Tag Archives for " teen entrepreneurs "

Entrepreneurship Quotes By Teen Entrepreneurs

Quote largerAs this day comes to a close, with less than 30 minutes left before Day 7 in the UCB, I find I need a little inspiration.  So, I went looking for some quotes about entrepreneurship that would mean something to me and to my young clients.  And now I’m sharing them with you.  I hope you enjoy them and that at least some of them speak to you.

 

“Everything started as nothing.” – Ben Weissenstein

“To any entrepreneur: if you want to do it, do it now. If you don’t, you’re going to regret it.” – Catherine Cook

“If you’re not doing the things that you love, then your life is not worth living. What are you here for?” – King Sidharth

“Manual labor sucks, dude.” – Alex Fraiser  (I found this especially relevant today after spending hours planting the organic garden in gale force winds that suddenly started up.

“A lot of people have said that the internet is a teenager. Guess who understands a teenager best: a teenager.” – Syed Balkhi  (This is why I empower teens to become entrepreneurs)

“Start today, not tomorrow. If anything, you should have started yesterday. The earlier you start, the more time you have to mess up.” – Emil Motycka

“There’s no committee that says, ‘This is the type of person who can change the world – and you can’t.’ Realizing that anyone can do it is the first step. The next step is figuring out how you’re going to do it.” – Adora Svitak

“Every single person I know who is successful at what they do is successful because they love doing it.” – Joe Penna

“Over-deliver every time.” – Alex Maroko

“There is no reason to be hesitant… becoming an entrepreneur is a learning experience.” – Savannah Britt

“You’ve got to stop doing all the things that people have tried, tested, and found out don’t work.” – Michael Dunlop (Duh, how much sense does this make?)

“I think what teenagers lack is the belief that they can be unique and extraordinary in life. Make the most of your age because you’re not going to be a teenager forever!” – Sabirul Islam

“You could have a million ideas, but they’re all worthless if you don’t get them done.” – Lauren Amarante

“Success comes down to hard work plus passion, over time. If you work really, really hard over a long period of time, it will pay off.” – Stanley Tang

“If you have a goal, be relentless in your pursuit.” – Keith J. Davis Jr.

“I’m going to reinvent the wheel. My vision of the wheel is unique.” – King Sidharth

“It’s not about how many years of experience you have. It’s about the quality of your years of experience.” – Jacob Cass

“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not making decisions.” – Catherine Cook

“If you pursued something that you felt strongly about, then I call that success.” – Adora Svitak

“I like the idea of working hard now, so you can earn big later.” – Alex Fraiser

“The hardest part about being an entrepreneur is that you’ll fail ten times for every success.” – Adam Horwitz

“You always want to surround yourself with people who are rooting for you and who want you to succeed. Stay away from the naysayers who couldn’t do it themselves.” – Arjun Rai

“If you can’t communicate, you’re going to find yourself a lonely businessperson.” – Keith J. Davis Jr.

“I don’t want to look too far ahead. The journey is what’s happening right now, not what’s on the finishing line.” – Sabirul Islam

“Starting your own business is like riding a roller coaster. There are highs and lows and every turn you take is another twist. The lows are really low, but the highs can be really high. You have to be strong, keep your stomach tight, and ride along with the roller coaster that you started.” – Lindsay Manseau

“If you start with nothing and end up with nothing, there’s nothing lost.” – Michael Dunlop

“The biggest failure you can have in life is not trying at all.” – Emil Motycka

“If you can find people who think that what you’re doing is great, they’re going to do everything in their power to make it a success.” – Juliette Brindak (I have this kind of support right now.)

“All that you need to become an entrepreneur and change the world is a working brain – and pretty much nothing else.” – Adora Svitak

“Make it happen now, not tomorrow. Tomorrow is a loser’s excuse.” – Andrew Fashion (Amen!)

“I like computer games and I treat business a bit like a computer game. I count money as points. I’m doing really well: making lots of money and lots of points.” – Michael Dunlop (Hey, whatever works, right?)

“If you think that you are going to love something, give it a try. You’re going to kick yourself in the butt for the rest of your life if you don’t.” – Joe Penna

Do any of these strike a chord with you?

