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In 1998, four partners and I started a business. Our plan was to only do business on the internet. We displayed at the first Internet World Conference at Staples Center in Los Angeles. We were full of ambition, and everyone … absolutely everyone … had no idea what they were doing. Whether it was another startup in the booth next to us named Google, or another startup on the other side that nobody ever hear of. None of us had any idea what we were doing. Flash forward to 2010, just twelve years later. Even though the internet is still very very young, we have learned so much. We now have an understanding of what the internet is about, what the possibilities are, and we know how to make money with an internet based business. With that said, the internet is still evolving, and what works today may very well not work tomorrow, so anyone who desires to work on the internet needs to realize that their business will change, as will their marketing strategies, on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. For me, this is the most exciting aspect of running an internet business.
First, let’s talk about the various ways that you can do business on the internet. After that, we’ll talk in more detail on how to sell completely on the internet.
1. Have a brick and mortar business, and advertise on the internet. You’ll find that this is much like the internet only option, yet you’ll have the costs of having a storefront or office, and all of the equipment, leases, inventory (if you’re a retail business) and overhead of a brick and mortar business. This kind of business is either a service business (such as a law firm, massage therapy practice and such) or a retail business (selling stuff). Either way, the internet can become a venue to market your business. Much of what we’ll talk about in future lessons will be pertinent, so don’t tune out.
2. Sell your own stuff on the internet. Under this method, you don’t have a storefront or office, but you choose to sell your stuff (including services) on the internet. Once again, the internet is a method of marketing the selling of your stuff, but in this case, your showroom or “store” is a website. The best example of this would be someone who sells via EBay, or who operates as a virtual assistant.
3. Sell other people’s stuff on the internet. If you have your own products, the internet is just a wonderful place to market your products. But very often, people don’t have their own products. They haven’t written anything, and they don’t have jewelry they’ve made. Actually, these are the majority of people, and, quite possibly, could be you. If you are in this situation, don’t despair! There are literally hundreds of people out there who have developed some wonderful products, and not only would they love for you to sell their stuff for them, they’ll make it easy, and very often will give you over a 50% commission on the sale of any of their products you market.
Now comes the hard part. How do you get people to notice you, find your website, or learn about the products and services you would like to sell? The key word is marketing. In 2005, it was estimated that there were approximately 80 million websites on the internet. How do you rise above the 80 million and get people to notice you? That’s the key to internet marketing, which I’ll cover in future articles and on my blog.
