by Suzanne Arthur on September 2, 2010
Because you have no choice but to start your online business slowly. Sure, there are always stories about the runaway app on the iPhone, or the social website that caught fire. But 90% of the websites on the Internet are nowhere to be found on search engines. And nobody is going to them. The Internet is a massive graveyard!
The last I checked there are over 30 billion websites indexed by Google. You have to be on page one of your search terms to even have an online business. And doing that has become a tall order for most niches.
It is not hopeless. You can be at the top of your niche, by putting in a steady part-time effort within one year’s time.
To be continued…
by Suzanne Arthur on July 16, 2010
Your Internet business ideas are coming into focus. Your website or blog may already be in progress, and you’re writing articles to toss around the Web like delectable tidbits to the hungry readers who will soon become your loyal customers.
But first, entice them to read your articles. What to put into your articles is the subject of another post. For the moment let’s focus on How to get them read your articles:
1. Set a clear objective
What would you like your reader to do? Whether it’s sign up for your newsletter, click for your free report, or respond to your email, you must let them know. Use specifics to create images in his or her mind. Subject lines and post titles are an opportunity to grab their attention and stoke their curiosity. “How to Determine the Value of Your Beanie Baby” is going to invite a lot more click-throughs than “The Value of Toys.”
2. Show how your system (or product or service) resolves their issue.
Create a checklist for your reader. Assist her in taking the next step. It’s as though she wants something from the top shelf. Bring her a ladder so she can get there without having to take a leap she doesn’t feel comfortable with, or wave it off as too much of a hassle.
In your article, follow this sequence:
- 1. Align with your customer’s needs by articulating their challenges from their perspective.
- 2. Lay out solutions, everyone else’s. Not yours. (Not until step #3).
- 3. Convey the benefits of your solutions. Help your visitor make the link that your product makes their problem go away.
Learn more about this counter-intuitive yet highly effective method of persuasion.
3. Tell them what they just learned
This part is a little like the final step in writing a persuasive essay in college. You’ve stated your objective, made it crystal clear what you want your reader to do. And you’ve shown, by illustrating in a rational way, the reasons they should do so. Your job is almost done. Now, restate or review the salient points you made in steps 1 and 2.
Your internet business ideas are like the goose that laid the golden egg. Remember that story? To get your online business to take flight, first write persuasive posts and articles, and soon those golden eggs will begin to hatch.
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think. I love hearing from you! 
