Passion & Knowledge Makes Money Online

I get asked all the time for my ideas or suggestions on how to make money online. For over a decade I’ve responded to that question with a question. What are you passionate and knowledgeable about?

There are those marketers online that want to lead you to believe that all you need is a “solution” or their “system” to get rich quick and quit your day job. No knowledge necessary; the heck with being passionate about what you have to offer. Passion and knowledge are not necessary.

But what is that secret ingredient that keeps any entrepreneur or netrepeneur going when the going gets tough? What do new business owners use to get them through the roller coaster of ups and downs that any business new or old will experience? Passion and knowledge!

The passion you have for your product or service will be evident to customers. Your knowledge about the topic at hand will give them confidence to do business with you. Don’t let anyone tell you that passion and knowledge are not necessary. Don’t believe me? Ask any successful business person!

How can you make money online? Determine a way to offer a product or service that has to do with what you know best and are passionate about and you’ve just increased your success potential exponentially!

Physical Address Required

You need to have your physical address available on your site.  Some sites don’t necessitate that information be on every page (non-eCom sites), so at the very least a physical or mailing address should be on your contact page. By not doing so you give the impression of possibly being a fly-by-night.

Would you give out payment information to a site that had no indication of where there were located? Most onliners will not.

The analogy goes that with no address one can easily disappear without leaving any traceable contact information that a customer could have noted when they decided to do business with you. No address? Folks will probably find one of your competitors who will give them that warm fuzzy.

If you are a home based business and don’t want to expose that address to everyone, you can simply get a P.O. Box to use for your mailing address. Then, at the very least folks know where you are and know where to contact you if needed. When I went completely virtual and left the rat race a couple years ago and moved to the country, I signed up for a P.O. Box for those very reasons.

Yes, having a physical address is more credible and convincing to some than a P.O. Box. In my case being I have been established for well over a decade, I am not too concerned about that. Each business needs to make these decisions based on what is best for their business and what perception they want to give.

It’s really a no-brainer and worth the small P.O. Box fees to add that extra level of credibility that is so hard to build online in the first place. When it comes to your Web site, a physical address is required to give your visitors confidence. For eCom sites, you’ll loose business without one.

Why give potential customers an excuse to look elsewhere?

It’s More Than Having a “Web Site”

I probably get at least one call each day from someone who just wants to “put up a Web site” and start making money. They’ve seen those commercials with folks standing in front of mansions and expensive cars.

Many even asking me if I have any ideas for an online business. To which I respond, “so many I don’t have enough time to implement them all!”

We then naturally start getting into a conversation about their ideas and what their plan is. Nine out of ten callers don’t even have a plan. They just know they want to have a Web site and make money. As though having a “Web site” is all that is required to start raking in the coin.

It simply doesn’t work that way. Online business is business; basically the same as off-line with the same considerations and issues that need to be addressed — before you even think of getting a Web site.

So many disregard the concepts necessary to running a serious, healthy business as though they don’t matter. Accounting, tax and legal issues still have to be addressed as well as inventory, sales and marketing activities to be planned for.

You have to determine shipping and handling fees, how you will track inventory and what your policies for ordering, customer service, returns and data collection. How will you accept payments? PayPal and/or a Merchant account? How will you market your business? PayPer Clicks, eZines, forums and what off-line advertising can you benefit from?

Online is not a build it and they will come. In today’s environment you will not get found by virtue of simply putting a Web site online. You have to have a plan.

From investigating your market to ensure you have a product that is needed/desired and not already being offered by millions of other Web sites in the first place, to making sure you have an viable business plan that covers all these issues in detail.

Make sure you get your new business idea off to the best start possible in this rabidly competitive environment. Do your due diligence and cover all the bases, then and only then start working on a Web site.

Include All Your Contact Info!

It is surprising how many sites I run into that do not note their address. Today when looking for a product online, I had a choice of two companies — one had all their contact information and address — the other only had an e-mail address.

I chose to do business with the company that had all this info on their site. I feel more comfortable doing business with companies that provide all the info. Can you imagine having a customer service issue and only having an e-mail address to work with?

Some sites don’t necessitate that information be on every page (non-eCom sites), so at the very least a physical or mailing address should be on your contact page with all the other ways you can be contacted. By not doing so you give the impression of possibly being a fly-by-night. Why don’t you want people to know where you are?

Would you give out payment information to a site that had no indication of where there were located? Most onliners will not. And I didn’t today. That’s what prompted this post.

The analogy goes that with no address or phone, one can easily disappear without leaving any traceable contact information that a customer could use to get in touch with you. Why give customers a reason to look to your competitors for that warm fuzzy?

If you are a home based business and don’t want to expose that address to everyone, you can simply get a P.O. Box to use for your mailing address. Then, at the very least folks know where you are and know where to contact you if needed. When I went completely virtual and moved off the grid several years ago, I signed up for a P.O. Box for those very reasons.

Yes, having a physical address is more credible and convincing to some than a P.O. Box. In my case, being I have been established for going on 15 years now, I am not too concerned about that. Each business needs to make these decisions based on what is best for their business and what perception they want to provide.

It’s really a no-brainer and worth the small P.O. Box fees to add that extra level of credibility that is so hard to gain online in the first place. When it comes to your Web site, your location, address, phone, fax, e-mails are required to give your site visitors confidence. For eCom sites, you’ll risk loosing business without noting your location specifics.

Why give potential customers an excuse to look elsewhere?

Give Success a Chance!

Have you ever tried to accomplish something, but given up before your plan or actions have come to fruition? Read more