7 Keys to Internet Business Success

Starting an internet business can be as simple as opening a Yahoo Store. And as complicated as building your own dynamic e-commerce web site. But no matter how you go about it, you need 7 key ingredients to ensure the success of your internet business.

1. Demand

You can have the most awesome product and the most hi-tech web site, but if you can’t generate demand for your product, your business is doomed from the start. There are many ways to generate demand in the online world. You could advertise in ezines, start an affiliate program, encourage word of mouth, referrals, do joint ventures. Remember, without demand, there will be no sales. And without sales, where does that leave you?

2. Order

When you start getting visitors to your web site, it’s now just a matter of turning them into your customers. Okay, maybe it’s not as easy as it sounds. This is why, once your visitor has decided to become a customer, you have to make sure that it is easy for them to do so. Make sure that your ordering process is easy and straightforward. The less clicks to secure an order, the better.

3. Payment

This is one process of your internet business that you’d definitely not want to get wrong - how money is actually transferred from your customer to you. The most popular means of doing this online is through credit card transactions. Credit cards makes full use of a person’s ‘buy now think later’ attitude. So, your sales would be a lot higher if you accepted credit cards than if you didn’t. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have alternative methods. The more payment methods you offer, the easier your customer will find it to pay for your product.

4. Fulfillment

After payment has been made, don’t make the mistake of thinking that the coast is clear. There’s still the matter of delivering your products. If you sell digital products, it is now normal standard to have it delivered instantly. People now expect this, so make sure you set this up. If you sell physical products that needs physical delivery, make sure that you communicate with your customer every step of the way. Ensure them that their goods are on the way. If possible, send them a means to track the movement of their package. Your customers should never feel insecure.

5. Service and Support

Once the sale has been made, it doesn’t stop there. You have to provide excellent customer support. Your internet business customer support will determine, to some extent, whether your customer will request a refund and whether or not they will make repeat purchases. Support abilities of an internet business is getting more and more efficient. So don’t get caught behind. The least you should do is provide timely e-mail support. If you have a busier site, then consider other support methods - online helpdesk, FAQs, live chats, ticket system, knowledge base ….

6. Security

The Internet community is getting more aware of what to look out for in order to protect themselves from many of the net’s less desirable activities. One of which is e-commerce frauds. It is, therefore, up to you to prove to your visitors that they can trust you. Things like using secured server to process payments, can go a long way. Purchase a digital certificate, if you can. Add a physical mail address or a phone number where they can contact you. Anything at all, to give your visitors some peace of mind.

7. Community

Once you’ve received more than just a handful of sales, you should think about starting a community. Making your customers a part of a community, gives them a sense of belonging. Have your community be a part of your product development. Listen to their suggestions. Not only will you get product ideas for your internet business, your sales ratio will increase with every new product release and you will have a loyal customer base.

There you go. Work on these seven keys and you’ll be way ahead of most internet businesses out there on the net today.

Getting Help and Advice on Starting a Business

When you want to start a home business, it can be easy to feel alone, confused, and scared. The chances are that you don’t know anyone else who’s ever started a business, and you don’t even know who to ask if you get stuck. Here are a few things you ought to be looking at.

The Internet.

The Internet is a great resource for people who are thinking of setting up a home business – as well as all the articles you can find with practical advice, there are also many forums, where you can read about others’ experiences, and ask questions.

The Government.

Scary as it might seem to be getting advice on anything from the government, most governments go really out of their way to produce all sorts of easy-to-understand material on starting your own business. Encouraging you in business is a great way for them to both strengthen the economy and increase tax revenues.

Depending on your area, you might find that local government agencies are also keen to give you help and advice, and might even have some kind of ‘small business centre’ that you can visit.

Mentors.

Mentors are usually volunteers who think it would be nice to offer local businesses help and advice. They often have years of business experience, and can be really useful – if you find one, hang on to them.

Librarians.

Always willing to help and sadly neglected in our ‘wired’ age, you really should talk to a librarian. Libraries generally contain all sorts of business books and resources that they’ll be able to point you towards, and they’ll be more than happy to do research into obscure areas for you.

Lawyers.

Pricey as they might be, lawyers know all about starting businesses – they’ve almost certainly done it thousands of times over. It can be well worth paying for an hour of a lawyer’s time and just asking them every question you can think of.

Accountants.

A less expensive alternative to lawyers, accountants also know their stuff, especially (obviously) on the financial side. If you want your business to be profitable, you should take on board what your accountant tells you – and if you don’t have one, you should get one. By the time they’ve helped you navigate through all the tax mazes, they’ll almost certainly have made their fee back for you anyway.

