Hello and welcome to the page on my site where I show you how build an online business. This is not where I inform you about some “get rich quick scheme”. It’s where I give you the facts and the details you need to get started online. Watch the following video to get started, and Then Follow the steps below.
If you are looking for step by step Video training, check out my Become A Blogger Training Program and get the 10 Free Videos that will show you Step By Step how to set up your blog.
Step 1: Do The Research
Technology has come a LONG way. So much so that it’s extremely EASY to set up a website. However, it’s also easy to set up a business website that doesn’t get any traffic. If your site doesn’t have any traffic, how are you going to accomplish your goals? The answer is simple – Do the research that will set you up for success.
The best Market Research tool I’ve seen is called Market Samurai. It’s what I use whenever I’m thinking about starting a new website and it helps me to know whether or not my idea is a good one and if I can make money with it. It allows you to determine what keywords people are looking for and helps you to target those keyword and maximize your chances of ranking high in the search engines.
It also gives you the tools you need to fully analyze your competition and gives you details you need to leave them behind. It comes as a Free trial for 12 days, and 12 days is more than enough to give you a good grasp of your market.
Step 2: Get A Domain Name
Every website needs a website address. Mine is Learningwithleslie.Com. What’s yours? If you don’t have one, you need to get one. No, I’m not talking about yourname.blogspot.com. That won’t cut it. You need your own “www.yourdomain.com”.
The company I recommend for you to get your domain name with is Godaddy. Why? Because Godaddy knows domain registration. In fact they are the leading Domain Registrar online.
It’s a pretty simple process. Just do a search for a domain name at Godaddy, if it’s available, go ahead and register it. You don’t need ANY of the additional stuff they will try to sell you besides just the domain, so don’t get distracted by any of the bells and whistles.
Step 3: Get a Hosting Account
Your website needs to be hosted somewhere. A hosting account is basically a computer that’s located “somewhere” out there. Once you have your domain name, you need to point it to that computer, so that it can access the files that make up the pages of your website.
When it comes to hosting, I like to go with what I know to be reliable. I’ve been hosting with Hostgator since back in 2002 or 2003 – Can’t remember exactly. Since then, I’ve gone on to try a number of hosting companies and have paid as much as $175 per month for hosting with others because I thought they would give me better options.
In the end, I keep going back to Hostgator because they have been the most reliable in my experience. I’m sure there are other great ones out there, but since I don’t have experience with any of them, I’m recommending Hostgator.
Step 4: Set up your Site and get a HOT Design
Ok, so you have the tools that you need. Now it’s time to get your site up and running. There are two things you need to do where this is concerned:
1. Install WordPress. What is wordpress? Well, to make a long, possibly complicated, story short and very understandable, it’s a system for setting up a website that can be done in less than a minute (seriously). Many people are switching to wordpress because of how EASY it is and how POWERFUL it is. You’d be surprised at what you can get done with it.
2. Get a Nice, Professional design. There are many places on the internet where you can get awesome designs. I personally recommend two websites (the only two I use): Elegant Themes and Woothemes. There’s a cost associated with getting themes from those sites, but they are high quality themes. Alternatively, you can go the free route, if you are trying to get started and don’t have the money, there are many free decent themes out there. Just do a Google search for Free WordPress Themes and you might be surprised at what you find. IF you have the cash, I would definitely recommend going for Premium Themes like Elegant Themes and Woothemes.
Go To Elegant Themes Go To Woothemes
Step 5: Build a List
One of the most valuable assets you can have in your online business is your email mailinglist. The main reason for this (in my opinion) is that it allows you to nurture a relationship with your subscribers, and today’s business is all about relationships. The internet is growing at an alarming rate, and it is growing based on individual connections. Two other benefits to having a list are the following:
1. It allows you to leverage automation in a way that lets you keep a personal touch.
2. You can promote products that are relevant to the interest of your subscribers.
3. These individuals have opted in, asking you to send them info.
The best service I know of for managing a mailinglist is Aweber. It’s the number one autoresponder service on the internet today. Use the following form and get access to a FREE test drive (Note: You won’t get that special offer if you just go directly to the site).
Helping over 102,000+ businesses like yours raise profits and build customer relationships using AWeber’s opt-in email marketing software for over 10 years.
Step 6: Drive Traffic
I don’t care how awesome your website is, if you don’t have traffic, you don’t have a business. You need people to get to your site – preferably in masses.
So how do you get traffic to your site? There are a number of ways. What it boils down to is this:
You want to do the right things consistently, especially in the beginning.
Here are some ideas:
- Provide high quality content on a regular basis.
- Comment regularly on other related blogs (in your niche or similar niches)
- Participate in relevant forums and link back to your site in your signature.
- Use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter
- Guest post on other related blogs.
This is one area that people tend to struggle with when it comes to growing an Online Business. I’ve been looking for a very strategic system that I can recommend to help someone work on their traffic in a proven way. I stayed away from recommending something that I believe can help someone in this area for a while because I hadn’t found anything that I thought was REALLY valuable.
However, I finally found something that I can stand behind and recommend. It’s called the Traffic Dashboard, and was created by Kim Roach, someone who is really good at traffic generation. If traffic is something you struggle with, check it out. It will be very beneficial.
Check out the Traffic Dashboard
Step 7: Make Money
Ok, lets be real. If you are building an online business, one of your main concerns is the ability to make Money. This process is part art and part science. It’s the kind of thing you learn as you go. However, here are the main ways you can make money with your website:
Sell your own product/service. This is pretty explanatory. If you have a product that you have developed or plan on developing (i.e. eBook or physical product), you can use your website as your “storefront”. If there’s a service you provide (i.e. website design, coaching), you can also use your site to promote that service.
This can be very beneficial. However, it takes a significant amount of time to develop a quality product, or to provide a service to a significant amount of people. As time-intensive as this style of marketing can be, it’s definitely worth doing, because having your own product can definitely give you a significant amount of leverage.
Promote affiliate products. This is the way I recommend for people to start with. Affiliate Marketing is where you promote someone else’s product/service, using your unique affiliate link. If someone makes a purchase using your link, you get a commission. This is done in an automated way and doesn’t involve as much effort in terms of developing the product or setting up the technology to deliver the product.
Closing Thoughts
If you are here, you’ve probably read many other sites about how to make money online. One of the things you will notice is that many of those sites recommend A TON of different programs. Why? Because the more they recommend, the more money they make.
Since I’ve gotten into Internet Marketing, I made a very important decision – My goal is not just to make money. It’s to help others accomplish their goals. So instead of recommending a bunch of programs, I focus on what I know works, and I only recommend the best things to you.
There’s so much info out there that it makes things complicated. By focusing on a few things that work, you are able to accomplish much more.
There is one element that is VERY important and without it, this page will not benefit you in ANY way. In order to accomplish your goals, you need to TAKE ACTION. Think about where you want to be and do what needs to be done in order to reach there.
A great place to start would be with my Become A Blogger program. It’s a great way to get an introduction to what tends to seem overwhelming at time. Check it out, and join the many others who have gone through the training and love it. You will get access to 10 FREE videos that will help you get started.
I’m going to end by sharing a quote with you that I have plastered on the wall in my home office. I hope it impacts you as much as it has impacted me in my online business.
The Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with One Step
Take care, and God Bless!
- Leslie Samuel
Full Disclosure: Some of the links found above are affiliate links. This means that I get a commission if you purchase those products. I’m not someone who recommends something just to make money. EVERY product/service I recommend here are things that I use (or have used) and Trust, and I recommend them because I know they can help you grow your online business.