What Is Required To Build a Successful Business?

Posted on January 23rd, 2009 in Getting Started by Steve

I posed this question to my twitter followers. Here is a summary of what they said was required to build a successful business. Thanks everyone!

bryan_kavanagh @Steveweber be yourself work hard

BullsEyeLeader @steveweber Find something you are passionate about that helps people. Plan your work. Work your plan!

jpapakalos @steveweber Passion, fearlessness, family support, a strong network, money helps

PhxREguy @steveweber Put your customers/clients needs first.

TappyBear @steveweber Be absolutely positively passionate about what you do! Structure it right, and execute perseverance.

usmansheikh @steveweber Building a successful business takes passion, perseverance and patience.

Project_Man @steveweber Decision on niche, determination 2 succeed, dedication 2 the task, delivery of product & most import - INTEGRITY in word & deed!

jimlavin @steveweber How about one word to suceed, determination.

JasonSilvestri @steveweber You Must First Sell Yourself, Then Sell Them

willida @steveweber 2 build a successful business: niche, business plan, passion, network of mentors, the ability 2 wait twice as long as U expect

haroldcampbell @steveweber be prepared to work harder than you have ever worked in your life

cjbart @steveweber Spend the Time, Energy and Capital on the Proper Mindset, Foundational Plans, and Master Minding w/ like Minded (Dev Awareness)

cenacle @steveweber the most important aspect is talent hired, get the right people on the bus, in the right positions and don’t be afraid to fire.

explorertravel @steveweber If you tell a customer you are going to do something, make sure you do it.

cmorgansweb keyword content info,regular updates,networking & seo built site w/visitor appeal,know ur niche & u got a good start 4 successful onlinebiz

NatalieTM @steveweber Imagine yourself already there and avoid noticing what you want and don’t yet have

julialilly @steveweber Be Real. Be Honest about what you can (and can’t do). Don’t listen to naysayers and Stay the Course!

ginabad @steveweber do what you were put here to do, do it with great energy & intent, and doors will open. it’s working for me anyway :-)


And then there was this one from Rick….. :)

rickcomtois @steveweber Buy One.

Visit Steve Weber On Twitter

What’s the Best Shopping Cart For Your Website?

Posted on January 20th, 2009 in Getting Started by Steve

Site owners often struggle at first with shopping carts and accepting credit cards. The initial solution is much easier than most think! Watch the video to see how easy your first shopping cart can be!

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  • A List Is The #1 Asset For Your Online Business

    Posted on January 20th, 2009 in Getting Started, Uncategorized, Where's My Traffic by Steve

    A targeted list should be at or near your #1 priority. Many people simply do not understand why a list is vital to the success of almost every online business. Regardless of the niche, 99% of online businesses will benefit from a list of targeted followers.

    In the video below I describe the three types of visitors to your site and why the third type makes a list vital for your site’s success.

    Click Here to visit “The Money Is In The List”.

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    Using the Cligs URL Shortening Tool

    Posted on January 19th, 2009 in Getting Started by Steve

    Everyone using twitter should check this out for shortening URL’s. If you open an account with cligs (free) and create your short URL’s from within your account, you can track the clicks (way cool!). Also, you can tweet direct from the saved “cligs”!

    Here’s a video for using a FireFox add-on which supports several URL shortening tools including cligs. Even if you don’t use cligs, I still highly suggest this add-on. Even for those using tinyurl, this add-on will work great!

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    Why I Don’t Market Sky Diving eBooks

    Posted on December 22nd, 2008 in Getting Started by Steve

    One of the biggest questions facing someone wishing to begin an Internet business is “what can I sell or promote online.” I get this question all the time from beginners coming to my site.

    You probably already know that one of the biggest pieces of advice I offer beginning Internet marketers is to stay away from big areas – such as Internet marketing. One reason for this has to do with how much quality competition there is in that area.

    However, there is an even more basic reason for avoiding the area.

    You also may know that one of the core principles of Internet marketing is the value aspect. Simply put, success online requires supplying some form of real and measurable value. Success online does not come from just “flipping bits and bytes”; there must be real value supplied and exchanged for income.

