C'mon Rich, tell me what to do...
by Richard Grady
I get hundreds of emails per week and as you might expect, many of the emails contain similar questions. There are probably ten questions that I get asked most. I will save nine of them for another time as I want to talk about just one of the top ten questions today.
The basic form of the question varies but essentially it is the same and here it is:
'I have read everything I can about marketing online.
I understand how to get traffic to my website.
I know how to make my website appealing to customers.
I know about generating income with 'backend' products.
I understand everything you have taught me over the past X years....
BUT WHAT DO I ACTUALLY DO?'
Yup, the question is simply 'What should my online business actually be - what should I offer - what do I do?'
Of course, this is the $64,000 question and there is no easy answer. If I could pluck guaranteed business ideas out of the air every time someone asked for one, I would be a rich man. Unfortunately, I can't and neither can anyone else. Even if someone did have a pool of surefire ideas, would they really be willing to share them with others for nothing?
However, I can try and help you come up with your own idea by making suggestions and eliminating some, almost certainly, bad ideas.
Firstly, do something that interests you and that you know about - if you are not interested in your product and don't have the first clue what you are talking about, I can guarantee that you will not be successful. For example, don't try and sell products about making money on the Internet if you yourself are not making money on the Internet.
Secondly, don't do something that is already being done by thousands of other people unless you can add a highly unique 'twist'. For example, you will never make any money setting up a general online auction site - there are already plenty of established sites with millions of registered members. Why would anyone want to use a brand new auction site with no members when they can sell on eBay?
Thirdly, (and I know I keep banging on about this but it is important), find a small market that is easy to target rather than a huge, general market. Small doesn't have to mean 'small' on the Internet. The money is in the niche markets - trust me.
I know how hard it is to come up with an original idea but it isn't impossible and plenty of people do it everyday. If you can't come up with something yourself, spend time surfing the Net and 'brainstorming' with others in forums such as: http://www.traderonlineforum.com
Richard Grady has been helping people earn online since 1998. Find out more about Richard at: http://www.thetraderonline.com Free wholesale search engines: UK- http://www.wholesale118.co.uk and US http://www.thewholesaletrader.com
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
More Online Business Help Articles
More By Developer Shed
 developerWorks - FREE Tools!
|
Attend this launch webcast with Scott Hebner, Vice President of IBM Rational Marketing and Strategy, for an overview of Rational’s new software offerings and resources to help modernize and accelerate software innovation on i on Power Systems – while ensuring past application investments are protected and continue to grow. Learn how these solutions are helping customers extend their core i5/OS solutions toward modern architectures such as SOA and web technologies to deliver business improvements that stand the test of time.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Join us for this on demand webcast to learn about developing complex systems more quickly and efficiently. We'll cover market drivers for developing, governing and reusing systems software assets and how you can develop system software assets with Rational Asset Manager.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Discover how IBM Rational AppScan Standard Edition can help you detext vulnerabilities in your web applications in the Web Application Security eKit. IBM Rational AppScan is a leading suite of automated web application security solutions that scan and test for common Web application vulnerabilities. The new Web Application Security eKit provides you with valuable resources, including white papers, demos, and additional information on the benefits of testing your Web applications.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Visit IBM developerWorks to download a free trial of the latest release of IBM Lotus Sametime Standard V8.0. Lotus Sametime Standard V8.0 is a platform for unified communications and collaboration that combines security features with an extensible, open solution including integrated Voice over IP, geographic location awareness, mobile clients, and a robust Business Partner community offering telephony and video integration.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Analysts, architects, and developers who have existing COBOL or PL/I skills and want to extend those skills to deploy new workloads on the mainframe can use the IBM Enterprise Modernization Sandbox for System z to find hands-on walkthroughs of common real world scenarios. The scenarios provide examples of how to rapidly design, create, assemble, test, and deploy high-quality Web, Web services, portal, and SOA applications for IBM CICS, IBM IMS, and IBM WebSphere Application Server.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Whether you are creating new applications or modifying existing ones, managing integration of new components with traditional z/OS elements is a critical part of building and deploying modern applications. Listen to this webcast to see how IBM can help you optimize your development process using an IDE like Rational Developer for System z that integrates with management tools, such as ClearCase to manage your application development on mainframes.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Join the IBM Watchfire team for an informative discussion on techniques and best practices to proactively manage Web application security and how to effectively build application security testing into the software development lifecycle (SDLC). In this Software Delivery Platform webcast you will learn: How to better understand potential web application security vulnerabilities, best practices and how to effectively integrate application security testing into the software development lifecycle, the importance of detecting and removing software vulnerabilities during application development.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
The Eclipse community is constantly working to extend Eclipse's functionality. In this webcast, learn about some of the most important and feature-rich projects under development. From multi-language support to plug-in development, tune in to see what Eclipse is capable of now.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Viper 2 brings a great value to developer communities including SQL, XML, PHP, Ruby, .NET and Java. You probably already know that DB2 Express-C is free for developers to develop, deploy and distribute. Viper 2 provides a variety of means that help move your application from the development stage to deployment more rapidly. This webcast shows how to best utilize the latest tools available for developing DB2 applications.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
The unprecedented scope of a service-oriented architecture (SOA) initiative brings to the forefront a number of management and governance issues that were sidestepped in the past. The key to a successful SOA implementation is managing and governing activities throughout the entire SOA delivery lifecycle by ensuring that services conform to the needs of all of the business’s stakeholders. Learn how service lifecycle management allows the business to ensure that the process by which services are defined, created, tested, deployed, optimized and retired is manageable, repeatable and auditable.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
All FREE IBM® developerWorks Tools!
|
