Thinking About Starting An Internet-based Business?
Over the past few months, at least a dozen clients have emailed us asking our opinion about starting an internet-based business. I suppose it's because we maintain a website for our business and that should give us some kind of background on the subject. Unfortunately, it doesn't. But we did a little research, and what we found was interesting. Let's start out with one of the emails we received:
Jill and Roger - I'm constantly deluged with emails and newsletters that tell me how so-and-so from Podunk, Iowa was broke and nearly homeless before starting her web-based business. Now (of course) she's got thousands of dollars pouring in daily and expects her income to triple over the next six months. Then at the end of this rags to riches story is an offer to sell a course, book, CDs or a newsletter subscription that will provide the same results. Do you know anyone who has actually made money on the web?
We see these kind of emails, too. Are we skeptical? Absolutely. If you look at these offers carefully, you'll find the overwhelming majority are selling the same thing - a step by step guide or "template" on how to make money. And most promise success based on a "secret" or "new" system or formula. And what will you sell? INFORMATION! What kind of information? You guessed it - how to use the web to make money. Sounds a bit like a ponzi scheme, doesn't it?
Okay, time for the big question: Does it work? Do people really make money on the internet after buying these books and CDs? The facts are pretty depressing. For every internet-based business that nets its owner $50,000 a year, there are a thousand that fail. So are the odds stacked against anyone starting a successful web-based business? Without reservation - YES.
But there are exceptions: Here's a few businesses that have found success on the internet: Vitamin and health supplements, books, DVDs, CDs, software, custom generated information for a specific nitch market, and social networking.
So if you have or own proprietary information that others could benefit from (financially, physically, spiritually) you MIGHT be able to sell it from a website. Remember, there's nothing magical about the web. It's just another method of marketing - like direct mail, print advertising, radio, television, seminars, etc.
We asked a few of our clients who are internet "experts" (that means they actually make money from a web-based business) if they would provide us with five qualifing questions that an internet novice would find helpful before they made any kind of a financial commitment. Here they are in no particular order of importance:
1. Do you have a product that a potential customer can evaluate without touching it? How will you convince someone of the feature/benefits of your product without being able to physically put it in front of them?
2. Does your product have a shelf life? Does it become less valuable, or less useful over time? If so, forget it.
3. Are there similar products currently for sale? If not, why not? If so, why is yours better?
4. Do you have a marketing plan (promotion) that does NOT rely on responses from social sites, such as facebook. While these sites boast millions of members, no one has been able to get them to spend money consistently on products and services not directly related to the use of the site.
5. Can you allow potential customers to "sample" your product, free of charge or obligation? This might mean giving away something of real value to convince a potential customer that what you're offering is worth buying.
Finally, our experts recommended spending no more than a few hundred dollars for books or CDs to learn the basics of setting up an internet business. According to their collective wisdom, you will learn just as much as you will by attending a weekend seminar that can cost thousands of dollars.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
Posted at 02:33PM Oct 17, 2009 by Jill Reid in General |
