How to Succeed in Online Business…

You Need Knowledge, an Appropriate System and To Do the Right Things Daily!

You may have noticed that many business products are sold online on the premise of the “one big secret” being revealed to achieve success in online business, or making money online. However, this can be very misleading as there is no single reason, no panacea, apart from “doing the right things daily”.

It is clear, as in all walks of life, if you are looking to achieve success online, you need to do things that are proven to work and avoid the things that are known not to work. So, if you are looking to start your own business online, there are at least 3 broad things you must consider when getting started online…

First, you will need knowledge of what it takes to be successful. Then you will need to build a system which can get you to where you want to be and what you want to achieve with your online business. The third thing is you should seek the help of others to learn what to do.

The latter is particularly true for three reasons: (i) failure rates in online business are very high, (ii) the learning curve is steep and it takes time to accumulate knowledge, and (iii) there is never any reason to reinvent the wheel. You should never, therefore, contemplate doing things alone or in isolation; in the words of Tony Robbins…

“If you want to be successful, simply find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do. You’ll achieve the same results.”

In this blog article, you’ll discover in simple terms what it is you must do to achieve success in your business online.

Stick to the Fundamentals

Jim Rohn defines fundamentals as… “those basic principles on which all accomplishment is built.”

We are fortunate that Rohn applied the term “fundamentals” to the concept of success. He says that fundamental principles belong to the ages. They have been the same since biblical times and will remain so until the end of time. So if you are looking for fundamental success, the type of success online that endures the test of time, it is important to build on a solid foundation.

According to Rohn, success is a simple process which he describes as follows…

“Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the fundamentals of success to life.” ~ Jim Rohn.

The key is always: “stick to the fundamentals.”

So what, then, are the fundamentals for doing online business? Rohn’s guidance is that there are always a half dozen things that make 80% of the difference to what you are trying to accomplish. If you get those 6 things correct, they will make the most difference to the outcome. This is true no matter what business you are in… “It is those half-dozen fundamentals that count.“

What Are the Fundamentals of Doing Business Online?

It’s clear from what Jim Rohn taught that you will need to look beyond the 3 broad factors I mentioned at the outset and build on these to include a wider range of basic things that are likely to make the most difference in building your business online.

Here’s my view on things… First, you can take the often cited claims by Gurus of “success in 3 simple steps” with a pinch of salt. The reality is that life is never quite that simple.

Second, my assessment is that you need to focus on the following 7 key strands (or fundamentals) of your online business whatever niche you are in. These are all vital for development and sustainability of any online business:

1. Personal Development, Relationships and Working with Others
2. Business Planning and Implementation, Niche Selection, Products and Service Mix
3. Content and Brand
4. Technology and Resources
5. Advertising, Marketing and Sales
6. Traffic, Conversions and Economics
7. Create Sustainable Business, Scale Your Business to the Next Level

You can say each of these is important because only by working and developing these factors together are you likely to achieve growth and sustainability in your business over the long term.

Personal development, relationships and working with others is paramount, but these take time to achieve. This fundamental is discussed in more detail in another blog post: “Foundation for Success in Online Business: Develop Self and Others”. You can access this blog here.

Business Planning and Implementation topics are presented here, particularly aspects of business models and affiliate marketing. Otherwise it is suffice to say, irrespective of your niche, you will need a system…

That is, if you believe in your product mix and have confidence in it, the how and where to advertise to attract others will follow. You must get the economics of your sales offers correct and understand the need for process and how things fit together. Once you do, you will then need to build and implement an appropriate system to manage your day-to-day operations.

We All Need A System

The system need not cost you an arm and a leg, but you must invest time and effort in coming to terms with automated technologies. Otherwise, you will struggle to gain a threshold in your market to earn consistently.

