Online Business Ideas: Lessons From Real Life

Posted by Stephen Beck on June 14, 2010 under Home Based Business | Be the First to Comment

Are you looking for some online business ideas? Sometimes the ideas on the internet can be hypothetical, but if you are like me, you want to hear a real-life person’s story. You want to hear how he or she build a business from scratch and not because they are internet marketing experts. I know exactly what you mean.

So a little bit about us. My wife Kerry and I really are the couple next door. We are not gurus. We are just two people who happened to get into internet marketing by accident. We stumbled upon the secret to creating information products that are very profitable, require little time, and give us tremendous amounts of freedom. I am a poster child for somebody who started an internet company late in life. I did not start this thing until I was in my 40s. In fact, I started all of this because I was going to seminary and did not have my regular income.

Online Business Idea #1 – Start With What You Know

The truth is that if we can do it, you can, too. Like I said, I have not always had an online business. For 20 years, I did home remodeling. Then my wife started up a little company called Curriculum Connection. She wanted to help other homeschoolers find curriculum to use. As it grew, she began asking me, “Steve, do you know how to build web pages? How can we get online with our products?” So I started working on it, and even though I was clueless at first, I quickly figured it out. At the same time, I was in seminary.

So I was 2000 miles from home. No friends, no family, and no job. And I had to replace that remodeler income it took me 20 years to build. I had to replace it fast. And I had to do all of this in my part-time because seminary required me to read 15,000 pages a year!

So I started looking for the perfect business. And the reason I tell you this story is to say, “I know you are busy. I know you probably have a full-time job. I know that you are experiencing the same things I was experiencing. But you can start an online business on the side in your part time, and pretty soon, if you work it right, it will eclipse your day job.”

Online Business Idea #2 – Write Out Your Expectations

So I sat down and wrote out my expectations for my perfect business. I wanted to create a product one time and then get paid for it repeatedly. I only had a small amount of time to work each week, so I needed to be paid well in that time. I needed a product that was easy for me, my wife, and my partners if I ever had any. I really wanted a business that would run automatically with very little input from me. I was looking for a weekly, even monthly, paycheck. I also wanted very few start-up costs. Sounds realistic, right?

You might say I had unrealistic expectations. But think about it. There is a business that would meet all my needs: creating and selling information products online. Once you have created it, you can sell it over and over again.

You start off by spending a little time packaging quality content, market it on the internet, and then sell it quickly and painlessly. You really could almost put the whole thing on auto pilot.

Online Business Idea #3 – Start Small

It was very low start-up costs. In fact, that is one of the questions I am routinely asked. “Steve, how much does it cost to start an online business?” For $15 a year for a domain name, and that is kind of high these days, and $50 a year for hosting, and $20 a month for an autoresponder, you can set up an online business. And that is really all it takes to get started.

If you have an idea, why not start today? These online business ideas are practical and easy to do and can get you going on a path to greater financial freedom.

Stephen Beck will give you online business advice and show you how to make your first $1000 online. Go get a FREE link to his webinar replay, where Stephen shows you exactly what you should do: http://www.youronlinebasics.com/go.html.

Learn Internet Marketing: The Truth Behind Affiliate Sales

Posted by Stephen Beck on May 10, 2010 under Affiliate Programs | Be the First to Comment

I have been an entrepreneur for many years, but my greatest success has come since learning internet marketing. In the time I have been working my internet business, I have found the quickest way to make money is through affiliate sales.

The process, although intuitive, can be even easier if you follow five simple keys. From my experience, you can begin this week and see income from this one activity, giving you the ability to afford domain names and outsourcing help. Specifically, you can afford to get help with your email, article marketing, and webinar setup.

There are five keys to affiliate sales, and the first key is to find something to recommend. It should be something inexpensive that you can comfortably recommend to others. You don’t want to recommend a big ticket item right away, but instead start out small and build up to it. You want your list to trust you and rely on your recommendations. Look at the sales page for that product, and you will be able to tell whether or not it is appealing.

The second key is to figure out which benefits are most important. What I mean by this is what problems are your readers trying to solve and how would their lives improve if this problem were solved. This where I like to look at the conversations in the niche-related sites. I go to forums and even social networking sites to figure out the answer. Doing this little bit of research almost always results in greater sales.

The third key is to write out a recommendation for the product. When you do, you will want to include the following ideas: what does it do, how will it benefit your reader, how will it measure up to other products, why do you like it, is there anything you do not like about it, and what is your overall opinion? Once you have written your review, you can post it to your blog or website. The most essential element is the affiliate link; be sure you have it in your review so that you can drive traffic there.

The fourth key is to spread the word about your recommendation. Again, your blog or website is important. If you do not have a blog, I recommend WordPress or blogger. You can also send an email to the contacts in your personal or business account. They will be interested to hear about your recommendation.

The last key to affiliate sales is to utilize search engine optimization (SEO). You want to use the keywords in your recommendation that people are actually entering into Google. These will be “buyer” keywords, not just general keywords. Using the “buyer” keywords will boost your post and get your more traffic and eventually more sales.

Without a doubt, affiliate sales can be a quick way to begin earning money. If you work diligently on these steps, you will see cash flow this week.

Would you like to learn internet marketing basics? Stephen Beck is an expert, and he can teach you how to make your first $1000 online. Geta FREE link to his webinar replay, where he explains everything you should do: http://www.YourOnlineBasics.com.