Should you develop a business plan before starting in internet marketing?

by Brock Henry

Posted: 14 years ago 17 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

One of my favorite writers is Stephen Covey. He is a big proponent of "beginning with the end in mind". It seems to me that this is powerful advice for life in general, but specifically, for business.

For all of the benefits of the low barrier-to-entry into internet marketing, it's easy to forget the need for a business plan before you get started. Slapping something up online and just crossing your fingers, hoping it works...generally doesn't.

When you apply for a business loan to begin a traditional brick-and-mortar business, you typically have to produce some type of detailed business plan/proposal. Maybe that's not such a bad idea in internet marketing.

I kind of see doing business without a plan like a runner exploding out of the blocks not knowing how to get to the finish line.

So, my question is, how many of you mapped out where you wanted your business to go, before you ever started? If you did, has it been helpful to you? Would you recommend this approach? Or is the feel-it-out-as-you-go approach ok in internet marketing?

#dressed

Brock Henry 14 years ago

I found an interesting quote from Chris Corrigan that speaks to this subject:

"I think the most important CEO task is defining the course that the business will take over the next five or so years. You have to have the ability to see what the business environment might be like a long way out, not just over the coming months. You need to be able to both set a broad direction, and also to take particular decisions along the way that make that broad direction unfold correctly."
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- Joe Mobley 14 years ago
  
  Let me offer a different interpretation of Mr. Covey's quote. The near-term end-in-mid for me is to pull in $5,000 per month from Internet marketing.
  
  And, if you're new to Internet marketing, you don't know enough to develop a business plan.
  
  Your point about slapping something up is well taken but there is more than enough on the Warrior Forum to get you started with "something."
  
  Let me suggest that getting your first $100.00 income from IM will help you more now that a full-blown business plan.
  
  We are here to help.
  
  Joe
  
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  sirtom 14 years ago
  
  I agree with DigitalJoe. If you're new to IM, you need to get out there and get your feet wet. This could be figuring out how to FTP a squeeze page to your own domain (and getting that domain as well), getting a couple subscribers, learning about traffic methods, etc.
  
  At this step, from remembering how it was when I first got started years ago, you can get really overloaded quickly, so you need to focus on learning the basics. Forget buying courses on conversion rates and writing copy, you need the more basic skills.
  
  Now, after you learn those basics and have a semi-working knowledge of avenues to making money, coupled with an idea of your strengths and weaknesses, I think you can step it up and develop a plan of attack.
  
  Are you going to promote things as an affiliate? What niche? Using what traffic methods?
  
  At this point, after you have a perception of what you CAN do, you need to start setting goals. "Have a website set up" is no longer good enough, because that won't make you money. "Drive a ton of traffic to my site by writing 10 articles a day for 30 days" IS a valid goal, since you should already have a site and have dabbled with traffic. plus, that kind of activity is a revenue-producing activity, or one that's 'productive' and not just 'busy work' (like editing HTML and such).
  
  At this point, your goal should be something you can strive for that will keep you motivated, like "Make my first $100", then when you hit that: "Make $100 in a week", then "$100/day". Small, incremental steps instead of just "Make $10k my first month".
  
  Now that you've achieved some minor success, I'd work out a complete business plan, including reinvesting all profits back into buying traffic or outsourcing traffic to get more done and make more money.
  
  But, as I've kinda shown here, I use goals in tandem with 'business plans'. As of now, I map out each campaign and budget, but it's because my working knowledge of what I've learned in my endeavors online. So until that happens, I'd set goals and work my a** of to try to hit them.
  
  -Tom
  
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Mike Murphy 14 years ago

Very good points here...as a chronic planner turned "just get it out there" guy, I can safely tell you....just get it out there. It's much more profitable.

You cannot steer a parked car....think about that one for a minute.... ;-)
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- Brock Henry 14 years ago
  
  All of you guys bring up excellent points. I agree wholeheartedly that you need to DO something to get you started. After that, you can certainly tweak, test, scale up, modify, expand, and any other verbs you want to do.
  
  My point in starting this thread was simply to remind us all that being haphazard and chaotic is not going to generate the results that well thought-out and executed actions are.
  
  The concept of developing an entire business plan up front is probably not as relevant in the IM world as it is in the brick-and-mortar world. With the avalanche of courses out there teaching IM, overload can happen almost overnight. With that as the online reality, getting started truly is the key.
  
  And Mike, I am a quote fanatic, and you managed to just rank yourself up near the top of my favorite quote list with the "You cannot steer a parked car." I love that!
  