If you are interested in hearing some of the speakers from the telesummit, there are a few more days left and the replays will be available until until April 14th.  We are also pre-selling the recordings with three options at discounted prices.  After April 14th, the prices go up significantly.  The CD package would make a great unique gift for anyone parenting (Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are coming up), teaching or otherwise working with tweens, teens and young adults.  It would also be perfect for counselors, therapists and coaches who work with families.  You can find out more at http://TheYouthEmpowermentTelesummit.com.

In another note, I am offering a deep discount on my coaching program “The Monetize Your Passion Blueprint – Empowering Young Entrepreneurs” for anyone registered at the telesummit.  That discount is good through April 14th as well.  Contact me via email at julia@julianeiman.com if you’re interested in more information.

 

 

How to Advertise Your Business with a Limited Budget

Today’s post is by guest blogger

Sara Dugan

InterviewingAs a teen in business you know that you need traffic to your website or shop in order to make a profit. You can get that traffic through word of mouth or direct advertising. For a start up business you need to find advertising that will reach a large audience and fit you budget.

One way you can reach a lot of people and save on your marketing budget is through your local media. You can contact news stations, local radio stations, newspapers and even magazines. For online media connections you can try podcasts and blogs that cater to your target market.

Before contacting anyone you want to be sure you have a media kit ready. A media kit is simply a little packet of information that makes it easier for reporters to write about you.

What should you include in your media kit?

Include your name and contact information as well as your company history, the product you sell, as well as news about current events of note that the media might want to highlight in their piece. Be sure to include a photo of you and your product, your company’s logo and any brochures or catalogs.

Justina of A Bent Piece of Wire shares her experience with contacting and speaking with media to further the reach of her blog.

1. Did you approach media or did media approach you? If you approached them, how did you do that? Phone them, email them, sent a press release etc..

It depends on the situation at hand. When I did a segment on my local news about teen holiday fashion, I contacted them, because I thought it might be something fun. I have been contacted at other times to do interviews and such, by reporters who came across my blog.

You would be surprised at how easy it is to contact local news stations! Most have contact emails or a contact box on their site, which makes it super simple to send them a message. I have also written a few press releases, but these are for when an event or something big is happening, like when I was featured in Teen Vogue. When you’re writing press releases, or even just the emails, it’s good to have someone double check it, just to put some fresh eyes on it.

2. Once media does contact you, how do you prepare for the interview?

I don’t actually do much in the way of preparation. I don’t memorize anything or practice answers, because I feel like that blocks you off from being natural, and turns you into a weirdly stiff automaton. As a teenager, my best bet is to be relaxed and relate-able, which are not the vibes coming off at all if you rehearse every word that comes out of your mouth.

I do consciously attempt to avoid using words like “um” and “and” a lot during interviews. If it’s over the phone or in person, it’s really annoying for the reporter, and if you are on television, it makes you sound like you don’t know what you’re talking about.

3. Any advice you’d give teens wanting to spread the word about their business?

Join sties like Twitter, where you can network with anyone. I’ve made some huge connections in my industry through twitter, from editors, to stylists, to celebrities. Take advantage of the fact that we have the internet, which can take you anywhere, and introduce you to anyone, in seconds.

With a bit of research and work you can take your business further than you ever dreamed. Three things you can do right now are Google a simple press release template, email your local news anchor or call your radio station to add your event to their calendar. Be sure you have your media kit ready and good luck.

Justina is a 15 year old fashion blogger with a serious vintage addiction from the Land of the Palm Trees (California).

Justina’s URL is: http://www.abentpieceofwire.com

Sara writes about crochet, crafts, and family at http://www.saraduggan.blogspot.com and crochet business blogging at http://www.crochetbusiness.com

 

 

 

 

Choosing Your Online Business Model

There are many internet- based business models to choose from, however, they are broken down into two types – low traffic and high traffic.  My personal online business falls in the low traffic category, however, that will change to be a combination of both once my new program is launched.

Since there is a large learning curve on the internet, it’s a good idea to start out with a low traffic model.  Service based businesses are considered low traffic.  A sales site such as an ecommerce store is a high traffic business because the volume of traffic has to be high in order to make money.

