Anyone Can Start an Internet Business… And That’s The Problem
By Anna Johnson on July 18th, 2010An Internet business is one of the cheapest, most accessible businesses to start. Not only is it relatively cheap to put up a website and start promoting or selling something, but there is a wealth of free information on the Internet to guide you in doing so.
Just search on the Kikabink News Internet marketing blog and you’ll find tons of free articles on everything from affiliate marketing, to mobile marketing, to search marketing, to online video, to you name it.
Despite the apparent low barriers to entry, however, I suspect most people who start an online business fail to make any if much money at all from their ventures. Moreover, it may be the low barriers to entry that are somewhat to blame.
So why are the Internet marketing forums full of posts from people saying they can’t make money, that Internet marketing ‘doesn’t work’, and that they’re giving up?
Here are three reasons (not mutually exclusive):
- A lot of people start online businesses for the wrong reasons. They’ve bought into the myth of making riches without much work and have quickly discovered that they can’t just push a few buttons and ‘ta-da!’ the checks will come flooding in.
- Not only are these people deluded, but they lack the essential qualities of those who are likely to build a successful business: a passion for the Internet in particular and business in general, solid business skills, a sufficiently large target market, and a unique and superior product to meet the need(s) of that target market.
- There may be ‘low barriers to entry’ but these have created a highly competitive landscape in which being ‘good’ – good at marketing, good at product development, good at anything – is rarely good enough, and ‘bad’ just leads to ruin. Whether it’s competing for a high ranking on the search engines, providing a truly unique product, getting JV partners to promote you or anything else, Internet marketers are facing more and more competition across all niches.
Fortunately for you, you’re not likely to be reading this article if you fall into categories #1 or #2. But #3 is a trap for all of us.
What were once obscure niches are now teaming with competitors… pay-per-click advertising is more expensive than ever… and even just persuading someone to sign up for a free gift requires all the persuasive skills we can muster.
No question, Internet marketing is more challenging than ever, and it’s only going to get more challenging.
All of which means we mustn’t delude ourselves about how easy or cheap it is to build a successful online business. Sure, just about anyone can start an Internet business but it takes more than being ‘anyone’ to build and sustain a successful business.
