I’ve always been impressed with those people who can earn extra money while keeping up with their normal 9-to-5 job. I have a couple of friends who are still having their career but they also own side businesses. How the heck can they fit their working time and at the same time having a business? It never failed to amaze me at how easy it is for them to successfully have a business or two. Not to mention about the money they’re making, it’s enough to say that they are free, financially – and keeping their career is only a way to keep them busy throughout the day.
Do you find yourself envying these people too?
Finally I got my chance to sit with my friends and shoot them the “what are you doing” and “how you’re doing it” question. And they revealed to me that they’re doing online business – accompanied with three steps on how to do it; a very simplified version.
What is online business? To simply put it in their term, it is to sell products or offer services to others, online, via Internet. As examples, one of them sells Crocs branded shoes and sandals online. She gets her shoe supply cheaply from a local warehouse, put up a website, and then promotes it online with an advantage of cheaper price compared to retail shop.
Another example given by one of them is selling Ebooks. He has a passion for bass fishing and knows a lot how to fish. He writes a small report explaining how to catch a specific type of fish, and then sell it for less than 10 bucks in his website. Again, he promotes his website online with the advantage of cheap prices.
But the best examples I’ve got from them is this: One of them is selling membership to his multimedia designing site. He has a passion of designing WordPress blog templates, and instead of selling individual templates, he offers an online education service teaching others how to develop your own templates in 90 minutes flat (and it is impressively beautiful!). He breaks his methods in three months course, and charge each month for less than 30 bucks!
That is some examples of online business that you can do. It doesn’t take much of your time, it doesn’t take much of your energy, it doesn’t need a high cost to startup, but it can make you a hefty lot of money.
So how can you replicated these and get started with your online business? Let me tell you in a simplified three steps ONLY:
1) Find at least one unique value that you can offer to others:
You need to have at least one unique value that you can offer in order to develop a money-making business. In the examples above, I’ve given you ideas of unique values such as cheaper prices, specialized small reports, or specialized membership site.
Find out what your passions are, or what skills do you have that is valuable to others. Once you found the passions or skills, think of how you can turn it into unique items or services. That way, you can set yourself apart from others and also eliminate your competitors with such an advantage.
2) Create your selling platform – products, services, and necessary websites:
Now that your ideas are ravaging, write it down. Write down your unique value strategy, and start working on it. If you want to sell physical products, find out where can you buy the products with a very cheap price, and then set your selling price and start making profits.
If you want to sell guides or ebooks, start producing your ebooks. Do not try to cover everything in it. Make it simple, make it a highly-focused topic, and make it straight to the point. Short ebooks are some of the in-thing now over the Internet.
If you want to sell services such as teaching others how to do stuff, start planning out your courses, and write it down (either as small reports over certain period of time, or as websites where users can learn it at their own pace).
As a conclusion, start working on your products, services, and develop your websites. Your websites is equivalent to the physical shop offline.
3) Promote your websites and products/services:
Now that your websites and products/services are done, start promoting it! Give the URL of your site to your friend; write free articles; write ads; pay for traffics; create backlinks. People will start to recognize your unique values and will then be interested in what you’re offering. Then, wait for the money to roll in once they buy your products or services!
The important thing to learn is this: make a business that creates value for your future customers. A great values will ensure that your online business will be self-sustaining and passively making you money, even while you’re sleeping. Take your ideas, take your skills, and turn it into a valuable business. It’s worth it!
Tags: Business Design Templates, down online