If you think you can’t find time for starting a business online, take a minute and think about the time you’ve spent watching Grey’s Anatomy or Lost, or the time you’ve wasted sitting through lame television commercials.

That kind of time adds up. I know. I spent hours watching Star Trek when I was a kid, trying to decide if Captain Kirk should walk away from his serious Starship Enterprise duties and stay with the sexy green dancing woman, living a casual life of leisure somewhere in the cosmos.

I realize I could’ve spent my time more productively, but I didn’t have an Internet business or a blog. Those technologies hadn’t been invented yet.

Do what you love, and the money will follow. Unless you love sitting around watching TV.

The other night we were having dinner with another couple. She wants to start an online business. She’s got a hot idea, which she keeps tossing around to see if it’s subject to cooling down. She hasn’t taken any action yet, but she hasn’t lost interest in it either.

She asked how long it took before we started making online. They know we just bought a new car, and we’re looking at a piece of land to build on. I told her about blogging for months before anybody but the bots started leaving comments. She just stared at her noodles. I didn’t mean to cool her jets. It’s important to be realistic though.

But after that initial investment of time without much pay, I added, the money starts coming in and building exponentially. It’s like a training period that you do get paid for, eventually, and it expands because by then you can raise your ranking, and your readership grows 24/7.

“Where am I supposed to find the time?” she said.

We looked around the room, and instantly our gaze landed collectively on the television set.

She busted out laughing, and finished her noodles. We’d found a modest source of extra time without even trying: the 2 hours of mindless TV-viewing she admitted she could definitely survive without.

She said she’d start putting in one hour a day. It’s a start.

Where will you find the time?

It might not be the TV. It might be the phone. Or it maybe the game you swore you’d never get sucked into and now can’t seem to drag yourself away from. Whatever it is, if you’ve got a habit that isn’t helping you build your new life as an Internet entrepreneur, replace it. Quick. You know what to do.

Who has time to start a business online?

You do.

Spend some free time brainstorming and inventing ways to create an extra income stream through an online business. It’s an act of goodness you offer yourself, a coin tossed into a savings account for your future needs and desires.

Where did you find the time to start a business online? Let me know in the comments. I love hearing from you. 

A friend of ours is wondering if she’s just dreaming, or if building online business traffic is a reality in her niche.

She’s been searching for another income stream to fill in the gap left when her 401K became a 201K. She has two e-books written and ready to go. She’s got a unique selling point (USP) and knows what she needs to do in order to launch a website and get it in gear.

But she’s hesitating. Why? She worries that so many other people have beat her to it. How can she possibly make a significant income online when big, established companies already supply what she has to offer?

She could have been me six years ago. I never believed that our e-books would sell at all, let alone pay the rent (or expand into a flourishing full-time business). I told her I’d had the same worries.

She wasn’t convinced.

“But that was six years ago,” she said. “Think how many businesses have popped up online since.”

This is so not a problem. If you’re worried, like our friend, about making money online, listen to why this is still a great time to create an online business.

First of all, half the people in the US don’t even have broadband. Many who do have access don’t use it. Yet. They will have it and they will be using it because it’s fast and efficient.

It’s tempting to judge the entire world’s behavior on what your friends are doing. However, when you’re cooking up an online business idea it’s important to step back and see the bigger picture. Keep in mind, it is the World Wide Web.

• As more of our daily interactions go online, things such as banking, shopping, education, access to personal health care records, the Web will continue to grow. In other words, the train has not yet left the station. There’s still plenty of available seating and time to climb onboard.

Building online business traffic is our buddy’s main concern. So I reminded her that due to an Internet principle called net neutrality, she does indeed have a fair shot at bringing traffic to her website. She knows that:

Traffic = people = business = success

And the same goes for you of course. No matter who you’re up against.

4 ways to build online business traffic:

1. Be the one they turn to.

Distinguish yourself and your company by responding to questions and emails quickly. Offer intelligent, personal replies and try to solve your customers’ problems. It’s easy to beat the competition, as many bigger companies don’t bother.

