| How Much Does An Online Business Really Cost? by Stephanie Foster |
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| Home Based Business Articles by Aaron Jones |
| How Much Does An Online Business Really Cost |
Starting A Home Based Business When starting a home based business there are many things to take into
consideration. The first thing you will need to do is think of a domain name for you website. I know that a lot of domains have
already been taken and sometimes it can be very frustrating trying to find one that will work for you. I remember when I first started
off I would sit in front of the computer and type in the different domain names that I was going to use for my home based
business......
consideration. The first thing you will need to do is think of a domain name for you website. I know that a lot of domains have
already been taken and sometimes it can be very frustrating trying to find one that will work for you. I remember when I first started
off I would sit in front of the computer and type in the different domain names that I was going to use for my home based
business......
Starting A Home Based Business-Part 2 In this section we are going to be talking about web hosting and I am going to
share with you the web hosting company I feel like is the easiest to use especially if you are a beginner trying to start a home
based business. When I first started off I must have went to hundreds of different websites searching for hosting services for my
home based business but I remembered when I use to be a office manager for a company I worked for years ago they were using
Yahoo Web Hosting for their......
share with you the web hosting company I feel like is the easiest to use especially if you are a beginner trying to start a home
based business. When I first started off I must have went to hundreds of different websites searching for hosting services for my
home based business but I remembered when I use to be a office manager for a company I worked for years ago they were using
Yahoo Web Hosting for their......
Starting A Home Based Business-Part 3 I hope you are getting excited now because it is time to create your very first
home based business website. You will be designing your own site and filling it with affiliate links that will help you make a steady
stream of cash every month. I am not a top notch super affiliate like a lot of these other business guru’s out there but I am making
a living working from home and I am willing to share with you just a few of the things that I implement on my website that
continues to bring me money every month......
home based business website. You will be designing your own site and filling it with affiliate links that will help you make a steady
stream of cash every month. I am not a top notch super affiliate like a lot of these other business guru’s out there but I am making
a living working from home and I am willing to share with you just a few of the things that I implement on my website that
continues to bring me money every month......
One of the big reasons people seem to think that having an online business should lead to easy success is
that it is perceived as being a cheap business. And it's true; an online business costs far, far less than a brick
and mortar business. But to really start off well, spending some money is a good plan.
For this, I'm assuming you already have a working computer and Internet service. If not, add those to your
expenses. It's much better than trying to run a business from a public library computer.
Expenses I Strongly Recommend:
1. Paid hosting.
Yes, there are free options such as hosting a blog with Blogger or Wordpress. But these are limiting in so
many ways.
You have less control over them is perhaps wise for a business. I've seen many people get their blogs
deleted with little or no warning from both those services. Wordpress has often been quite particular about
their free blogs having any association with earning money. But if you host your own Wordpress blog you
can do as you like with it.
And of course you may not want the blog format anyhow. If a standard website is more your style, there
aren't too many good free hosts about, and you still have that control lost. Most companies, if they give you
free hosting, do it because they can run ads on your site. It looks terribly unprofessional.
2. Your own domain name(s).
A domain name of your own, in the long run, will be far easier for people to remember than one given by
one of the free hosting companies. Domain names are particularly cheap too, at $10 or less per year at most
registrars.
Having a real domain name also makes you look more professional. It says you're willing to do some of the
most basic things to look like a serious online business rather than a mere hobbyist.
3. Time (and lots of it).
Succeeding as an online business person requires a lot of time, even if you hire help for those things you just
can't do on your own.
You'll need to come up with articles, product descriptions, blog posts, keep up with what's happening in
your industry... all kinds of things. What all you have to do depends on your business model.
You may have heard of the book out now about a 4 hour work week. And yes, some people succeed on
that. But far more likely is that they worked hard for years to reach a point where that was possible for
them. It's not a solid plan for when you're just starting out.
Overall Strongly Recommended Costs: Anywhere from under $10/month to a few thousand. Most will begin
on the ~$10/month range of this, as most sites don't need a few thousand dollars' worth of hosting expenses.
Many hosting plans have annual plans available that reduce the monthly cost, but you have to pay the entire
amount once a year.
Potential Other Costs:
1. Website or graphic designers.
Sure, anyone can throw up a website if they have the right tools. Thrown up is probably what it will look like
too, unless you have some design experience. If you want to be taken seriously, make sure your site shows it.
Wordpress bloggers have some advantages in this area, in that there are so many free themes available for
Wordpress blogs. You'll still need to choose carefully to find a theme that reflects your business and
functions correctly, and hopefully doesn't look exactly like 10,000 competing sites in your niche.
