2010 June

For some, starting an internet business is one of those things that fall on the “maybe someday” list.

But if you’re familiar with the term – “there is no time like the present” – then you will understand that with online ventures – the best time was yesterday.

I have been launching websites for 3 years now – and I have learned a few things along the way. Here are 10 reasons to stop procrastinating and start building and internet business NOW:

A DIY website cannot be built overnight. - Without a budget for a design team, marketing team, and the like – the bulk of the work will be done by YOU. There is a big learning curve to be tackled. Doing a little each day will go a long way over time.
Succeeding in the search engines is a slow process. – Traffic will arrive at your online storefront from a variety of sources. But the best traffic comes from people who are searching for the information or product that you provide. This is better known as targeted traffic. But Google is not going to find you the minute that you set up your site.
Building good content is a tough job. – A successful site needs great content - and lots of it. If you will be writing all of this yourself – and managing all of the other things that you do in life – then it is best to break this task down into manageable pieces. Writing an article or two everyday will yield some great results.
Finding the right niche is a process of trial and error. – You may be one of the lucky few that knows exactly what to write about and manages to attract traffic in droves. But that is definitely the exception. In fact many big bloggers started out with several sites and through trial and error were able to focus their business on the few sites that held the most promise and were most profitable. Figuring out what works takes time.
Mistakes take time. – I, myself, have started many websites. I have explored different platforms, different packages, different designs, and different topics. I have started, stopped, and started over. Dabbling in a bunch of different things over the past few years has been a wonderful training ground. I really didn’t have the time to build an online business - so I grabbed a few minutes whenever I could. Although I am always learning – I am now at a place with clear direction and am ready to go.
Traffic and profits don’t always equate. – A common assumption is that a heavily trafficked site is a profitable one. But this is not always true. Sometimes sites have visitors but they don’t convert. What this means is when the visitors drop in they don’t take an action that converts into dollars for the webmaster. Often – the author will have to try out a few different ideas for turning traffic into profit. And what works on one site may not work for another.
Marketing your own site is time consuming. – We all know that the web is kind of a viral place. One site links to another and that one links somewhere else, and so on and so forth. But to get the ball rolling – a site owner needs to make some noise for herself – she needs to get noticed. This is a job in and of itself and is almost more important than creating great content.
The process can take weeks, months, or even years. – It all depends on how much time you are willing to put in.
If you wait until you are finally ready to start an internet business – the process will still take weeks, months, or even years. – Given that the process takes such a long time. Starting a site today will get the ball rolling – even if you are only taking baby steps in the beginning. By setting the foundation now – you will be ready to build when the time is right.
When you decide that the time is right – you will wish that you had started yesterday. Enough said.