Recently, I had a problem with our Internet service company (Charter). I chatted online with a customer service agent. She answered questions that I wasn’t asking, and didn’t answer the ones that I was. I was passed to another agent when finally the first one admitted she lacked the authority to make the changes I wanted to my account. The conversation was frustrating and took over an hour. You can do way better than that.

2. Offer your secrets for free.

Transparency sells. When you give away your top secret info, a funny thing happens. Instead of losing customers, you build trust. Okay, you might lose a few. A small percent will take the free thing and never come back.

However, A large percent will appreciate what you have given them, Remember, this market is world wide. The idea is to give it away, give it away, (I’ve got a Red Hot Chili Pepper tune stuck in my head now), using parameters you’re comfortable with, such as a product sample, a limited-time membership, or a service they want and need.

These people will like you. A lot. They’ll even spread the word by sending tweet e-mail and chatting about the cool thing you do. All of which builds traffic to your online business. And definitely establishes you as occupying a notch higher and better (and nicer!) than the competition.

Building online business traffic means allowing your customers to get a taste of what you’ve got. So if you want people to buy your e-books or become a member of your website, pull back the curtain and invite them to check out what they’ll get.

3. Be easy to remember.

Your website, your online business, has a distinct persona made up of its title, its aesthetic appearance, and its USP. You choose these aspects for many reasons, perhaps not all of them even very consciously.

How do you think other people perceive your business’s online persona?

Consider what makes you remember someone you meet. Their style, their positive energy. What is that special thing that makes them stand apart from the rest of the herd? Offer something a little different than the competition.

Just as a good novelist or columnist does, know who your people are, your audience, and then write (or design) for them. Don’t attempt to appeal to everyone, because you can’t pull that off (unless maybe you’re offering free money with no strings! If you are — call me.)   

4. Offer the 3 Cs — Courtesy, Consistency, and Credibility.

Be courteous. Make it a core part of your mission to be nice to people. Not just people you think will become your customers, but everybody. Even the cranky, bitchy ones. Chances are, you won’t remember them but they will remember you. You wouldn’t want to get the type of mention I felt compelled to give Charter, would you?

Write standard responses that you can copy and paste and send out quickly. That way, when you’re having a difficult day, or you’re just too busy making money online to respond to your customers immediately, they won’t get the brunt of it.

Be consistent. Write a post a week, or three or five or whatever you’ve determined is a good rhythm for your web business.

Consistently deliver excellent service, a superb product, or valuable, reliable information. Show your appreciation for loyal customers who have paid for your service or product. Ask them how else you can help.

If you are working with a partner (as I am), be sure you check each other’s work occasionally, if not more often, to be certain you are portraying consistency with your customers. It’s perfectly fine to express your different styles, just make sure you don’t confuse your customers.

Be credible. Your reputation online is the backbone of your business. Make customers question your credibility, and risk destroying your hard work. The good news is, this is easy enough to do. Simply know yourself, know what your mission is, and use the other two Cs above to deliver it.

Building online business traffic is the biggest key to Internet entrepreneurial success. Without it, you have a nice website that nobody ever sees. Make the effort to bring traffic to see what you’re up to, and you’re in business.

Home internet businesses are cheap to run. When you first start an online enterprise you really don’t need much except the basics. Internet access and a reason to be in business. That’s about it, and those don’t add up to much in dollar amounts.

When bad winter weather shuts down businesses and schools for days on end, we often hear this (usually from other small business owners):

“You work at home? I’m a little jealous.”

This happened just yesterday morning with the guy at the oil-change shop. Did I mention it was a balmy 24 degrees F?

Evan attempted to make him feel a little less terrible by saying something like, “it’s got its pros and cons.”

But the guy was not convinced. His shoulders slumped. I could tell he would have given anything at that moment to take his steaming cup of coffee and go home, put his feet up and still be at work.

What’s the cost of comfort?

People like this guy are usually curious to know what running our home internet businesses costs us. We certainly don’t have the overhead he’s dealing with. Our advertising and processing fees are our biggest expenses. This is unbelievable for someone with a full-service car repair joint. Liability alone takes a big bite out of his profit.

