As newcomers to the Internet, many people are hot to tap into 
the internet riches that so many other people are enjoying. But, 
there is a learning curve that must be negotiated to get from 
desire to dollars.  


LESSON ONE

Newbies often start their online endeavors using free promotional
tools. Here is the first lesson in the learning curve. Freebies 
will suck up all of your energy and provide little or no gain. 
"Money cannot be earned by a business person who is unwilling 
to spend money."


LESSON TWO

The second lesson needs to be learned before the first dollar 
is ever spent. "The secret to success with any business is to 
earn more money than what you spend." Don't go rushing out with 
a fool's plan and just start blowing money. Spending money does 
not always equal making money.

The things you definitely will need to spend money on is a 
domain name, a webhost to support your site, and a method for 
accepting online payments. 


UNDERSTANDING PAYMENT SYSTEMS

Merchant Accounts are the banking method of using credit cards 
for secured payment processing. They expensive to set up and 
maintain.

An alternative to setting up a merchant account is to use Paypal 
( http://thephantomwriters.com/recommendpp ) as a payment 
processor. To use Paypal as a payment processor you must either 
register a bank account or register a credit card with Paypal. 
Then you need to set up your actual payment page so that your 
customers can make their purchase online from your website. 

Merchant account users should also seriously consider using 
Paypal as an secondary payment method. This enables the seller 
to reach buyers who do not own credit cards.

Having the ability to collect payment via credit card, through a 
merchant account service or Paypal, is "absolutely essential" to 
any person who desires to do business online. If your customers 
cannot pay with their credit card, you can rest assured that you 
will have few if any customers to service.


LESSON THREE

Spend conservatively. "Don't spend money unless you know the 
value of what you will receive in return."

To be successful online, you must:

 - have a product or service to sell.
 - have a website designed to sell your product or service.
 - have a payment method in place.
 - develop successful advertising.


LESSON FOUR

"Choose a business model you will enjoy." You don't want to 
invest several years into developing a business you cannot 
stand to work. 

If you are seeking products to sell, then check out the 
Drop-Shippers Wholesale Directory ( 
http://thePhantomWriters.com/dsd ). Drop Shippers enable you 
to sell their products at whatever profit margin you desire, 
and they handle the shipping to your customers.


LESSON FIVE

"Target your offerings to a specific niche." Do not make the 
mistake of trying to be another Wal-Mart. Trust me, you cannot 
beat their prices. And, online businesses who attempt to supply 
everything to everyone usually fail.

Define your business to a very targeted niche, then become the 
top resource destination for that niche to gain repeat visitors. 


LESSON SIX

"Most businesses survive and succeed based on repeat business 
from repeat customers." Repeat customers are cheaper to acquire 
and keep. And, if people really like your business, they will 
refer their friends to you. 


LESSON SEVEN

"Customers are more interested in receiving the best value than 
getting the absolute lowest cost." The extra few dollars they 
will pay you can deliver them more value than the value 
delivered by the site offering the same products and services 
for less money.


LESSON EIGHT

"A good website designer cannot and should not be expected to 
be a great copywriter, and vice versa."

Website designers specialize in creating the visual presentation 
of a program and how to put those visual elements into the HTML 
coding. A good website designer will also make certain that the 
site offers a very easy to navigate format. 

Copywriters specialize in the written word. Your copywriter is 
the person whose skill will actually sell your products and 
services. 

Don't be afraid to spend money to have a professional designer 
build your visual presentation. And more importantly, don't be 
afraid to spend your money to hire a professional copywriter 
with a solid track record to build your sales presentation for 
you. 

For copywriting, I recommend Dan Lok at Quick Turn Marketing, 
Inc. ( http://www.quickturnmarketing.com/help_me_out.html )

 
LESSON NINE

"Find effective ways to advertise your business by running small 
campaigns and tracking your results." When you find advertising 
resources that continually produce profitable results, keep 
going back to that well until the well goes dry.


LESSON TEN

"Never underestimate the value of good customer service." 

Fast service and quick fulfillment will go a long way to help 
build a good reputation for you with your customers. Use your 
post-payment page to educate your customers about all of the 
aspects of their purchase they will be interested in knowing. 
Tell your customers exactly when and how they can expect to 
receive their product or service. 

Additionally, create a special email account that only your 
customers will use. Otherwise you run the risk of losing 
important communications. When your customers contact you, 
strive to reply to all messages within 24 hours. 


LESSON ELEVEN

"Keep learning, but beware of false prophets."

Before spending a dime on any program, search of your favorite 
search engine to see what others think of the program you are 
considering. Discount the advice of people who are profiting 
from their recommendations. Then measure the positive comments 
against the negative comments on a program. This analysis is 
important for determining the real value of any program.


LESSON TWELVE

"Good information serves no real value to you if you never use 
it."

If you buy a program, make certain that you read the information 
and use what you have purchased to your benefit. The ball is in 
your court. We can provide you the most valuable information 
available for you to use, but if you don't use it, then you 
might as well have spent your time doing something else that 
would have provided you with Real Value.


IN CONCLUSION

By understanding and implementing these twelve lessons in your 
online business model, your overall chances of business success 
are greatly improved. There are a lot of us out here who have 
turned our online businesses into real profit generators, and 
you can do it too. Read this article again if you need to do 
so. And remember our bonus lesson thirteen that can be summed 
up in seven words, "Follow through in all that you do."