5 Pressing Things You Should Know Before Starting an Online Business

I have been into online businesses a little over ten years. I started in 2009 when I lost my very first job with a few websites that are sadly, now defunct.

Like anyone just getting to learn about the world of online business, I was expectedly filled with a lot of excitement as I fancied myself the next Bill Gate. I thought I would float a few websites, give it a few months and then hit gold. Sadly, I learnt the hard way that making money online is not all is rumoured to be.

Now, I know better and while I haven't quite attained the level of success I dreamed of yet, I am inching towards it one step at a time everyday. I have learnt a few lessons that have helped me along the way and I'm going to be sharing them with you.

That being said, here are

1. Success is Never Overnight

While there are a few exception to this saying, to a large extent, this is a the rule. Nine times out of ten, a lot of people who start online business have to put in a lot of hours; break a lot of sweat, before they hit gold.

Success is most times never instant. However, the beauty about the wait for it is that you learn a lot during the wait; it refines you, making you a better business man or woman and much likely a much stronger person.

2. Marketing will Do You a World of Good

If you aren't advertising, then you are leaving your business growth and success to chance, which is going to cost you.

There are a lot of business giants out there with the financial pockets to back up their sizes and they looking to eat you up (literarily) and spit you out. While you might not have the deep pockets these guys have, you need to ensure you are still advertising one way or the other and putting your business constantly in front of people.

While known names and brands like the Kardashians might get away with very little advertising, you and I aren't so lucky.

There are a few ways to advertise and you might need to play around with a few of these to get the right mix for your business. Here are a few paid and free options you should look at:

Paid Advertising Options
- Flyers
- Google AdWords
- Forum advertising
- Affiliate marketing
- Native advertising
- Social media marketing
- Pay Per Click
- Video advertising

Free Advertising Options
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Forum advertising
- Referrals
- Google My Business
- Social media groups or pages
- Bing places
- Pinterest
- Reddit
- Quora
- Twitter
- LinkedIn
- YouTube
- Local listings and review sites

A little warning about free advertising though; you want to be careful when using them and study the rules guiding each as a lot of them will ban you and block your ads if you as much as break their rules just once.

That said, they can be powerful tools to drive that much needed traffic to your online business to bring you sales.

3. You Might Fail a Few Times Before You Get it Right

Some big names we hear and celebrate today didn't become overnight successes. These men and women proved that failing at a business ventures is never the end of the road (unless you want it to be) and you can become a success if you are determined and keep at it.

Names like Vera Wang, Jeff Bezos and Arianna Huffington come to mind when we think of people with a strong resilient spirit and the determination to make it against all odds.

4. It Always Helps to Get a Mentor

Yet another secret you should know before getting started in the world of online business is that getting a mentor helps tons and will save you a lot of stress.

These guys have gone ahead of you and made all the mistakes there is to be made in your line of business. Choosing to associate with them and come under their mentorship would be one of the best decision for your business growth and success.

5. An Email List is Your Best Friend

I first heard of email lists around six months back, however, since getting to know of this amazingly easy but effective business growth tool, I have adopted and committed to using it for my business.

Like the name, an email list is a list containing the emails of people who have agreed to be contacted by you and your business. It is usually legal to contact this list and you can do so at about anytime you like (although it does help to work out a frequency that would be right with your clients type so you don't come across as obtrusive and irritate these people into opting out of your list) with information about products or services you have to offer.

I should warn you that it takes a little while to build a list, however once you build one to an enviable number, it is yours to keep and use for life and the sky will be a limit to what you can achieve.

Building an email list usually takes a bit of experience and planning to get it right and this video right here will walk you through the whole process you'll be needing to build up.

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