Who wants to be an Internet millionaire?
By Terry Dean
Welcome to our show...
Today we are going to be playing who wants to be an Internet millionaire, except we are not playing for cash. We are playing to see if you have the knowledge you need to be a successful entrepreneur on the web.
Here are your five questions...Let's see how good you do.
Question #1: Which of the following characteristics is a requirement for success online?
a. High IQ
b. College Degree
c. Persistence
d. Money
Question #2: Which of the following products would be considered a niche market product suitable for a small business entrepreneur?
a. Toothbrush
b. eBook on Cooking
c. Big Screen TV
d. eBook on Fly Fishing in Arkansas
Question #3: Which of the below programs is the most popular download of the week?
a. Napster
b. ICQ
c. Internet Explorer
d. RealNetworks Real Player
Question #4: Which one of these problems is the most common reason people don't order online?
a. Web Sites were too confusing
b. Pages took too long to load.
c. The prices were too high.
d. They couldn't find what they wanted.
Question #5: How many sales does the "average" Internet company have to make to a customer before they break even on that customer?
a. One
b. Two
c. Three
d. Four
Some of those questions were pretty difficult. Weren't they?
Let's see how you did...
"C" is the answer to question one.
Persistence is the most important key to succeeding on the web. Despite what you might hear, there aren't any real "gurus" online. The web just isn't that old. Everyone is still learning.
The number one key to succeeding online is testing everything you can possibly imagine. This takes persistence.
High IQ's and college degrees may help in the process (if you have the right information), but they are not the key to success. Money may help as well, but for many large companies this just means wasting tons of money on two million dollar Superbowl ads. Then being nowhere to be seen 6 months later.
Persistence is the key.
"D" is the answer to question two.
An eBook covering fly fishing in Arkansas would be considered a niche market product suitable for a small entrepreneur.
What's the problem with the other products?
The problem with the big screen TV and the toothbrush is that they are available from anywhere. Your prospect would be much more likely to run down to the local Wal-mart and electronics stores than to purchase from you. They don't know who you are.
For the Cooking eBook, it is too broad of a subject. No one wants just a cooking eBook when there are so many nice beautiful books at the local store. This may be a potential project though if you can come up with a more specific topic such as cooking in France or cooking with red wine from the French.
The key to being noticed as a small business is to come out with something a little more unique and highly specific.
If You Chose "B" for number three, you are correct.
ICQ is the most downloaded program this week as reported by http://www.download.com
All three of the other programs are top downloads, but ICQ is downloaded 10 times more than the closest competitor. It has been the most popular download for years.
ICQ is a program that allows you to chat and instant message your online contacts. One of the most popular activities of online users is that of chat and message boards.
People want to feel like they belong. They are looking for online communities which they can belong to.
What does this mean to your online business? It means that you need to find a way to create a community at your site using discussion boards, chat, and other types of interaction with your visitors.
Question Four is a close race, but the answer is "B"
According to a survey taken by Boston Consulting Group, the most likely reason people didn't purchase from a site is because the pages took too long to load.
The full article and results of this survey are available at: http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R249_CNN
Forty-eight percent of people asked cited slow loading pages as the culprit in their shopping experience.
A close second is that of the sites being too confusing which rang in at forty-five percent.
Both of these show that a major key to sales on the Internet is keeping it simple and easy for your users. They are impatient and they are quickly confused by any extra technology you decide to use.
You need to create an easy to use, quick loading buying experience for your visitor. For now, cut out any fancy technology and "cool" stuff that may hinder those two items.
If you chose "C" for number five, you are correct.
This was a very difficult question. The correct answer as provided by Yahoo news is that the average Internet retailer must make three sales to a customer before they break even on the cost of obtaining that customer.
This Yahoo article can be seen at:http://www.roibot.com/w.cgi?R249_YAH
I don't recommend you spend as much to obtain a new customer as large online retailers do. You can't afford to. You don't have their large advertising budgets to burn through.
You can concentrate on your current customers. You have to "Wow" them and keep them buying from you instead of your competitors.
Every single market will be competitive in the future of the Internet. The companies that are going to be the most successful are those who learn how to retain their customers through better customer service, frequent buyers programs, and finding them the best deals possible.
You must develop a loyal customer base and sell to it over and over again.
One shot sales aren't going to make it in the future of the Internet.
And that's my final answer...
Terry Dean, a 5 year veteran of Internet marketing, will Take You By The Hand and Show You Exact Results of All the Internet Marketing Techniques he tests and Uses Every Single Month" Click here to Find Out More:
http://www.netbreakthroughs.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!
|
This demonstration gives you an overview of IBM® Rational® Build Forge Express Edition, a global offering that provides a framework to automate and execute software processes. Rational Build Forge provides a software assembly line that can support all of your tools, technologies, and platforms so you can achieve a repeatable, reliable, and traceable build and release process.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Join this Rational Talks to You teleconference, featuring Paul Boustany and Mark Krasovich, to speak to the experts about becoming a Rational ClearCase power user. Get a chance to ask your questions and learn tips and tricks for using Rational ClearCase in Agile development
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Visit IBM developerWorks to download a free trial version of WebSphere Business Modeler Advanced V6.1.1, IBM’s premier business process modeling and analysis tool for business users that offers process modeling, simulation, and analysis capabilities. IBM WebSphere Business Modeler helps you visualize, understand, and document business processes for continuous improvement.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Download a free trial version of IBM DB2 9.5 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows. DB2 9 is the result of a five-year development project that transformed traditional (static) database technology into an interactive data server that merges the high performance and ease of use of DB2 with the self-describing benefits of XML.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Visit IBM developerWorks to download a free trial version of IBM Rational Business Developer V7.1. Rational Business Developer offers rapid and simplified development of business applications and services through Enterprise Generation Language (EGL) tools, generating Java or mainframe solutions while shielding developers from technical complexities.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
As systems increase in complexity, communication between systems and software teams becomes more and more difficult. Now, there’s a way to improve product quality and communication.<br />Read the “Model Driven Systems Development” white paper to see how. Also included in this kit are more educational white papers, customer examples, tutorials, informative Webcasts, and best practices for designing, building and managing systems.<br />
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Learn how Rational Build Forge can extend a simple compile and package build process by adding customization and deployment capability. Go from a manual method to automating: checking for code changes; getting the latest source; compiling and packaging; customizing; copying to and restarting a deployment server; and sending e-mail notification that a new version is available.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Regression testing -- in which code is thoroughly tested to ensure that changes have not produced unexpected results -- is an important part of any development process. But many testing environments neglect the terminal-based applications that still form the backbone of many industries. In this tutorial, you'll learn how the Rational Functional Tester Extension for Terminal-Based Applications works with other Rational Functional Tester to help test terminal-based applications quickly and easily.
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!
|
|
|
|
In this webcast, you'll get an introduction to the eXtreme Transaction Processing (XTP) features of WebSphere Extended Deployment and the common architectural traits required by XTP applications. See how WebSphere Extended Deployment's ObjectGrid feature provides a state-of-the-art infrastructure for hosting XTP applications.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
All FREE IBM® developerWorks Tools!
|
