Five tips from online business

Many aspiring business owners, as well as entrepreneurs who have been at it for a while, are lured by the promise of an online business model. After all, with all the talk of a four-hour work week, orders rolling in while you sleep, and hobnobbing with other high income internet business owners at five star resorts, again while making money, what’s not to like? Making a ton of cash with little output sounds almost good to be true, doesn’t it?

Before you whip out your credit card and sign up for every program you can get your hands on, let me burst your dream bubble (or at least poke it a little bit). It takes a lot of work to have a successful internet based business. In my experience, and based on meeting many other internet business owners who have done very well, there is no such thing as an overnight success.

Having said that, there are lots of elements that can be borrowed from the internet business model that work REALLY well for many types of service based small businesses. Here are five secrets of success that internet marketers master. See how many you can apply to your business!

More than one stream of income. Savvy and thriving online business owners have more than one main source of revenue. Even if they have a service business, they have built a business model that allows them to deliver a core service in multiple ways. There are at least 12 potential revenue streams that I recommend – you might be surprised at how many would work for your business!

A leveraged business model. Systems and the power of “one to many” make it possible for a solo business owner to create a financially lucrative business that doesn’t tie her down. There are many ways to add leverage: duplication of systems and processes, packaged services or products, passive product or virtual services, and power partners are all means of adding this secret weapon to your bottom line.

Consistent action and followup. Internet marketers are the masters of communicating a clear call to action, and following up persistently with potential and past clients. The low hanging fruit that ALL business owners should have are a simple website, a way to collect email addresses or otherwise keep track of website visitors, and automated email and electronic newsletter follow ups. If you’re not doing this, you are missing out!

Strong and focused brand. From the initial impression on their webpages, to their social media posts on Facebook, Twitter and so on, successful internet marketers have a clearly focused offer and message that is laser pointed at a very specific potential and ideal customer. Even if they offer multiple services to multiple audiences, they have a separate and distinctly personalized message to each target group (such as having multiple websites that are slightly different to attract the separate markets).

Technology adopters. Web savvy internet entrepreneurs embrace technology and are quick to try new (and ever changing) services and products. These tools make their jobs easier, and make it possible to take leverage and automation to new heights!

Whether you are a retail, service or product based business, online or off, use these tips to add more prosperity and freedom to your business.