One of the things I’ve been asked for repeatedly is a
step-by-step, how-to checklist for starting an on-line
business. Here is one especially created for course
subscribers. Register a company in the USA
I spent 17 years flying C-130 cargo aircraft and learned
that some things had to be done step-by-step … by the
checklist. That’s how airplanes avoid landing with the
wheels up 🙂 This checklist should provide you with a
great start, and keep you from making a “gear up landing.”
1. Decide what theme you want to build your business
around. Don’t just throw up a site filled with links
and banners to affiliate products. It will be too
unfocused to attract much, if any, traffic. The traffic
it does attract generally won’t buy anything because
the site will not give them a clear path to follow. A
website should guide a visitor to take the action that
you desire them to take. It should have only one main
action that you want them to take, and that should be
what your home page focuses on getting them to do.
I was taught, and now teach people, to look at their
hobbies, interests, past training and experiences when
looking for a topic to build a website around. If
you need some help brainstorming product ideas, I
highly recommend Jeff Smith’s Ultimate Entrepreneur’s
Success Package. It’s all about coming up with ideas for
information products, and then turning those ideas into a
stream of information products. Jeff interviewed me
several years ago, and we’ve discussed product creation
at length several times since. Jeff can be found at:
http://williecrawford.com/jeffsmith/