Examples of high traffic business models includes low price products, the sale of merchandise, ebooks, videos, webinars, online courses or a combination of all of those.  It also includes paid subscriptions to newsletters, ezines, community membership sites, affiliate marketing, adsense sites and blogging.

Low traffic business model examples include mid to high priced products or training courses, coaching, consulting, freelancing, speaker services, and higher priced services, membership sites and others.

As you can see, there are similar types of models in both the high and low traffic categories – the higher priced your service or product, the less traffic you need to make money.

Let’s take a look at the six most popular models of online businesses.

1.     Blogging

A blog is simply an online journal of sorts.  You decide how many times a week you are going to post a new article, then write something to post on your blog.  Through Google you can add advertisements to your page, called AdSense.  The idea is that you drive traffic to your blog and they click on the ads and you make money.  The drawback is that for you to make money doing this, you have to really understand SEO and Google rankings, or hire someone that does.

My blog is a page on my website http://www.julianeiman.com/blog where I post articles relating to empowering teens and young adults to become entrepreneurs.  The majority of my articles are geared toward this topic.   I do not use Adsense though.  My blog is an addition to my online business rather than a business itself.

Right now I am not consistent with how often I post an article because I’ve been busy creating a new program.  However, I participated in several blog challenges where you post a new blog every day and other people comment and share your blog with the goal being to increase awareness of your business and traffic to the blog.  I used the posts from two of the challenges to write this book and my first book, 31 Powerful Lessons Empowering Teens and Young Adults to Develop an Entrepreneur Mindset.

2.      Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is where you make money through commissions from selling other people’s products.  This works if don’t have a product of your own to sell.  However, be aware that affiliate marketing is a high traffic model.  The person whose product or services you are selling has all the systems in place, you sign up with them, get your personal affiliate code, then hit the internet to promote their product.  I am an affiliate for the Word Press Store and for several coaches who sell expensive programs, or what’s commonly called big ticket products.

Once you drive traffic to their business, it’s up to them to make the sale and you receive whatever commission they are offering.  I earned two $1000 commissions when two people signed up for an online course that cost in excess of $3000 and I receive commission from time to time when someone uses my link to purchase the Word Press Estore, the Affiliate Software or other products.

You can do affiliate marketing through Clickbank as well.  They have a large database of products to choose from.  Find several that interest you, sign up and start promoting.

3.     Information Products

People that create and sell information products are often called Infopreneurs.  This is where you are selling information products that teach people how to do things.  For example, “How to Market Online,” “How to Buy a Car,” “How to Cook Chicken.”  The topics are only limited by your imagination.  You can also sell information products that are created by others if they have the resell rights attached.  Make sure you have permission to sell someone else’s work before you do.

You need to develop some skills to be an infopreneur.  You need to be able to either create or locate products with great content that people want.  You need to be able to drive traffic to your site in order to make sales, and you need to have some sales ability in order to convince people that this product is a good investment and will help them either solve a problem or learn how to do something.

Once you have these skills, you are in a position to make a nice income as information products are the top selling products on the internet.

4.     Ecommerce Sites

An ecommerce site is online retail store.  You can create your own store front of buy one from a company that is already set up.  This is called a “turn-key business.”  A turn-key business is like an online franchise.  The person you buy they store from usually has additional fees aside from the purchase price so do your homework before deciding to go this route.

Ecommerce sites are more difficult to position in terms of ranking in the search engines because they don’t often have fresh content.  You might want to add a blog to your ecommerce site so you do have fresh content and are consistently updating.  You can sell your own products if you have them to sell, like shoes, or car products, musical instruments, jewelry and just about anything that is legal.  You have choices here too.  You can keep your own inventory, or use a drop-shipper.  A drop-shipper is a company that stores the product and ships it for you.  You receive the order from your customer along with payment, you send an email with the order to the drop-shipper and they mail it out and charge you their price for the product.

I don’t recommend ecommerce as a way to start online if you aren’t already experienced in retail sales.  This type of business has a large learning curve and there is a lot involved, including returns, replacing broken items, knowing if there are restrictions to shipping certain items to certain states and a lot more.

