How to Take Off Fast with Your Internet Business
By Kevin Nunley   ©2004 All Rights Reserved

The great thing about the Internet is one person can come up with a great idea, put it online, and start earning money--all in a day. Granted, not all of us who try do it so quickly (my Internet biz took a year to earn our first dollar). But you have to admit the ability to use the Internet--a major mass media--for almost no money, is a tremendous opportunity. A lot of variables go into business success, but following these 3 tips increase your chances for quick results.

Find a Niche That REALLY Wants What You Sell One of the quickest ways to make a business successful is to focus on a small group of people who REALLY want a product or service. Because they aren’t the biggest group of customers, the specialized product or service probably isn’t going to be available at Walmart. You may remember Corey Rudl's big two binder Internet promotion course. At the time, there weren't many big and detailed guides to the subject. Yet, a lot of people were looking for just what Corey had created. He earned $2.5 million the first year. Many of the customers in your group may not know where they can get what they want. The Internet is an incredibly convenient way for people to search for what it is they want or need. When you show up, specializing in satisfying their demands and giving these customers exactly what they’ve had such a hard time finding, you get an enthusiastic group of long term buyers. Let me give you an example. I recently spent a few days in Southwest Texas. It’s deep in the heart of ranch country. Men and boys still wear cowboy hats just as they have for 150 years. It’s not the largest group in the world, but these guys really WANT their cowboy hats. Cory and Victoria noticed that it was hard to find a store that stocked many cowboy hats. Their solution was to open an entire store specializing in them. You can get any kind of hat, styled any way, for any sized head. For many customers their store is regarded as an answer to a prayer. "This is the first time in 25 years that I’ve worn a hat that fits my head right," one customer told me. Next, Cory and Victoria put their store on the Internet. What better way to reach a narrow group of customers, spread out over the world, who REALLY want their product. Spend a Little Money for Your Own Website. Affiliate sites and free sites are fine, but you will need to create your own individual space online to make the big bucks. Let's say you aren't an expert in html and don't particularly feel the need to do it all yourself. Here's my recommendation for getting on-line fast and easy. Spend the $15 or so to get your own .com address. It's the easiest kind of address for customers to remember. Sign up with one of the e-commerce providers that gives you a browser-based design system. All you have to do is type in your headlines, copy and paste in your text, and pull up some graphics to enhance your products and services. Register with search engines. All4one.com has a great free one- click registration form that gets your site on the spider list of the major search engines. It’s been pretty successful for me, though they need to update the site. Research abounds on other low cost search registrations. You can often expect significant numbers of visitors to find you through search engines, outperforming most other forms of promotion.
Tell the World Why They’ve Come to the Right Place Share your story. Tell how you got into the business you're in. Be sure to tell WHY you do what you do and what values, pleasures, and challenges make you continue in the business. But most of the copy shouldn't be about you. Tell people how you help customers. Talk about the successes your customers have had. Quote your philosophy on how everyone needs the BENEFITS your product or service gives customers. This is the kind of story your customers and prospects can get into. Be sure to include your contact info. Sites with insufficient contact information are not only inconvenient when you have a question, but they can cause skepticism in visitors. (Who IS this cyberspace business owner?) For service-oriented businesses, including your photo instills trust in customers. Get business going fast by placing some e-zine ads. E-zines are online publications sent to people who have requested the piece be sent. The lists can be quite large, and these are avid readers. Pick e-zines that have interesting content. Boring 'zines don't pull well. For a busy person trying to get up and running on the Net fast and cheap, it's hard to beat these simple steps.

---

KEVIN NUNLEY provides marketing and copy writing. Read all his free tips at http://DrNunley.com Take advantage of his professional copywriting deals and popular promotion packages. Reach Kevin at mailto:kevin@drnunley.com or (801)328-9006.

---

---