Beginning Online Business

So here I am sitting at my computer wondering how the hell am I going to make an income online?

I do provide answers to my questions in the rest of this post, so, relax, it’s not a long post. You can probably read this while drinking your favourite beverage and you won’t have to go through any ads (okay, may be one, for good reason though) either.

After all, there are so many blogs out there and so many people wanting to get ahead, especially now!

I wake up with really good intentions, I do. I think, yep, I’m going to be the exception. I’m going to make money at this even if it kills me. Hell, there’ll be a lot of work involved and I won’t be getting paid and what if only three people read my blog, then what? That’ll be three very excited people saying WOW! I’m glad I’m reading this post or they’ll be saying, Oh my God that’s three minutes I’ll never get back.

So I sit down and the first thing that goes through my head is, I’ll make myself some toast and coffee, I’ll feel better for it and I’ll think more clearly…WRONG!

It’s a distraction, but if I clear up that mess in the corner I’ll feel better and think more clearly…WRONG!!!

So how do I make money at this?

I’ve been told I need to get posts out that answer’s peoples needs. How on earth do I do that? I barely know what my needs are let alone other people’s needs.

Does it sound like I’m going round in circles? I am and I’m frustrated!!! Typical procrastinator reaction.

So I made a list of why I won’t be successful (it’s not a comprehensive list)

The free ones won’t provide you any support and when you’re just beginning you will need some help.

A domain name is what you call your website. This one is BeginningOnlineBusiness. BOB for short.

Once you are set up, start writing.

Choose something you are good at and passionate about. You must have both because you are going to be writing about it for a long time.

Don’t worry about the tech side of websites until you have written and posted at least twenty posts. The reason being is, nobody will be reading your posts for quite a while.

Google will first identify your site and then index it. This can take anywhere up to two months. Then your website is searchable.

You will hear that content is king. This means you have to write good content that addresses a need. Something someone is searching for.

To find your audience means you need to know who your audience is. Write a very detailed description of who you are trying to reach. What occupation do they have? Are they married? Do they have children? How much do they earn?

The more detailed your description, the better chances you have of finding your audience. Plus, your posts will become more personal and you will feel you are writing to a ‘real’ person.

Don’t be vague and try to capture everyone. Everyone does not exist. But, a person does. This is who you should be targeting.

If you need some motivation, you can grab my FREE Procrastinator’s To Do List (make sure you check your junk mail) and work towards your own success

How do you get to be good at content?

The more you write, the better you get. It’s like any skill. First you start out as a rank beginner, a rookie and then you start to be an authority.

For the first two months of your website just focus on writing, don’t worry too much about how good your writing is, it gets better over time. It’s more important to have fifty badly written posts than having three well written posts.

The more content you provide, the more chances you have of people reading your posts. After all, you will be attracting people who think like you and have the same desires as you.

Once you get your content out you will see traffic (people) being drawn to your website. Then it gets exciting. Then and only then do you start thinking about the tech side.

If you’re worried about writing good content then this article I wrote maybe for you: How to Write Great Content.

Monetising will still be a way off, but not too far away.

This chart will help with those nagging doubts, Procrastinators To Do List. (Make sure you check your junk mail. 🙂 ).

The next thing you will need to understand is keywords.

These are words that people search for on the internet. We all do it. Some friends ask a question and we say let’s Google it.

When you type words into the Google search bar, it comes up with alternative search criteria. This is how you find what people are looking for in your category.

I use Jaxxy which is a much more detailed keyword finder. You type in the sentence that you want to use as a title for your blog and Jaxxy will let you know whether people are searching for your title.

Word search programs like Jaxxy are free but if you want to use their advanced tools then you will pay extra. If you are serious about making money online then you will need to invest some money into your business. It’s money well spent.

Some bloggers are under the wrong impression that they can do everything for free online and they’ll make an income.

Whilst you can do a lot for free there will be a time when you will want your business to grow exponentially. This will take some wise investing. Maybe you’ll need to add copywriters to your team, or website designers, or SEO experts, etc.

At the end of the day, all of this will come in good time. Spend the most time on building your website content.

I liken it to building a house. You need the bricks, concrete, steel etc to build with…this is your content. When you have enough materials then you can style it…your website theme. Get these out of order and you’ll end up going back and repairing things.

You may not understand this now, but, you will eventually.

By writing a lot of posts you will also see whether you have picked the right niche for you. You’ll know if it’s something you’re passionate about. Along the way you’ll be refining your skills.

Getting caught up with the tech side will slow you down and it’ll become a big distraction and your biggest frustration. So, get your content out and don’t judge what you have written. It will improve the more you do.

Also, make sure you look at a lot of websites within your chosen area of expertise. That way you will be able to work out what works.

You don’t even have to be an expert, you can use your website to build your skills. There are people out there who know less than you and would probably want to learn from a beginner because a beginner knows how hard or frustrating it can be to learn a new skill.

This is what I am doing with my website here. Teaching how to go from zero to expert and doing so myself.

What I would dearly love to know is has any of this been of use to you?

Are there questions you have which haven’t been answered elsewhere?

I would dearly love to hear what you have to say in the comments below.

In case you forgot, I have a free chart you can hang on your bathroom mirror, Procrastinators To Do List. Make sure you check your junk mail.