Incubators and Investors.

If you think your business would be an attractive proposal to people who back businesses for a living, then you can try going to a ‘business incubator’ or some other kind of investor with your idea. If they like it, they’ll often have a quick process set up to get your company up and running as soon as possible.

Universities.

Here’s an interesting one: universities are full of business students. They’ve all spent ages learning about nothing but business, and many of them would just love to help get a real one off the ground – it’d look great on their CV, after all. Business students can be a great source of free help and advice, and they’ll probably even be thankful to you for letting them help out!

Teachers.

If you do a course to get a formal qualification in what you want to do before starting the business, you’ll probably find that your teacher is also a good resource on the business side of things. They’ll have had plenty of students starting businesses who’ve asked them similar questions, and they might even have prepared some material to give to anyone who asks for it.

Your Bank.

Traditionally, your bank would have been the first place you went if you were thinking of starting a business, but many people seem to ignore them nowadays. While they’re no replacement for accountants, most banks will offer you a ‘business advisor’ when you open a business account, and they can be especially helpful with the technical and financial elements of starting up.

Associations, Societies and Unions.

Whatever industry you’re thinking of entering probably has some kind of trade association, society or union. You should join as soon as you can, and take advantage of all the resources that they will almost certainly offer to people wanting to get started in their industry. After all, the more people who are in their industry, the more members they can get.

So you see, there’s no shortage of advice out there if you look for it.

The Secret That Will Help You Make More Money On eBay

It was the middle of the afternoon and I was hungry. Nothing decent in the kitchen to eat so I had to go out and get some food.

There was a new book shop just opened in the city, one of those massive places with a Starbucks and a café on the upper floors. Since I had not read a book for some time, I could kill two birds with one stone ( I hate that saying) and go there to eat and read.


I hit the business section. After getting past the pile of Trump books, I found what I was looking for:

The 80-20 Principle, by Richard Koch.

Reading the back cover, it says that... 80 per cent of the output of an activity comes from 20 per cent of the inputs.


So how can this help you make more money on eBay?


Well, the applications of the 80-20 principle will depend on the approach towards eBay that you're using. Let's say that you are dealing in a 'niche' market, trading in antiques of a certain kind. I don't know much about antiques, but let's say you are buying and selling ancient Chinese antiques. Now, what you might find here is that you'll have the same people buying these antiques repeatedly. In other words...
80 per cent of your business comes from 20 per cent of your customers.
The implications of this? Firstly, suiting your products to these 20 per cent. If they're buying X, give them more of X.

Plus, make sure you keep these customers very happy indeed, because thats one way to make more money on eBay and where the biggest profits lie. So think more of what they want, more freebies just for them, constant communication just for them and so on.


Also, you might also find that 80 per cent of your great products come from 20 per cent of your supplier base.
Furthermore, you might find that 80 per cent of your hassle comes from 20 per cent of your products, and within that figure, 80 per cent of the hassle comes from 20 per cent of the hasslers! Or, generally, 80 per cent of hassles come from 20 per cent of your customers. Also, you might find that 80 per cent of your profit in a given year comes from a selection of items - maybe 20 per cent of your items produce the profits, the rest only mediocre.

But here's the interesting thing.

You see, the intuitive thing to do - if you have products that are losing, and some that are winning - is to try and 'work' the losers so they come up to speed. Not so, according to the 80-20 principle. Because rather than bothering with these losers, we'd want to do more with those few that are winning.

Sounds strange, huh?

Because most people would try and work with the losers...they'd try to bring them up to speed. Well, the author of this book says that, instead, you should concentrate your efforts on what's working best:

The 20 per cent that's producing 80 per cent of the results.

That's right. You DON'T concentrate on improving the 20 per cent... you simply work harder with the 20 per cent that is producing 80 per cent of the results!
That may sound a bit well, silly - and counter-intuitive. You'd think that if you had ten products, and eight were performing badly... well, most people's natural reaction is to try and boost the results of the bottom eight. Uh-uh. Go the other way. Try and boost the results of your best two.

Or, in the case of suppliers, concentrate more on the best two. Or, if you've got a mailing list of buyers, concentrate on the top 20 per cent. How? As I've said, by treating them right... maybe rewarding them with free gifts and so on.
And what if you're selling products wholesale? And what if you're selling the same product over and over?
Then what? Do you concentrate on the losers and try and improve them? Uh-uh. Probably wrong. Try the winners... and try to boost the results of what's already working.

