Starting an Internet Business – Check List

Many people dream of starting an internet business, but feel the process is daunting because they don’t know where to start. There are easy ways to organize the process and get started on generating multiple streams of income and financial independence.

Steps to Starting an Internet Business

The first thing to do is determine the type of business.

Will the business be a new, internet only business, or is there an existing business that will be marketed on the internet? Is the idea one newly developed, or does the business model already exist?

Whatever the case, when starting an internet business make sure that the business is one that is attractive to customers and viable in the marketplace.

Write a business plan even if it is an internet business.

Starting an internet business still takes careful pre-planning and the business plan defines every aspect of the business, from marketing to operations and financial strategies.

Determine the legal structure of the business.

Many people starting an internet business keep it simple and operate as a sole-proprietor business. But depending on what the business is, the protection of a corporation might be in order. Also, review patents, trademarks, and copyrights if necessary to protect the business idea. Reading the 1999 Anti-Cybersquatting Law will provide information on protecting domain name, website, intellectual property rights and other legal issues related to internet businesses.

Create a web site where customers can access information about the business.

When starting an internet business it critical to understand the potential customer, and use keywords and language that will draw those customers to the website. Determine the keywords critical to the business, and use those keywords in the website address and copy for search engine optimization.

Determine the website hosting service to use when starting an internet business.

There are free services for hosting, but having a personal domain and web hosting might offer a business owner greater access and control over the website, especially if selling specific goods and/or services.

Marketing the website is a key component when starting an internet business.

Just developing a website is not enough; business owners need to draw potential customers to the website. Using keywords and descriptions will increase the number of hits the website receives through search engine optimization. Use keywords that link to each page of the website.

Manually market the business when starting an internet business. It is not enough to just sit at the computer and expect potential customers to find the business. It is still important to go to networking event and hand out business cards with the website of the business on them. Join the local Chamber of Commerce in order to network and talk about the business. Face-to-face relationships will help get the word of mouth marketing of the business started.