How to Build a REAL Online Business: A FREE Multi-Part, No-BS Blueprint for Succeeding Online

Thanks, @wolfmmiii for valuable tips.

I don't know about others but I usually start a project with great enthusiasm but after working for a couple of days/weeks get lost. I mean as soon as I go deeper to learn anything (ex - Email Marketing) I keep reading stuff related to it. and because of competition and failure stories, mind changes always.

This thing I need to change.

@wolfmmiii have few words to talk on this?

I know it sounds cliche but "Just Do It".

You are going to strike out sometimes. It's virtually unavoidable. So what? Learn from it. Along with strike outs will come a few singles, some doubles, and maybe even a triple or home run every now and then.

Interesting way to approach it. Most start with a Niche and then look at the Audience. But I think this is a definite solid way to go about it. Whats that saying about skinning a cat

The problem with starting with the niche is twofold....

What happens if your chosen niche largely appeals to a group of people with no money to spend?

Secondly, what happens when there are limited monetization options for said niche?

By figuring out who your market is first, you make things much easier on yourself.

STEP #2: Build Your Website
Stop relying exclusively on Google to bring you traffic. Instead, rely on social media to bring you traffic. As such, you have to make your site enticing. Your site has to be "fun". If it's not fun, people won't stick around nor will they "like" it or "share" it with friends.

In addition to being "fun", your site has to be branded properly. A website called "underwaterdigitalcamerasforsale.org" is just not appealing. You have to change your mindset and use a name that's brandable. A domain as simple and unique as "blueakita.com" is one that would work. It's catchy, it's brandable, and it's niche-related.

Domain Selection
As I mentioned above, branding plays a critical role in attracting visitors and, in turn, making money. That being the case, you need to make sure your site is well-branded and stands out.

Branding
When you build out your website, you'll probably want to hire out your graphics/logo design if you aren't well-versed in design. Why? You are presenting yourself as an authority. An amateur-looking site does nothing to make you look like an authority. You'll want a nicely designed logo/header graphic that represents the content of the site and what your brand is about.

In addition to properly branding your website, you'll also want to do the same for all of your social media properties. You want to keep the look and brand consistent across all online real estate so people remember you because if they don't remember you, they aren't going to share you with others.

Design
Along with professional (or at least aesthetically pleasing) branding, your website should be well-designed. It should be easy to navigate and the information should be nicely laid out. Categories should be used to properly separate out content so visitors can easily find what they are looking for.

Make sure that whatever photos or images you use are properly sized and are of high-enough resolution that they aren't pixilated. Again, you need to ensure that the design looks professional. Improperly sized photos and poor quality photos make your site look amateurish. I suggest using a service like 123rf.com for your image needs. It costs a buck or so for each image but it is well worth it.

Folks, the design aspect of things cannot be overstated. When you are done building your site (or having it built for you), let someone you trust look it over. Maybe it's the OCD in me but a site should look "geometric". If your post is 300px high, your sidebar shouldn't have 50 ads that make the sidebar 2700px high. Little things like this make a HUGE impact on the site aesthetics, whether you realize it or not.

Content
People will become long-term fans only if you provide good content. I mean, it's the lifeblood of your brand. You can have the most beautiful website and brand but if the content is terrible, it's all a big waste. Don't skimp on it.

When creating content for your website, you want to present it in a fun and unique way. Remember, your knowledge of the niche you are operating in is what sets you apart from your competition. Readers will be coming to you for your expertise. Make sure you give them what they are looking for.

Your site (and brand) is not going to flourish if you insist on posting spun content and 300-word half-articles nor is it going to succeed if all you post are walls and walls of text. There is a happy medium. You just have to find that happy medium.

To keep your readers engaged (and pageviews climbing), publish longer articles that span multiple pages. If you can split a 1000-word article into 3-4 pages, you draw your readers in, maintain a high on-page time, and reduce bounce rates. The longer you keep someone on your site, the more opportunities you will have to market to him. You'll also want to break up the content types. Instead of posting all articles, be sure to publish other content such as photos and videos.