If you understand this, you will appreciate the many who fail in online business do so due to lack of a system to manage their daily operations. In summary, you will need an automated marketing system to undertake the following:

• Advertising to gain traffic to your websites and build your brand.
• Link tracking so you can gather, monitor, and compare traffic statistics.
• Page builder with web hosting to prepare opt-in forms and other funnel pages.
• Lead Magnets to attract and persuade targeted leads to opt-in to your contact list.
• Autoresponder to build and manage your email list.
• Comprehensive training so you can learn and earn from the above features.

I use and recommend the “LeadsLeap” advertising platform and its associated list management system, called “SendSteed”. The LeadsLeap platform provides all the above tools, and most of the resources, you will need to run your business online.

It is free to join and operate, although you will want to upgrade to the Pro version as soon as possible to grow and scale your business online. You can learn more about this all-in-one marketing system by clicking on the above banner.

This is a fairly unique system as it covers all your advertising, list building and email follow-up needs to automate your online business. You can get started for free and, as you can make money from this system, you can earn as you learn. 

I recommend you treat this as an income opportunity to help develop your business. I can guarantee you will make money from it as you get paid for viewing other marketers’ ads.

Implement BEST Practice Kept Simple

While the system is important, it will not run itself. Once you have your system in place, the focus will swing back on you, and the need for rigour in your online business operations, or daily routine.

There are at least 4 key activities you must churn through each day and you must plan to undertake these regularly. Although complex, I call this BEST Practice Kept Simple, as it is important to avoid over-complicating things.

What does the acronym BEST Practice mean? Well, this is simply a reflection of what an internet marketer must do each and every day, broken down into the following 4 basic activities:

B – Build Audience using appropriate content for your specific niche to attract traffic to view your offer, identify leads and build your Contact List. 

E – Engage Leads to build rapport and trust, gauge level of interest and present offer to prospects, including subsequent follow-up and clarification.

S – Sell to Prospects, which is the last element of the conversion process from lead to customer. However, business with your customer should not stop at the point of sale. You must also…

T – Train Referrals what to do with your product or service, whether this is replicating BEST Practice, or informing subscribers how to operate and make the best use of what you have sold them. 

The above 4 tasks comprise your Daily Method of Operation. While the first 3 get general recognition, the last one, “training”, is often neglected. Also, the balance of what you do every day is likely to vary depending on the demand for your products and services with your prevailing situation.

However, it is important to recognise that training and related factors are necessary to keep customers over the medium to long term. Also, training lays the groundwork for long-term partnerships so, If you ignore the relationship aspect, you will find motivation drops and retention of your customers may become a problem.

Experience has shown that training is vital for building leadership, trust and brand. Implement the full range of BEST Practice, you will see success inevitably follow, just as night follows day…

“How do you do it?” said Night

“How do you wake and shine?”

“I keep it simple.” said Light

“One day at a time!”

~ Lemn Sissay, MBE

It is most important to apply BEST Practice Kept Simple regularly and incorporate all the associated activities into your daily routine, such as they become habitual, with priority on your money making activities of traffic, conversions and economics. These habits require a range of essential skills to master if you are to become an effective marketer and achieve success online.

Skills Development is another Priority

In an earlier post, I mentioned there is a high failure rate encountered by entrepreneurs setting up online business. The key question, then, is why do most marketers fail while a small set meet with remarkable success?  

A well kept secret is that the products are incidental to the equation. Rather, success depends on the abilities, skills and attitude of the individual marketer.

Yes, it is you that is important. You need to make choices and take action. You will need to select your product mix carefully and equip yourself with the online business skill set and resources to do the job. Without a suitable system and action, it is most likely that you will achieve little or nothing. 

Leading marketers present their products and services on the principle that anyone can do this. Just buy my done-for-you products and magic will result. It is seldom that simple and invariably many successful marketers just leave their customer base to sink or swim.

What we know is that success only happens once folks discover the magic is inside them, not their product mix, per se. Newbies have therefore to invest in themselves to get to the level of the marketer who sold them the product in the first place. There is learning involved, and this takes time.

The question then is what are the essential skills a marketer must learn to implement Best Practice Kept Simple as their Daily Method of Operation?

