So, You Wanna Start an Online Business?

I love blogging. I’ve loved it ever since I realized that no one was going to pay me to write poetry all day. As an English major, I took to technical writing early on, getting hired as a grant writer for several nonprofits, which led to a pretty nice income over time.

And then I discovered blogging. That creative outlet that for many of us started on Myspace or Livejournal, and has since evolved into something much more grown-up and profitable.

But blogging is not a business unless you make money from it.

Let me repeat. Your blog is NOT a business unless you make money from it. When it does, you now have, ta-da! An online business. Now, there are many types of online businesses – some people would consider any biz that’s run completely online an online biz. But I’m going to stick with my more narrow definition: the process of providing services and products entirely online through a website or blog.

Although people have been running online businesses for some time, there are many names for what we do:

• internet marketing
• affiliate marketing
• online marketing
• internet entrepreneurship
• online entrepreneurship

and probably a bunch more that I’ve never heard of. We make our money through selling:

• services
• our own products
• other people’s services
• other people’s products
• ad space
• ebooks

And a bunch more stuff that varies widely, depending on the niche of the online business.

Now that I run three blogs, I’m realizing the challenges of really being able to make a living from an online business. Like these:

1. Time. It takes an incredible amount of time to create blog content and then even more time to promote it and build a following. Most people aren’t successful in their online business because of this biggie right here.
2. Content. I mentioned content in #1 because it’s the main driver of readers and potential customers to your site. No content, no customers, no business. And if it’s not *good* content, straight from your heart and mind, people won’t go for that, either.
3. Systems. I’m just now learning how to set up the right systems that will bring in a steady income from my blogs. Once I figured out the mix, it was a “duh” moment, but now I have to put in the work to build these systems out into a daily routine that I can manage without pulling my hair out.

Whew! There are lots of things to think about, even as I embrace the “E” word, but the possibilities for long-term success definitely make the journey worth it. And Sistasense has definitely helped me to understand it all with her no-nonsense tips and tricks along the way.

What about you? Are you thinking about or in the process of setting up an online business? What challenges do you face?

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