Add in a few monster snowstorms that keeps customers away, and it’s not such a pretty picture for his car shop. No wonder he’s jealous. I feel for the guy. Our apartment-office felt even cozier after chatting with him in his office, where we could see our breath.

You can spend money on your home internet businesses, sure. It really depends of what your business is — ours is inexpensive because it’s primarily information-based. We aren’t packaging anything, we aren’t printing, copying and mailing out advertising on a regular basis. Our services consist of reporting, consultation and design. All done over Skype and online.

Assistance for small-business owners

And keep in mind that as a sole proprietor you qualify as a small-business owner. Therefore, you could benefit from financing assistance programs through the Small Business Administration. If you need to or want to, you can get financial help.

However, unless you plan to spend more on your computer than on your car, you really don’t need much money to get started. This is good news, especially because we know how many people would really love to work at home. Low start-up costs definitely level the playing field in a recession.

What you do need is that other stuff, which is just as valuable, yet a tad more precious and harder to find (and even more difficult to borrow): ingenuity and stick-to-it-tiveness.

Thinking about your New Year’s goals?

If marketing an online business is one of them, you’ve come to the right post. I’ve got a story for you.

But first I just have to tell you: The ninja and I are psyched. We just did our year-end assessment, where we dedicate a day to review our successes and analyze things we need to improve.

We discovered that this year our online business income has doubled!

This, I don’t have to tell you, in a historically-stinky economic year, in which sadly, tens of thousands of people were downsized from their corporate jobs, or are suffering enforced furloughs.

But this story isn’t about us. It’s about someone else’s success marketing an online business.

As you know, you can make your living providing solutions via ‘how-to’ eBooks and continually adding value for your members on your membership sites — that’s how the ninja and I do it.

However, many roads lead to Rome.

Instead of consulting or providing information, you may simply want to grow and expand your already-established business online.

That’s what this guy is doing. Listen…er…read on, people! Read this and motivate:

Dentist finds online goldmine

Dr John Burch of Mountain View, CA has a hand-built site that he uses to multiply business for his dentistry practice. People come from as far away as 50 miles because they’ve gotten to know him through his Web site.

Did this surprise him?

Yep.

Gas is expensive. And honestly, there are herds of good dentists in the Bay area, so why do Dr. Burch’s patients drive farther than they have to?

Marketing his online business is the key.

Marketing = providing solutions and being accessible.

His well-managed site gives him credibility and authority long before people even meet the man in person. You know how nerve-wracking it can be to go to the dentist! People are looking for reasons to trust this guy, and his Web site gives them warm and friendly reassurance.

As a totally unexpected benefit, people who are familiar with him through his site opt for more and longer treatments. This brings more value to his business exponentially.

As you might imagine

Dr Burch is enthusiastic about Web marketing. He’s put together presentations about maximizing the potential of the Net for his peers, most of whom have purchased expensive Web sites for their businesses (costing $10,000) which currently have no ROI (return on investment).

These sites are like fancy business brochures stuffed into a drawer. They never see the light of day.

In contrast, Dr Burch’s site “already brings in $10,000 a month in additional revenue.” Instead of spending $10 grand on his site, he earns that figure with it.

He puts it bluntly for his dentist buddies, who are looking for their stock portfolios to provide for their future retirement needs.

“If you think in terms of Asset Equivalent Value (AEV), it would take a portfolio in the amount $2,000,000 (at 6% return) to give me the same extra monthly income.”

I mean,who among us has 2 million bones to invest in the stock market? Seriously. Ninj always says our Web business is our retirement plan. I think he’s onto something.

Oh, P.S. As of Sept ’09, Dr Burch says his original Web site now is completely on auto-pilot, bringing in 40,000 visitors per month! He’s still practicing dentistry, but he’s got hobby sites now and he’s having a blast.

In fact, he’s got 18 hobby sites, many which are becoming vital income streams of their own.

His goal?

To make money from his hobbies instead of spending money on them.

What’s your New Year’s goal regarding marketing your online business? Please leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

The Ninj mashed up this little video for you guys. He told me he was working on building online business traffic.

