Apply Today for Chance to Win 5K
Small Business Grant!

12 Feb 2007

I have been trying to get a web site business on the interent since October of 2006 and faced allot of diversity and hart aches. In February of this year(2007) the good folks at Web Pro gave me some very good advise on how I should get the web site noticed on the internet. Did you know that there are over a million sites on the internet that sell goods and services. So you can see my dilema. When you first start out, be sure you chose a good web site designed for you business. There are allot of sites out there that will promise you the moon but really can`t deliver. You need to do allot of research on which one will best suite you and be willing to invest some of that hard earned money you have been working so hard to get. once that is done then you need to figure out your company name and what you are going to sell and were are you going to get the products you want at real wholesale prices so you can turn around and sell them retail. Once that is done, you have to make sure you have the right key words and descriptions of your site and products, you then need to write five or ten articles about your site and products and get the articles published on the Web. If you have got fully discouraged by now you are ready for the search engines and ranking process along with all that marketing you need to do for your new business. In most cases this is were most folks bail out and say no way. If you work real hard and get all these things done you have a real good shot at making a living of you own home based web site business. $3,000.00 to $5,000.00 a month. It takes a long time for all of this to come to gether and like I said earlier, I have been working on my web site since October 2006 and still haven`t sold a thing yet. I hope this doesn`t discourage to many people from trying this. You will learn more about you computer than you could emagin. Well if you do all those things it will at least get you started in the right direction for making a descent income to live on. Good luck and I hope this helps a little.

DONALD YEARY

My site was up and running in November 2006. While I have had sales, they have come through paid advertising. I am still in search engine purgatory and would love to know if it really takes this long to start getting organic traffic or are my SEO folks not doing their job?

Suppose we just eliminate "web" from the whole discussion for the moment.

Couldn`t we rephrase the above questions? "I opened my store in Chicago last October, and I`m not getting a whole lot of customers. How come? Is it just a bad economy? Is it that hard to get noticed?

"Chicago has a population of about 7-million people, but I don`t see why more people don`t just stop by the store. I sell shoes, and they`re really really really really great shoes! I love them!"

Setting aside the "magic" of technology, Web sites, e-commerce, and other leading-edge words, remember that you`re still selling something. You`re doing the same thing people have been doing since human history began.

What makes you special? How come you`re different? Why should you be noticed? What are you doing to stand out from the crowd?

These are all common problems, facing anyone who opens up any business. It`s harder on the Web because you can`t have a carnival on your front lawn. You can`t hire a truck with blasting speakers to drive around the neighborhood. You`ve likely got a limited budget, and you`re dealing with a "virtual" reality instead of actual roads and buildings.

What were your expectations when you started your business, and what are they now? Why did they change? Will you focus on blaming the world, or focus on continuing to figure out ways around the  problems?

RaiseCapital,
There are lots of topics on the community forums about using SEO writing to optimize one`s visibility to the search engines.

When you start any web base business or any business in that matter it is going to take quite some time to get you name out their. One thing that I learned is that the more places that you post your ads the more you get your name circulated through out the internet, the better your search engine rankings will be. So just be patience, and stay active on the internet. http://www.uniquesatellite.com

I am sure glad I came accross this thread.  I have been doing ecommerce since September of 2006 and it has been a learning experience.  What I have found out is if you don`t have an advertising budget to market your site and only use the free things then it is going to take some time before you get noticed.  I have sold a few things since I started but not enough to make a difference.  I have have 3 sites that I market so that gives me more opportunities for sales.  Each one is a different product or service. 

SEO is now starting to help me a little.  I only listed with the free ones.  I have listed with Live Directories, Relevency SE, Vertical Portals, Link Trading, etc.  I have been doing that for months and it is now starting to pay off with some traffic. 

From what I have been reading SEO is not as valuable as they used to be.  Since more and more marketing is being paid for it is logical that SEO will soon be a secondary resource. 

Keep working at it and things will workout in the end.   

 

Dear Ones, I am new comer to Start up nation and a Website world. Though I got a domain before 3years www. tamil chaaral.com   I did not use since I don`t have the knowledge to utilize it? Will any kind hearted soul help me? mspmsir07

Mspmsir07,
I would suggest you open a new topic on the forums, and title it "What does a complete beginner need to know about the Web?"

:-) Welcome to the Startup Nation community, by the way. I think there may be more people here than anyone suspects, who really have no idea what to do with a Web domain. I may be wrong, but it seems like a decent topic to try. Right? What`s to lose?