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  DomenicoGrecojr 14 years ago
  
  Learn what you can in internet marketing. But when you have sufficient knowledge and have promoted several affiliate products...create a business plan.
  
  With this plan you'll be on target to reach your goals. Without this plan your mind and actions won't be focused. You'll promote whatever looks good to you at the time.
  
  It's a must that you have a business plan and focus on building an online business which you're passionate about. With continuous effort and focus, you'll have much more success that hopping around from opportunity to opportunity.
  
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Rob Howard

14 years ago

Really, if anyone WANTED to do this right, they would need a business plan.

But the problem is, most newbies to IM don't know enough about IM to formulate a plan.

So instead, most dive right in. (well, most dabble and then quit. That's the topic of a different post)

Instead, people should educate themselves first.

Discover the aspects of IM, the various business models, then decide on what they want to do.

Those that do that tend to end up as the winner.

I reviewed a product for a guy some time ago - it was about his very first internet marketing adventure.

He earned over 2k in 2 weeks I think. He was brand new. But he learned as much as he could, then he decided that he wanted to launch a product, cause that seemed to be where the money was.

So, he knew where he was going, he then had to figure out the steps.

He needed to study copywriting, that much was clear.

Then he needed to actually make the product. Obviously.

Traffic was important.

So he studied all three and came up with a plan.

Get a quality product made from someone who knew something. Get traffic from offline magazines and newspapers, then write the sales copy himself.

He spent 400 bucks I believe and made over 2k.

The point of this story?

He figured out WHAT he wanted to do, then formulated a PLAN to achieve it, then he took ACTION on the plan and made money...

1. What he wanted to do.
2. Planned out how to achieve it.
3. Took action on the plan.

Rob

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Brock Henry

14 years ago

Originally Posted by ccmusicman

Really, if anyone WANTED to do this right, they would need a business plan.

He figured out WHAT he wanted to do, then formulated a PLAN to achieve it, then he took ACTION on the plan and made money...

1. What he wanted to do.
2. Planned out how to achieve it.
3. Took action on the plan.

Rob

Rob, you nailed it, man. Thanks so much for sharing that story. A plan isn't just a good idea...it's a must. Although you don't need your entire IM career planned out before Day 1, you certainly must have a solid plan of attack for getting started.

Of course, again, as Mike pointed out earlier, you can't steer a car that's not moving. Once you've got that plan, you've got to run with it.

The key is to strike a balance between solid planning and solid action. One without the other is a recipe for failure.

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Darunner14 14 years ago

I think it's important to set up a plan or "Blueprint" on anything you do. Web Designers, Web App Programmers use a technique called Information Architecture. It will only help you vision of where you want to go.

I think also that Goals + a Plan go hand in hand. Good Luck!
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- Brock Henry 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Darunner14
  
  Web Designers, Web App Programmers use a technique called Information Architecture.
  
  I like that..."Information Architecture".
  
  It would definitely be hard to build a building without a blueprint. It would also be hard to build a building without actually doing some building.
  
  You all have some excellent thoughts. Thanks so much for sharing! Keep 'em coming!
  
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Rob Howard

14 years ago

Thanks Brock.

I probably aught to clarify some things for newbies reading.

1. The guy in my story did his homework. He studied up the various model's and techniques.

2. When he found out that making products seemed like a good way to make money, he didn't wine, moan, or complain that he didn't know anything worth selling. He instead went around the problem and found someone who did know something and offered him a cut of profits.

3. Notice the wine, moan, complain. When you discover something that seems like it would work, it just takes effort, don't bitch about it. Just do it.

You won't make money complaining about "this" or "that" - being too hard, too easy, etc.

I see far too many people get caught up in the details and then quit.

My bud in the story didn't think he had anything worth selling. So what did he do? He said "well, I don't know anything, but I'm sure I could find someone who does". And that was that.

If you have problems, think creatively and get to work!

Rob

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Brock Henry

14 years ago

Originally Posted by ccmusicman

Thanks Brock.

You won't make money complaining about "this" or "that" - being too hard, too easy, etc.

I see far too many people get caught up in the details and then quit.

My bud in the story didn't think he had anything worth selling. So what did he do? He said "well, I don't know anything, but I'm sure I could find someone who does". And that was that.

If you have problems, think creatively and get to work!

Rob

I love it, man. You say it how it is.

So much of it lies in our mindset right from the beginning. If you see obstacles as impossible barriers to overcome, you'll never succeed...because it's not a question of if you're gonna run into a few snags along the way...it's more a question of when.