    I know quite a lot about Internet marketing. Does this mean I could do well selling a sky diving eBook online? I wouldn’t even try since I don’t know that market. What kind of value could I possibly offer the niche? It would be hard enough researching the niche just trying to understand who the target audience may be and how to reach them. But even if I did, I am afraid I still would not have much to say of any value.

    Unfortunately, many beginning Internet marketers are especially drawn to the Internet marketing niche. They feel it is a perfect fit for them since they have so much interest in it already. Perhaps they have purchased their fair share of Internet marketing eBooks; they want to jump on the online marketing products’ bandwagon too.

    But here is the problem. Successfully promoting affiliate products or your own products or services always requires adding value to the world. The beginner finds him or herself in about the same boat as I would be in the sky diving niche. The beginner simply does not have the experience or know-how to offer anything of value yet in that area. They have no successful techniques to explain. They have no experiences to share. They are not even well educated in the process usually.

    Remember the core principles required for online success: Traffic, Trust, and Value
    No matter which niche one chooses, addressing the issues of traffic trust and value must be addressed before beginning work in the niche. I may be able to get traffic to a sky diving website. I could make the site appear trustworthy. But what value could I offer that niche?

    Think of your talents and experiences when considering a niche. It takes some practice and thought, but every person has special experiences they can use to add value to their marketing.

    Here are just a few random thoughts on how connecting experience with niches might work:

    Mothers – organic diapers
    Woodworkers – exotic woods
    Dog lovers – natural flea and tick products
    Landscapers – gopher control
    Fishermen – “secret” locations in your state
    Runners – a blog about races in your state
    Clay artists – How-to guide for slab rollers

    See how the process of connecting your experiences with offers works? It is not that difficult to find online opportunities to match your personal experiences.

    Dedicated to Your Success,

    Steve Weber

    P.S. We spend a lot of time discussing niches in the member’s forum. Plus I have my 1500 niche ideas there to get the brainstorming ball rolling! More details here:
    http://www.weberinternetmarketing.com/OnlineBusiness.htm

    The Hardest Way to Make a Dime Online

    Posted on November 19th, 2008 in Getting Started by Steve

    There is something very ironic with respect to Internet marketing.
    The easiest way to make money online is also perceived by newcomers
    to the field as being the most difficult. Instead of choosing the
    “easy road”, they instead choose methods such as AdWords which are
    far more difficult (and expensive) to master.

    I have been extremely active in many areas of Internet marketing
    for the past few years. Here is my truth about Adwords and
    PayPerClick advertising in general:

    If someone told me at this point in my career that I could ONLY use
    PayPerClick to make money with for the next year, my wife and I
    would be lucky if we could afford beans and rice during that time.
    You may think I am kidding. I am not.

    PayPerClick is difficult to learn and requires plenty of money
    along the way to learn with. First-time lottery players may win the
    jackpot just like beginners using AdWords could get lucky with just
    the right keywords, just the right ad copy, and just the right bids.

    So what about that “easy” way of making money I mentioned earlier?
    Hands down, the lowest cost and quickest route to selling or
    otherwise making money online is with your own website. Domains are
    just $8.95 per year. A $7 to $10 per month hosting account will
    allow you to host an unlimited number of domains. For just one
    site, the cost can be just a few dollars.

    So what’s the catch?

    Even though an effective website only needs tables, text, and
    pictures, the learning curve for such a simple site is quite steep.
    Getting the site published to the host is another skill which must
    be learned also. The good news is that anyone can do it. There is
    nothing about it that the average person cannot learn with a few
    weeks of work.

    The truth is that if beginners had spent their time learning the
    basics of web design instead of wasting their time on trying to
    make money right off with some get-rich-quick idea, they would
    already be well on the road to success.

    But it is never too late!

    Find a niche area you are interested in and start learning to build
    a site around that niche theme. Be sure to teach yourself SEO along
    the way. DO NOT build the site first and then decide to learn SEO
    because your site gets little traffic. You’ll save a ton of time if
    you do it right the first time!

    Beginners: Start Broad And Then Focus

    Posted on November 17th, 2008 in Getting Started by Steve

    How do you approach Internet marketing?

