I studied business marketing and built a blog with over 10k page views per month. Here’s how I’d start an online business today.
I’ve often thought about what I would do differently if I was starting a blog or online business all over again.
Knowing what I know now, I could be a lot more intentional and precise.
Related post: 7 Things I’ve Learned from Blogging
To be perfectly honest, this blog started off as a hobby-blog. From a business perspective, it could have been developed better.
But that was before blog traffic started growing. And it was before I figured out how to reverse the crush by building income streams through blogging and investing. Now my online business model works! I’m totally f—king ecstatic about it.
However, there are a few things I would do differently if I was starting a blog with the intention of building it into an online business today.
Here is what to consider first before starting an online business:
Choose a niche topic that you are interested in researching and learning more about. Since the intention of an online business is to earn a profit, there must be a clear way to make money.
Before selecting a name that sounds good for your online business, you must decide on a topic and how it will earn a profit.
You must be able to think of enough content ideas for it to be worthwhile. And it must be a topic that you have enough knowledge on to add value.
Once you know how it can earn a profit, you can focus on marketing to grow that profit.
For example, I prefer to earn income magazine style—advertisem*nts are placed on my blog. I just focus on creating and marketing content. For now, this business model works well for me because I don’t have to spend time creating a product or providing a service. I simply write and market blog posts and my advertising partner does the rest. To increase revenue, I just have to grow blog traffic.
Related post: Google Ads: Why I prefer Google Adsense for Blog Monetization
As far as other income options, another avenue such as becoming an affiliate marketing expert or creating your own product may require sales skills rather than attracting the most website traffic. So it’s important to know how you prefer to make money.
In regards to selecting a niche topic, it’s better to select a topic before a domain because the domain should relate to the topic.
For more information on selecting a topic or niche for your blog, I would recommend you check out this post by This Online World:How to Pick a Blog Niche: (+45 Profitable Blog Niche Ideas & Examples
Make sure your Topic has Demand and check out Competitors
Prior to starting a successful business, it’s important familiarize yourself with the competition and choose a business that will have demand for its product or service. Otherwise, you will not be able to stand out from your competition, and your business will likely fail because there will not be enough customers.
So before you buy the domain and create your marketing strategy, begin by researching your topic.
To research your competitors, you can start with a simple Google search.
If your topic is “financial independence,” search “financial independence” in Google and check out links from the top 3 pages. What are their angles on FI? What are they doing on social media? Think about how you can differentiate your online business.
In addition, search hashtags related to your topic on social media. Note what questions are being asked. And note what social media channels are popular for your topic.
Also, use Google Trends to search keywords related to your topic.
Related post: How to Market a Blog on Social Media
Create a Brand Name and Tagline – Define your Blog or Online Business Purpose
Back when I chose the name and domain for this blog, I was in the middle of taking a year off work, so the blog’s theme reflected that. Originally, the tagline was elude the 9-to-5. Hence, Reverse The Crush.
Even though I have made it work, that wasn’t necessarily the best choice for building a successful online business.
Now, RTC is about financial independence by building income streams through blogging and investing.
If I had of taken a more simple approach, I could have chosen a more narrow niche.
For example, I could have chosen to blog about only dividend investing. Then I could choose a brand name that represents that (ie: My Dividend Business). That name clearly describes what the blog is about. From there, it is easy to create a tagline that elaborates on the title. Based on the example, My Dividend Business, the tagline could be: Building a Business through Dividend Investing. In this example, the topic and tagline make it very clear what the blog is about and what type of content it will include. Since the blog is about dividend investing, the appropriate income option is affiliate marketing of financial products, advertising, or creating an e-book.
Related post: 9 Ways to make Money from Blogging in 2019
Choose an appropriate, easy-to-remember web domain that clearly reflects your topic and brand.
By step 4, you have chosen your niche topic, researched the competition, and you created a brand name and tagline.
Now it’s time to get a web domain that fits your online business. Personally, I use Bluehost for web hosting because of their great customer service and free SSL certificate. Whenever I have a problem, I can easily sign on to their 24/7 chat for assistance. They always help.
Anyways, choose an easy to remember web domain that is as close to your brand name as possible.
A few examples of an easy-to-remember, on-topic website domain using the “My Dividend Business” example from before would be: mydividendbusiness.com or dividendbusiness.com.
Create the Frame Work for a memorable Brand – Image matters
A lot of people fail to realize that first impressions matter.
This is whether it’s in the office, when trying a new restaurant, or visiting a new website for the first time.
If your site doesn’t look like a million bucks, it’s less likely for readers to stay, so your website’s bounce rate will be high.
Moreover, it’s important to create a memorable, consistent brand that is noticeable.
With so much competition for attention on all the social media channels, a branded logo or colour theme can help an audience spot your content.
Create Content for your Brand that supports your Tagline and Mission.
One of the main things I’ve struggled with when it comes to blogging is sticking to one topic. I’ve been all over the place. Again, if I had chosen a more narrow niche, it would have been easier to remain on topic.
Fortunately, I’ve been able to make this blog work while focusing on blogging and investing.
Related post: How to Blog – 6 Tactics to Build a Successful Blog
Although some Bloggers focus more on content than branding, as a marketing student, I do believe there is value in memorable branding. Great branding captivates an audience with the happiness associated with the product or service.
After the framework, website domain, and brand has been established, your job is to create and market content that supports your online business over and over.
It’s true that adding a personal story can make content interesting. However, it’s also important to stay on topic and produce valuable content that readers want to read. It took me nearly 4 years to figure out that I should write what people are searching for instead of writing what I want to write. That’s the main difference between hobby-blogging and professional blogging.
To review, find questions that your target audience is searching for. Then create SEO-optimized content that supports your brand’s mission.
Online Business – Concluding Thoughts
If I was better at managing time, I would start a 2nd blog that would be more intentionally developed as a profitable business.
I would greatly enjoy the challenge after all I’ve learned from blogging.
The learning curve I faced with my own online business, combined with my background in business marketing, has come together to help me understand business marketing better than ever.
In summary, to start a successful online business:
- Choose a niche topic that you can provide value on that has a clear way to make money
- Research to make sure your topic has demand and to know your competitors
- Create a brand name and tagline that reflects your topic and that supports your mission
- Choose an appropriate, easy-to-remember website domain that clearly represents your brand and topic
- Create the framework for a memorable and consistent brand image
- Create content that supports your topic and tagline
I hope this post provides the framework to start your online business or blog.
I am not a licensed investment or tax adviser. All opinions are my own. This post may contain advertisem*nts by Monumetric and Google Adsense. This post may also contains internal links, affiliate links to Amazon, Bluehost, and Questrade, links to trusted external sites, and links to RTC social media accounts.
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