The cars remind me of those hippos doing ballet in Fantasia.

One of the utmost nicest things about working at home is not having to commute. I can’t wait for you to experience it. I want you to get to the point where (like us) you actually take your lazy commute down the hall for granted.

Imagine rolling out of bed, getting ready for work, and not having to check the weather before you get dressed. (Or not getting dressed.)

• Do you spend a lot of time and energy (and gasoline) driving back and forth to work?

• Do you fantasize about a work-commute that doesn’t cost you a penny? That requires only a few steps from the bedroom to your computer?

• How about working at home, where you can be there for your kid, or keep an eye on your pets?

Once you get your internet business up and profiting, you’re going to be very happy not having to sit in that kind of traffic.

Ever.

Again.

P.S. Here’s an article that can help you choose your online business niche.

While you’re checking out internet business ideas, are you easy prey for the “idea of the week”? That’s what Duct tape marketing guru John Jantsch
cautions entrepreneurs about here.

Ninj tells me I’m a sucker for a new idea. He’s right, of course. I can’t help it. They’re shiny.

However, if I know you, your ears just perked up at the mere mention of the words new idea — because, even if you’re already hot on the trail of a smart, profitable idea for an internet business, there will always be a part of you investigating new ones.

Even if just to see how other people are making a living online.

For example, the Ninja and I are living proof that you can make a good living online.

The first of three important components in succeeding as an internet entrepreneur is to identify a need (or a perceived need) and fill it.

(What are the second two? I’ll tell you in a minute.)

Train yourself to keep one eye on consumer trends to see what’s coming. Amaze your friends by becoming the next Great Rifkin of trend prediction.

Better yet, locate a solid trend that fits with your personal and business goals, and formulate an internet business plan.

Be a people watcher & trend observer

People are endlessly fascinating. “They’re my species,” as Maude told Harold.

Observing peoples’ habits and preferences can also lead to limitless profitable online business ideas.

• Look at the article in the Dec 2009 issue of trendwatching.com, “10 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2010.”

Trend watchers have named one of the 10 new consumer trends (F)luxury.

Fluxury = Luxury in flux

Here is what they mean. While you scan this, let the list of questions below ignite a new idea, or add fuel to one of your existing online business ideas.

In 2010, luxury, and what it means to a bewildering number of ‘consumer segments’, will remain in flux.

So how will luxury brands fare in the next 12 months? What will define luxury over the next few years? The answer is ‘luxury will be whatever you want it to be’.

After all, what constitutes luxury is closely related to what constitutes scarcity.

And, beyond the basic needs, scarcity is in the eye of the beholder, especially those beholders who are desperately trying to be unique. Now that there are so many more ways to be unique than just buy the biggest and the most expensive, how about luxury constituting:

Anything commissioned? Providing ‘access’? Secrets? Stories? Time with one’s loved ones? Time for oneself? All things local? Peace and quiet, if not escape? Eco-friendly? Human-friendly? Animal-friendly? Caring? Empathy? Perks? Craft? Friends? Having a larger-than-life perspective? Households of six or more? An audience? Eccentricity? Appointment-only? Relevant information? Extreme personalization? Not having or wanting to consume? Being opinionated? Anything premium? Fuck-you money? Curation if not the absence of any kind of choice? Philanthropy? Bespoke goods and services? Knowledge? Skills? Frugality? Health? Etiquette & manners?

Or a mix of any of these?

So don’t worry about missing out on the next big thing in luxury, focus on defining it.

How? By finding and coining the right (status) trigger for the right audience.

Just declare that the end is nigh for anything that’s getting a little too affordable, too accessible, too polluting, or just too well-known. Then introduce something very different (if not the opposite), appealing to the in-crowds who are ready to jump ship anyway

Personally, I get giddy thinking about the possibilities for creating, producing and marketing an online fluxury business. I know an artist who is planning to make the most of the trend of people’s craving for art.