5.     Provide Services

Providing services through an online site is known as freelancing.  You have to have a skill that you can promote in order to be a freelancer.  If you can write, do graphic design, know programming code, design games or be a virtual assistant (an online secretary or business manager), you can build a successful business as a freelancer.  You can also coach other people if you have the know-how and experience in a particular area to do.

There are drawbacks to freelancing such as having deadlines to meet.  If you aren’t disciplined and can’t meet deadlines, then this isn’t for you.  I used to freelance my writing services and believe me, it was a struggle sometimes to meet a deadline.  I never missed one, it just isn’t professional and you won’t get repeat business.

There are many places where you can list yourself as a freelancer.  I used to use Guru.com and elance.com.  Now there’s Fiverr as well where you provide a service for $5.  That gives the customer an almost risk free way to use your service and if they like you, you will have repeat client at full price and perhaps some referrals as well.

6.     Membership Sites

Membership sites seem to be trending as a business model right now.  Basically, they are a community that you provide an online site for, that people pay a fee to be a part of.  They are a lot of work because you have to continually update your information, add new content and keep up with your subscribers.  People can cancel their subscription at any time so your income could be inconsistent.

My business is going to have a membership site soon; however, there will be no charge for the site, at least in the beginning.  I will start the site as a Facebook group.  Membership will be limited to those people who have completed the certification process to coach my new program, Monetize Your Passion: Empowering Young Entrepreneurs to Start a Business, as well as their teen and young adult clients that have completed the coaching program.  The group will offer a place where both coaches and clients can make connections, network, find answers to their questions, marketing ideas, mentors and further learning opportunities.  Through this site, I hope to provide the support that is required long after the coaching program is complete.


I hope this helps you on your journey to choose the type of online business model that will be right for you.  As you can see, it can be complicated and require a lot of research and work on your part.  Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get a business up and running?

Do you have a clear picture of the areas of your life and business where change is required?  It might be time for a reality check so you can discover those areas where you are incomplete or could improve.  If are subscribed to my blog, then you already have Julia Neiman’s 2 Step Reality Check to Discover and Overcome the Hurdles That Stand Between You and Your Dreams.  If you don’t have a copy of the Reality Check, simply enter your name and email in the box at the top right side of the page and it will be on it’s way to your inbox in seconds.

 

So You Want To Go Online With a Business

Today’s article is by guest blogger:

Kaye Dennan of Home Business Success Ideas

If you are an internet surfer you go online and within minutes you find answers to your search. The first ten listings for your search term come on the front page of Google (although I appreciate there are other search engines you may use) and the sites on the first page are not necessarily the best, but they are the best ones recognized by the search engines. If you look at the top of the Google page you will see that there can literally be millions of pages covering the search term that you have used.

So what you have to do to get your site recognized is find keywords (search terms your customers will use) that are not so common so that your site will be easily found on the web.

Let me assure you that there are plenty of clients out there for everybody and if you try to get page ranking with the more popular keywords it will be years before you get to the front page. But if you use the less common search terms you will be found by more than enough customers to keep you busy.

In saying that, you will have to be patient. The internet has billions of written, videos and graphic items being posted every single day so it may take up to 3 months before you will get to the front page for your chosen keyword.

Getting to the front page is not just about using the right keywords but also marketing your site using that keyword.

 How Does This Affect You

It affects you in the way that when you build a website you need to be able to get your pages up into the first 10 search terms so that you will get the clicks from potential clients.

Without optimizing your website with keywords to take advantage of the search terms you are really wasting your time building a website in the first place. If page placement is not important to you then this exercise is not so critical.

So let me tell you how to make sure that your website or at least some of its pages are going to get front page ranking.

 Pretty Is Not Always Best

I know many people who have paid thousands of dollars to have the ‘prettiest’ website made by skilled technical people, but there has been no keyword research and these website owners are wondering why their website which they paid thousands of dollars for is not being found on the internet.

Google and other search engines do not care about ‘pretty’ they care about content.

The Very First Steps To Building A Successful Website

Whatever you do, don’t underestimate the importance of doing your keyword search first. It is absolutely critical to the success of your website and your business, even when deciding on your business name.

