Online Business Tips

Some Business Tips For An Online

Entrepreneur

1. A Brilliant Idea Worth Nothing

I can have 100 brilliant ideas per minute. And I’m not joking.

I know a guy who can have his brilliant ideas in his sleep.

Guess what: he’s not an entrepreneur. An idea without

action worth nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Focus on your

immediate resources to make something plausible

working as fast as you can rather than waiting for

something allegedly brilliant to grow by itself. It never

happened and it will never happen.

2. You Sell Processes, Not Products

In the online business, what you are selling is not a product,

nor even a service. It’s a process. You sell an entire experience,

regardless of your niche. From a personal blog up to a link

directory, what you are offering is not atomically identified

as one single product or service but as a unique process.

Is this unique combination which creates the value behind

the business, not the parts. Look at the whole experience,

not only at the most visible pieces of the puzzle.

3. If They Copy You, You’re Good

One of the most accurate proofs that you’re doing a great job,

is your clone trend. If your site / product gets cloned, you

are in for something. If you’re not cloned at all,

something must be wrong. Many young entrepreneur have

this fear of not being copied. In fact, being copied is the

only surefire sign that you’re good. Of course, you WILL

have to deal with all the legal hassles of content theft or

copyright infringement, that’s for sure, and I’m not advising

in any way to ignore that. I’m just telling you this is a sign

of success and should be treated like this.

4. Don’t Look For Traffic, Look For Trends

One of the most present obsession among online entrepreneurs

is related to traffic. How much traffic I could generate with

this project? In my opinion, traffic is overrated. At the speed

of the Internet, traffic is becoming really volatile, users are

bombed with loads of information each hour, so rough numbers

are not a reliable way to judge your product impact. Instead of

numbers of visitors, look for trends: how fast is the site

growing / slowing down? Think in percentages, not in

thousands of users.

5. The Network Effect

If you want to launch an online business, think twice.

It may be worth to launch 5 online businesses at the same

time and link them in a network. Maybe your flagship idea

will consume most of your focus and resources, but having

2-3 satellite websites / projects orbiting the main product

will have a bigger impact. Not to mention the learning

advantage: you will incorporate much more knowledge

from a network, than from a single product.

6. If You Don’t Like It, It Usually

Won’t Work

If you don’t like your idea, but you ”feel“ it will generate

lots of money, usually it will won’t work. It might generate

lots of money, if it exploits some market uncovered niche,

but without your enthusiasm fuel, it won’t be there for long.

It will be extinct faster than a passion fueled idea.

A good project must give you the thrills, not the

only the money as empty numbers.

7. Fall In Love With Your Project

If you experience familiar sensations, like chills and

butterflies in the stomach, whenever you’re thinking at your

project, that’s a sign you’re falling in love with it. No,

it’s not awkward. No, you don’t have to block those feelings.

Let them express and treat your project like you would treat

your beloved half. I’m not joking.

8. Measure, Measure, Measure

Always use all the available metrics to see where you are

with your project. Don’t be fooled by your imagination nor

let those wishful thinking episodes get in your way. Measure

your impact. Watch your money, trends, team, partners and

see what’s happening. Keep your eyes opened and be ready to

cut if things are not looking as you would expect.

Better sooner than later.

9. Manage The Break Up

Sometimes, your projects won’t work. Accept it. Even more,

manage them carefully. Closing a project is a skill in itself,

a skill that you’ll have to master. Each closed project may

(and it should) give you resources for the next one.

Just leaving debris floating around in the web universe

will not make you popular, on the contrary.

Not to mention the hidden costs of keeping

those projects around.

10. Build A Community First

Your product (or process) will be useless without a backing

community. It might be the next best thing since sliced

bread, but if you don’t have a reasonable pack of people

vouching for it by using it and promoting it every day,

that product is as good as dead. Building a community

first is one of the awkwardness of the online field,

when you have to build a positive reaction around

your product even before launching it for real.