And now, lentils and jellybeans, as promised, here are the:

3 central components for success as an internet entrepreneur:

1. Identify a need (or a perceived need) and fill it with a product or service.
2. Get your product or service in front of an engaged and targeted audience.
3. Systemize your service or product for optimizing your sales.

(Thanks to GT Bulmer for his succinct interview about online success on Young Entrepreneurs.com.)

Keep your eye on the Cookbook for further appetizers and ingredients having to do with your internet business success in 2010 and beyond….

Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world’s leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide.

You may have already chosen an online business idea that you want to write about, blog about or market (or all three). Or you may be deciding between two or more good ideas.

Let’s say you’ve been blogging about food, or something more nichey, say vegetarian food. You love to cook and create your own recipes, and you want to write a cookbook and market it online.

So far so good.

But your other idea, which is about dogs (let’s just say), is also something you could write about forever.

You suspect there are a few gazillion other dog lovers online and reason that with a dog blog, you could eventually earn money from sales of pet supplies and toys and other paraphernalia.

Which will it be: veggie dogs or wiener dogs? You love them both.

However, as Confucius cautioned: Person who chases two rabbits catches neither.

How do you choose?

Steve Pavlina recommends following your heart AND your head. Steve’s subject is personal development — a niche as wide as the Mississippi that allows him to explore many smaller related streams. Plus, it has the additional allure of appealing to pretty much everyone, sooner or later.

Steve advises:

• Choose a niche you won’t burn out on. You’re going to write hundreds of articles and posts on this subject.
• Choose a subject about which you are knowledgeable, experienced, and passionate.
• Choose a niche that is broad enough to allow for both your creative freedom and a wide base of advertisers.
• Choose a subject that allows you to serve, and give generously to others.

He also says that bloggers should not choose a niche simply because they think it’ll make a lot of money. I agree. Money alone is just not that powerful a motivation, in most cases.

I think Steve’s got great advice.

However, I’m reluctant to suggest that you should always choose a subject you love. I believe that sometimes you choose the niche, and sometimes the niche chooses you.

In retrospect, my main criteria for choosing niches seems to have been necessity and something akin to delirious curiosity. I guess you could call that second thing passion. That’s fair.

More about me and my niches in another post.

This is about you and yours. Whatever you choose, it’s good to keep in mind what I believe is Steve’s main point: make it something you won’t burn out on. You will be writing about it a LOT.

The Web is a world of the written language — at this point in history, anyway.

The Ninja & me, out for a stroll on a beautiful Saturday

Making money online must seem, to some people, like an impossibility. Like falling in love with the right person.

I was talking with a friend about it over the weekend. She told me she could never succeed in a web business because she can’t trust herself to be disciplined enough to work alone.

It’s true, you do need discipline. But once you’ve discovered an idea that really lights a fire under your fanny, it’s easy. It’s a lot like falling in love. You find the time. If having discipline scares you, don’t let it. Trust me, it’s a learned trait. Think of it this way: Even when you’re crazy busy, your schedule is always miraculously flexible when it comes to finding time to spend with your main squeeze, right?

“Great Business Startup Ideas for Under $5,000,” a recent article posted
on resourcenation.com, suggests a number of small businesses to start. It’s got some good ideas, but what occurred to me when I was reading, was that articles like that appeal to us because they create the illusion that all you need in order to become an entrepreneur is to choose one idea that suits you, and get your hands on a certain amount of startup cash. Then, you’re good to go.

It’s a little like believing that you can fall in love with just any ol’ person. All you need is to choose the color of hair and eyes, their gender, their location, and then make them an offer they can’t refuse. I’m sure that works for some people, but call me a romantic. Chemistry and kismet have something to do with it.

A web business can be super inexpensive, in terms of capital. The Code Ninja and I started ours on a laptop that I’d bought from a friend for a buck. $1! All it took was an investment of time, which I was totally motivated to spend. I sat down every day after work and eventually finished my first ebook, which started making money within months. Within a year, the Ninja and I were paying the rent with the money we were making on that ebook, and we’d already written two more.

You can start part time, while you’re still working your day job. What doesn’t come as cheaply, in my book, is finding the thing that you love enough to sit down and do. What will motivate you, day after day, to muster up the discipline to pay attention to it?