This all brings up another point: flexibility. As important as it is to have a route mapped out, it's crucial to have the ability to readjust if necessary. What does a GPS system do if you make a wrong turn? It readjusts its route based on your new location. It doesn't give up and say, "I don't know how to tell you to get there. Good luck finding it on your own."

So, here's the meat of it all:

1. Do your homework.
2. Map out a plan.
3. Put it into action.
4. Make adjustments as necessary.
5. Keep moving forward!

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winsonlim 14 years ago

Well, that question is simply so obvious.

Of course we need a business plan.

It is the same concept as building a house.

We need to have a blueprint drawn out before we can start anything.

It acts as a direction and focus in our lives.

Before anyone wants to start doing internet marketing, first of all we need to adopt the right mindset, the positive mindset.

We need to have a firm foundation, to nourish your thinking and character if we want to be successful in anything in life.

That is the fundamentals.

For example, the farmer.

The Farmer must have faith, confidence and patience to grow crops in his fields before he get started.

He need to labor diligently every single day to nourish the soil, give nutrients to the soil, believing that the seeds will grow.

Belief is a powerful principle we need to adopt as it is the soil that we need to nourish it everyday with good thoughts, good words and good attitude.

As the Farmer exercise faith, momentum to nourish the soil and grow the crops, the whole process took about 6-8 months to bear fruits.

Success takes time. It cannot be rush and hurried.

It is the same applied to every aspects in our life, relationships,spirituality, business and health.

In order to bear good fruits, crops and harvest, one need to have a strong belief, determination, faith, confidence and patience.

We need to nourish our mind and character every single day.

It is not a one day, one month or one year activity.

It is a lifetime obsession that we need to cultivate as a habit.

When we see results of our harvest, the fruits testified of our faith and belief which is an unlimited energy, indispensable attribute that money cannot buy.

Only time can be our witness.

We need to have the fundamentals and a strong foundation to overcome any trials and challenges in life while we execute our business plan.

Only then we can see the fruits of our harvest.

Winson
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eAvenue 14 years ago

Just jump in and get your feet wet is definetly the right thing to do.

If you start today its that much sooner your going to be discovered by the search engines. I have had clients tell me they're not ready for the internet part of their business just yet and I stop them and get at the bare minimum a calling card page put up and then we begin building the pre launch strategy that gets their domain seasoned for the moment they are ready for the internet!

So get something online and then decide the next step but keep making steps forward.
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- Christian Sawyer 14 years ago
  
  As Rob stated above, a business plan is a HUGE help when starting your online business. This is a mistake that I made towards the beginning, but now that I have the skills to write one, and incorporate actions within it, I'm much better off.
  
  Maybe someone should do a WSO on this??? However, this would fail miserably due to lack of income claims, and instant gratification that most people want...
  
  That's where the problem is IMO...takes some maturity of knowledge of how this whole online thing works.
  
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CDarklock

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Brock Henry

For all of the benefits of the low barrier-to-entry into internet marketing, it's easy to forget the need for a business plan before you get started.

I agree with the general idea of putting together a plan, but I think most people start IM with two pretty big problems.

1. They don't know where they're starting.
2. They don't know where they're finishing.

You can't exactly make a plan to get from point A to point B unless you know where points A and B are.

So to deal with problem 1, I say just jump in and get your feet wet. See where you are to start with. See how much work IM takes. See how long each step is. Get a pretty good idea of where you are and what you can do.

Once you know that, worry about problem 2. Where are you headed? What do you really need?

After that, you can start making the plan. Go ahead and keep the big dream everyone has of being fantastically rich, but what's the mid-term goal, and what are the short-term goals along the way?

Planning is really three steps. Where am I now, where am I going, and how do I get there?

But I think you really do need to get started before you can find out where you are now.

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Brock Henry

14 years ago

Originally Posted by CDarklock

So to deal with problem 1, I say just jump in and get your feet wet. See where you are to start with. See how much work IM takes. See how long each step is. Get a pretty good idea of where you are and what you can do.

Once you know that, worry about problem 2. Where are you headed? What do you really need?

After that, you can start making the plan. Go ahead and keep the big dream everyone has of being fantastically rich, but what's the mid-term goal, and what are the short-term goals along the way?

Planning is really three steps. Where am I now, where am I going, and how do I get there?

There's a lot of wisdom to what you're saying. In the IM world, you definitely have to get your feet wet before you can really map out a clear longterm course. The world of marketing online changes so rapidly, that if you never jump in and learn some basics, you'll be quickly run aground by all of the trendy tricks and strategies that come and go.

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Should you develop a business plan before starting in internet marketing?

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