Overcome Online Business Challenges with Lessons from Others
It's only natural to feel overwhelmed when first starting out in business. It's a big, scary world out there and it can seem impossible to find your way. But once you've had a little success there are exponentially more challenges that come along with the territory. To help get you started on the right foot (or tiptoe if that’s more your style) we've created this list of lessons from other aspiring entrepreneurs who have faced their own share of challenges and found ways to overcome them.
There are many online resources for entrepreneurs, but a few in particular we think are pretty valuable.
We hope this hits you where you live.
Dealing with Employees (or not) One of the most common questions to come up in our communities is whether or not to hire employees for your business. This is a topic that often comes up when we talk about the pros and cons of starting up an online business versus running one out of your house from which you may or may not get paid... but this article really addresses it from the point of view of someone who has hired and fired employees before. From managing multiple people to firing people, hiring and firing is in many cases one of the biggest challenges facing small businesses, especially newer ones. There are, of course, solutions to this problem. I've hired several employees (and fired a few) over the years and can supply you with some tips for hiring employees, working with them, keeping them happy and firing them.
— Derek Halpern - The Freelancer's Handbook
Aspiring online entrepreneurs soon learn that it's not enough to blog about their business or show potential customers around the Web. You also need to market your business and get people in front of your computer—and your keyboard.
Those who ignore this basic marketing advice are setting themselves up for failure. When you're just starting out, you should not only start networking on social networks like Facebook but also on blogs and discussion forums...
— The Clothes Horse
It can be easy to fall into an "all work and no play" pattern when starting up a new business. We're constantly working on our business, trying out new ways to make money, trying to figure out how the online world works, designing our blog, researching keywords (and their relative popularity)...the list goes on and on. There is plenty of work to be done in order to start an online business at home!
But what about you? Do you remember exactly what it was like when you first got started?
I did a lot of research before starting my online business. I read all I could get my hands on about Internet marketing and building websites for profit. I read business books. I took classes on-line.
— Brian Clarke - Starting Your Own Online Business Tips
There's something to be said about surrounding yourself with successful people.
If you want to start an online business, one of the best things you can do is to learn from those who have successfully done so in the past. Some of these entrepreneurs are experts at their craft, while others just know how to ask a lot of questions and overcome any issue that comes their way. No matter what your skill level, learning from successful people is one of the best ways to help ensure that you will succeed as well (in your own way).
If you want to be successful at starting an online business, you need to be flexible.
There are many ways to start an online business. Some people choose to run a blog while others choose affiliate marketing. No matter which path you take, it is important that you stay flexible and open-minded to new ideas. Constantly learn more about the way your business and the market works.
— The Savvy Marketer
When building a website for your small business, one of the most important things you can do is make sure that it is mobile friendly. Mobile devices like iPhones and Android devices are becoming ever more popular as a way for consumers to find information and make purchases from their smartphones or tablets. The rise in sales online has also come with a huge surge in mobile browsing. Businesses that are not mobile friendly simply cannot compete.
— Tom Herring - The Art of Getting Started
For those who want to learn more about instruction, we offer this list of posts from some of the members of the Freelance Writing Online community:
Clients! Why do some people have so much success working out of their homes and others fall flat on their face? While it's impossible to know what causes some people to succeed where others fail, there are definitely patterns you can recognize:
— Mark A. King - How to Work From Home
For all the aspiring e-preneurs out there, here's a piece on how to start your own successful e-commerce store. I want to address some of the most common questions that are being asked by those who aspire to start their own online business:
— Brian Clarke - Starting an Online Business Tips
In this article I'm going to teach you how I've managed to launch six profitable affiliate websites in the last two years, and take you through each step of the process. I'll show you exactly what I did for each site, from choosing a niche and finding content ideas, right through to getting my domain name and getting that site live at my hosting service...
— Paul They - The Art of Creating a Profitable Affiliate Site
While building a website can be easy, it doesn't take in to account the cost of hosting it.
— Podio Blogger - How to Start a Blog Post – 7 Steps
One of the important things when starting a blog is to make sure that you are able to use an effective domain name.
— Podio Blogger - How To Find Domain Names For Your Blog Post – 8 Tips
To make sure that your blog is consistently updated with new content, you need an editorial calendar. It's probably one of the most important tools in your arsenal as a blogger. (Brian Clarke)
— Brian Clarke - How To Start A Blog Post
To get started with blogging you need to understand how to create blog posts before you can even think about making money on your blogs. Here's a list of the steps I took when starting out:
— Brian Clarke - How To Start An Online Business Blog Post
Getting started with blogging is complex. There are so many technical aspects, access to content, and understanding that you want your blog to be focused around. Add information overload and choosing the right topic, and it becomes overwhelming.
Conclusion
That's all for today. I hope you've found this list of big blogs online useful. If you need more details on any of these services please use the links provided.
— Lauren, Community Manager at Freelance Writing Online
Photo credit: kevin dooley via flickr CC license.
FTC disclaimer: Affiliate links are in this post to a hosting service that I use and recommend - HostGator . This does not influence the price that you pay for their service; it simply helps me to defray a small percentage of my monthly costs with no additional cost to you whatsoever.