Keep your readers engaged!

Once your site is fully fleshed out with significant content, move on to the next step of building a social media presence, which I'll cover in my next post in this thread.

Questions & Answers
As you build your website, keep the following questions and answers in mind. They will help you build a better business.

What kind of website do I want/need to run?
Does your niche require a "Pinterest-style" website or does it require more content? Make sure the style of website matches the niche and the content you are publishing.

What should my domain name be?
Your domain name needs to be a BRAND, not a keyword. I acutally prefer to use "regular" names, myself. A fictional name backed by a fictional online persona works just fine. For example, maybe spin up a site/brand called TiffanyJones.com that operates in the "baby shower" niche. Forget adding keywords to your domain. You are not trying to rank your website, you are building a brand. Using a brandable persona works.

Should I hire a graphic designer?
You are relying on social traffic so your site needs to look good. When building your site, you need to HONESTLY assess your graphic design skills. If you can't create nicely-done graphics and logos, consider hiring someone to do so. It can literally mean the difference between success and failure because, generally speaking, people don't like ugly sites.

What theme should I use?
When building your site, you'll need to settle on a theme. Make sure that whatever theme you use matches your niche and content type. If you are running a magazine-style website, use a magazine-style theme. If you are running a photography website, use a Pinterest or portfolio type theme.

It's CRITICAL that you convey a professional appearance and brand. Visitors aren't gonna stick around for some amateur-looking site with poor content.

In my next post, I'll cover the social media aspect of things.

To be honest I see that as a first step to failure. I've learned to go another route. Start out with a solution to a need REGARDLESS OF NICHE. As i looked back at my most profitable ventures it didn't matter what the niche was . it mattered whether i was adding something new and needed to the world.

I can't tell you how many people I have seen on here with the idea that they are going to pick a niche and be the best in it and establish themselves as an authority yada yada yada. then they will slap on an affiliate link or ads and bank

Guess what? If you don't have a unique value add who really cares? tens of thousands of doctors are potentially "authorities" but its the ones that come up with something new that distinguish themselves that you hear about.

In a very real sense it doesn't matter squat if that solution is for ten year olds who have no money. Their parents do. If its a real need and a real solution you just got a big "up" in marketing if your site addresses it. gaining traffic is all about people linking to you or mentioning you. Does anyone link to something old thats just one in a sea of ordinary?

Number one fail of IMers I see over and over again is thinking - "because its the net I don't have to come up with anything new and unique that solves a problem. Instead I'll just put up a whole bunch of content and (allegedly) establish myself as an authority in my niche"

its been done over and over again by many people here who yep ended up failing.

So number one step?

have an idea that actually fills a need and solvess a problem - add something to the world.

if not go get a job and live happily ever after

Good thread.

I think that Mike has shared something valuable here. Even though people can use either way, Mike's point is something to be considered about which comes first. I think either way could work but the difference is real vs. artificial.

Mike's way is more natural. I lost 50 pounds and have kept it off for 3 years while increasing muscle tone and reducing fat due to my XYZ formula I came up with because I was sick and tired of being fat. This person has something unique, something potentially valuable, knows it works, etc.

This method can work for any age group, any sex, any fitness condition, etc.

The other way is what we see here, day after day after day.

I saw a thread the other day that said the guy was planning on opening a dog website (forget what it was) and he wanted to know what dog owners needed or wanted.

He likely heard that pet sites were good money. So, he has his market according to the plan. Now he's going to niche it down to Maltese because his sister has one and it is really cute and he knows a lot of people with Maltese.

Now, he comes and asks "is there any dog or Maltese PLR available?" or "I don't know what to write on my Maltese blog" or "Has anyone ever used this Maltese ebook I found on Clickbank? Is it any good - I'm thinking about promoting it because the gravity is high" or "what do Maltese owners want to learn about?"

The first guy has something he can build a website about because he knows his target market and he knows his stuff works. He can easily create (or have created) blog posts, training programs, ebooks, newsletters, videos, an app, etc. because he has something valuable.

