The 5 Keys to a Successful Online Business

Introduction  As with any other business, a successful online business too must have deep foundations based on these 5 key principles.

1. Targeted Advertising  Advertising online is now more powerful than ever.You can easily find and reach a very targeted audience for your offers and have people visiting your website in minutes! With many platforms now offering a functionality called pay-per-click (PPC) i.e. Google, Bing, Facebook, YouTube and Amazon, picking the right platform for you and your business is key.

If you are just starting out, consider at most 2 strategies only and master them. As tempting as it is to 'jump' around and see what works, you will save yourself valuable time, money and overwhelm, the latter usually comes from information overload. Have a clear understanding of who your ideal customer is and consider where they 'hang out' online before choosing an advertising platform.

2. Lead Generating Websites  Websites are not what they used to be a few years ago.You might find it hard to believe but those pretty websites where we used to visit and browse around looking at how company X products and services look and 'feel' don't work for sales! There is too much distraction happening and information overload does not help your prospect move closer to a buying decision, which is essentially what you want.

The technical term for the website you want to create is a Lead Capture Website.Other techie terms used interchangeably for the same is a squeeze page or opt-in page. These sites are 1 page only.

A well-designed page should 'tell' your prospect 2 things only! What you are giving the and what they need to do now that they are on your page. No other distractions allowed, not even your other cool products and your social media news-feeds.

The human attention span is down to 8 seconds; the goldfish in my tank has 9 or 10. Instagram is said to have 68% higher engagement compared to Facebook. Why? That double tap is genius. If you hang out on Instagram you know what I am on about. Last I heard; snap chat and vine are going in for the number 1 spot... well I am guessing we might be down to 5 seconds today! Now we know we need to be quick and direct about what we are offering our prospect before they click away. After all, they've been kind enough to give us 5 seconds of their time.

3. Build A List  Without being too fancy here, the main objective is to create a fans list that like and trust you. They are happy to buy from you anytime. In fact, I heard that if you become awesome at doing it, these fans can go temperamental if you are not selling them anything.They will chase you for more stuff to buy and you better have it ready.Now that is a good problem to have.Another marketing fact is, it's cheaper to keep an existing customer than to go out and look for one.

Think about your monthly marketing budget. I certainly don't want to spend more dollars to get the same customer every other month. I'd rather have a new one and still keep the old one who wants to buy again. Investing in tools to do this is key. Auto-responders such as aweber and mailchimp can get you started on the list building process without breaking the bank.

4. Provide Overwhelming Value  Actually, this right here should read provide overwhelming value.By providing value to your prospects you will build trust and desire for your offers. This is something that every online business should aim for. This will separate you from the competition. Come up with ideas for quality free gifts that you know your prospects and/or fans will appreciate and find useful in solving a problem or at least come very close to solving one.

5. Offer Quality Products & Services  In this digital economy age, quality is NOT important, it is EVERYTHING in your business. Information is literally oozing and available to anyone anywhere anytime. Think about how much information you are exposed to digitally in a day. That said, my opinion here for anyone selling anything to anyone online is, they should make it their business to get the one-word feedback every time and that is wow.

The online marketplace is a 2-edged sword. The very thing that brings you success has the same potential to bring you failure in equal proportions. Every time I want to trust and buy something I have never bought before, my reflex action is Google and I am there looking for reviews.

Final Thought  The truth is, it has never been easier as a business to be exposed to negative feedback than it is right now. One of my social media consultants said something the other day that got me thinking. Negative feedback online hurts a big brand or a small coffee shop in exactly the same way. In fact, some big brands will avoid being 'out there' online where they can expose themselves to disgruntled customers who only need to jump on a social platform and vent out!

However with quality products, raving fans on your side, and consistent application of these 5 keys to a successful online business... Happy Days!

Wishing you success.

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