2. Advertising/marketing.
How are you going to get the word out about your business? There are free ways to do this, such as writing
articles about your topic and allowing other websites to publish them, but as a rule the free marketing options
take time.
Well-done pay per click advertising can be highly effective, as can other forms of advertising. This is an area
where knowing whether or not you are getting a good ROI is vital. It's easy to spend your money on
ineffective sources if you aren't paying attention and testing your ads.
Overall Potential Costs: Generally more than the strongly recommended costs. If you aren't spending money
on any of these, it's $0, but could go into many $1000s/month or year if that's your business model. What
matters is that you make a maximum profit, however much you spend.
Of course, with all this money spent there's still no guarantee that your business will go anywhere. It's really
up to you and how hard you work on it, as well as whether or not you've made the right choices for your
online business.
To Your Success,
Stephanie Foster
Stephanie Foster blogs at http://www.aspectsofhomebusiness.com/blog/ about running her home business
online. She has a series on starting an online home business available on her site.
that it is perceived as being a cheap business. And it's true; an online business costs far, far less than a brick
and mortar business. But to really start off well, spending some money is a good plan.
For this, I'm assuming you already have a working computer and Internet service. If not, add those to your
expenses. It's much better than trying to run a business from a public library computer.
Expenses I Strongly Recommend:
1. Paid hosting.
Yes, there are free options such as hosting a blog with Blogger or Wordpress. But these are limiting in so
many ways.
You have less control over them is perhaps wise for a business. I've seen many people get their blogs
deleted with little or no warning from both those services. Wordpress has often been quite particular about
their free blogs having any association with earning money. But if you host your own Wordpress blog you
can do as you like with it.
And of course you may not want the blog format anyhow. If a standard website is more your style, there
aren't too many good free hosts about, and you still have that control lost. Most companies, if they give you
free hosting, do it because they can run ads on your site. It looks terribly unprofessional.
2. Your own domain name(s).
A domain name of your own, in the long run, will be far easier for people to remember than one given by
one of the free hosting companies. Domain names are particularly cheap too, at $10 or less per year at most
registrars.
Having a real domain name also makes you look more professional. It says you're willing to do some of the
most basic things to look like a serious online business rather than a mere hobbyist.
3. Time (and lots of it).
Succeeding as an online business person requires a lot of time, even if you hire help for those things you just
can't do on your own.
You'll need to come up with articles, product descriptions, blog posts, keep up with what's happening in
your industry... all kinds of things. What all you have to do depends on your business model.
You may have heard of the book out now about a 4 hour work week. And yes, some people succeed on
that. But far more likely is that they worked hard for years to reach a point where that was possible for
them. It's not a solid plan for when you're just starting out.
Overall Strongly Recommended Costs: Anywhere from under $10/month to a few thousand. Most will begin
on the ~$10/month range of this, as most sites don't need a few thousand dollars' worth of hosting expenses.
Many hosting plans have annual plans available that reduce the monthly cost, but you have to pay the entire
amount once a year.
Potential Other Costs:
1. Website or graphic designers.
Sure, anyone can throw up a website if they have the right tools. Thrown up is probably what it will look like
too, unless you have some design experience. If you want to be taken seriously, make sure your site shows it.
Wordpress bloggers have some advantages in this area, in that there are so many free themes available for
Wordpress blogs. You'll still need to choose carefully to find a theme that reflects your business and
functions correctly, and hopefully doesn't look exactly like 10,000 competing sites in your niche.
2. Advertising/marketing.
How are you going to get the word out about your business? There are free ways to do this, such as writing
articles about your topic and allowing other websites to publish them, but as a rule the free marketing options
take time.
Well-done pay per click advertising can be highly effective, as can other forms of advertising. This is an area
where knowing whether or not you are getting a good ROI is vital. It's easy to spend your money on
ineffective sources if you aren't paying attention and testing your ads.
Overall Potential Costs: Generally more than the strongly recommended costs. If you aren't spending money
on any of these, it's $0, but could go into many $1000s/month or year if that's your business model. What
matters is that you make a maximum profit, however much you spend.
Of course, with all this money spent there's still no guarantee that your business will go anywhere. It's really
up to you and how hard you work on it, as well as whether or not you've made the right choices for your
online business.
To Your Success,
Stephanie Foster
Stephanie Foster blogs at http://www.aspectsofhomebusiness.com/blog/ about running her home business
online. She has a series on starting an online home business available on her site.
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