The internet has given us the tremendous power to engage with tools, people and groups without being constrained by geography. If you intend to build an online business or a dotcom companies, they following tips will be useful.
- Spend time thinking over your creative ideas and invest in careful planning.
- Establish a dotted line of steps to reach short, medium and long-term goals
- Decide how much personal investment you are willing to give—now and in the future.
- Identify some keywords in the niche you have chosen. Use Google Keyword Tool to find out the
kind of competition in advertising and the demand of people searching for the kind of business you intend to build. Use the same keywords to do a search on Google Search Engine to find out who your competitors would be. - Buy that domain name where possible. If it is taken, try to work along with keywords or some unique name whichever preference you want. A unique name will create a branding if you were to branch out into a physical business later.
- Domain name: Create a branding image of your business. Remember that any domain that you have decided will be engraved in everybody’s mind when they remember your products.
- Depending on your business nature and growth, you might want to use shared hosting first to keep your cost down while expanding your business. If your business is really good, a dedicated hosting is always good.
- Tap into your network of friends to find support(Financial, mentors, business advisors, legal consultants etc)
- Put your idea in a simple investor pitch you can easily share with friends or possible angel investors who could take a look at your idea
- Identity startup competitions and submit your pitch for consideration
- At this stage you might want to consider a co-founder who believes in your idea and would want to partner to start in business
- Find relevant materials on startups to to know how the successful ones did it. Onstartups and Mixergy are a good options
- Tap into the growing global angel capital market for future growth
- Building the product is the one of the most crucial steps. Get it right and users will love you. Get it wrong and an angry customer can change the game for you for good.
- If you can’t build it, outsource it and make it professional
- Once your business site is up, be prepared for serious marketing both on the web and offline
- Attend important national conferences for your industry and for the web, and don’t be afraid to approach reporters.
- Now you are beginning to get real. Make the most of social media.