Keyword research will ensure that you find the best keywords for your business, not only for online marketing but offline as well.  These words should be the focus when you are deciding on a business name and also on a domain name (the name of your website, e.g. http://julianeiman.com   In Julia’s case she is well recognized in her industry so she can get away with using her own name for her website.

But if you do not personally have a well recognized name in the field that you wish to pursue then you need to choose a name which will find bring you clients when people use these search terms.

So How Do You Find Quality Keywords

One of the simplest ways is to go into the Google keyword tool.

Here is how to fill this form out:

    • Go to the ‘word or phrase’ box and type in the best word that describes your business
    • In the left-hand column tick the ‘broad match’ box
    • Make sure the locations box (in gray) says ‘All’
    • Then fill in the captcha word box.  (In the screen shot below I have already filled in the captcha word box and been taken through to the next step.)
    • Scroll down and you will see a list of keywords of which some of them will be suitable to use for your business.
    • You can download these keywords in a csv file to your computer.

At this point you are looking for keywords that have a quality score.

Find keywords that have a Global Monthly Search of 500+ preferably over 1000. Then go into Google search and see if the pages come up to under 30,000.

It is tempting to go for the higher number in search terms but if you do you have so much competition that you will find that your website just does not get ranked and your potential customers just do not find you.

Here is an example of two keywords. The first you might think of is “tomato blight” but when you do your searches you will come up with over 120,000 pages but if you use the keyword “tomato blight treatment”, which is a much more defined keyword you still have a good monthly search volume of 1,600 and only 30,800 competitive pages. So by defining your main keyword “tomato blight” even further you will get quicker and better rankings in the search engines.

So if you were going to have a website about tomato blight you could if it was available have tomatoblighttreatment.com (I don’t know if this is a domain name or not) with your the tag line saying “Stop Tomato Blight From Ruining Your Tomato Crop”

Another Consideration

One point that I have not brought up is the fact that you may only be interested in local contacts. Say for example, your business is to visit people in their homes and eradicate tomato blight then might use your local town, area or county as part of the name and this will definitely help in that instance.

Finally

Put the time into your keyword research as it is the most important part of a successful website. Don’t rush in to setting up your website or choosing your business name and domain name until you have done this keyword research because it is such an important part of your business success.

Make sure you follow the links on this page because it was not possible to cover all the information you need in this one article. Good luck.

Kaye Dennan is an author of many ebooks but her passion is helping people set up and market home businesses.  For this specific purpose Kaye has set up http://homebusinesssuccessideas.com and has shared tips for people wishing to start all types of home businesses and who want to market online and offline.

 

One very important skill or attribute of being an entrepreneur is the ability to get stuff done.  Not everyone is organized and some might require a system to help them figure out what needs to be done.  Whether you are an entrepreneur, a student or a homemaker, The Get Stuff Done Tool is that system to help you manage your time.

Time is the one thing that we all have the same amount of every day.  Time, when lost or wasted, can never be replaced.  Don’t waste your time or anyone else’s. The Get Stuff Done Tool is still available as a free download.  Leave your name and email address in the box with the red arrow at the top-right hand side of the page and get the free download now.

Have you obtained your copy of 31 Powerful Lessons: Empowering Teens and Young Adults to Develop an Entrepreneur Mindset?  Click here and get your copy now.

 

Create Your Product Funnel: Building Relationships with Your Clients/Customers

A product funnel is essential for monetizing your clients and customers.  It’s a process whereby you attract people to your webpage and build relationships.  If they like and trust you, they will come back and pay for your more expensive products.

It works like this:

You create something they can get at your webpage for free, also known as a “freemium.”  You promote whatever that is on social media, on other people’s blogs, and anywhere else you can find to mention it.  People who want to get that free product come to your site, enter their name and email in your registration box and receive the free product via the autoresponder you set up as one of your business systems (we’ll get to this in a future article).

Your freemium can be a report, a checklist, a survey, a video, an audio, an ebook, you can even give away someone else’s work that you have rights to or ask them to participate in a poll.  Be creative and make it relative to your business because you are trying to create a buzz about yourself and capture people’s names and email addresses.

You may want to create a second free product as an introduction to a new product or low priced program you are preparing to release.  That could be a report, a PDF tool that relates to your new product, a teleseminar or webinar.

