So you've decided to jump in head first and create your very own online business. Your excited and ready for action. You've most likely bought a couple of ebooks explaining how easy it's gonna be and you feel like an expert on the subject but then reality kicks in and you soon figure out that all you've really learned is that you've got a LOT more to learn!

Every new success brings with it a new set of problems. Pretty soon the frustration peaks and you start to think things like 'give up', 'maybe you should stick to your day job', this isn't really possible' and so on and so forth.

First of all HOLD UP. You're not defeated and this isn't impossible for you to do, it's just not the walk in the park you thought it was gonna be, and why would it be? In all likelihood you're a newbie (and if you don't know what that means then you just made my point). Building an online business isn't rocket science but it is probably NEW TO YOU so it would be a little unrealistic that mind-blowing succes is gonna happen overnight. My point? Give yourself a chance. You CAN get through this but if nothing else, you need a plan of action.

And that's my first piece of advice. You gotta start with a written plan. Now before head for the hills in panic, you're not gonna need to learn how to write a professional business plan (like the kind you'd need for a bank loan application). Instead I want you to think of your online business as just that.. a business.

Organize your ideas in a clear, logical way so that you can actually see what your business is designed to achieve and what tools and resources it will need to pull that off. Always remember your business is there to provide valuable products/services in exchange for money. So you're gonna need to put systems in place to make this happen

Ask yourself some simple questions:

1. What problem am I hoping to solve with this website?
2. Do I have the necessary expertise or do I need to spend more time learning?
3. How will I deliver/package this service? Download? Email? Mail fulfillment? (Physical product)
4. Is there a large enough demand for my proposed product?
5. How will I make contact with my target audience?
6. Is there competition? (Good indication of demand)

Now regarding the structure of the site itself you may want to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Can I build the website? If not what's my outsourcing budget?
2. How will it be laid out? How will visitors navigate from one page to another?
3. Should I get help from others? Would the time savings be worth the expense?

etc. etc.

You get the idea right? Setting up a successful website is usually more involved than most people think. Your plan will need to include more than just 'make money from my website' if you expect to have any kind of long term success online.

Here's a quick checklist of some of the tools you'll need to get your soon-to-be-cash-generating online business up and running.

1. An in demand product. Do some keyword research using the keyword suggestion tools available for free from Google and Yahoo, or you may opt to use paid services like Wordtracker. These tools will give you an insight to the number of searches your chosen product has been getting online and help you determine whether you've found a 'hit product' or if you need to keep digging.

2. A web address. Using the results of your search, choose a domain name. Then find out if the domain name you chose is available using one of the many free domain registrar search tools. This can be a very lengthy process since most common names are already taken. Be creative, use a combination of product type, use and benefits to come up with ideas eg. LightWeightSuitcases.com This name tells you the type of product (siutcases) and the unique benefit it offers (light weight). The key point to note here is that you must try to include the main keyword for your product/service in the domain name itself (Helps with search engines rankings)

3. A way to build your website. Couple of choices here. You can purchase or download free web building software. You can go to places like eLance.com and hire a web designer to build it for you, you can download free/paid customizable website templates, or you can take advantage of the site builders that come with many hosting account.

4. An autoresponder. You're not officially in business online until you have one of these. You need to be constantly building a list of customers and prospects if you plan to be in business online for any length of time. This fully automated software will be linked to a sign up form you have on your site which, once a prospect signs up, will start to send a series of pre-written (by you) messages for as long as you like with one objective. To get the subscriber to buy from you again and again. Care must be taken to earn the subscriber's trust by providing relevant, timely info. This will take you some time to learn so don't rush it. You have the option to pay for an autoresponder monthly or there are vendors who will sell you autoresponder software that you would install on your own site and of course in this case there's no monthly fee. Some will even install it for you.

5. Choose a web host. You'll need a hosting service to store your website on their server and making it available to internet surfers. You have a very long list of choices here and your ultimate selection will depend largely on what your specific needs are. If you're not sure get some advice from a pro or do some research online. The best part is that if you choose a host you're not happy with you can usually change to another without too much hassle.

6. Payment Processor. If you're going to be selling other people's products (affilate marketing) then it may be necessary for you to sign up with a payment processor like Clickbank.com in order to be properly credited for sales you've generated and also to collect your commissions. Clickbank is really easy (and free) to join and has the added advantage that when you decide to create and sell your own downloadable product you'll already have a very widely accepted and trusted way to accept payments online for your blockbuster book or software.

7. If you do decide to create your own product (highly recommended) you're probably gonna need tools like a word processor (eg. Word or OpenOffice), an audio editing software like the free Audacity (for an audio based product) or a video capture software like Camtasia for video products. Creating your own downloadable product isn't anywhere as difficult as most people think. It's all just content. Use an approach similar to the one you'd use to build a successful money making website (as outlined in the article you're reading now) ie. start with a sysytematic and deliberate plan and you'll be writing page after page before you know it.

So there it is. Your very own cash generating website is there to serve a need and/or solve a problem. Always keep that in the back of your mind whenever you're adding elements to your website and your business. Anything that isn't helping you achieve that goal is probably unnecessary.

You are closer to the success you desire than you know. Keep working at it. The best part is now you can work a little smarter because you have this blueprint to work from.


Best Of Luck To You
Ricky Ducent