5 step action plan to success online - part one

Way too many people believe the Internet is a place to get rich quick with no effort or sweat needed. You just publish a web site and poof you have a home business. Please do not hold your breath waiting on results from an Internet business started with that thought process.

Do you want to know the secret of success online?  Find a niche market and work hard!

A niche market is a group of individuals with available money who share a common interest, problem, enthusiasm, need or mania and who can be easily found online. Mini sites are the easiest way to promote your niche and make some quick money because they do not require a large setup cost, and they are easy to design. All you need is a great niche and you are ready to make some money.

Here is a 5 Step Action Plan to help you get started: 

Step 1: Find your niche

With a pen and paper (or computer, if that's more comfortable) brainstorm a list of businesses, products and industries. Create a list of keywords and phrases you think would be used by individuals looking for these items online.

• eBay trends about what is selling can be observed by visiting eBay pulse at http://pulse.ebay.com. One can then drill down by categories and sub-categories and find niches of interest.
• With Overture's tools you can establish demand and supply in an instant. Simply type in a phrase in their keyword suggestion tool: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ to see the demand.

Step 2: Keyword search

The most important step in this kind of business is always keyword research. You need to find small markets which do not have competition. Wordtrack is a very good tool to use for finding niche opportunities. For every keyword, it tells you the number of searches and how many results are found on each search engine. You need to pay special attention to the KEI column. KEI is the index that balances the number of searches and the number of competitors. The more searches and the fewer the competitors, the better for you. A KEI higher than 10 is good, but you should, ideally, look at keywords with a KEI over 100. More than 400 is a gift.

Step 3: Setup your mini site

• DomainYou should choose a name that has something to do with your target market.There's no reason to pay more than $10 for a domain name, so feel free to shop around. Domains are important because they give you credibility as a business.
• Hosting Hosting plans vary considerably. Much of what you pay for will be determined by the features your hosting account provides with its service. Never use a free host, unless perhaps you want to start with a blog or similar format while you get your own website up and running. Try to get recommendations from others when looking for a good host.
• Build your siteSet up a simple web site using an automatic site builder or pay to have someone set it up for you. Do not try to design your own web site unless you are educated on html. Do not waste your time. You can find professional templates on some hosting services. These can give your website a professional polish without the expense of hiring a designer.
• Create a website that has informative content. Fill your site with content. Incorporate the keywords (words or phrases visitors type into their search engines – use the words found on step 2) into the content to improve your place in the search engines. Use only original content! If you don't feel capable of writing them yourself you can hire a ghostwriter. Don’t pay more than $5 per article (400 words). Your site should be at least 15 pages, all based on steps 1 and 2.