Don’t let the lack of cash kill your entrepreneurial dreams!
Starting an online business from home working in your pajamas without a boss is an exciting and relatively low-cost way to pursue your dream of turning a side-gig into a successful online business.
When you own online business from home, you can work from anywhere, set your own hours and enjoy the financial freedom of your own online success.
For those looking to start an online business from home, I am going to show you a simple and yet powerful method to build a successful online business and make some good money in the process.
If you follow the steps outlined here, you too can achieve the same success.
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Steps-by-steps to start an online business from home
This is the process that I have used to start my own home-based business.
Online Home-Based Business Planning
Like any business, a successful online business requires a clear plan and an effective execution strategy. The first step is coming up with a viable business idea or a niche.
Select a niche for your online business
Most traditional business coaches would tell you to start a business by looking for products or services first. Wrong strategy for online business!
If you want to succeed in the online business, start your quest with a niche market.
A niche market is a group of people who are searching for a solution to a problem with little or no results. If you have the answer to their problems, you can build a successful online business around this niche and make millions from home.
One simple method to help you find a niche market is by writing down 10 things that you’re passionate about, 10 things that you’re afraid of, and 10 problems that you have. I call this the ’10, 10, 10′ system.
You can use the 10s’ list to narrow down to two or three ideas that can be used to launch your online business.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You just need to keep it spinning.
Conducting an online market research
Online business requires online market research. This is very simple, but many online entrepreneurs still adopting the traditional market research method. There is nothing wrong with this. It’s just that traditional market researches does not provide you with the right data to make a good business decision.
Online market research starts with keyword research. The purpose of keyword research is to identify the market size by looking at the monthly search volume for your chosen niche market. Ideally, you want to see a high search volume with a low or medium number of competitions.
Next, you need to look at the trends using Google Trends to provide a clear picture of the high and low demand for your business products or services throughout the year.
Online forums and Social Media are great places to carry out your online customer market researches. You must visit these places to see what questions or problems that people have that relate to your business niche. You might discover that your solution can be used to solve other problems that you have never thought of.
If you complete these quick online market searches, you will have a vivid picture of the market opportunity for your business idea.
Choose an online business niche that you can operate at home
Not all business ideas are suitable for an online home-based business. For example, a business that requires warehouse or production cannot be operated from home.
Home-based business should not involve a large inventory, staffing, or production/manufacturing. If your niche business idea falls into these categories, I suggest finding another one.
Determine the initial investment costs
Start an online business from home required money, but how much do you really need?
The costs of starting an online business from home vary depending on the type of online business that you are planning to launch.
If your online home-based business requires inventory, you will need funding to purchase inventory. If your online home-based business is a blog or affiliate marketing, your costs are lower as you only need to fund a business website which I will discuss in the next section.
You can start an online affiliate marketing business from home with little or no investment. This is what I love about online business. The initial investment is very low.
Many affiliate marketing training programs offer you a free account to test the market before fully launching your business. I used this #1 free affiliate marketing traingin program to launch my online business.
You must spend some time to think through how you are going to fund your online home-based business as its growth.
You should know that nothing is free forever. It is wise to plan and prepare for the growth and expansion of your online business from the start.
Initial Steps To Set Up Your Online Home-Based Business
After determining that your business idea is suitable as a home-based business, these are a few steps to must perform before launching your online business.
Select a business name
The name for your online home-based business should be short, catchy, and easy for people to remember. It is also important that the name must be easy for people to find your online business when they are doing a search online.
You must choose a business name and register for a domain name simultaneously. The last thing you want is to find out that your chosen name is already registered or not available.
Register and reserve a domain name
Your domain name is your online business address. This is how people find and connect with you. As soon as you choose a name, you will have to register the name with a domain name registrar to reserve it for your business.
If your online business name is not available, you will have to test out a variation of the names to determine availability. Once you find a good name, go ahead and register it.
Every day that you ponder about the name is another day your risk of losing it. Besure to reserve the name as soon as you can. The cost to reserve a domain name is minimal, so don’t lose it.
There are many domain name registrar companies online which you can check if your domain name is still available.
