Profiting 101
It
aint easy bein' green
We live in one of
the most exciting times. Never before have there been so
many opportunities - so many different paths to create
wealth. Traditionally, getting rich required certain
prerequisites to be in order. You had to be in the right
place at the right time and have the resources to take
advantage of the situation. For instance, maybe you were
given a large inheritance. This money could be spent on an
investment, an education, or a new venture. Perhaps you had
a product or an idea that had just the right timing and it
took off. Maybe your family had a business, and it was
handed down to you. It could be a connection that you have.
A friend who knows someone that gets you a job, or gets you
recognized for something. But these days, there are more
and more ways to be successful. And its the internet that
makes these opportunities available for the rest of us. For
most, the saying "It isnt what you know, but who you know,"
really rings true. This is because it's what they are told
and it's what they believe, fundamentally. But it is
exactly this mindset that is holding you back from
achieving success.
Chances are you have found this site because you are
unhappy with your current situation. Maybe you are stuck in
a dead end job, maybe you are even between jobs. Perhaps
you have a family to support and are looking for
alternative options. We all share a common goal here. And
that is to improve
our current situation.
Finding
a niche
To get started making money online you have to establish a
plan. If you already have some type of business in the real
world, this plan could involve setting up your website to
represent your business. You could either use it as a type
of "face" for your business online, or a store with which
to broaden your customer base. More and more people are
using the internet instead of the phone book. A business
without a web presence is a business that is struggling.
But chances are you are starting from scratch. And in many
ways this can be even more exciting and profitable. Selling
products definitely has its place. After all the world is
dependent on goods. But in terms of starting out and making
money for yourself, your best strategy would be to sell
information. Especially if we are concerned with keeping
start up costs low.
So ask yourself some questions. What am I good at? What are
some of my hobbies? What is it that I know really well. If I had to engage in
conversation, what topics could I talk endlessly about?
These are the areas that you should really concentrate on.
Once you have an idea of what interests you, start brain
storming. How do you want to go about sharing this idea
with others? Remember, you don't always have to have a
product or service to offer. Many websites, such as this
one, offer information and if you are able to attract a
group of people and create a community, you will begin to
profit. I will show you how this works in
Profiting
102.
An example of this is blogging. Blogging has taken the
world by storm and there are many successful bloggers who
live off the income from their site. We will talk more
about just how they do this a little bit later. Blogging is
a more personal type of information sharing. It is often
succesful because even as they grow in popularity, they
still retain a personal touch. The thing to remember here
is, keep things unique and personal. Convey your enthusiasm
to your audience! If you are truly passionate about
something, you will get people excited.
Finding your online identity
Of course
in order to have a web presence you must have a domain.
Getting a good domain name is imperative because it will
represent your business, and often, it will have the
largest impact on conveying your business message. Your
domain should represent what you are all about.
Unfortunately though, domains are few and far between these
days. Take the time to sit down and come up with many
domains. On paper, write down all the domains that you
could actually imagine yourself using for your business.
This is an important step because you don't know what is
going to be available. Of course few of the domains you
come up with will be available, so try to be creative. Here
is a good site for helping you out with that.
http://domain-suggestions.domaintools.com
Another option would be to go with a free website. The only
downside is that you would have to share your domain with
the service provider and it will reduce your brand image.
Image is certainly important, but if start up funds are
critically low, this is a viable option. Later after your
make a little money, you can re-brand your business. One of
the places you can get a free website from is
Angelfire/lycos.
http://www.angelfire.lycos.com
Grabbing
your piece of the virtual world
Take your list of domain names and sit down at your
computer. Go to a site such as DomainSearch, and begin
checking for domain name availability. Most of the really
good "dot coms" are already taken so don't be afraid to
experiment with other types of urls, such as .net, .org,
and even .tv. It is common that these alternative domains
are even cheaper than the .coms. Once you find something
that is available, grab it! Domains are snatched up all the
time, so this isn't the kind of thing you want to put off.
Some sites, such as BlueHost,
even offer a free domain for life with the purchase of
hosting (which you would need to buy anyway). This is a
particularly good deal because after the first two years,
the price for your domain goes up significantly. And you
have to renew it annually. Locking in your domain for life
(assuming you keep your website that long) will end up
saving you thousands of dollars.
Click here
for BlueHost.
Now that you have decided on a concept and domain, we will
discuss ways to begin generating revenue...
continued in Profiting
102...
David Webb is an Expert Author with Ezine Articles.
