Staking Out Your Claim From The Beginning

A website is not required before starting an online business.  But there is a good deal of planning and learning to be done before beginning to build one, a website this means to say. Defining your niche is the fundamental task. If you already have a site running, look through these notes for good ideas you may have overlooked.
How Do You Define Success?
Many people have selective hearing. That is, they hear only what they are listening for. When such people tune in to the notion of getting rich on the Web, they can't seem to hear anything else. They are deaf to the news of dot-com failures in mass. Deaf to the certain doom that lies at the end of any path claimed to be quick or easy. And deaf to any mention of how tough it is to succeed in business anywhere, online or offline. If you have fallen into this trap, there are only two options. Continue on your chosen path and fail. Or redefine what success means to you, then begin working to achieve it.

Getting Rich Is Unlikely
It is no easier to become wealthy online than offline. The only advantage to beginning a business online, rather than offline, is in the lower startup costs. The rest of it is work, learning, then implementing what you learn.
   What are your chances of opening a new business in your home town and becoming a millionaire? Unless you have very special talents and skills, it's unlikely. The chances of doing so on a website are no better.

Would Making A Living Suit You?
Do you have what it takes to open a business on main street and earn a comfortable living? If you lack essential information, are you willing to take the time to hunt it up? If there are things you do not know, are you willing to learn them? If you lack needed skills, are you prepared to develop them?
One who can answer a resounding, "Yes," to the above questions, can succeed. Online or offline. Until you can shout this right out loud to your family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers on the street, any effort to build a successful website will break your heart. And waste a ton of your time. And more than a few bucks.
 
One Path
If you want to succeed on the Web, you must first come to grips with what you mean by success. If your definition can be simplified to making a good living with the opportunity to make more, then all is quite doable. And one of the best ways to start is to begin part time and grow your business as you learn.

Getting Real
Whether you have started a business or are still only thinking about doing so, you may find it informative to check out some successful sites. Successful, that is, according to the definition of their owners.
Common Elements
While the following sites may appear quite different from one another, they have much in common.
   Nobody is making a million bucks a year; this was not the goal. Rather they are making a living (their definition) and are in an excellent position to increase their income.
The site designs are quite simple; very few fancy graphics are to be found.
Each site is well focused.
Each site is loaded with content.
Some face stern competition; others have carved their niche and conquered it.
You will probably note ways in which each site can be improved. But this is true of any site, large or small. And it's true of yours. And mine.
 
Wrapping Up
A while back, a visitor asked, "Do you know of a small site that is successful?" I referred him to a particular website. A short while later, he replied, "You gotta be kidding. That's nothing!" So  i respond, if you visit that site and find "nothing," then you probably need to know more about business and the web in order to build a winning site. Re-evaluate your definition of success, learn what is needed, then take another look. That is a useful and successful site. That is, successful in the eyes of their owners. And in the eyes of their customers. What else matters? Happy weekend, Have a great day.