The best way of setting up an internet home based business these days is as follows:-
1. Choose a niche and then specialize in it. Do not think that you are going to make big bucks by selling everything under the sun (unless you are using Ebay, but even Ebay is getting more competitive and harder to make a worthwhile income today).
2. Choose or create a product in your chosen niche. You can either use affiliate products or create your own.
3. Probably one of the most important things to do when setting up an internet home based business is to find a good name. Ideally it should be short, easy to remember and reflect what your business actually does. Your domain name is the name by which your online customers will remember you by. A good domain name is one that is memorable, short and easy to spell. There are many websites around offering domain names. Shop around and you will find .com and .net domains for about $10 and if you are willing to settle for a .info domain, prices can start for less than $1.
4. Get your own website. Do not go for a free page on some affiliate site, but get your own website, your own domains hosted with a reputable host service provider. It is much easier to do than you think. Then if you can not program, buy a template system (make use of Google, take a look around the web and you will soon find plenty of companies offering web templates). Now all you have to do is start learning how to use it. However, if you are not technically minded or haven’t the time to spare, then you will need to hire someone to handle all the technical aspects of your internet business. This could include such things as building your website for you, the handling of your website hosting and the setting up of any domain names that you may require.
5. Always look for a secure and reliable host service provider. It is important that you examine the “uptime guarantee” that each service provider offers. Also, analyze the physical infrastructure of where your online business will be stored. But probably most important of all is that you should scrutinize the hosting providers “Back Up” and “Data Security” systems. This includes calculating how much time would be required to reinstall your online business if there was a complete infrastructure failure on the part of the hosting provider. This will help you to calculate the least possible loss to your internet home based business if such a situation arises.
6. Build a list. This is important in an internet home based business. You will need to be able to repeatedly talk with visitors to your site. It is important that you keep the visitors updated as to what is happening with your site. The ideal solution here is to set up an automated communication system usually referred to as an autoresponder. This also enables you to contact them numerous times regarding whatever offer(s) you wish to present them.
7. Look at the ways in which you will handle the payments made by your customers. If you are selling an affiliate product, then this will not be a problem as the affiliate program will handle the payments for you. However, if you are selling your own product, then you will have to set up your own payment processing system. This will be looked at more closely in a later post in this series
8. Look at the ways in which you will arrange for goods to be delivered to your customer if selling your own physical products. You must look at local courier companies, as well as the postal service and find out which will be more cost effective for sending goods to customers. Also, you will then need to decide on the pricing system for the sending of packages to your customer’s. But it is important that you choose a shipping company who you know is going to be reliable. Look especially at those companies who offer an online tracking system.
Tomorrow in Part 8 we will look at affiliate marketing as a great internet home based business opportunity.