Some web hosting providers offer a free domain name if you choose to host your online business with them. I use this free web hosting, SiteRubix, to get my domain.
Finding and choosing a web hosting service
Web hosting provides space and support necessary for your website to go live on the internet.
Most hosting providers offer a free account for you to try out their services before purchasing. When picking a web hosting plan. I suggest testing out first before becoming a paying member.
I have used this free hosting service to build my online business. I like this provider because they give you two free websites hosting free of ads. I strongly recommend you check them out.
Build A Website For Your Online Home-Based Business
You can build your own website or hire a profressional. I build my first business website.
If you are going to design the website yourself, I strongly suggest trying first with a free web hosting account. This is the best way to test the site before turning its live.
Use a professional web designer or doing it yourself (DIY)
If you are new or have no experience with web designing, you can expect a steep learning curve. Using a free web hosting account to learn and experiment is the best.
With today’s technology, there are multiple online tools available to make it easy for you to create a website. These tools make the process of creating a website as easy as a few clicks of the mouse.
Below is a training video demonstrating how easy to create a WordPress website in less than 1 minute.
WordPress is the preferred web design software for the majority of online home-based businesses. It allows you to post content and control your design with little or no technical expertise.
I recommend you choose WordPress for your home business. This will not only save you money but also save you a lot of time.
If you have the budget, I suggest you hire a professional to help with the initial set up and configuring your website. You can have the professional perform some or all the following: configuring the site to look the way you want and include the features you need; creating and inserting a logo; optimizing the site for search engines and creating text and images.
Create, organize and post content on your website
Once you have a website up and running, the next step is creating and adding content to fill the site.
Content creation is probably the toughest part of starting an online home-based business for many people. However, if you stick with my content creation process, you shouldn’t have any problem.
Start with a few basic pages for your site
- Your contact page: just provide your business information for visitors to connect with you. It can be simple as an email, a Facebook page, or a phone number. I suggest not to include your home address to protect your family, but this is your call.
- About me and/or Business History page: This is where you can tell everyone about yourself and your business. Keep in mind, this page is not only providing information regarding your online home-based business but also serve as a marketing tool to promote your business.
After creating the basic pages, you must post additional content about your business using blog posts.
Here is a proven formula that many online writers have used to help promote their website and convert visitors into paying customers. The process is called ‘IADA’
- I – Start your article with an Interest or a compelling headline.
- A – Once you have their interest, you need to keep them Attention by describing the problems that your product solves.
- D – You need to create a Desire by telling the customers why they need your services and the benefit that your business can contribute to their business.
- A – Last you need to ask for an Action such as making an offer, offer a strong guarantee, or just ask for the sale.
If you create your content following this formula, you will have a website that does not only provide a one-stop destination for information about your business but also serve as a strong marketing tool to define your online business.
Turn on mobile friendly and improve site speed
Most website templates today are mobile-friendly. It is a simple activation process to turn your website into a mobile-friendly. It is strongly recommended that you optimize the feature for your online business.
Today, more than half of online search is done through cell phone and mobile devices. Google also favorited sites with a mobile-friendly version. This means you will attract more customers to your site form Google searches.
Selecting an e-commerce solution
If you are operating an eCommerce website, you will need a secure way for customers to pay.
There are two ways to implement an eCommerce solution. You can install your own eCommerce platform, or you can use an all-inclusive eCommerce solution such as Shopify which is much easier to set up and support.
I strongly recommend following the links above to learn more about these eCommerce solutions. This topic is too broad to cover in this article.
Promote Your Online Business
Business marketing is the most important part of every business. This is the way to find new customers and build your brand. You must have a marketing plan for your online home-based business if you want to succeed.
Promote your online business using search engine optimization (SEO)
SEO is a marketing technique that improves your business organic search results.
You can hire a professional to perform this task for you, or you can follow these steps to improve your website performance:
- Add keywords in the Title Tag to tell search engines what your website is about.
- Include keywords in the Meta Description of your website to provide search engines a little more insight into what your site is about.
- Conduct additional on-page SEO elements such as adding header tags, internal links, image name & ALT tags, and bolded text.
These are some basic SEO that you can do them yourself. You can find more information and free lessons on SEO techniques from the Wealthy Affiliate University. They offer some free lessons on this topic.
