections, 88 recommendations, 13,330 honor points.
Joined APSense since, October 3rd, 2010, From Kuşadası, Turkey.

Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

Comments

Philippe Moisan Magnate II   Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer
Hi Paula,

Thanks for giving me the link to this blog on IMfaceplate. It's very nice of you. I tweeted it and FBed it. The info is right on the mark for beginners like me.
Oct 16th 2010 21:18   
Patsy j Payne Committed   konnektions konsultant
We get so excited with our creativity that we forget the nuts and bolts of the business.
Oct 16th 2010 21:38   
Bj aka Bill Brown Magnate I   Hosting and Backup Service provider
very good post with excellent information both for new and old as many old hands are still making stupid mistakes that you should only expect from newbies
Oct 17th 2010 18:23   
Dr. Michael D. Advanced   The UBIEE HQ for Greener Nations
Well appreciated the information.
And yes I believe that you need a Business Plan.
When I started UBIEE 6 years ago I did made a Plan for the next 7 years.
So far I have been able to use that very often to stay focussed and not being sidetracked. t helped me a lot and I am sure your recommendation is a valid one for the newbies and the experienced internet marketers.

Thank you
skype:ubiee.corporation?=chat
Oct 17th 2010 19:27   
Philippe Moisan Magnate II   Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer
Keep up the great work, Paula. I follow the leader, and learn a lot along the way.
Oct 17th 2010 19:55   
Warren Day Senior   
@webmiep good page
and good work on reporting spammers and calling them out on it.
I'm going to report them all myself, hopefully everyone else with a brain will do the same

@Spam Crew Why don't you morons read the page and learn something
Oct 17th 2010 20:01   
Khadar valli Syed Committed   Hardware Engineer
ertificates and lots of other things needed for setting up a "brick" company. (I do not know the right expression, I mean a business that is not an online
Oct 17th 2010 20:04   
Cheryl Baumgartner Professional Premium   Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
Paula take it as a compliment that you wrote a good blog. You never see the spammers hitting spam blogs. And you are right one of the biggest mistakes is not having a plan. When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Oct 17th 2010 20:08   
Philippe Moisan Magnate II   Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer
Cheryl, why is that spammers don't hit spam blogs ? They hit good ones to hurt the reputation of the person ? To destroy competition ? I'm still learning a lot about spamming psychology.
Oct 17th 2010 20:11   
Luis Figueroa Committed   Independent Entrepreneur
Thank You for the information webmiep, and hopefully people will realize about spamming sooner or later... =)
Oct 17th 2010 20:14   
Cheryl Baumgartner Professional Premium   Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
Actually they hit the good blogs because they know that no one is going to read the garbage blogs, therefore THEIR garbage will never see the light of day.
Oct 17th 2010 20:41   
Sean North Professional   Business
Great post Paula, you are spot on with this post, you can only get there if you have a map (plan)
Oct 18th 2010 14:26   
Nabreska D. Committed   Internet Marketer and Web Developer
Sometimes we need to be reminded about it again. I found that when I don't set up a business plan when I want to start something new, I just can't make progress as I should be. Thank you for your blog.
May success shower in abundance over you
Oct 18th 2010 15:51   
Thomas Innovator   
Dear Paula useful tips on your blog .I am really exited to see internet business booming any way, there a lots of scams I ve lost $50 on the begging of this Year hoping to earn $5000 on Pay pay mails I was so wrong working nearly all Year patiently waiting for first wage .Now I am doing PTC programs and I can't see any thing else legal so far apart from that .Would love to read you advice
Oct 18th 2010 17:29   
Paula van Dun Magnate II   Retired
I am not an expert in this field. I think neobux is safe. But I have no patience for ptc programs. Frankly i think they are all a waste of time. Calculate what you earn per hour in these programs. When you are interested in a serious opportunity I suggest team Firestorm. Check my profile or ABC
Oct 18th 2010 17:41   
Chuck Bartok Professional   Veteran Entrepreneur now Sharing
Without a Business Plan in the US any Internet Marketer, MLM marketer is setting themselves up for IRS Trouble, should there be an Audit. I posted in past Blog at YouCanBuild.it how one friend saved Huge fines on deductions because he had a BUSINESS PLAN
Oct 18th 2010 19:34   
Paula van Dun Magnate II   Retired
IRS, I have heard about that. Isn't that some kind of tax police investigating tax fraud? I am not sure
Oct 18th 2010 19:38   
Cheryl Baumgartner Professional Premium   Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
Internal Revenue Service. The are the ones who tax us. Although in my circle we say it stands for Individuals Representing Satan.
Oct 18th 2010 20:21   
Noureddine Whida Junior   
Thank you, Madam important information and I am happy to work with you
Nov 7th 2010 19:11   
Katrina O. Professional   Indiana Water Filters
Paula! I love this! you write the best blogs! I will be sharing with the GRP team! We really stress to have a plan and get organized and focused!
Nov 10th 2010 11:10   
Please sign in before you comment.