What’s the best internet business for you?
What are the best online businesses?
More to the point, what is the best one for you?
As is true for conventional businesses, the most effective and successful ventures solve dilemmas. Think of how the lowly laptop solved peoples’ problem of not being able to access their computers on the go. A simple solution to people’s love of mobility and access.
The best online businesses
- provide a tool people want
- solve a problem
- or teach something that people value
What’s that you say?
If you’re blocked trying to come up with a profitable internet business idea, try eavesdropping. That’s right, seat yourself at a crowded cafe, take out your laptop and tune in to people around you. What are they complaining about?
Train your ear to catch the phrase, “you know what I hate?“
Take notes. Listen to people at work during casual lunchtime conversations.
- What do they want?
- What frustrates them?
- What do they think would make them feel better, happier, more secure?
In order to guess the answers to those questions, it’s necessary to become attuned to people’s fears, hopes and desires. So don’t simply listen to the words they use. Read their expressions, observe their body language. Get an impression of what they value, and what they don’t.
You may sell a product, for example pet supplies, or you may offer a service, such as consultation. However, what you’re actually marketing is security, peace of mind and hope.
The most successful salons are aware that what their customers really want is increased sex appeal. Convince a beautiful woman that a certain hair style or facial creme will make her even hotter, and she’s sold. Toothpaste is a multi-million dollar business. Not because brushing your teeth is a necessary, healthy routine, but because you can’t catch the eye of a worthy mate unless your smile sparkles. At least, that’s what we’re led to believe.
Best online business approach
Our method for working online has (naturally) evolved since we began in 2004. At that time, we offered an eBook and started cultivating a growing list of satisfied customers.
Soon we were offering four eBooks in our niche, how to start a cleaning business. After a few years, we converted our Web site into a membership site.
By providing answers to people searching for cleaning business start-up resources, we are also addressing their desire to be their own boss, the underlying value they seek to satisify. By teaching them how to create their own financial security, we’re also helping them gain peace of mind.
The best online businesses provide worthy information, tools, or desired services. Success online means building a community of people who can get to know you, like you, and trust you enough to become your customers. In a nutshell, that is the Duct tape guy John Jantsch’s definition of marketing.
Do your job right, by addressing their dilemmas and comprehending the underlying issues they value, and people will give you repeat business and refer others.
Relevancy leads to strong relationships
In order for customers to like and trust you they first must be able to find you online. So you have to cultivate your knowledge of internet business systems to keep your Web site relevant.
As an example, when a person searches online for information about starting a cleaning business, they may enter the search phrase, “start a cleaning business,” into a search engine like Google.
Google’s job is to return the most relevant Web site, based on a slew of secret algorithms. If you were to search “start a cleaning business” on Google you would find our Web site: start-cleaning-business.com. Our site appears on top, usually first or second on the list, beating out more than 22 million other Web sites.
The reason we do is that we provide one of the most useful and relevant Web sites for that particular search, in the eyes of Google.
If we have done our job correctly, you will enjoy spending time on our Web site and want more. You’ll sign up for our Cleanzine (a technique called permission marketing), begin receiving our newsletter and develop a relationship with us.
That relationship results in a sale seven out of ten times!
The social aspect of the best online businesses isn’t too different than in real life, when you first go looking for a store that carries what you want. You enter the store and get a feel for it. You get to know the owner or salesperson, make a conscious (or unconscious) decision about their competence level relative to what you’re buying, and a relationship is begun.
However, the mechanics behind the social aspect of business online are very different than in the real world. That is one reason so many dot-com start ups went belly-up within months in the year 2000, causing chaos with a stock market correction.
Slow growth builds a strong community
Since the correction (interesting term) of 2000, dot-commers have learned to grow our internet businesses organically, slowly, and in a way that people can trust. One article, one post, one press release at a time.
The trend these days is to go broad in scope and blog about anything and everything. This trendy blogger hopes to benefit from a trickle of revenue gleaned from advertising on their home page.
In order to make any real money, they must attract a large number of people to their home page and hope they click on an ad. This puts pressure on building a huge amount of traffic. The fewer the visitors, the slimmer the odds of a sale.
The best internet business is the one in a niche. Concentrating your efforts in a niche is an effective way to attract motivated and interested customers.
Of course, benefits to one person may seem like trade-offs to the next guy.
Working online has many beneficial facets, and the best internet business for you is one that is based on a niche you are experienced in, that solves a dilemma or provides a tool people want, or teaches people something they value.
In addition, for more effectiveness and success, your internet business will also have something to do with a product or service you are knowledgeable about and experienced in, something you love and care about, and something that speaks to your own values enough to want to share with others.
