Pause Before You Spend; Learn Before You Act
Do you want the bad news about starting a new online business first, or the good news? The bad news is that you have a great deal to learn. The good news is that there is a lot of reliable information on the Internet that you can find for free or for relatively little money. The bad news is that you can’t trust everything that you find on the Internet and that there are some unscrupulous folks out there. The good news is that you’ll be able to tell the difference sooner than you think.
One of the best ways to start your exciting education if to locate reputable course with the essentials of starting online. As long as you are diligent in following the lessons and applying what you learn as you go, you will start to be able to distinguish the quality of the offers you encounter and the credibility of the sources.
You’ll find that you have a lot to do, although some of the unscrupulous marketers will try to trick you into believing that if you follow their plans, you won’t have to work very hard at all, and everyone will magically start to send you money. You must structure your time carefully, and don’t forget about life’s priorities along the way (like family, your ethical standards and enjoying what you do).
Look for free information about some of the topics you learned about in your introductory course at article sites, like A1Articles.com or EzineArticles.com. Search for trustworthy blogs and site and keep looking until you find several. Find information about keyword research, business niche selection, design of online business websites and other such related topics.
It’s not yet time to go on a buying spree. Put the brakes on any shopping urges. Your next step is to sit down with pen, paper and a copy of your budget. From the list of things that need to be done in starting your business, determine what interests you and and what sounds so boring that you would rather outsource the tasks. I promise you that you can learn to do anything on your list; none of it is all that difficult. It’s just a matter of deciding whether you want to learn a particular skill.
Now it’s time to spend money. Fight any urge you have to immediately buy an amazing sounding product, whether it’s a course or a remarkable piece of software. Instead of following your impulse to buy now, do these: 1) Bookmark the web page so that you can find it again. 2) Put on a pair of “critic’s glasses.” Analyze the structure of the sales page that you found so convincing. At some point in the not too distant future, you want to become a copywriter as skilled as the one that had you reaching for your wallet. Then, find a lot more products in the same category, so that you can later compare the alternatives.
I impose a mandatory three day waiting period before I buy something I’ve just found. That gives me time to consider it rationally, removing myself from the emotional responses elicited by the well presented offer. If I still think that I have found the best solution for my needs after that three day period, I use the bookmark to find the right page, buy the product and get to work absorbing the material.
Beware! Buying can make you feel good, but your new purchase does you no good unless you use it, and using it means implementing the strategies that you learn about or the procedures for which the software was designed. In other words, you must act!
Related posts
Tags: begin business, begin online business, new business, start e-business, start e-commerce, start online business, start-up, startup
This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 6:07 am and is filed under Search Engine Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.