What most people don’t realize is that the internet is still in its infancy. There is still a huge opportunity for people to come in and build a business with little to no money.
A lot of times all it takes is a little sweat equity if you’re willing to pursue the right channels and put out some effort.
Here is a quick guide to growing a business online for the complete newbie.
Table of Contents
Pick a Service
The first thing you want to do is to assess your skill set and think of a service that you will want to provide. This can be anything, whether its a product idea that you have, the ability to sell insurance or even provide a marketing service to something like being a beautician or personal trainer.
Whatever it is, there are people out there looking for it both locally and nationally and you should definitely be monetizing it online. Don’t let the fear of not having a trade stop you either.
You can always go out there and learn one. This can be getting your real estate or insurance license, or something else. Just think of a business that you’d like to run, and commit to the idea.
Build a Website
The next step is to build a website around the service that you picked. Sounds hard right? Its not at all.
These days you can build a website with ZERO programming knowledge. There are thousands of videos out there showing you how to do it.
In fact, the easiest way to do it is to buy your domain, google “WordPress themes (your service here)” and upload that theme to your domain, import the demo content, and just fill in your words.
You will have a professional website that will look like it cost thousands of dollars. You can use websites like Fiverr and Upwork to get little edits done that you need to customize and use stock photo sites to upload custom images to it.
Research Opportunities
The next step is to figure out what people are searching for in regards to your business. The way to do that is to use Google’s keyword planner or the Keywords Everywhere Google Chrome extension. These tools will allow you to see how many people are searching for your service every month and what words they are using to describe it.
Be mindful of picking words that can turn to revenue rather than just words that will turn to traffic. Stick to keywords that are further along the research process. For example, steer clear of any keywords that start with “what is.”
This customer is way too early in the process to bring business your way. Only after you have maximized other opportunities should you go after them.
Start Writing
The next step is to start writing both for your blog and on your website with pages and posts dedicated to those keywords. Make sure to focus on one keyword per page and not try to target multiple keywords. What you’re doing here is SEO and it largely consists of creating good content and building links.
SEO has by far the best ROI of any digital marketing channels out there. Keep focused on the topic and make sure that whatever you write is better than whatever is ranking on the first page for the keyword. You can take several courses on SEO online that are free in order to learn how to optimize your website for SEO. This will be important when you start writing.
The good news is, if you used WordPress, then you’re ahead of the curve as it gives you a good platform for SEO, to begin with.
Build Links
The blue hyperlinks you see online don’t just take you to other pages. They tell the search engines that the website the link is on, trusts the website it is leading you to. Getting other websites to point links to your site and your content will tell the search engines to move you up.
The way to build links is to reach out to other sites and offer them free content, and in return just tell them you’d like to link out to your site. Most websites are looking for fresh content so you can expect a greenlight.
Start Servicing
After about 6 months of a sustained effort of building links and writing content, you will start to receive traffic.
Once you get that traffic it will be up to you to convert it to customers. Get to work!
Learn your way to earn a living online.
Jessica Jones says
Erik,
Most of the “online money-making” articles that I come across are detailed (around 2K or 3K words). But, you have nailed it to the point. So precise. Thanks, Erik.
Enstine Muki says
Hey Erik,
The Internet has brought massive opportunities. One doesn’t need a college degree anymore to make a nice income. Sitting at home, there are lots of opportunities on the net.
Thanks for the quick guide man
Adam Webb says
The internet provides a wide range of maoney making opportunities for people around the world.You can easily find ways on how make to money online, regardless of your age.You just need to find the right one for you based on your skills, knowledge, experience, education and interest. Thanks for your helpful guide, Erik. Keep sharing valuable information such as this.
sandy says
very good information to learn. Very useful thank you so much.
Amar Kumar says
Hey Erik,
Now a days, if you want to make a substantial amount of money online, you need to have a website.
Once you have a site, you need traffic. Today you can do several things with the help of website to earn money online and people are getting success too.
You have explored this topic nicely and must be going to helpful for newbies.
Eventually, thanks for sharing your informative ideas with us.
With best wishes,
Amar Kumar
sandeep kumar rajput says
Very Useful