Foremost, to build your audience and brand, you need to master the preparation of content. It is content that will attract traffic, raise awareness of your product and service mix, and subsequently build the know, like and trust factors you require to be a successful online business. Trust is essential for you to be effective in the marketplace and build your brand.

You will also need to develop skills across the other elements of BEST Practice, which will require you to set up and operate your Sales Funnel system, including advertising, list and funnel building, communication and training.

It is a matter of record that all successful marketers employ list building and sales funnel techniques to operate their businesses online. You can find details on the list and sales funnel building methodologies in LeadsLeap.

As stated above, this advertising platform is free to join and has the advantage over other systems that you can build and maintain your lead capture and sales pages in the free version of the program and also build your list without ever having to fear losing your contacts due to lack of payment for the system.

Also, there are training materials included on the LeadsLeap platform, including a free Insider Advertiser Report. The aim of this report is to help its members become better advertisers by teaching advertising fundamentals and how to get their ads to convert. This is one of two lead magnets provided by LeadsLeap to help you attract and persuade targeted leads to opt-in to your contact list.

Communication is Key When Building Any Online Business

There is one last thing to appreciate on the importance of your list and what it is you must do to make things happen. It is engagement, or effective communication with your contacts, that is the vital spark that will ignite your list. Without this, you can have the biggest list in the world, and the finest funnel, but nothing is likely to happen.

The skills associated with BEST Practice Kept Simple are vital, and these take time and effort to attain. Note also, that if you are short in any area, business skill or resource base, it will be difficult or well-nigh impossible to implement a satisfactory daily routine.

“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” ~ Warren Buffett

The answer is to do the work and be persistent in your quest for success. It is the assimilation of doing the tasks associated with BEST Practice Kept Simple over time that will unlock the door to your online business. It is like learning to walk or ride a bicycle. These activities take time. Perseverance to master skills is required, and then consistent application of these skills to make things work.

Although persistence is necessary to get you to the point you develop skills, you then need determination and resilience to apply these skills and knowledge consistently, if you are to achieve the progress you desire in online business. 

Your Key Takeaways to Succeed Online

If you want to succeed in online business, you need to follow some fundamental principles and develop the necessary skills and resources to build and sustain your business over the long term. It is not about finding the one big secret that will magically lead you to success. Instead, it’s about doing the right things daily, sticking to the fundamentals, and constantly learning from others to modify what you do and improve.

In this article, the seven key strands of online business have been presented. These are development of self and others, business planning and implementation, content and brand, technology and resources, advertising, marketing, and sales, and creating a sustainable business by paying particular attention to traffic, conversions and economics. By focusing on these fundamentals and applying BEST Practice Kept Simple to your daily operations, you can build a successful online business.

Also be aware that it is your habits that shape your life. If you want to change your life, you need to change your habits. There is nothing new in this idea. It was stated almost two and a half centuries ago, as follows…

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence therefore is not an act but a habit.” ~ Aristotle.

Making good habits stick can seem overwhelming at first but developing better habits is possible with discipline and appropriate knowledge. I have a free guide which can help you to “Secure a Bright Future” for you and your family. If you’d like a copy, request it by adding comment below.

Thus building an online business takes time and effort, and there are few shortcuts to success. You need to invest in yourself and others to develop the necessary skills and resources, and persistently apply these skills and knowledge to make things work. So, keep learning, keep growing, and keep taking action towards your goals.

Importantly, we all need a system and if you’re looking for an automated marketing system to manage your daily operations, consider LeadsLeap’s advertising platform and its associated list management system, SendSteed. With LeadsLeap, you can access all the essential tools and resources you need to run your online business effectively, for free. And as you upgrade to the Pro version, you can grow and scale your online business to the next level.

So, start your journey towards success in online business today, and remember these wise words from one of the greatest leaders of all time…

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ~ Winston Churchill.

Finally, I encourage all readers to engage with the blog article. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please also raise them in the comments section below and I will respond to you. 

All the very best,

Will