When you have prospects in your funnel, you need to find ways to give them more valuable content at increasingly higher prices as they go through the funnel.

Once you’ve sent them some really great content they’ll trust that you do in fact know what you’re talking about, and if you have related products that you are selling, you can make an offer to them.  If they buy… great!  Send them onto another list that is for buyers and start promoting more products that will further enhance their lives.  If they are not buyers, simply continue to offer free information and improve their lives regardless.  The ultimate goal is simply to ensure that you are enriching the lives of those people who have trusted you with their name and email address.

The first product you ask people to pay for should be a low priced item such as an ebook, an audio book, a teleseminar or webinar.  The price range should be between $10 – $50.

The second product or program you create should be within the $50 – $200 price range.  Again, it can be a webinar, teleseminar, telesummit, home study program or anything else that fits your business and addresses your customers’/clients’ issues and needs.

By this time, your community has come to trust you or they wouldn’t still be around.  The fourth level price range should be $200 – $500.  You might offer a boot camp for $347, and the fifth level might offer your one-on-one services for $500.

Get the picture?  By the way, when you offer your products and services at different price points, you are lowering the financial and emotional risk for your prospects. You are essentially making it impossible for them not to buy from you!

What’s in your  product funnel?

The Get Stuff Done Tool is still available as a free download.  Leave your name and email address in the box with the red arrow at the top-right hand side of the page and get the free download now.

Have you obtained your copy of 31 Powerful Lessons: Empowering Teens and Young Adults to Develop an Entrepreneur Mindset?  Click here and get your copy now.

 

 

There’s a Traffic Jam on the Internet Super Highway!

Now that you have researched your competition, you are probably feeling like everyone and their brother has jumped on the online highway and there is no room left for you.  Well, the truth is that everyone and their brother has jumped on this highway and you need to find a way to be the lead heading on down that road.

My personal business coach, Rich German of Epic Coach Academy, has an answer for getting around this traffic jam – “create, don’t compete.”

Depending on your niche, you may have a lot of competition and the way to stay ahead of the crowd is to create new and useful products.  Rich tells his clients that the facts, at least the way he sees them are:

•   Most people will quit before the payoff (meaning they’ll quit too soon).

•   Most people lack the patience and consistency required to succeed.

•   You have a unique gift and it is your duty to put it out there, and

•   No one can do it as good as you are going to do it.

He also says this, “Even though we’ve been programmed for mediocrity, we clearly have the option to rise above it.  When you establish yourself a true expert in your passion—through time, patience, consistency, dedication, and devotion—you will rise to the top.  You will monetize, you will make a serious impact, you will be happy, and it will be fun.”

The fact of the matter is Rich is right!

In our next article, we’ll talk about a sales funnel and the various levels of products you can create to put you at the head of crowd in your field.

The Get Stuff Done Tool is still available as a free download.  Leave your name and email address in the box with the red arrow at the top-right hand side of the page and get the free download now.

Have you obtained your copy of 31 Powerful Lessons: Empowering Teens and Young Adults to Develop an Entrepreneur Mindset?  Click here and get your copy now.

 

Develop Your Business Plan

A business plan is a necessary basic strategy to run and grow your business.  This plan can be a simple strategy or be very detailed, depending on how your mind works and you how detailed you need to be for yourself.

There are many different styles of business plans including all the way from a one page outline style plan to a very long plan with several pages for each section.  You can include simple steps in outline form, or all the way to including charts and graphs for growth projections.

Whatever style or level of complexity you choose, your plan should include the following elements (in section 1)

•   your mission: why does your business exist?

•   your vision: where is your business going?  What impact will it make on the world?

•   your values: what do you stand for?

•   a business profile: what are your products and services?

In section 2 you want to create one-year goals and three-year goals.   Your goals should include strategies for each of the following areas:

Management and Administration.  Will you need to hire any employees or team members?  An assistant or business manager?  Include a job description and goals for each team member.

Outsourcing.  Will you do everything yourself or will you “outsource” the work?  The more work you outsource, the more time you have to be creative and do the work you love and started your business to do.  Outsourcing projects include web design, social media expert, copywriting, bookkeeping and others.

