5 Keys to Online Business Success

By: Bette Daoust, Ph.D.
Submitted: 2007-01-17 13:21:36
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How often do you change focus when a new opportunity comes into view? Do you try and sell something one day and then find something better to sell on the next? Are you sticking to only one product without adding new ones to augment your existing one?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to seriously look at how you are conducting your business. The biggest question is, "Are you treating your online business as a true business or are you looking at it as a hobby?"

The problem is generally that most individuals do not treat their online business as a real business. Most online businesses do not have processes in place to make it easy for others to do the work nor do they have methods for producing or obtaining new products that fit with the current product base. If you have an eBay business or are acting as an affiliate you do need to look at what you are doing so that you too can make far more money than you are now.

So what is it that you can do to make your online business a success: Here are 5 suggestions that will help you along the way:

  1. Create a goal for your business. This means what do you expect to get out of being in business at the end of 3 or 5 years. Are you planning on working 12 hours a day for 6 days a week or are you planning on working less and making more? You really do need to have a goal in mind or how will you actually know when you get there? I know most of us do not like planning but it is crucial to set the goals even if they are only financial right now. So you want to make $50,000 per month at the end of 3 years, then you can plan how to get there.

  2. Figure out what you love to do and how it relates to your strengths! Yes, your strengths. I am sure you know what your weaknesses are but do you know your strengths? Your strengths are what you need to capitalize on. My strength is creating information products, therefore, I write and then the writing is put into a product. My weakness is doing the paperwork such as bookkeeping, and even (ugh) payroll.

  3. Figure out where you make the most money and spend your time doing that task. Delegate everything else to someone you pay. If you make more money writing then that is where to spend your time. If you did payroll, you would not likely be making any money. So payroll is ideal to delegate or outsource. Take a look at all the things you do for your business and where you make the most money, then concentrate on the money part.

  4. Put together a system for everything in your company or online business. By system, I mean create the flow of how things are done and do it in detail. This is where you will be able to streamline your work and business. The idea behind creating a system is to identify all the tasks involved for a particular project or item. If you can systemize it, you can duplicate it, and you can have someone else do the work. Systems are particularly useful for developing products, selling, and marketing.

  5. Take a look at your current products. Prepare a system for creating more products or even a system for locating complementary ones. One product is OK but putting a system in place to find or create new ones will allow you to upsell to your current customers. One product will rarely give you the leverage you need to make a lot of money.

Just by putting these 5 keys in place, your business will start to take on a new structure. It will also start to accelerate. There are many more ways to create a true online business and if you are serious about making real money, then start creating your structure now.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. is a speaker, author (over 170 books, articles, and publications), and consultant. She has provided marketing, sales, business development and training expertise for companies such as Peet's Coffee & Tea, Varian Medical Systems, Accenture, Avaya, Cisco Systems to name a few. Dr. Daoust has also done extensive work with small businesses in developing their marketing, training, and operational plans. You may contact Dr. Daoust at http://BizMechanix.com You may also view her latest publications at http://BlueprintBooks.com or http://CreditRepairForEveryone.com

Article source: Expert Articles

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