How To Be Successful In An Online Business

Many of the principles I will be discussing here also apply to any type of business. However, when it costs virtually nothing to start an Affiliate Marketing business, there are other factors that come into play.

Most businesses involve substantial start up costs. In addition, it takes a team of individuals working together in a conventional business. The start up costs are also high. Often a bank loan is used to get the business off the ground. When there is significant money in the game and more people to be accountable to, it is easy to be fully committed.

Affiliate Marketing requires little or no financial investment, as well as the only person you are accountable to is yourself. Hence, it is much more easy to give up when the going gets tough. This is a very good argument in favor of investing real money in starting a business.

So what options exist to become successful in Affiliate Marketing where you invest very little and only have to be accountable to yourself? Read on and you will learn how to be successful in an online business.

Clear Vision

A business is only viable if it creates a positive cash flow. It is mandatory to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve. This can be accomplished by answering the following questions:

1. Who is your target market?
2. What is the need you want to meet or problem you wish to solve?
3. What is the niche will that fall into?
4. Is the market large enough to create sufficient traffic to generate customers?
5. What is your plan to give your customers a great experience?
6. Do you know how much income you would like to earn in say 6, 12 and 24 months into the future?
7. What will you do if you do not meet these goals?

Firm Commitment To Make It Work

Any business is a marathon and not a sprint. Jeff Bezos the founder of Amazon had a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve and was willing to do whatever it took and for however long until he achieved his goals. For many years his main objective was to generate building his market even it meant loosing money. Eventually, Amazon started making a profit and look where it is today.

Making a commitment means you have to take full responsibility to do whatever it takes to make your business a success. In Affiliate Marketing, there is a well-defined process that others have created that works. You know that it can work as it has done so for others. Shouldn’t that be a good incentive to commit?

When you work alone, and you have little or no money invested, how do you go about scheduling adequate time each day to work on your business? It is one thing to say you are committed. But are you willing to set aside the time to do the necessary work? It is more effective to devote one hour every day than to spend 7 hours one day and do nothing for a whole week. When you are starting something new, it is critical to build momentum to the point of reaching critical mass.

Critical mass is the tipping point when a point is reached where results start to accelerate. Sadly many give up just before critical mass is reached. Do not do that.

There will be hurdles to overcome. All of us who want to be successful must accept that there will be challenges and accepting that quitting is not an option. That is what is meant to have a firm commitment to make it work.

Get The Right Tools

Having the right tools and support for the job will give you a winning edge. What are the tools for Affiliate Marketing? Most of us already have them. Let’s list them below

A Decent Computer

It doesn’t have to be the latest and greatest. A two-year-old computer costing under $200 will do just fine. It is important that it has reasonable speed and internal memory. The choice is so great that having a computer should not be a problem. What if it is a problem? Can you do this business using a mobile device? If you have to,

I suggest a tablet with one of the larger screens. I would only use a phone to supplement a desktop computer or tablet. Often I use the phone to check out and respond to notifications, answer questions, and communicate with other members.

When I write content I only use my iMac or my iPad. However, my preference is my iMac.

Applicable Software

Since Affiliate Marketing uses a website, one needs to have the software tools to create effective websites as well as the tools to enhance search engine optimization.

Domain Purchase and Hosting

Being able to purchase affordable domain names and having cost effective website hosting is critical to set up an effective Affiliate Marketing business. If you can get this included with an online marketing training platform you will be ahead of the game. I will address this down below.

Good Internet Connection

It is obvious but I have to state it. You cannot run an online business without having a good online connection. When I use my iMac, I have it directly connected to the cable router, instead of using WiFi. In this way I remove any wireless issues from derailing my efforts.

However, I also use my iPad and iPhone. Hence, a good WiFi connection is a must. My internet is provided by a Cable Company that happens to be Spectrum, formally Time Warner and Adelphia. I am happy to say that the performance has improved with each acquisition. We also have our land line phone provided by cable. You can also use an Internet connection provided by your phone company like ATT or Verizon.

When I am away from home I have two options. If there is a good WiFi connection available I will connect with that. If it isn’t, I connect my iPad to my iPhone and use the mobile network connection instead.

A Quiet Place To Work With No Distractions

I treat this as a tool. It is hard to focus effectively if there are distractions all around you. Especially when you are planning or composing an article. If I am only making comments or responding to others posts, I can do that while talking with my wife. Or watching TV. My best work is done when I am in the home office with no distractions around. Unless I am working with social media for my business, I do not have these windows open.

Get The Right Training

It is possible to get free training online. How would you know if that training is effective? Can you get everything you need that is provided by one source for free? There is a big risk if you do not arm yourself with the best possible training to get into the Affiliate Marketing business.

Consider if you wanted to be an engineer. Can you honestly have confidence in free training assuming that it is even available in this field? Probably not. Once you decide you wish to create an Affiliate Marketing business why not learn from the best?

Can I introduce you to the place where I started? You can take a peek for free. And if you like what you see in this incredible full featured platform, you can become a fully fledged student for about $1 a day. However, there is no time limit for staying in as a free member if you strongly feel having limited access to all the training and tools will work for you.

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Learn From Mistakes

When we go to school mistakes are frowned upon. Throughout our whole lives, including in our jobs, we are penalized for making mistakes. However, the most successful people in the world, got there after making a lot of mistakes. The critical factor was they learned from their mistakes. The first lesson is not to make the same mistake again.

While you are building your Affiliate Marketing business you will be going through training. Just like in school, you will make mistakes. Unlike in school, you will not get punished. However, it will be up to you to learn from your mistakes and not repeat them.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that the objective of our study is to make mistakes. Not in the least. When we go through the training we are given exercises to do. While doing these exercises we may mess up at times. Often the reason is we forget what we were instructed to do.

I highly recommend that when you make a mistake, or you are not getting the results shown in the lesson, go back and review the lesson again.

When I went through the video training at Wealthy Affiliate, I had two windows open. One showing the training video and the other depicting the page the video was using to teach. In that way I could take action immediately while I was watching the video. If necessary, I would pause the video to give me time to complete the tasks.

Scale Up Over Time

If all goes to plan, eventually you will be earning an income from your website by purely organic means. By this I mean relying solely on Search Engine Optimization to drive traffic to your posts. As long as your posts give your visitors a quality experience, many of them will click through to your affiliate company and make purchases from there.

The more advanced training teach how to use Pay Per Click (PPC) ads to attract more visitors to your website post. However, it is best to wait until your website is earning you sufficient money to invest in ads. Once you do that, your business will scale up.

Closing Thoughts

How to be successful in an online business is a process that has to be billowed. I am happy to say that the process taught by Wealthy Affiliate has created innumerable successful Affiliate Marketing entrepreneurs. When you access the training for free, in the Dashboard area you will find plenty of posts of members posting their success they are having.

You have the option of going it alone, or leveraging the system Wealthy Affiliate has created to help you be successful.

The choice is yours. I want to know what you think of the points I made and if you have any questions. Please write these in the comments section below.

I wish you much success in your online business, no matter what it is.

Edwin

Note: (This post may affiliate links, which means that if you click on a link to the Merchant’s site and purchase something I may earn a commission.The price you pay will be the same if you went to the Merchant’s site directly.)