In 2004 I`ve started a business focused on web services such as web development and web hosting.  One thing that was learned was if you are just beginning to understand the business better start at a smaller area than go and catch prospective clients worldwide.  After two and a half years, my business strategy changed and drastic as it was I begun to reap the benefits.

On 2005 I started another web based business but at the same time made sure that everything didn`t run on my website.  Meaning, many of the other services we did was way beyond just providing advertising on our website.  Today, I am earning more on this business than the first one.

It is hard nowadays to get your name out in the world wide web unless you got cash to spend.  So my advice would be... start small, focus at a smaller area near you and provide that extra service which is way beyond your website.

By the way, I am just new to startupnation.com and actually aiming to learn more and find a partner / financier to expand my 2nd business.

It`s been hard since the beginning of business to get one`s name out in front of the public. Back in ancient Greece, in the open markets people had as much trouble (relative to geography and consumers) as we do now.

Yes, it`s difficult. But it`s not any different than it used to be. It takes some thinking, some persistence, and some imagination. ;-) That`s why we discuss it on forums like this one.

I did my online business on eBay. I started it last year in January and grossed $19k. My only mistake was using my personal credit to secure a somewhat startup funding and to pay off previous debts in the form of a 1st and 2nd mortgage. Now I`m paying for it...... dearly!

Hi All

I have been doing affiliate marketing online for over 5 years and doing well.

The main thing I have learned is that you need 10,000 plus site visitors a day to make a small amount of money.

It will take over 90 day from the time you reach this figure to make constant income.

Read a great article here

Why People Fail In Network Marketing/MLM

http://www.apsense.com/article/105599.html

My Advice

http://www.apsense.com/article/107240.html

.

It sounds like all of you have had minimal success with online business ventures and you are looking for a better way.  Are you tired of:  long work hours? >>> long commutes to work? >>> no time with family?  Stop the rat race NOW!  We will show you why people from all walks of life to include doctors, stay at home moms, teachers, and even business CEO’s decided to start their own business in a $100 billion industry.  Go through an easy 3 step information process to learn how YOU TOO can earn an extraordinary income.  To get started, simply watch a short 4 minute movie at http://www.successlogix.net and receive a free digital information package.  Afterwards, we will give you a free guest pass ($49 value) so that you can view our online product!  An Automated Marketing System will give you the tools to earn a six figure income from the comfort of your home and give you the time freedom you’ve always wanted!  Why do you want to spend your valuable time researching this business opportunity?

 

Reason #1

A proprietary high value product positions your business to grow profitably within a mega-trend industry.  Designed by an international publishing company with a 17 year track record, the product is a complete suite of on-line wealth management and talent development courses that help people make better financial decisions.

Reason #2

Forbes magazine wrote a cover article approximately 5 years ago predicting the industry to be a $100 Billion industry by 2010. They exceeded that in 2006. The company has a solid business plan in place, with a determined effort to make our community of online entrepreneurs, the largest direct marketing company in the world by the end of this decade.

Reason #3

A breakthrough system gives you the ability to generate leads 24/7.  With auto-responders and lead management tools, the automated marketing system does 90% of the work for you.  Plus, you will receive free training on how to get started in this business.  With 28 prescheduled conference calls a week, you will be guided through the process of getting started and growing your business by a team of self motivated entrepreneurs that are already generating a multiple six figure income with this system from the comfort of their home!

 

Have a prosperous day.

 

Raul Guerrero Jr.

Home Business Consultant

(800) 679-7042 ext. 2532

I agree with Craig L`s comments. Its hard to get noticed these days. This is especially the case if there are so many web based businesses seeking to attract customers. I hope I dont have to agree with Rexie Dexie that you need 10,000+ site visitors a day to make a decent income. If that is the case the internet may dry up as a vehicle for commercial exchange?

Although it is not nice to accept it takes hard work and time to get noticed on the internet. There is an SEO industry that survives teaching people like us how to do it.

The only thing I would add, is that I have always been counselled to `do it myself` as I am the only one who knows my business well enough to make the subtle changes required to get up there. It is a real learning process and we are in the early stages.

Best Wishes

David
www.21stcenturyentrepreneurs.co.uk

We have far, far less than 10,000 visitors a day. However, more than half of our visitors buy something.

It`s not the quantity of clicks visiting a site, it`s the level of interest and the number of people who actually buy something.