I'll give you a practical, real-world current example. I tried a listing for a product. It went pretty well. In fact, it went really well, better than I expected. Now, it just so happens that I was selling the same product over and over again - the wholesale approach. But what could I do to expand? The logical thing would be to get more products.


But no. Instead of doing that, I listed the same product AGAIN - right alongside the identical product!

That's right. I simply listed the same product again, at virtually the same time (i.e. running them simultaneously) but with a different picture. And it sold nearly as well. It's all about getting more out of the winning 80 per cent.

See, instead of diversifying, the implication of the 80/20 principle is actually one of anti-diversification. Because instead of going into new markets and the like, perhaps I should concentrate more on the current niche that's working very well for me, and yes - working with the current one product that's working so well. So after the current product is 'hammered', and I've listed it as many ways as I can (concentrating on what's working), then I can try other products in that SAME market that's already producing great results for me.

Make sense?

What we're doing here is the opposite of diversifying our eBay business. It's concentrating purely on what's most effective at the current time, and working out ways to boost the current good results.

What's your best performing listing right now? Try listing more of it. Try new categories, new approaches, different descriptions and pictures.

Who are your best customers now? Sell them more, and make sure they're well looked after.

Where are your profits the biggest right now? Instead of trying to expand out in the logical way, try a different approach and concentrate on what's currently most effective.

Most eBayers don't think about these things! Very few do! If you stop to think about it for a moment, you might be surprised. If you analyse it, you'll probably be even more surprised. You might find just ONE product is carrying your business, and it's that product that deserves a great deal more attention.


So I'd urge you to think about the areas of your eBay business where the 80-20 principle might apply - and how to harness it so you make more money on eBay.

20 Small Business Tips, For Success

These are just some general tips to keep in mind as you design/operate your small business:

1. Take the time out to explore and understand whether or not you are compatible with running our own business. Some people are just plain happier and better off financially on the other end of the paycheck.

2.Get your personal finances in order. Before you jump into the entrepreneurship world, get your own money matters squared away.

3. Pick your niche. Many small business owners succeed in businesses that are hardly unique or innovative. Take stock of your skills, interests, and employment history to select the business that is best suited for you.

4. Benefit from your business plan. The exercise of creating a business plan is what pays the dividends. Answer the tough questions now before the meter starts running.

5. Do not think you need bankers and investors at the outset of your business. The vast majority of small businesses are bootstrapped.

6. Acquire the proper background. In the early months and years of your business, you will have to acquire many skills. Gain the background you need to oversee all facets of your business well, but determine what tasks you should outsource or hire employees.

7. Remember that nothing happens until a sale is made – How many good products go nowhere because they do not reach the shelves? Sales drive your business. You will need a good marketing plan to sell your product or service.

8. You have to see a customer to know one. N o matter how busy you are, spend at least 25% of your time with customers. You cannot make the proper business decision without understanding their viewpoint.

9. Solve your customers’ problems. The best way to satisfy your customers is not by selling them products but by giving solutions to their problems. There is a big difference.

10.Quality takes minutes to lose but years to regain. Quality is not a destination, it is a never ending journey. After you have strayed from quality’s path, your journey maybe sidetracked forever.

11. Put profitability first, rewards seconds. In small businesses, profitability must come first. Find out how to measure your cash flow and understand key financial ratios.

12. Hire supporters. If you intend to create a growing business, your number one duty is to assemble a great team of employees.

13. Do not do it alone. Find such help from small business peers, a mentor, even trade associations. They can help take some of the trial and error of beginning your business.
14. Vendors are partners too! Treat your vendors like customers and watch your partnership grow.

15. Make use of benefits. Understand how to provide insurance and other benefits for your employees and cut your tax bill at the same time.

16. Ignore regulatory issues at your peril. Federal, state, and local governments require licenses, registrations, and permits. Obey them or face losing your business.

17. Know the tax laws. Invest in understanding tax issues that affect your small business.

18. It’s the people! Whatever happens to a small business happens at the hands of the people who work for it. The evolution of the business is a result of their efforts.

19. Fast, good, cheap. Pick any two. Serious trouble awaits those who attempt to be all three in the market place. Stick with what you do best.

20. Develop a passion for learning. As your business grows, you need to change and grow along with it. One common denominator can be found in all successful business owners and that is a passion for learning.

About the author:
For more great business, marketing and mind power ideas to develope your business visit the Higher-Profits Blog at www.higher-profits.com