Do you have a plan???

You have a business. Now do you have a plan for this business, or are you just wandering around the internet trying to stumble onto something?

Having an internet business is a serious business. It can make you money, or you can loose money, just like a brick and mortar business. It does not have the expense of the building and the stock, but it does take a lot of time, energy, and money to get it going and keep it going. The rewards can be very good though, if it is done right.

I believe a lot of people do not take an internet business serious because of the little expense it takes to start one. Everyone is jumping in because it is so easy, they think. Get a web site, or start a blog and sell some stuff. Sounds like a good plan. It is a good plan except there is a little bit more to it. Just a few more little details.

You need to know what type of product or service you are going to provide, "your niche". You have to be able to target a certain group of people. You have to know that there is demand for that product or service. The higher the demand the better, because it is a big internet world out there and there is room for everybody. This is the first thing you must figure out because you don't want to take a domain name like doggybones.com if you are going to sell cat litter.

Now you need a product line or service. Affiliate marketing is where most people start, selling other peoples products. Another popular product is information. Information is a very good product because of the expense to create it and it is very valuable to people. You can achieve a 500% profit easily for a good information product.

Now since you are selling, and that is what businesses are in business for is to sell, you need to be able to take money. You have to have a secure way that people will feel comfortable to give you money for that product or service.

Now that all that is figured out, you need to find customers, or find a way for customers to find you and what you are selling or offering. This is where the marketing part comes in. This is where having a plan is crucial. There are dozens of ways to get traffic or people to your site. Of course you want as many people as possible, but at the same time you want targeted traffic, or people that are looking for your type of product or service. Then even better yet, you want them to have their credit card out and ready to buy. You have to have good copy, or sales letters prepared to do this. You should do some testing to see which sales copy works best. Marketing you product or service is going to take the most amount of time, and energy. It could also be your biggest expense. The more time and energy you spend on educating yourself and planning this part of your business, the better you will do. Have a plan on which ways you are going to advertise and designate a certain amount of time to each way. No more than 2 hours at a time on the computer working on this. Lock the door, turn off the phone, make sure it is quiet, uninterrupted time to study, and write on ways to market your product or services. If you want to work on this more than 2 hours, take a 30 minute break in between 2 hour periods. You will be more productive that way.

You need a plan, so the best way to start is to write down that plan. List the ways you plan to market and the tools you will need.

You will need to learn some skills, and will need a lot of information. You will need to master your time management skills first of all.

You are in business. That means you are providing a service or a product for people. You need to make sure that your customers are getting quality service as well as a quality product and feel comfortable through the whole process. After all, you spent many hours and some dollars getting them to visit your site and become your customer. You now want them to be a return customer and refer you to others. That is the easiest and best advertising.

There is nothing simple about starting and running a business. Even after you think you have it all figured out, and things start to run smooth, some how the rules change and you have to change with them. You can not stop watching what the market wants and is buying. You have to educate yourself almost daily to stay one step in front of the crowd.

Get a plan, write it down, fill in all the spaces, dot the I's, and cross the T's, and be ready to change it at a moments notice.