"Starting An Online Business: Things to Learn and Remember"

Since 96% of all online businessesfail, you should be careful, driven,smart, and adventurous when startingan online business. Obviously whenstarting an online business, avoidingmistakes is key to your successbecause online mistakes cost seriousmoney and waste lots of valuable time.Unfortunately you don't have a timemachine to use to go back and "undo"the mistakes that you might make.In the online world, mistakes aresimply "business killers" and sadly,most people who start an onlinebusiness never recover from thosemistakes.Here's some facts that may factor intoyour decision if you're thinking ofstarting an online business:* When starting an online business theaverage newbie loses between $1,500.00to $2,500.00 in the first year oftheir online business on uselessproducts and programs.* The Department of Labor andStatistics says that 75,000 new peoplesubscribe to the Internet every day,100,000 new web sites are built daily,and 125,000 people start a home-basedbusiness every week.* 33% of all new millionaires achieveit through a home-based business.With those types of statistics, itseasy to see why starting an onlinebusiness can have such a grand allureand be daunting all at the same time.In fact, starting an online businesscan be one of the easiest things toactually do and can easily become apart-time profitable business if youdo it right.So what do you have to remember orlearn when starting an online business?Here's a partial list of 8 items:Starting an online business item #1:Remember that you need to plan well,have a distinct plan for what you wantto do and how you are going to getthere. If you don't have detail ofthe "how's" regarding starting youronline business, you will most likelywaste more money than you can affordto and burn up more time than youshould. Define a clear path from "ideato sale" right from the start andrealize that your flexibility in thatpath will be key to your success.Starting an online business item #2:Remember that there are lots of 'getrich quick' type schemes availablethat contribute to the overallInternet business hype. If you buyinto any of this when starting anonline business, you'll actuallydigress rather than progress becauseyou'll be distracted and you will notbe able to maximize your time.Starting an online business item #3:Remember that there are certainsimilarities to offline and onlinesuccess, but there is a distinctdifference between online marketingand offline marketing. When startingan online business, make sure that youtake what you know as an offlinemarketer and utilize what works inyour online business and discard whatdoesn't.Starting an online business item #4:Remember that you will need to behighly critical of information andwill need to crave information andknowledge when starting an onlinebusiness. You will be bombarded withlots of information, schemes,products, resources, and tactics forsuccess when starting an onlinebusiness, its only natural. Rememberto be logical and critical of suchinformation and crave the knowledgeneeded to decide whether or not theinformation is fitting for how youthink, is useful to you in your onlinebusiness, and has value to youregarding your long term plan.Starting an online business item #5:You have to learn patience whenstarting an online business. Becauseyou most likely won't have theknowledge or resources to make lots ofmoney instantly, and your networkof 'partners' won't be built, havingpatience and understanding that thisbusiness takes some time just mightsave from the times when you feel likethrowing in the towel.Starting an online business item #6:When starting an online business, youhave to be ready to learn the art ofcopy writing unless you have a largebudget. Copy writing is one of the topskills needed to succeed in an onlinebusiness and the endeavor to learncopy writing should be taken veryseriously. There is a process thatgoes along with solid copy writing andit ties into your product, targetmarket, and your overall plan. Makesure you learn how to write good copyor at least plan fiscally to get thejob done right.Starting an online business item #7:When starting an online business,learning how to develop a product thatpeople will pay for, that is in anunsaturated market, and that is builtaround your passion, can be one of themost important exercises you canundertake. There's been lots of moneylost because this idea wasn'tthoroughly researched before thenetrepreneur started his or her onlinebusiness. Don't make the same mistakewhen starting yours.Starting an online business item #8:In order to be successful whenstarting an online business, you needto learn how to use the phone! Emailis great but the phone is better,always. If you aren't comfortablepicking up the phone and talking toother business owners, practice it.Remember, your online business is likeany other business, offline or online.It is about solving people's problemsby delivering a solid product throughchannels that often-times demandhaving a relationship with otherpeople. Voice to voice communicationis the next best thing to meeting inperson. Use the phone!When staring an online business,remember that you will have to siftthrough a lot of information and bediligent in order to turn a profit. Ittakes work. Starting an onlinebusiness is easy, making your onlinebusiness a profitable one will takeeffort, determination, relationships,talent, and persistence.Be humble, work hard, work smart.Karl AugustineStarting an online businesswww.9mistakes-online.com