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So You REALLY Want To Work OnLine?
By Stephen Spry
There’s no doubt about it… lots of people find the idea of kicking the boss and working for themselves very attractive… and doing it online is seen to be a way of easily realising that ambition.
But before you hand in your pink slip and quit your day job, let’s have a quick look at what characteristics I reckon you need to give yourself the best chance of actually making it work for you.
Probably THE most important thing you need to have is…
An Ability to WRITE Fairly Well.
There are literally so-o-o many things that need to be written when you are in business online. If you have difficulty expressing yourself well in words, then unless you can pay (and trust) someone else to write for you, it’s going to be difficult!
It’s not impossible, however, as writing is a skill that can be learned with lots of practice! So avail yourself of opportunities to improve your writing wherever you can – commenting on blogs, forums etc.
You also need to be able to FOCUS on the task at hand.
There are simply so many things that will distract you, so you need to clearly define what your major objectives are at that particular point in time, and stick to them. Don’t let the distractions and time-wasters ruin your progress. Ask yourself often
What’s the best use of my time right now?
So good planning and time management skills will be useful to overcome information overload, but only if you know what you are doing. Setting up a business online is actually quite an involved process… there’s a lot more to it than just whacking up a website and hoping the orders come flooding in.
Expect a steep learning curve to cope with, especially in the early stages. Stick to just the basics for starters, and worry about all the gimmicks and bells and whistles (all major distractions to be honest) once you’ve got a handle on things!
Remember too that although you might have plans to set up just one website, the reality is you will most likely set up MORE than just one website!
Reality also dictates that the vast majority of those sites will just not work (for all sorts of reasons). How many times did Edison fail at producing the light bulb before he got it right?
The same principle applies to going into business online.
You will try lots of things, and set up lots of sites, and each thing you try will have varying degrees of success – or failure 🙂
So expect setbacks and don’t give up after your first failed attempt!
Each is a “learning experience” which you should move forward from, and apply what works to the next bright idea you have.
But before you start… try to get a handle on the “basics”.
But what ARE the “basics”? There are so many conflicting answers to that question, you can easily end up suffering from information paralysis and doing nothing.
I would suggest you need to start off by having a good basic understanding of:
- niche research – finding out what the public really want
- keyword research – locating the words they use to find their answers
- the various monetization methods you can use with your web site/s so that you actually make money
And all of that comes BEFORE you even begin to think about choosing domain names, web design, web hosting, search engine optimization, traffic generation, list building, auto-responders, tracking, split testing, and a whole lot more…
There’s a LOT to learn, so please do NOT expect that you will be able to “get rich quick” by taking on an online business. In case you haven’t realised it yet… that just does NOT happen.
Despite the promises of the “Internet Lifestyle” being sold by thousands of snake oil vendors around the globe, they are the only ones who are getting rich quickly… by taking your hard earned dollars in return for thin air!
Setting up an online business is not really much different to setting up a real-world one.
There’s lots of homework (research) to do before you start. And once established, there’s lots of ongoing effort needed to grow and expand (or even maintain) your business.
Cheers
Stephen Spry
UPDATE – August 2018
If you would like to take advantage of my foundational training on all of this… then head on over to Your Brilliant Idea where I can show you just what IS involved in getting your brilliant idea online!