I have enclosed a free SEO training video from WA University for you to view.
An average person spends two hours each day on social media. This presented a tremendous marketing opportunity for your online home-based business.
Keeping your presence on social media is the key to online business success. You don’t have to be active on all media platforms. Start by focusing on the platform where your target customers are most likely to be on and start building your presence.
Be sure all your social media accounts have links back to your website, and that your website has links to all of them.
Whenever there is a news related to your online business, you should cross-post it to all your social media sites.
Promote your onlien business with a blog
Blogging is one of the best ways to generate free traffic or visitor to your business website from search engines. This style of marketing is called ‘content marketing.’ If blogging is not part of your initial marketing plan for your online home-based business, then I suggest you add this in.
Regular blogging has the potential to improve your site SEO and increase search engine ranking. This is an excellent way to find new customers on the internet. For more information on how to blog? Click here.
Promote your business using the power of email marketing
Email marketing is much cheaper and more effective than traditional marketing.
To use email marketing, you first have to generate or obtain an email list. You can build an email list using an opt-in on your website allowing customers to subscribe and give you permission to send them an email.
The email list is one of the most valuable assets of your online business. It is a great way to build a relationship with your customers.
When someone visits your site and opts in to your email list is a very hot lead. There is no better mean than a follow-up email with those leads.
Promote your business by becoming an expert
The internet is a popular tool to find information. Offering free information, especially expert advice, is the most powerful way to generate customers for your online business.
The secret is to create content that is useful and valuable to people, then distribute that content through social media and online forums. Make sure to always include a link back to your site with each article.
You should also consider guest blogging. Guest blogging is contributing quality content to related blogs and showing off your expertise. Effective use of guest blogging can bring people to your site and build authority. You can learn more about guest blogging from this article: Guide to Highly Effective Guest Posting.
Promote your business through pay-per-click advertising (PPC)
Pay-per-click advertising (PPC) is paid traffic. It is considered to be the quickest way to find customers for your online business.
You can run ads that target a specific group of customers. This is the big advantage of online ads compared to traditional paper advertisements.
PPC ads show up on the search pages immediately. It allows you to test different targeting groups, as well as headlines, prices and selling approaches.
One major disadvantage of PPC is cost. Every click costs money. If every click fails to convert, visitors leave without purchasing, you can lose a lot of money.
The three major PPC advertisers are Google Ads, Bing, and Facebook.
Make Money Online
Once your business website generates traffic, it is time to monetize the traffic, make money.
There are many ways Website monetization a website. Monetization is the process of turning non-revenue-generated traffic into cash. Your business website is the tool to carry out this conversion process.
The two popular methods to make money online from home are affiliate marketing and on-site advertisement.
Affiliate marketing program
Affiliate marketing is the most popular way for online business owners to boost their business revenue.
Most affiliate programs are free to join.
The video below will explain the entire process of affiliate marketing. I suggest you watch it.
Make money with Google AdSense
On-site advertisement can be done by selling ad spaces on your website or by connecting with advertisement agencies like Google’s AdSense.
Many online advertising agencies offer online home-based business owners an opportunity to share ad revenue by allowing them to place relevant ads on the website. You make money when a visitor clicked on the ad.
You can join Google AdSense by visiting the site and register for an account. Google AdSense will provide you a unique code to place on your business website which will track your earnings.
Legalize Your Online Business From Home
You should file or register your online business with the local and state governments for your home-based business. Most people do not register their online business until they start making money.
I recommend filing legal papers for your online home-based business as soon as you can.
Selecting the right legal structure for your home-based business.
Your online business legal structure will have an implication on your tax status. Most home-based businesses are operated as a sole proprietorship due to its ease of formation, and the owner has complete control.
A sole proprietorship is a person owns and runs his/her own business. Under this structure, there is no legal separation between the owner and the business for tax purposes. All profits, losses, and debts are part of the owner’s income.
There are other forms of business structures such as a Partnership, LLC, and Corporation. If you are considering these legal structures, you may want to consult a lawyer who can help you pick the structure best for you.
Register with local government
All business entities are required to register with state and local governments.