When you discover it, let it spark your imagination and get that fire going. Making a good living online is possible, believe me.

P.S. Let me know in the comments if you’ve found it already. I’m a sucker for stories about falling in love. Especially if it involves chocolate

Too many bloggers seem to wonder why they aren’t making money online. I think the solution is pretty simple. Give your readers something they value enough to pay you for. Simple, but not that easy, right?

Some people seem to luck into a niche that needs filling.

Over at Yaro’s blog, entrepreneur’s journey, there’s a super-inspiring interview with Pat Flynn, who turned a bad situation (getting downsized out of his job as an architect) into a golden opportunity.

The beautiful thing is that Pat succeeded almost by accident. His story proves that we entrepreneurial types really benefit when we keep our eyes open! In a nutshell, here’s what happened:

Pat was keeping his study notes about passing the LEED architecture exam on a blog. Google picked it up. His readers requested that he write an ebook that would help them pass the LEED exam. He did, and the generous income from his ebook immediately took the panic out of being downsized.

Now Pat works for himself as an internet entrepreneur. Plus, he’s helped to empower other young smart architects in the process of green building. Brilliant!

I love this story, because it illustrates beautifully how creating a successful business online calls for awareness, flexibility of mind, and the ability to respond to other peoples’ needs.

I doubt that if Pat had known he was going to lose his job, he’d have thought of himself as lucky. However, when luck did grace him, he was able to grab the opportunity by the horns and create his own good fortune.

Occasionally you grow weary of the same view, day in, day out. Even if it is a stunning view. Not complaining. But gang, let’s face it, when you start an online business, you tend to spend endless hours sitting in your room. The antidote? Get out and meet some new people. Real-live ones.

You never know what sort of connections you’ll make or what you’ll learn. People are founts of information.

The Programmer and I met two different new guys this week. The first guy was at a pot luck dinner. The second guy recently moved to our town, found us online, and asked if we’d like to meet for coffee.

The pot luck guy had recently moved from Seattle to our little town. He swirled his wine, leaned forward and asked:

“What do YOU do?”

He had just described his lust for Buenos Aires, where he’d splurged on dinner at a five-star restaurant for a fraction of what it would cost in the US. He confided that he was considering relocating there. We mentioned we worked online and his eyes lit up. I could tell he was envisioning himself slathered in suntan oil on an Argentinian beach, with piles of money popping out of his laptop.

A few days later, we were sitting across from new guy #2 at a local chocolate bar. (Don’t ask now, but I’ll tell you about the French Broad Chocolate Lounge in another post.)

“You don’t go into a smoking lounge and hand out brochures for non-smoking,” he was saying.

I loved it. The conversation was about qualifying your web site visitors, a subject near and dear to all of our hearts. We moved on to talk about the real reason we were meeting, which had nothing to do with business. This guy is into our favorite author, so we started sharing quotes and talking philosophy.

Between discussing our favorite books, the jasmine tea and the blueberry cognac truffle, it was a little slice of heaven. When he said his wife was into the local dance-class scene and the two of them go dancing every week, I made a mental note to follow through with another coffee date. Yay! New friends. Real people.

Who do you think we’re more likely to become long-term friends with?

It was so obvious that the pot luck guy’s primary motivation in life was saving a buck at any expense. I honestly cannot relate. Chocolate lust aside, I’m just not a natural hedonist. I love our internet business because it’s the best of all worlds. I get to do something I love, with someone I love, and really provide people a valuable service. Best of luck, pot luck guy. Adios, amigo.

Meeting another web entrepreneur who lives in our very town is a very cool connection. We’re really not bona fide geeks, the Programmer and I. We’re simply working online and having a lovely life. Guy #2 has a life outside the web, too.

And, the fact that he loves the same books we do? That’s the icing on the truffle.

From time to time, you’ve got to get out and shoot the breeze with real folk. If nothing else, it’ll remind you that your legs still work and that real-live people’s faces are still profoundly more interesting than pixelated pictures of peoples’ faces.