The second guy has a good market and has niched it down and will probably fail miserably just because he doesn't have a real solution to a real problem. While the first guy may fail too, it won't be for the same reason.

So, before you find a market or niche it down have a valuable, helpful, workable, realistic solution. That solution could be about how to get high rankings or lose belly fat or make money with earthworms, or how to run a newspaper.

And, I don't think the solution has to be a new product necessarily. It can piggyback off of another successful product. For example, let's say you are a fan of Dave Ramsey's finance radio show. You have all his books. You know it works because you are getting out of debt and putting money in the bank. You can write tips, gotchas, warnings, extra info that helped you to get through Dave's step 3, etc. You'll know what to recommend in addition to Dave's book because you are using the stuff yourself.

Then, you can decide who your market is. Who needs to lose 50 pounds? Can they pay for a solution? How bad do they want it? Are they buying these things now and not succeeding? Why? How is mine different?

Mark

LOL
You guys are cracking me up tonight...
Seems to me a bunch of over inflated egos on here who are basically saying the same thing but somehow have convinced their own selves they are saying something different than the other person

Mike, I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the two of you are closer than you think. Wolfmii is talking about a concept - choose a niche. You're talking about the process - choose a niche because of assumed potential for making money.

When people have asked me how to pick a niche, or what my opinion is on a niche they're considering, I tell them to first look at their own life. What problems have they overcome, or seen others overcome (up close and personal)?

Once you have those in mind, you can move on to the technical stuff, like how many people in the niche, do they have money and are willing to spend it on the niche, how easy the niche is to reach, etc.

Thanks, Mike...

We may not always agree, but I know I can count on you for a civil debate.

Thanks Jason.

I'm calling it an early night tonight so I'll add Step 3 tomorrow. In it, I'll cover social media.

Good tips....
high ticket products are one of the best ways to make $20K per month or more

they are earning $50K, $70K and more...

Sorry it took longer than promised to get this next post in the series up. I've got a handful of websites I'm building for clients and I had to get some of that work done before getting to this.

STEP3: Build a Social Media Presence
Now that you've decided to break your reliance on Google and SEO for traffic, you have to ensure you get the social media part right. Otherwise, your site will fail. This is not a "build it and they will come" project. You are going to have to attract your visitors via social media.

When establishing a social media presence, you want to ensure that all of your social media properties are branded identically to your website. What this means is that you'll have to modify your website header graphic/logo so that it fits properly with whatever social media profile you are establishing.

For example, if your website header graphic is 975px x 150px, you are going to have to resize it to 851px x 315px (or whatever the current "proper size" is today") to use it as a Facebook cover image. That DOESN'T MEAN that you should simply take your website graphic and resize it so text is squished and the graphics are all screwed up. It DOES MEAN that you should take your header graphic and create a new, properly sized one using the same elements.

Don't shortcut things. A 975px x 150px header is going to look awful if you simply resize it to 851px x 315px. Put some effort into things.

Facebook
Although there will be exceptions, Facebook will often be your primary source of traffic. As such, you need to get it right, starting with branding. Now, that said, it's really not difficult to "get it right". All you really need is a cover image and a profile pic. For the cover image, simply take your website header graphic/logo and use it as a "template". Using the graphics editor of your choice (I prefer Adobe Elements), create a new image that's 851px by 315px (or whatever the current recommendation is). Design your cover image so that it matches your website header graphic or logo.

Since this is a guide on establishing a brand and not a tutorial on Adobe Elements, I'm not going to get into the detail of doing the actual graphic design. That said, you get the point - your Facebook branding should match your website branding.

As for a profile pic, I always suggest using a professional headshot. Since you are trying to establish credibility, using a REAL headshot is the best policy. However, if you don't want photos of you on the internet, that's cool. Go out to 123rf.com and download a professional-looking headshot and use that as your online persona. Problem solved.