Registering for a DBA (Doing Business As) is the least that you must do. The registration is typically done through your state government or county clerk’s office. Make sure you check your local small business association to find out the appropriate agencies to register your online home-based business.
Depend on the type of services you are offering through your online business from home, there might be other permits and licenses required by your city, county, or state. The best way to find out is to contact your city and inquire about any requirements to operate a business from your own home.
Get a tax identification number for your online home-based business.
Tax identification is required for corporations, partnerships, and LLC. A sole proprietorship does not need a tax ID. The owner’s social security is sufficient. However, there are instances where you might want to get a tax ID such as having employees, collecting sales taxes, or having a business retirement plan.
- If you are operating an online retail business, you might have the obligation to collect local and state sales tax. Make sure you familiarize yourself with sales tax requirements.
- Operating as the owner of an online home-based business, you are required to pay income tax, but you may be eligible for certain tax deductions as well. It is best to consult with a lawyer and make sure that you’re all covered going forward.
Starting an online business from home is not difficult at all. If you can follow this free guide step-by-step on ‘How I Make Money Online’, you will be able to build a successful online home-based business.
I want to invite you to become a free member of an online entrepreneurs training program that has helped million of people successfully build their online business. You can follow the link below to setup a free account and start training today.
Have a question or comment, just leave me a message.
Hello, I really appreciate your time and effort on writing about starting an online business.
From your post it’s obvious that affiliate marketing is the way to go for people who are looking to start their own online business without having to invest any money. Even though eventually you’ll have to pay for things like a website domain name, monthly web hosting fees, etc. these things are relatively cheap
I started doing affiliate marketing a few months ago and I definitely think this is the best opportunity out there to make money online. Thanks for the article.
Affiliate marketing is the best way to make your money with you online at home business .
I can only agree with your guide, it isn’t so hard to have an online business, even without money. You explain the things good, and Im pretty confident people will be helped with this. I’m an affiliate marketer for quite a while so I know what I’m talking about. Choosing a niche was for me easy, maybe for some isn’t, but choose something you really like, that is a big tip I give you!
Great advice for anyone wanting to get into working in their pj’s. This as far as I am concerned is one of the best business models for working online and eventually making a full-time income from it.
In order to do this, you need to be really disciplined with yourself and show up each day to do your dues. With this business model, there is no one to account to for except yourself, and you don’t need to rely on anyone under you to make you money. So the onus is on you to show up and work hard.
As they say, the more you put in, the more you are going to get out.
This sounds so exciting and adventurous. I feel tickled by the theme. What an amazingly talented writer you are!
I’ve really enjoyed reading this article as you’ve provided us with lots of valuable information. I have been looking for secrets on how to start reliable online business but i haven’t gotten any. Your article is extensive and comprehensive. I gained alot from the writeup. Thanks for the heads up
Starting an online business from home sure seems easy and the fact is that it is easy to start but there are a lot of things that would go on while you continue to build your online business. I have been online for some time but I am just finding out about somethings I would need to do to make my business really legit.
Like for example, I had no idea about actually legalizing my business and registering it with a local government. These are things I had no idea of and would have to get right on to it. I am really glad I came across this post as it has opened my eyes to a lot of things.
Yes, state and local governments are coming after online business to collect the fee. Many people doesn’t realize that they are using Google local business to track down at home businesses. Good luck Jay.
Starting an on line business from home is an enjoyable moment where you are a boss of yourself. You don’t need to ware special clothes to suit your work. First of get a computer or laptop or any other good gadget like palmtop, good phone to do this kind of business. Then set up your plans. Great businesses are done today in on line business. This kind of business does not need staffing, inventory, manufacturing of products. Get the ‘10,10,10’ system methods. That is 10 things you are passionate of, 10 things you are afraid of, and 10 problems you can not solve. You need to build a website to market and advertise ideas to people. One thing you must know, there are thousands of people looking for what you have. By doing so from home, you set your time and not any one setting time for you.you will be making wonderful money on line.
This is the life of an online business owner. You describe it well. I enjoy this work every day from the comfort of own home. Starting an online business from home doesn’t have to break the bank and your back.
Thank your visiting.