Friday, 26 October 2012

Finding Your Niche

A “Niche” is defined as a "situation or activity specially suited to a person’s interest, abilities, or nature". (American Heritage Dictionary 4th edition)
Knowing that we want to start a business is not enough; the important thing is knowing what kind of business to start.
Your online business should be something you are ‘passionate’ about, it should be something which interests you or suits you nature. Working for something you are passionate about will yield great results. If you are passionate about something your commitment towards it will be very high. Your passion should dictate your ‘niche’.
Having a specific knowledge/skill or your work experience can also be your niche. I recommend grabbing a pen and a paper and start jotting down atleast twenty things which you are passionate about or have knowledge about.
While brainstorming for new ideas for your future online business, keep in mind that a successful business is the one which is providing a product or service that others will actually buy or pay for. Satisfy the need of your target market, and your target market will keep your business profitable.
Beware that an idea may seem promising, and destined to make you rich, but the real test will only come when you actually launch your online business. So what ever the idea/niche may be, it should be researched well before investing your time and money into it.
  • Some of the questions which need to be asked:
  • How big is the niche?
  • How competitive is the niche?
  • How profitable is the niche?
Google your idea/niche (in quotes) and look for these things:
  • How many results?
  • What kind of sites are in top 10?
  • Who is your competitor?
If the results are few, then your niche may be too vague. If it is too many, then you need to zoom in on a tighter niche.
Action Steps
Gain the knowledge of your niche and what the market wants. There are so many online business ideas to choose from, so be sure to pick one that you’ll enjoy running and that will keep you motivated.
As always feel free to ask question or leave your comments below. 
Until next time take care!

Monday, 22 October 2012

Start an Online Business

Thousands of people all over the world are making money on the Internet having a full time online business, or as part time worker to make extra income.

The opportunity to work at home part time and make extra money online or to build a full blown home based online business is wide open for everybody nowadays.
Online business is not a job; it is a full time commitment. Not any one can successfully run an online business. It takes a lot of hard work, patience, and commitment to build an online business.
The cost of an online business varies from zero to millions. The more time you devote the better chances of success. No one can make money without putting in long hours and hard work.

If you want to run an online business or make extra money online then there are 15 ways to do it:
1. Ebay
2.Info Products
3.Affiliate Marketing
4. Work from home jobs.
5. Adsense
6.MLM
7.Couching/Counsulting
8.Service site
9. Web hosting
10.Membership site
11.Social Network site
12. Freelancer
13. Paid Blogger
14. Domainer
15. Online Trading
  • As stated there are bunch of ways to make money online, but the BIG questions is how to differentiate and separate the real opportunities from the scams. There are a lot of scams out there, so you need to be on your guard.
  • Never pay any one a fee in exchange for the promise of a job.
  • Don’t buy any business opportunities, until you have done your home work. Research can eliminate buyer’s remorse. To find out more about scams and business opportunities visit 
Money Matters & Job Scams: Tips from the Federal Trade Commission
 

Resources required for an Online Business:

  • A Computer.
    • Doesn’t need to be the latest and greatest
    • Recommend Windows XP or newer
    • Consider a laptop
  • An Internet Connection.
    • Broadband
  • Online Personal Finance software.
  • Free email programs for windows.
    • There are many free email programs, and at least one perfect for you. Yahoo, Google, Hotmail
  • Time tracking products.
    • Using time-tracking software can help you get a handle on how and where your time goes. Plus most time-tracking software's have other useful features such as invoicing. You can check out these recommendations Paymo, Replicon, TrackMyHours & ManicTime.
  • Photo editor.
    • You will always need some kind of Photo-Editor to create and edit images like, PhotoScapePixia.
  • Event Calendar
    • If you would like a bit more organization in your business, then online calendars might be just the thing for you. Google Calendar, 30Boxes.
  • VoIP software.
    • Skype is the most popular voice communication service in the world.
  • Network & computer security.
    • You need tools to help you monitor and protect your computer and your network without emptying your wallet. AVG, Avast, Spam-Aid.
  • Office Productivity tools.
  • Screen Capture tool.
  • Zip Program
There are a few other things that you’ll need which will be specifically covered in upcoming tips, so don’t worry about them for now
Action Steps:
Go through the list, and do as best as you can to get them. Do some research on your own and see what else is available on the net.
You don’t need to be a computer expert, but there are some things you’ll need to know.
You are welcome to post your questions and comments below.
See you next time.
Have a great day!