Customer Service.  What kind of service are you committed to?  How will you achieve it?

Business Planning.  How often will you review your plan (monthly, quarterly, twice a year)?  How will you reassess your goals if necessary?

Bookkeeping and Accounting.  How will you keep track of your income, expenses, profit and losses, payroll?

Other Professional Services.  Will you need a lawyer to help you incorporate or draw up nonprofit documents?  Will you need a human resources manager to set up an employment program?

Technology.  Who will manage your database?  How will you ensure your technology always remains cutting edge?

Products and Services.  This is where you create a detailed plan for the products and services you have decided will be in your product funnel.  What will you create and in what order will they be created?  What is your pricing plan for each produce?  Will you repurpose the product (use an original product for something else?

Marketing.  What is your plan to market and sell your products?  This section is critical.  Without a strategy for marketing your products you won’t sell them.

Website/Blog.  Will you have a website that you use as a storefront?  How many pages will it have and what is the purpose and content for each page?  Will it be just a blog where you write about a particular topic and monetize it by using paid advertising?  Will you review other people’s products and get paid a commission (affiliate marketing)?

Joint Ventures.  What is your plan to create marketing partnerships with other people in your area of business?  Who do you want to partner with and how many partnerships do you wish to have?

Affiliate Marketing.  Affiliate marketing is where you sell other people’s products and services.  What kind of products do you want to sell?  Who’s products will you promote?  How many?  How will you find them?

Social Media.  What is your plan to create visibility on the internet?  Will you have a Facebook page, post videos on YouTube, be on Twitter and Pinterest?  Who will manage these sites for you?  How often will you post on these sites?

The financial section of your plan should include:

Income Projections.  This part can be scary, however, it can be fun too.  Set your desired monthly income then break it down by product sales.  Once you decide on what you want your income to be, you can figure out how many products you need to sell to meet the goal.  Hopefully you will have priced your products before you get to this section so this will be easier to accomplish.

Expenses.  Last but not least by any means are your expenses.  How much will it cost to run your business?  Will your website cost you money?  Will you have an autoresponder, use a shopping cart or other service that has monthly charges?  Remember that many services are free to use and you need to do your homework.  It’s is possible to run an internet business for under $30 a month.

Now that you have a good idea of what needs to be included in your business plan, you should decide on what style of plan will suit your business best.  If you are going to use your business plan to find investors and otherwise raise money, you will need a fairly detailed plan with a lot of information.

If you are going to have a simple, straightforward internet business that does not require investors, then a simple plan meant to keep you on track will work just fine.

What is in your business plan that I might have missed?

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Build a Business – The Basics

By now you should understand that building a business is not an easy task. There are many things you need to consider, many questions you need to answer, many things you need to do and know to organize and maintain a successful business.

While money matters to some degree when starting a business (depending on the type of business), the rule of law is important in our society as well.  You will need to be legally prepared to start your business.  That means knowing what business licenses are required by your city, county and state.  It includes deciding on whether your business will be a solo enterprise, a joint venture, a limited partnership, or other structure.  If you are hiring employees or contractors, you will need to have an employer identification number from the IRS and register your business in your state.

Just when you think you have all the information you can handle, there’s always more.

Do you think that because your business is small you are at a disadvantage? Actually, it’s an advantage!  Because you’re small, you are flexible, and you can quickly adapt to market changes.  Here are some startup elements you need to consider before you can launch a successful small business.

Organize it.

    • How will your business get things done?
    • Who does what?
    • What is the structure of your business?
    • How are tasks divided?

Manage your money.

    • Where will your money come from?
    • How will it come in and out of your business?
    • Will you invest back into your business?
    • How much cash do you need to operate and pay expenses?
    • What profit do you expect?

Create your image.

    • Marketing: How will your customers locate you and your business?
    • Do you know where your customers are? Have you designed a plant to find and maintain customers?
    • How will you keep track of your competitors?
    • Do you have a good strategy?

Legalize it!

    • How will the legal system affect your business?
    • How can you protect yourself and your business ideas?

Do you know your federal, state, and local tax laws?

 

 

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Who is My Competition?

