How to Become an Online Entrepreneur

Many people are scared about becoming an online entrepreneur but with over 65% of the world population now online there are amazing opportunities to start an online business and start making money.

I have been an entrepreneur for 35 years for 25 years I have been an online entrepreneur.  The internet opened up many opportunities and ways of doing business.  It is continually evolving as well as making it easier to start a profitable business.

In this article, we take a look at what you need to know about how to become an online entrepreneur.

Online Entrepreneurs Solve Problems

Every single business is successful because it solves a problem for its clients with products or services.  The business will identify a problem and then shout out to potential clients that if the client has this type of problem the company can solve it.

My husband has a manufacturing business.  He works with builders who want one-off items for their customers such as steel gates.  The builder will supply him with drawing plans and dimensions of what the item will look like when finished and he makes the item for them.  He solves a problem for the builders when they need a one-off item made.

In my business, I work with entrepreneurs who want to start a successful business and be able to invest the profits into property, digital assets and commodities.  I’m solving a problem, for my clients, about how to become a successful online entrepreneur or how to become a traditional entrepreneur.

The skills and knowledge are very similar for running any type of business.  All that is different is the setup.  If there is a physical office with staff and equipment or with an online entrepreneur everything is done online.

The first challenge for every entrepreneur is identifying what problem your business will be solving.

This is what people call the Niche.  My husband’s niche is manufacturing one-off items for builders.  My niche is how to become an online entrepreneur.

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Who is Your Ideal Customer?

Once a problem has been identified and a solution created for solving it, the next question is who would be the ideal customer to buy the product or service.

When I ask clients, this question the usual response is anyone could buy it.  The problem with this answer is how do you target everyone with the marketing strategy.  It just isn’t possible.

To demonstrate the point, with my clients, we do a little exercise.  Clients are shown a series of photos of people of all different ages from newborn babies to retired folks and asked what language would be used to talk to the people in the photo as well as what would their interests be.

The reason for this exercise is to demonstrate throughout our lifetimes we use different languages and are focused on different things.  If someone is in their 90’s you wouldn’t be talking to them about getting married and starting a family.  If the product suits someone in their 90’s use the language for 90-year-olds.  If the product is for 20-year-olds speak to them about the future and benefits of the product.

If the product is suitable to people of all ages, then different marketing campaigns are needed so the right language is used for the right customer.

Using a generic language means specific people are not targeted, they don’t hear the words applicable to them and advertising is wasted.

Getting to know the ideal customer is the next step in becoming an online entrepreneur.

You may like to read another blog Know, Like and Trust Marketing

Take a few minutes and write down who your ideal customer is.

Which Social Media Platform Does the Ideal Client Use?

There is a misconception that social media platforms are all the same.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Understanding each platform and how it functions will help to customize the posts you’ll be creating to market your product and ensure they are seen by the ideal client.

Here’s a list of some common social media sites and how to use them

1. Facebook – this is about social proof that your product or service delivers the results.  It has worked for you, changed your life and could work for clients
2.  Instagram – potential clients on this site want more background information about the product or service.  Posts will provide more detail
3.  X (Twitter) – this is breaking news about a product or service.  Posts are short and highlight a feature or benefit
4.  LinkedIn – is traditionally Business to Business so again the format is different as content will be directed to a business rather than an individual
5.  YouTube – is the how-to platform where viewers are looking at how the product or service will work
6.  Podcasts – consist of short 15-minute updates about the product or service.  It also includes chats (longer podcasts) providing more information about the benefits, features and results.

Understand each media platform and what the ideal client is wanting from each site, marketing can be customized to suit the language and needs of the potential clients.

Write a Business Plan

Once a business has identified the ideal customers and where to find them a business plan can be created.

A business plan is a roadmap for ensuring the growth and prosperity of the business.  It means you have identified all aspects of an online or traditional business and are ready to take the business to the next level.

There are many components to a business plan, so I’ve created a video that walks you through each step of creating the plan.  You can view below

Create, Grow, Exit is a talk between Chris Wojnar and Karen Newton, both have built multi-million dollar companies using different strategies. However, the main concept around creating a business plan remain the same.

An online business also requires a business plan. The plan is customised to your specific business.

