A few weeks ago, a friend of mine came to me with a product that relates to an industry I have personally wanted to target for years, but just had never made the time. They wanted help from someone who has experience in developing multiple successful Internet websites from scratch. Naturally, enter Me…

Needless to say, I decided to get involved and help my friend to hopefully build a successful Internet company and profit on the side as well. Over the last couple weeks of work on this project, it struck me that I should really blog about the process and what we’re doing to actually develop the website so other people can learn firsthand how to create an Internet company from scratch and also what worked for us and what hasn’t (hopefully, there won’t be too much of the hasn’t topic).

I will say that building an Internet company is not an overnight process – it’s not for the faint of heart. It means having a solid strategy and takes a long-term approach. I have never built a website that I worked at that didn’t result in a money making experience. I don’t expect this will be any different; however, we do have the “Partner” variable, which can always impact the success of any web venture.

So, with that in mind, I invite you to follow along in this multi-part series.

Developing An Online Business From Scratch

First of all, let’s get to the fundamentals of any business. You’ll note in other posts that I am always focused first and foremost on the “what’s in it for me” question. If you’re going to get involved in a business venture, you need to be able to answer this question and believe in what you are selling in order to maximize the opportunity for success. There has to be something in it for you, and just as importantly, there has to be something in it for your target customers. One-sided relationships never work out – someone always ends up VERY unhappy.

As an example, another friend of mine wanted to get into selling a get rich quick scheme. What was it they were selling? Well, it was an MLM scheme selling vacation packages where the money you made was not in the product…the REAL money was made in getting people to fork over 2 grand-plus to sign up and be able to do the same thing.

Ummmm? Yeah. That’s exactly what I want to invest my time, energy, and money into…lol

There are tons of schemes. Imagine, as an ethical Internet marketing company, the laughs we have had when we get contacted by a self-professed “marketing” guru wanting internet marketing services to help sell their MLM get rich quick products online – all so they can teach you how to market yourself and make millions online. Yeah, we don’t get involved, and you shouldn’t either, but we do get a heck of a laugh.

The first thing you have to understand when putting together an online business is that there is rarely a “quick and easy” except for the guy that thought up the get rich quick scheme. Usually, they make a load of cash. A legitimate business is not going to package up their multi-million dollar business model and sell it to you for $99.95 a month. I have no doubt a few of you reading this have probably already experienced this type of plan and understand that people who make money using them are the exception, not the rule.

If you can’t control every element of your online business, don’t touch it. That includes the products, the placement, the price, and the website. There are firms that will hook you up with an existing database of products you can sell, making your startup “soooooooooo easy a 2 year old cold do it.” In most instances, you can’t edit them, change the prices, or SEO the pages. You’re limited to PPC, networking, and in most instances, you’re going to lose your butt or waste a lot of time and energy for a very small return on investment.

Frankly, there are tons of people online selling to your dream of making money fast and easy. The fact is, if it were easy & fast, we’d all be billionaires and none of us would have to work. So go into this with a logical approach to developing and running a business. You don’t let your accountant control your company, and it’s a safe bet you shouldn’t let anyone else either.

Now, if you want something quick and easy and aren’t interested in a serious online business, I’m going to give you the answer. However, this answer is on the condition you don’t read any more of this series. Agreed? Good. Visit my next post on “How To Make Fast Money Online.”

If you’re serious about something more substantial, skip the post on making a few bucks quick, which I’m really embarrassed to put up on this site (thank goodness for archiving), and move on to the more serious side of this series where we discuss developing a business model, domain selection, naming our company, and so much more. This next part is complicated, so it will be coming along in about a week.

Until Next Time.
George Chaney
President/CEO
SEO King, Inc.