You find yourself more and more frequently wandering in another world. A world where you are a successful online entrepreneur. Still, when you open your eyes, you are yet again in the office, behind the bar, or selling the same products in the same shop, on the same corner. Again. And again. And again.

You strive for success.

You are born for that. You know that.

Your parents also know it.

But why doesn’t everyone else see it?

The answer is simple. There is one single reason for you to still wait for success.

You are waiting for it.

You are not moving toward it.

You are not struggling enough.

In fact, the only struggle you are going through is the fact you are still on salary. But what did you expect? Your ideas won’t come to reality if you don’t work for them. In the real world.

Yesterday. Today. And Tomorrow.

I admit it. Online entrepreneurship is easier in terms of investment but it is a lot harder in terms of competition, of data that you have to work with, the knowledge you have to obtain. It is harder. In many ways.

People that are trying to sell you their products are telling you that it is kids’ play. But it is not.

Entrepreneurship is entrepreneurship. Being its brick and mortar or online. It is hard. And while online entrepreneurship has its positive sides and it really is a lot less expensive it is still hard.

It can be confusing. It is confusing.

But what if there was a blueprint for you to follow. What if someone was about to tell you the first steps, you have to take. What if instead of waiting, and dreaming, by following these steps, you could really become the success you wish to be.

Not that it will be easy. But if you put the efforts needed, it is possible.

I believe you want to examine those first steps in online entrepreneurship.

So, let’s get started.

 

Step 1: Find Out What You Are About to do

I hope this is obvious but if your idea is to start an online business and that’s it, you have a problem. You can’t do anything without knowing what you want to do. And to be exact.

We’ll discuss this in-depth soon but you have to find out what you are about to sell, to whom, how.

To find out how exactly you are about to strive for success there are a few steps to take.

Find out a need that has to be fulfilled. What is it that people need, but no one offers them? Or is there something that is way too expensive, slow, or nonefficient? Do you know how? Can you make it faster, cheaper, or better looking?

Improving an existing product/service may sound easier, but this is not always the case. Sometimes beginning from the ground up is the best decision you will ever make. There is, of course, a negative side to it. Namely, you will have to educate your potential customers on why they need your products/services.

And that leads us to the next important part. Start a business with something you care about. If you don’t care why even bother starting. I agree, money is important but you won’t make so much money doing something you don’t care about, as you will if you are doing what you are doing eagerly.

This is not the easiest part, as there is so much thing you could probably do. Yet, because of the limits of the time and skills a person can have, you will have to drop a lot of good ideas.

Still, if you find one thing, one thing you do care about, and you can improve, or invent, you are on the go.

 

Step 2: Make a Plan

After you discovered what is it that you care about and are able to make better in some way, it is time for you to make a plan.

Making a plan is a lot easier when you have the knowledge about what it should include. Here are some basic features that every action plan should include:

1. The idea
2. The to-be-created brand name
3. Who are your competitors direct and indirect
4. Marketing strategy
5. Target Group of people you want to sell to
6. Key methods of selling
7. Where you want to go. Be specific and realistic.
8. Create your website

When creating your website, you have to keep your marketing strategy next to you. This will help you to be sure that the design of the website doesn’t interfere with any of the statements or the goals, or the general promotional strategy.

For example, if you want to emphasize your SEO efforts, while not absolutely mandatory, it is highly recommended to have a blog. And honestly, in the last years, it is impossible to be found without one.

Try to structure your website in a way that complements and simplifies the goals that you’ve set for yourself.

Once your website is up and running(and why not before that) make sure to create profiles on the Social Networks and forums that are in the way or another connected to what you do. This is one of the best ways to promote yourself. Be around the people that you are helping too.

Next, when you start receiving traffic, gather the emails of your to-be-customers. Of course, ask politely, or even give something back. It is common for websites to offer you a free e-book or other freebies in order to get your email.

They invest the time to create something of value because they know, the email of every potential customer could be invaluable.

And speaking of value – whatever you do, whatever your business is, there is one thing that will be the difference between success and failure.

Make the life of anyone that had the chance of working with you better. Leave them in a better state than the one you found them in.

Make them feel like they got the better end of the deal.

Start selling

You already have traffic to your website and it starts to grow. Now you have to polish the selling funnel. Make it easy for the customers to buy. And harder to abandon the cart. Meaning, again, that they have to feel like they get the better end of the deal.

Reinvest the profit of sales in order to make more.

Everything else is a numbers game.