Elements in the business plan will can be removed or added to for your business and niche. For example, where a SWOT analysis is done use this to study the competition. How they present their websites and the type of content they create. Also, look at the traffic that the website attracts and it’s ranking.

Don’t reinvent the wheel. What works for your competitors will work for you.

Create An Online Presence

To become an online entrepreneur, a business has to have an online presence.  Somewhere for writing about products and services and their benefits.

Websites are an essential part of being an Online Entrepreneur.  They can look more professional and are necessary if you intend be seen as serious about being an Online Entrepreneur.

Gone are the days of having to spend hundreds to create a website.  If you are willing to have a go yourself, websites such as Wealthy Affiliate offer a free account to get started, with fantastic step-by-step training.  The account can be upgraded to paid if you want to create more websites in different niches.

There is now a huge importance placed on website content by search engines to provide plenty of content so the visitor is gaining information.  It is one of the reasons you will find informative articles on this site.

Search engines recognise you are in the business of making money so they accept their must be some sales made but they like to see a higher ratio of informative posts a low ratio of sales posts.

Starting a Website

Websites are a great way to start an online business even though they are not essential.

I ran a coaching business for 6 years purely through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter but if you want to build passive income a website is needed.

Using a website will let you

1. Build your brand and reputation
2. Add affiliate marketing products
3. Sell your own courses
4. Bring in advertising through private placement adverts or adsense
5. Generate online sales 24 hours 7 days a week
6. Reach a wider audience with over 6 billion people online

A website opens opportunities that don’t exist through other channels.

Build an Email List

When I first started as an Online Entrepreneur, my thoughts were that people would buy from my website or click a link and buy the affiliate products I was promoting.  I had no need for an email list.  But I soon realised how much in follow up sales I was missing by not getting people’s emails.

I now add daily to my email list through “lead magnets”.  These are generally free information that someone wants and are willing to provide their email list to get it.

Examples of Lead Magnets are

• Webinars – it allows people to get to know about your while providing great information about your product or service with an upsell to your product.
• Free Guides and eBooks – potential clients want as much information as possible about your product or services and good quality free guides and ebooks says a lot about they type of content you will be providing
• Templates and Checklists – this creates a reusable tool that customers can use and are more likely to buy your product or service.
• Newsletters – these are informative and build trust with subscribers.

Lead magnets need to have value for the potential customer to be willing to give you their email in exchange for the item they will be receiving.

To store email addresses the are several management systems.  Some free and some payable.  I have used several but my preference is Aweber.  Again they offer a free account to start growing your list which can then be upgraded to access more facilities.

Skills to Become an Online Entrepreneur

An Online Entrepreneur runs a business.  Like any business owner there are certain skills necessary for an online business.

Some skills are

• Digital Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Writing Content
• Analysis of progress
• Creating Systems
• Consistency to work on your website daily
• Time Management

You may also want to check 10 Skills to Become an Entrepreneur

While there are many other skills it shouldn’t put you off starting an online business as the skills can be learned through different courses.  Karen Newton International offers courses some of which are available in the side panel on this website.  Subscribe to the Online Entrepreneur Newsletter and start building your knowledge and skills.

Sytems that Online Entrepreneurs Use

Every business whether or not it is online requires systems. Systems that attract customers to your website and convert visitors to customers.

Some of the systems your business will need include website hosting, email providers, conversion systems and delivery systems if you are intending to provide your own courses.

Here are some of my favourite system suppliers

Company	What They Provide
Wealthy Affiliate	Domain Names, Online Web Hosting and Training
Jaaxy	SEO Keyword Research
Aweber	email marketing, landing pages, signup forms

How to Become an Online Entrepreneur

While most people have a fear of becoming an online entrepreneur, the above steps will show you that it is much easier to get started than people realize.

Every business has to start with the steps outlined in this blog.  While it might seem like a lot of work, the great news is that normally this only needs to be done once a year to ensure the business is growing profitably.

Most online entrepreneurs will spend around an hour per week working on their business.  The free time can be used to create more businesses and more income.

Becoming an Online Entrepreneur is about freedom of time and freedom of choice. Make the choice and learn how to become an online entrepreneur.