    Do you bait one hook at a time and keep trying to find that perfect
    spot to cast it? Or are you fishing with multiple lines all baited
    differently…plus a casting pole in your hands in constant operation?

    If you are new to Internet marketing, you should have multiple
    lines out there all the time. Be warned however! There is a limit
    to the number you can effectively deal with! If you have too many
    poles in the water at once, you may miss a big fish if you can’t
    set the hook at just the right time!

    I can’t tell you how many areas you should have going at once. Just
    be aware there is a limit which will make your efforts
    counter-productive. It is up to you to know when you are
    approaching that limit for yourself.

    Why is it important to have multiple lines as a beginning Internet
    entrepreneur? We all have different talents. If you are a
    one-line-at-a-time marketer who is only focusing on, say AdWords,
    you may be missing the boat on other areas you might really excel
    in! What if you are spending all your efforts on learning AdWords
    but aren’t aware that your real talent would be creating content
    rich websites and making “free money” with Google AdSense?

    In order to maximize success early on, you MUST expose yourself to
    multiple areas of Internet marketing. Although it is a challenge to
    keep yourself from being spread too thin, it is vital that you do
    this! You will be amazed to find yourself enjoying some areas very
    much more than others. THESE are the areas you should focus your
    efforts on!

    Here are the core areas every Internet marketer should strive to
    test their enthusiasm and aptitude for at some point:

    Selling products, services, and/or information
    Affiliate marketing
    eBay
    Google Adsense
    Googel AdWords and other PayPerClick opportunities

    Now, for the most important thing I have to say:

    After you have tested the waters in a number of areas, pick one or two
    and FOCUS there! You are not superman. There is only so much time
    in your Day. X amount of work focused on one or two areas will yield better
    results than the same X amount of work spread across many areas.

    3 Way Linking is Spamming

    Posted on November 16th, 2008 in Getting Started by Steve


    I received another email this AM about using 3 way linking services to build back links with. These sites set up 3 way link between their network of members. Site A links to site B, site B links to site C, site C links to site A. And they repeat this thousands of times.

    Never participate in such things. Here is the email response I sent to the person:

    I saw a video of Matt Cutts (the google spam guy) where he joked about those sites who think Google won’t detect attempts  with 3 way links. Google knows exactly what is going on there.

    The 3-way linking results with your link showing up on hundreds….maybe thousands of irrelevant sites. Since your site is participating in the 3-way, Google will make that connection. Heck, with Google’s computing power, I am sure they could detect 10-way linking!

    Yes, in answer to your question, they consider that link spamming.

    Steve

    What is an RSS Feed and How to Use It

    Posted on November 15th, 2008 in Getting Started by Steve

    Do you have several blogs you like to read often? Get an RSS reader and you can read all the current updates in one place.

    On David Lano’s blog I found a great explanation of RSS and how it’s used to keep track of your favorite blog postings.

    Here is the link for Using RSS.

    Internet Marketing: Beauty and Beast

    Posted on September 22nd, 2008 in Getting Started by Steve

    Those involved in Internet marketing face a true “double edged sword”. The beauty of Internet marketing, compared to conventional businesses, is the ease with which ideas can be tested before committing large amounts of time and monetary investments. Oftentimes, those involved in a typical brick and mortar startup face true “do or die” pressures. Failure can be devastating.

    Internet marketing does not carry with it the same ominous threats. Beginners’ failures normally involve a bruised ego and a mere slap-on-the-hand with respect to lost investment at most. This, by the way, is my favorite part of Internet marketing: The rewards can be awesome with little risk!

    Ok, that was the beauty of Internet marketing.

    Now for the Beast.

    As you probably know already, success with Internet marketing is not an easy road.  Honestly, the process requires so much trial and error that if failures meant huge loses, few would last long enough to find success. The beast of Internet marketing is finding the drive and motivation to continue onward.

    If you have already had your share of “learning experiences” rest assured you are not alone. Every single person who has any success online has gone through exactly the same thing. Anyone can succeed in Internet marketing. The number 1 determining factor for success is how susceptible one is to quitting too soon.

    Think About It,
    Steve

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