It's Not Just A Website, It's A Business

"A dog is for life, not just for Christmas" is how the old saying used to go, well, here's a new one…it's not just a website, it's a business.

And should be treated as such.

Let's clear a few things up.

Yes, you can set a website up, put it on autopilot and it will bring in an income in.

Can it be 100% automatic?

Well yes and no.

We have a number of websites where by all the work was put in upfront, we recruited affiliates and submitted over 200 articles to various sites across the net and now they do bring in profits every month with no further marketing on our part.

We also have systems in place so if someone emails in customer support questions an autoresponder replies with the most commonly asked questions and answers. This eliminates all but the most unusual questions.

By using Clickbank for most of our eproducts they will handle any refund requests in 99.99% of the cases. If a customer emails in directly asking for a refund we simply forward it to Clickbank to action.

So, yes, you can have a business that runs virtually on autopilot BUT it will need some intervention on your part each month. (Even if it is to bank the cheques :-)

Building A Sustainable Business

A sustainable, LONG TERM business, that will grow does require you put in work (you don't believe in the 'magic Internet riches for no work fairy' do you?).

However, this work can be as much or as little as you want depending on the type and scale of business you want to create.

Try and think of your business as profit centres, with each profit centre having a Profit and Loss (P&L) statement of it's own.

Your first profit centre is called publishing, as this is the one that 'most' web entrepreneurs enter it first.

Your publishing profit centre may start off with your ebook or audio but then expand to cover a physical book, audio CD, DVD, a subscription service, membership website, affiliate models, volume II, III and beyond.

The key to remember here is this profit centre is for one niche only…if you operate in multiple niches then you have the opportunity to set up several publishing centres…one for each niche.

There are three other primary profit centres you can set up for each market and we'll cover these in the future

Not An Expert…Become The Messenger!

One of the biggest moans, I mean excuses, oops, weak reasons I hear for not being successful is that...

"It's all right for you Neil (or so and so expert) because you're experienced within your niche, but I'm no expert so I can't be successful"

Rubbish, I'm afraid.

This, in my book, is a very poor excuse (sorry to be blunt) as it is an easy get out for people to use.

Listen, if you're not yet an expert…then become the 'trusted' messenger within that niche market.

Set up a website that produces reviews and news about your market, deliver useful information that people will want to read for it's honest content.

Get publishing a Newsletter (either electronic or print), undertake surveys AND publish the results in press releases stating YOU as the authority.

Why not review other companies within your market, ask for interview with them; buy some of the products from your future competitors and review their sales & customer service practices.

This will not only provide you with great content for your web business; it WILL give you killer market research when you are ready to launch your own products.

Is your website a business?

Get your thinking caps on and see where you can expand your web empire by introducing new products or services. And If you haven't got a website yet…start thinking in terms of being the messenger for your niche.

Remember you have a BUSINESS, not just a website.