Twitter
Although I, personally, am not a big Twitter user, many people are. As such, you'll want to follow the same process you used with Facebook to build out a branded Twitter presence. Like you did when creating your Facebook cover image, make sure you create brand new Twitter art that matches your brand. Stretching your existing graphics is going to distort them. Size it based on whatever the recommended image size for Twitter. You'll also want to use a good headshot as your profile pic (like you did with Facebook). People trust others more easily when there is a real person attached to the entity.

In addition to a branded header and quality profile pic, I also suggest changing the default background to something more in line with your brand. The default options that Twitter provides are not all that great so you many want to spend a few dollars on a decent background image for Twitter.

Pinterest
Pinterest is a good choice if your target demographic is mostly women AND your niche is "photogenic". If you are promoting laptops to "twenty-something" men, Pinterest is probably a waste of time and money. However, if you are promoting handbags to women, Pinterest can be a traffic goldmine!

If you decide that Pinterest is a social media presence that can help your brand, go ahead and setup an account, taking care to brand it to match your website. Consider setting up your boards to match your website categories.

YouTube
YouTube is very similar to Pinterest in that it's either a gold mine or a bit time waste. If you've chosen a niche that lends itself well to video promotion, by all means, get cracking and setup a YouTube account that matches your brand.

If you don't realistically see yourself needing to create any sort of videos for brand promotion or for website content, skip it. I would suggest, however, that you at least setup an account branded with your business name so you don't have to worry about anyone cyber squatting your name on YouTube. This same bit of advice also holds true for any other social media properties you may be considering.

Linking it Together
Now that you have all of your social media properties created and branded, you'll want to interlink them all somehow so people know where to find you. What I typically do for clients when I build brands based on this advice is use the website as the hub and, using a widget or other coding, link out to the social media properties from the website itself in a prominent manner.

Not only does linking everything together present you as an authority to the average reader but it also gives your visitors more ways to reach you and you more ways to reach your readers.

Questions & Answers
As you build out your social media presence, you'll want to figure what platforms to use and out how to integrate them into your brand and website.

Which social media platform is right for me?
Understanding which platform is best is the key to reaching your target audience. If your target audience is hanging out mostly on Facebook (usually the case), then make Facebook your primary social media platform but don't ignore others like Pinterest and Twitter.

How can I integrate my social media platform into my website (and vice versa)?
Are there plug-ins that will allow me to display my Facebook posts on my website? Will they let my audience "like" my posts? Think about what tools are available to you that will allow seamless integration of your website and social media platforms.


Your key takeaway from this step is that you need to leverage social media an when you do, the branding has to be consistent. In the next post, I'll discuss the art of building a responsive fan base via Facebook ad campaigns.

Just finally finding some time to put this together. Sorry about the delay. In this installment, I'm gonna touch on growing a fan base or readership.

STEP #4: Run Facebook "Like" Ads
Now that you have your foundation (branded website, lots of content, matching social media accounts, etc) up and running, it's time to begin promoting your brand to establish your readership. I almost always use Facebook for this. Even with their recent "reach" algorithm changes, Facebook still represents the best way to build a following.

If you followed my advice in STEP 1 of this post, you should already know what audience you are trying to reach.

Knowing who you are trying to reach is critical because mistakes will begin costing you money in wasted advertising. So, if you don't know who you are trying to reach yet, now is the time to figure it out.

Choose an Ad Type
Although many "gurus" will tell you to run a "Website Clicks" campaign to bring in immediate traffic to your site, I'm going to tell you it's a bad idea. It's a bad idea because such a campaign does nothing to build your Facebook following. Sure, it gets people "in the door" to your website but what happens once they leave? Will they ever come back? Can you ever reach them again?

Running a "Page Like" campaign allows you to reach people where they are - on Facebook. Instead of asking Facebook users to visit your site, getting them to "Like" your Facebook page allows you to get your page content in front of them on a daily basis, slowly establishing a relationship and building their trust. The more quality posts they see in their feeds, the more likely people are going to start visiting your site via the links in those feeds. As your Facebook fan base grows, so will your traffic.

