How To Build Your First Successful Online Business

The Niche

One of the first things to consider before starting on your project, is understanding what kind of project it will be. A lot of people have trouble with this part, be it because they are not sure if it will succeed, or they think their idea isn't very unique, or maybe they are not sure if it is the kind of passion that they really want.

And so after spending hours, possibly days debating, they don't come up with anything. Naturally, this is a difficult process and taking the first step can often times be the hardest. But here is some good advice:

• It is not merely the idea, but how well you can execute it

The hardest part of building a successful business isn't coming up with that extremely unique idea. That's almost as hard as winning the lottery; considering the world we live in, the amount of people, and how easy it is to access the internet and publish your idea.

What will distinguish your business from others is how well you can execute the service that your business provide, to every single client!

This seems obvious, I know. But it is true. If you are the best (or one of) at what you do, clients will come to you. It is much easier to market yourself when your brand has a good reputation. The work is almost cut half for you. How so? Because the people who like your product will be doing most of the work and letting their friends know about it.

Brainstorming

You're probably excited to dive right into the project. But wait! Let's take a step back and reassess the bigger picture.

One of my personal favorite things to do before starting any project, is to build a map of the information I've gathered so far. I use this map to meet certain requirements of my project that I know are very important, this helps keep me on track.

• Do research
• Write down the data you find
• Brainstorm it
• Compose a new, curated list from the information you found

Here is an example:

With this you will have a visual reference to checkpoints that you must meet in order to achieve your goal. Not only that, but data is extremely important in the time we live in.

Knowing how to gather information and filter it down to its core components is a skillset that will allow you to succeed in any career choice. It's the reason why big corporations are willing to spend billions to gather your data.

Branding

Before moving onto the next section, I urge you to read this carefully.

"Brand" represents how your client views your company; the name, the logo, the quality of your product. It's a form of reputation.

When you buy Nike products, you have an expectation in your mind that the product you are purchasing is of very high quality, durable. When you buy Pepsi, you have an expectation of what that drink will taste like.

Some key Branding elements are:

• Purpose
• Vision
• Values
• Positioning
• Personality
• Voice
• Tagline

Building a recognizable brand is extremely valuable. It comes down to the smallest details; such as color, logo design, your relationship with your customers, and more. Your company as a whole must deliver excellent service time after time in order to build this level of trust with your customers.

Because branding encompasses virtually everything Digital Marketing stands for, it is an extremely valuable service to offer.

Development

So you finally decided on a vision for your company, and you went out there and made sure you learned all the prerequisite skills to provide the service. Great!

The next step is to build your website so that people may access it and request your services. This step might cost a little bit of money, depending on whether you know how to code or not. But you can probably find someone to help you if you look around the internet.

Here is some average pricing I know from working 5 years as a Developer:

• $500 Can get you a very cheap, working website without any customization features.
• $500 - $1000 Can get you a website with some basic pages made, probably 1 to 3.
• $1000 - $1500 Can get you a modern website with 3-5 pages, responsive, custom features, tracking, probably a free revision.
• $3000 - $5000 At this price range you will probably be looking into a professional website for your business, with Digital Marketing support.
• Price goes up as you add more features.

Take this with a grain of salt. Some "developers" out there might be willing to do it for cheaper. But beware, most often than not you get what you pay for. If you believe in your skills and know how valuable they are, you will charge a fair price for it.

I have been developing websites for over 5 years for a variety of clients, and these are accurate prices in the industry today.

SEO

Not all businesses are equal, some have years of experience and can deliver a better product in a shorter period of time if they have the knowledge and manpower to do so. In order to beat those giants, you need to start small, start local. You probably won't beat McDonald's when it comes to ranking in the "burgers" category on Google.

But you probably can beat them if you include more specific keywords such as "burger joint downtown Toronto". These extra keywords make a huge difference in making sure that you rank higher locally, so that when users search for a specific place nearby, you can appear on the top results.

And so little by little you may climb to the top. It is a difficult, long process. But no successful business was made in a day. It takes years of constant hard work to get to the top. And SEO is only the tip of the iceberg. There are a multitude of services available in Digital Marketing that can help you climb faster.

(If you are curious where you should insert these keywords, they go in the metatags of your website as well as on the content in your pages.)

Analytics

As I said previously, data is probably the single most important commodity in today's age. For this reason, being able to track what happens in your website is extremely important. Not only that, but your team of professionals should be able to read the different graphs and create new content based on the information received.

Google Analytics is a free tool that helps you track Page Views, Events, Geolocation, and much more. With this information your goal would be to create an educated guess into what kind of content your potential clients are most likely to click on.

You then use this information to put out new content that is relevant to your demographic. Keep in mind that Analytics is a huge part of figuring out which SEO keywords are trending and have a higher probability of landing you new clients.

Provide Solutions

A common misconception in the business world is that you should sell a service. This isn't always quite accurate.

What you should do, is provide a solution. Someone out there has a lock, and you have the key. They need that key.

And make sure you do your job well, try to impress your client. Make them come back for more, give them a reason to boast about your services to their friends and co-workers. Be proud of it.

You will see how quickly your company can grow once word of mouth starts getting customers at your door.

If you are looking to create a company or to grow, be sure to speak with a professional, to find out which steps you could be taking to get ahead of the competition.