Owning your own business and running it predominantly online can be an overwhelming feat for those who are just starting out. Where do you start? Do you really need everything that people claim you need? What activities are a waste of time, and which ones will actually help you make money? In this post, we will touch on the top 20 priorities you should have in place for your online business.
Let’s start with the basics. Successful online business people typically have one thing in common: their mindset. Entrepreneurs have a mindset that does not accept defeat, nor are they lazy. It may take time to retrain your brain to develop the kind of take-action, work-hard, don’t-stop, positive-thinking attitude you will need to succeed. Spend time every day learning – reading, listening to mp3 recordings, watching videos, working with your coach or mentor, and working your entrepreneurial mindset muscles!
Another thing you’ll need right off the bat is a budget. You can’t go into any kind of business without knowing what kind of money you have to put into it every month. Be realistic and grow your business slowly if you need to. The key is to not overextend yourself and end up losing money instead of making money. You can read more about this on our blog, Budgeting For Your Success.
If you haven’t already, you’ll need to determine your niche. We’ve discussed this in more detail in our previous blog post: Finding A Profitable Market. Once your niche has been established, you will need to choose a product or service to sell and create a customer profile that will give you a clearly identified target market.
An autoresponder is also an essential tool you will need in your business. Email marketing is one of the key ways affiliate marketers do business. Having your own list of buyers is key when it comes to success with an online business. You should make it a point to actively be adding to your list every day. You’ll find some ideas on how to build your list rather inexpensively in our post: Five Simple List-Building Strategies That Won’t Break The Bank.
JVZoo Pro Tip: If you’ve chosen GetResponse as your autoresponder, you can set up and manage your account in JVZoo in order to collect leads with every product you sell:
Having an online presence is of utmost importance if that is where you will be doing the majority of your business. One of the first things you will need to establish yourself online is a domain name and hosting for your website, blog, and/or lead capture pages. Later on, you’ll also most likely need a sales page if you choose to create your own products in addition to being an affiliate for others. A strong social media presence is also important, as most people have at least one account on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Instagram.
Successful internet marketers work on building relationships every day. We’ve mentioned it before, many times: People make purchases from those whom they know, like, and trust. That being said (again), you will need to rub some elbows with people that will benefit from your products or services. Go to where your target market likes to hang out online – Facebook groups, community forums, etc. Let people get to know you and establish your credibility and authority in your niche.
Not only will you need to build relationships with potential clients and customers, but you will also benefit from developing working relationships with other affiliate marketers. In time, these relationships may grow into successful and profitable JV Partnerships.
Becoming the go-to person in your niche will require a marketing plan. Create a schedule for the content you post on your blog and on social media. There are many automation tools to choose from that will allow you to schedule your posts ahead of time. Hootesuite, PostPlanner, and CinchShare are just some of those which you may choose from.
I think we’ve covered more than 20 priorities so far, but we can’t forget these last two ingredients for a successful online business: a PayPal account and website traffic. You can’t do business without them. PayPal, as we mentioned in a previous post, is the undisputed heavyweight champ of online payment processing and has more than 169 Million users. It would be seriously detrimental to your business if you neglected to have an account yourself.
As for website traffic – if you don’t get any, you won’t be making any sales or getting any leads. Driving traffic to your website daily is imperative for lead generation. For a deeper look at how to create a successful lead generation campaign, please see 4 Secrets To A Successful Lead Generation Campaign.
Yes, your online business will have a lot of priorities. But, notice that all of the ones mentioned above are things that will increase the likelihood of your success instead of distracting you away from your main goal – earning money online. Stick to what matters in your business and you’ll see continuous growth and realize your full affiliate marketing potential.