Some of my own sites/brands have Facebook pages with as few as 1500 fans. However, those 1500 fans sometimes generate 2000+ pageviews per day. It's a simple strategy that works consistently. Now, your mileage may vary but, for me, the best bang for the buck is the "Page Like" campaign.

Create the Ad Graphic
Once you've decided on a campaign type (we'll use "Page Likes" for this example), create an ad that provides a call to action that matches your campaign type. Many people who are inexperienced with Facebook advertising simply use the default graphic (usually the cover image of the page) when creating a "Page Like" campaign. Doing so is a bad idea because it doesn't tell the reader what to do. People NEED to be told what to do.

Instead of using the default cover photo that's provided, create a separate Facebook ad image that includes most of your brand's elements (colors, graphics, fonts, etc) along with a STRONG call to action such as "Like Us!". The difference between using the default image and a custom-designed add can mean the difference between paying $.05 per "like" and $1.20 per "like". Which would YOU rather pay?

NOTE: I've also had success using the free images that Facebook provides, depending on the niche. So, give those a try as well - especially if you aren't adept with Adobe Photoshop and such.

Target an Audience
Now that you have an ad that looks professional, think about how you want to reach your target audience. Facebook gives you the ability to target people based on broad or precise interests. What you want to do is target people who you feel are most likely to "like" your page. Otherwise, you begin wasting money.

I have found that the best way to target people on Facebook is to target those who have already "liked" a site similar to mine. For example, if I'm trying to build a following for a fishing website, I would target people who have already shown an interest in fishing magazines like In-Fisherman, Florida Sportsman, Bassin Magazine, etc. Since these people already like fishing magazines, they are more likely to follow me as well.

What you will want to do is create multiple ads and split-test them. What I typically do for clients is create an ad that targets men and an identical ad that targets women and then let it run for a few days. I keep whichever one yields the best results.

The same type of split testing should be done for different age groups to.

After some good split-testing (and with good ad copy), you should be able to get your cost down to under $0.10 per like quite often. Of course, the niche will also influence this as well. Either way, you will want to split test. Once you've decided on the best demographics to target, get rid of the poor performing ads and keep the ones that work best.

Set a Budget
I'm not going to get too much into budget since your budget will be largely dictated by what capital you have available to you. What I WILL say is that I've generated close to 1000 Facebook fans for clients inside of 12 days on a budget as low as $5 per day. It can be done.

Let it Rip!
OK, so you've created an awesome-looking site, you've published outstanding content on the site, you've shared lots of quality content on your Facebook page, you know who you are targeting, and you've got a quality ad split-tested and ready to go. Good. Go ahead and set your daily budget and let your Facebook ad(s) run. I suggest setting a start and end date so you don't accidently forget about it and cost yourself hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Keep an eye on your ad performance. As long as you are happy with the results, let it run so your fan base grows. As your fan base grows, so does your pool of potential customers.

Questions & Answers
Paid advertising can get expensive if you don't plan it properly. Planning requires you to answer a few key questions before getting started.

What is my advertising budget?
Look, it take money to make money. Obviously, the more money you have to invest in brand promotion, the better. However, I've built successful brands on an advertising budget of just $4 per day so you don't need to dump thousands of dollars into advertising. That said, you are going to want to ask yourself how much you can afford to spend and stick to that number. If you only have $4/day to spend, that's fine - it will just take you a bit longer to establish your fan base than it would if you had $100/day to spend.

Do I need to hire a designer?
You'll need to ensure your ads are well-designed with proper calls to action. As such, you will need to honestly asses your design skills and hire someone to create your ads for you if you don't feel you'll be able to create well-designed ads.

How do I target my audience?
Paid advertising can get expensive if you don't target properly. Facebook offers fantastic targeting options. You just have to know how to use them. What I do when creating a campaign for a client is figure out who the "big fish" are in the client's niche and then target people who have shown interest in those "big fish". I also split-test to ensure I am reaching only those people who will most-appreciate my content.

If you've been following along, you should now have a website, a vibrant Facebook page, and with this installment here, an active bunch of Facebook fans who visit your site regularly. Keep an eye out for my next installment.