I just spent some time writing about all the reasons it is a great idea to start an online business right now. Then, once I had finished writing the article, I realised I needed to tell you how to do that.
Sometimes my brain does work!
In the article above I claimed that you could start an online business today. I also said that nothing is stopping you, but actually, there is sometimes.
The only thing stopping most people is themselves.
This article’s biggest aim is to make the process so simple it can’t be ignored.
Understand Consistency
I bang on about consistency like nobody’s business. But I don’t care if I talk about it too much, because it is so important in the online business world.
If there is one thing to get into your head right from the start, it’s that being consistent will get you to where you want to be.
If you can do one thing that moves the needle every day then you have nothing to worry about. The success will come.
Obviously you need to know what ‘things’ move the needle and what don’t, but there’s nothing complex to that either. I’ll tell you all you need to know to get started right here in this article.
The Business of You
From this moment on, you are a business. You are a brand. If you are serious about starting an online business, then start with the business of you.
Your online business will be more successful if it is based on what you can bring to its brand, so why not start growing your brand and then attach your online business to it further down the line when it’s ready.
There is no need to spend months setting up your online business before finally launching it and realising that everyone is saying “Amazing, I’d love to talk to you about this.” and that you could have been talking to these people from the start.
Start building your online presence as yourself. But what do you talk about?
Choose an Idea
Don’t worry, you don’t need to come up with your future business idea, business plan and strategy. If you do already have an idea for a business, perfect! But it’s not necessary.
If you don’t have a business idea, you just need to think of something you can write about to build your online presence. Something you are interested in and that you think other people will be interested in.
If this is a struggle, just write about your journey to start an online business. Write about everything you are learning, what personal development you are practising and stories you are discovering.
Choose Your Starting Platform
Don’t put too much effort into this next part, you will be able to change direction later if you need to.
Choose what platform you want to get started on, this comes down to how you feel about each platform. If you love the visual imagery of Instagram and feel like it could be for you, then go with that. If you are constantly reading articles on Medium and feel a draw to be a successful writer, go with that. If you’re a hotshot in the business world and enjoy networking, go with LinkedIn.
Just choose one for now, but make sure you have profiles in your name on all the major platforms so that you can try them out too.
Write a short profile on your chosen platform that describes what you are going to be writing about. Keep it simple for now. Put a nice wholesome picture of you on your profile too. People like to see real people if they are going to listen to them, it gives them an image of who is talking to them and lets them open up a little more to receiving what they are saying.
Just Do It
My favourite brand tagline (even if not my favourite brand) is ‘Just Do It’ from Nike. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for argument.
The next step is to start getting noticed.
Then write a post. If you need an image to go with it, try a stock image site like Unsplash.com or take a photo yourself. Just get something out there. The first thing that comes to mind, as long as it’s not offensive! You’re not looking for razor-sharp insight or hilarious entertainment, you just want to get started.
Invite all your friends and family to follow you on your chosen platform, that’s where it always starts and there is nothing wrong with that.
Be honest, be vulnerable, be confident.
Then be consistent.
Do this every day. After a week you will have doubled your engagement on each post and after a month you will have people waiting for your posts each day.
But don’t just stick with your own posting. Engage with other people, engage with your followers, engage with people you admire, engage with posts you like. Engagement means commenting, liking and sharing and should add value to the other person, not just allowing you to tick a box. Give your opinion, share posts that deserve to be shared.
As you do these things, you will start to discover what really interests you. When you sit down to think of what to write today, really notice what comes up first. These could be the first stages of your online business idea.
But, But, But I Haven’t Started a Business Really!
If you’re thinking the above, what do you think you need to do to start an online business?
All you need to do to have a successful online business is:
- Get people to notice you.
- Get people to engage with you.
- Get people to trust you.
Do you think there is any difference between the things you do to get your online business noticed and getting yourself noticed online?
There really isn’t.
The business idea, the branding, the products and services. They can all come in time, but having an online presence already there in your name, ready for when you start your online business is priceless.
I was talking to a prospective client recently who already had a business idea and wanted to learn about building his online presence for it when the time was right. I gave them one main, simple piece of advice. Just get started building your online presence in your name. I challenged him to write something on LinkedIn that very same day, which he did. The next day he had influential people getting in touch about his new business and hundreds of views of his post.
Just get started. Deal with the details later.