It has been estimated that there will be 2.05 billion global digital buyers in 2020. An estimation like this gives us a pretty clear clue that online businesses are doing more than okay.
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Besides the fact of the growing popularity of online businesses, it has many perks to it. Especially the one that lets you run an online business just for some side money. You might be studying or working elsewhere at the same time. And while you are busy with something else, it’s not that difficult to run a print on demand business using platforms like Printify or becoming an online consultant of your niche.
And maybe there would be even more online businesses in the market, but some of us struggle to find the information about how to start from a complete zero. In this article, we will share some valuable tips that will help you start your online business from scratch.
Do A Research About Online Business
Research is the best first step you can take, and it implies for many cases of life. Starting a business of your own you’ll need two types of investments: money and most importantly – your time. So start by researching the types of businesses you could run. Even if you have an idea on your mind, don’t skip the research. You might find even a better one. There are many types to choose from: selling something you made, starting your own clothing line, reselling, consulting, content creation, and many more. If you don’t want to be involved in the processes of making, storing, packing, and shipping the products, then dropshipping might be the perfect type of business for you. On the other hand, if the process of manufacturing your own products does interest you, you should research white labeling and manufacturing.
Do A Detailed Research On Your Chosen Niche
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When you have already chosen and decided what you want to do, dig into more detail about it. Just make sure that you choose a very specific and narrowed down niche – because you won’t be able to sell everything, store everything, or give your client a hundred different services. The more focused you are, the easier it will be to determine your target audience, and the smoother the business will go.
When you narrowed it down, remember that it’s always important to know your field, your competitors, and the possibilities of growth in the future. Browsing the information about your chosen niche might actually strike a lot of inspiration for the future development of your online business. It is a common practice – to follow some positive, successful examples in the market and apply some key elements to your own business.
Define Your Target Audience
Defining your customer is very important for your business. Depending on your product or service, whichever you choose, the questions you have to ask yourself will differ. You can define the target audience by many different factors: age, gender, location, income, hobbies, interests, level of education, and many others.
After defining your target audience, you also need to choose your voice. By voice, we mean how are you planning to communicate, what sort of message you want to release to the world, what are your principles as a brand, what do you stand for and so on. Your tone of voice has to be very specific and consistent on all media channels that you are planning to use.
Your tone of voice, your visual image, and the products/services you are planning to sell/provide also need to get along. For example, if your main product is something organic, like organic t-shirts with illustrations of nature, then ecology and sustainability are something you should care about and speak about. Also consider that cooperating with brands that sell non-sustainable production, like plastic bags or batteries wouldn’t be a good idea for your own brand and your potential clients.
Establishing Your Business
After you’ve done all the research and chosen the voice of your brand, it is time to take some additional steps to legally establish your business. The first thing to do is to choose a name and register your business. Then you need to get business licenses – it is great if some of the people you know can get you on track. If not – then you’ll need to do another research. The next step is to get the Employer Identification Number (EIN) so that you can pay taxes. Then you have to check if you don’t need additional licenses and permits depending on your type of business. When all this is done, you need to start thinking about creating a logo and start creating some visuals for your website and social media.
Attracting Potential Customers By Advertising
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All businesses need advertising, especially new ones. For starters, you can create a couple of social media profiles. Standardly most new online businesses choose Facebook and Instagram to start, but then again – it depends on your business. If you are a video creator, Youtube might be much more important for you, and if you are a Human Resources consultant – then LinkedIn is a must. To learn more about the laws of social media marketing, check out this slideshow made by the Entrepreneur.
Start by creating content that is related to your business. It shouldn’t be just blank advertising and commercial messages – you need to create something more human. Just always remember, that your visual content needs to be organic and play along with the whole idea of your company. If you need more tips on how to create more engaging content, this article might be just what you need.
