The internet has radically changed our lives, therefore is not a secret that people are looking about how to start an online business from home.
Don’t worry, it’s normal to feel lost when starting for the first time, as there are thousands of possibilities.
Here I want to show you 5 simple steps to follow, in order to properly set up your own online business.
I’ll give you as well my first recommended way to start as a beginner, so keep reading before you take a decision.
5 Steps To Start Your Own Online Business From Home
Starting a home internet business can be an exciting way to make a side income, low-cost and with no previous experience needed.
There is a sequence of steps you can follow when starting an online business.
1. Choose a Niche And Fill A Need
Before you start selling, you’ll need to research a niche where there are problems that can be solved.
Your goal is to find a product or service that will solve a specific problem to your target audience.
Market research can be very easy thanks to internet:
- Search for groups or forums online related to your niche and look for people’s questions or doubts, in order to understand which problems they might have.
- Do a keyword research to find what people are looking for and try to select some keywords with low competition. You can use a tool such Jaaxy to find out what keywords are the best for your niche.
- Use Google Trends to find out what are trending topics you could leverage to find a problem to solve.
2. Design & Build A Website
Once you have an idea about the niche you’re into and the kind of problems to solve, you’ll need a website or blog, where you present the solution to those problems.
The solution could be an online course, a coaching call, a physical product or any other kind of service you could offer.
Remember that you don’t need to own any product at the beginning, you could actually just promoting other’s people products or services. This is what is called affiliate marketing.
What you need to build your website:
- Domain name: something remarkable, related to your niche. It will be the name of your website.
- Hosting service: it allows your website to be accessible through internet (check out SiteGround).
- Blogging platform: the most common is WordPress.
If you’re serious about starting your professional website, check out my full SiteGround review. Domain name + hosting starting at only $3.95/month.
Otherwise build your free website today with SiteRubix.
3. Drive Traffic To Your Site
There are plenty of ways to drive traffic to a website, both free or paid.
Considering you are on a tight budget at the beginning, I recommend to focus on SEO strategies.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It means that you’ll need to rank your website or blog posts for specific keywords, related to your niche.
For example, if you want to build a business in the health & fitness niche, start by choosing a domain name that recall your main topic.
Then, you’ll probably start promoting programs or courses related to this niche and your goal is to get ranked in search engines with keywords such as: healthy tips, fitness for everyone, best program to get fit, etc.
Check this free lesson about Understanding Keywords.
Build an opt-in list on your site. Ask your readers their emails in exchange for a free guide, report or checklist.
You’ll be able to gain more traffic every time you post something new on your blog or website, just by sending an email to your list.
Anyone who visits your site and opts into your list is very interested in what you have to say.
In this way you’re expanding your customer’s base and creating one of the most valuable assets of your online business.
This is the power of email marketing.
4. Market Your Online Business
Just because you have a web presence, doesn’t mean you’ll get customers or clients.
Before you start promoting your business, try to understand your audience:
- What’s your target market? Age, gender, profession?
- Where do you find your audience? Social media, forums, blogs?
- What they are looking for?
When you have a clear idea about who is your ideal customer, it will be easier for you to create compelling offers to attract the right people.
Decide on which platforms is better to market your business. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube?
Pay-per-click advertising is the easiest way to promote a brand-new site. You pay Google to show your blog posts or website on the top of the search results when someone is looking for specific keywords.
Related: Ultimate course to paid advertising
5. Monetize Your Website
Now that you have a better idea about how to start an online business from home, it’s time to create one or more streams of income in order to monetize your efforts.
The most common way to make money with a website is via Google AdSense.
Advertisers pay Google to have their ads placed on websites and blogs that contain content that’s relevant to their businesses. Therefore, you can agree to show those ads on your website.
On top of that, if you are a freelancer you can simply list a series of services you can offer to your audience, maybe creating a dedicated section on your website.
Other ways to monetize your own online business:
- Affiliate marketing
- Information products (e-books)
- Offer your own online course
- Online coaching
- Selling merchandising
Benefits To Start An Online Business
When you compare any online digital business to brick-and-mortar businesses, you’ll understand why millions of people all over the world decide every day to start their own online business.
Regardless of your niche, some benefits about owning an online business are:
- Low startup costs
- You can work from anywhere in the world
- You can work part-time
- No staff required, unless you choose to
- No previous experience required (unless you’re already an expert in a sector)
Online business opportunities are more accessible and available now than ever. Billions of people are connecting to Internet every day. There is nothing preventing you from getting started but you!
Watch the video below:
Best Way To Start Your Own Online Business
Now that you are sure to start your own online business from home, I want to give you my best recommendation to get started.
Even if you don’t require any previous experience to start, it can be a bit overwhelming to really understand what’s the best way for you.
It’s always better to learn from who has more experience than you, in order to avoid beginner’s mistakes and grow faster.
What if I tell that you have the possibility to get access for free to an all-in-one platform, where you’ll get:
- Online fundamentals: 10 lessons covering, how to choose a niche, build a website, SEO, content creation, etc.
- Free keyword tool: up to 30 searches.
- 2 free hosted websites
- Live chat for a week
- Community support
Me and other 1.4 millions online entrepreneurs got started thanks to what you learn inside Wealthy Affiliate.
Wealthy Affiliate is the biggest online community for successful internet entrepreneurs.
Not only you get the training required but as well all the tools and resources to build your own online business.
You can learn more about Wealthy Affiliate here or you can open your free account.
If you are serious about starting your own online business, of course I recommend you to check as well all the other features included in the premium membership.
Join today, I’m a premium member of the community and If you decide to upgrade to a premium account, you’ll get as well my full 1-to-1 support to answers all your doubts and questions.