Question #6 on the Junior Achievement List of 20 Questions to ask before deciding on starting a business is Who is My Competition?

To figure this out, there are other questions you need to ask including:

• How many are there?

• Where are they located?

• What products/services do they offer that you do not?

• What products/services don’t they offer that you can?

• What is their advertising strategy?  Where are social media do they advertise?

There are several great things you can learn by researching your competitors.

• You can potentially avoid the same mistakes they’ve made.

• You can gain information that will help you with the decisions you’ll need to make about where to locate your business, what to charge for your products/services and what advertising strategy might work for you.

How do I find out about my competitors?

You need to do research about the industry your business is positioned in.  You want to find out how many other businesses like yours are operating within your city or county, or on the web if you are a computer based business.

According to Johnston Community College in North Carolina, “Customer research will guide you to where your potential customers are shopping and why.  As part of your competitor research, you may want to ask potential customers survey questions geared to discover information about the competition. If they currently use products or services like yours, where are they buying them? What are they paying for them? What do they like and dislike about your competition?”

Once you have identified who your competitors are, be sure to visit their web site if they have one and their social media sites.  Follow them on Twitter and Facebook and Pinterest and other sites.  You can learn a lot from  their web sites and social media sites. For example, they may have information about prices, services, locations and contact information. The look and features of the web site itself will give you an idea of your competitor’s professionalism and quite possibly about their resources.

You might consider calling your competitors directly asking the kinds of questions a customer/client would.  Those questions could be about the prices they charge, the types of products and services they sell, turnaround time for service and anything else you need to know.  If your competitor has a storefront, visit it for ideas about products and advertising.

Another way to find out about your competitors is to talk to others who have had dealings with them including their customers, other businesses who had dealings with them and their suppliers if know who they are.   You can find out what kind-of service they provide, how well they work with their suppliers.

The Johnston Community College has the Competitors Worksheet available to help you identify and document your competitors.  Take great notes and refer back to them when trying to create your business plan and marketing strategy.

This lesson is meant as an overview.  You will have to do some research on how to do the research.  Try asking Ehow.com how to research competitors, how to do market research and how to do industry research.  You will have to use google and other search engines to decide on the key words you’ll need to use to find your competition.

At this point, you’ll need to ask yourself again, “Are you committed to your dream and to doing whatever it takes to make it happen?”

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The Get Stuff Done Tool is still available as a free download.  Leave your name and email address in the box with the red arrow at the top-right hand side of the page and get the free download now.

 

 

 

What is My Target Market?

This is the fifth question on the Junior Achievement’s list of 20 questions to ask yourself before starting your business.  Why is this  an important question?  It is important because you need to know who you are going to market your products and/or services to.  I would even say that Who is my target market is more to the point.

 

Who is Your Target Market?

Define the people whom you are looking for and those looking for what you have to offer.  How old are they, where do they live, what do they do, and where do they hang out on the web?  What are their desires and their pain points?  What do they love?  Your little corner of the business world, your business, also known as your niche, should cater to the needs of your audience while also being true to yourself and what your passions and interests are.

Where Does Your Target Market Hang Out?

Do a Google search for forums within your niche as well as key word searches within Facebook and Twitter.  Build up your networks on social media so when you are ready to start monetizing your business, you can bring your ideal customer/client to your website.  Remember you are targeting an audience that is interested in what you have to say or what you are selling.

Let’s say make awesome jewelry and decide to sell your creations online.  What age group will love your jewelry?  Will you sell to the person who will wear it or to the person who buys it for them?  Where can you find these people?

Another good question to ask yourself is who do you want to hang out and establish relationships with?  Will they relate to your business idea?  If not, can you offer them something that will interest them so that they become a part of your audience, tribe, posse, family, fans, or whatever you choose to call it?

If you have a business that will have you relating one-on-one with your client or customer, ask yourself who that perfect person will be.  What do they like to do?  What do they spend their money on?  How do they use your product or service?

Don’t skip this step when making decisions about how to your business will look.  It is essential to have clarity on who your target market is in order  to create a successful marketing plan.  In this day and age on the internet, marketing is king.  Without a well thought-out marketing plan with clear goals and clear targets, you are at risk for failure.

Who is your perfect client/customer?

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