Taking the necessary steps to creating an online business can often be challenging and confusing, that is why I have laid out a straight forward way for you to start creating your online business and get it to the next step!

Here are the steps I take when creating an online business;

1. Have an Idea/Plan

The first thing you need to do when thinking about building a website or starting an online business, is to have an idea and overall plan of what it is you hope to do/achieve.

Ask yourself these questions before continuing;

• What is your goal?
  • Is it to make money? To put out information?

• What is it that you are selling?
  • A product? Service?

Once those questions have been answered and you know what type of business/website you want, then you can move forward.

2. Business/Company Name

Your business won’t get too far if people don’t know its name.

What is the name of your website or business going to be?

**Be sure to make it catchy and something that will be easy for your visitors to remember**

Check to see that name is available

• Once you figure out the name you want to use for your website/company, you have to research to make sure it is available. It can be a real bummer to come up with a bunch of ideas around a name only to find out that the name is already in use. So, save yourself some trouble and do some research first before spending any money.
  • You can look up the status of the name you want to use by searching these different databases;
    • Google – The first place to search would be a search engine such as Google or Yahoo, search the title that you’re looking for both with and without spaces to get the best results. If the name you want is taken, then back to the drawing board. If, however your search yields no results, then continue down the list to keep verifying your title’s availability.
    • URL Search- The next place to search would be in the URL search bar, that can be a very quick way to figure out if the URL is taken.
    • GoDaddy / Bluehost – Another quick and great place to check the availability of a URL is a place that actually sells them, such as Bluehost or GoDaddy.
    • USPTO – Government Trademark Search
    • Social Media – Since social media is such a huge part of present culture and a majority of the world’s everyday lives, there is no better place to advertise your company. But before you can start advertising your company, you need to make sure that the name you want to use isn’t already in use on another page. That’s why doing a quick search for your name in question on top social media sites before you purchase a domain name can save some potential headaches in the future.
      • Facebook
      • Instagram
      • Twitter
      • Twitch (For Streamers)
      • YouTube

• Freelancer Sites – If you plan on selling a product or service through a platform such as Etsy or Fiverr, then you’re also going to want to check those websites to see if anyone is selling by the same name. Here are some places to check out;
  • Etsy
  • Fiverr
  • Guru
  • Upwork

• Email/Gmail – You will also want to make sure that you can secure an email account with the name you want to use for future contact and business purposes. Not only will having an email that is the same name as your companies make you look more professional, but it will also help in keeping all your business documents separate and prevent cluttering & lost mail.
  • I recommend using Gmail since it allows you to link all of your accounts together making it very easy to keep track and stay organized.

3. Get Domain Name/Domain Hosting

• Once you pick a name you want and made sure that it’s available, the next step would be to actually purchase the domain name for yourself so you can secure it and start using it for your website.
  • You can do this on many different sites but my favorites are;
    • Bluehost
    • GoDaddy
    • HostGator

• You are also going to need to have a hosting plan in order to actually have your websites up and running, I recommend getting one through one of the providers listed above.

4. Create Social Media Accounts

• Along with getting your domain name, you’re going to want to make social media accounts in the same name used for your domain. That will make it easier for visitors to be able to find your website/business through multiple platforms. Below is a list of the social media platforms that I create accounts with for my businesses;
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Quora

5. Start Creating Content / Filling out Social Media/Website

Once you have secured your domain and social media accounts, then you can start filling them out to look more professional and creating content for your visitors.

• Logo/Profile Picture
  • Canva.com (Free/Paid Premium)
  • Adobe (Paid Subscription)
    • Photoshop
    • Illustrator

• About
  • People like knowing behind the scenes information and an about page is the perfect way to give your visitors a piece of that action. Most of us are experts in making these pages from our experience in social media, but here’s a quick list just in case;
    • ***PHOTOS OF SELF***
      • People want to know who it is they are interacting with and having a couple photos of yourself on your about page can be a great way to make your website experience more personal.
    • Who are you?
    • What do you do?
    • What is your goal/mission?

• Contact
  • Having proper contact information is an easy way to help make your page/website look more professional and credible.

• Legal Pages
  • Just like having Contact information, having legal pages on your website instantly makes a site look more professional and it also will be a necessity if you plan joining affiliate programs or selling any products/services on your website. Here are a few to remember to include;
    • Terms and conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimers
    • Copyright Notice
    • Affiliates

6. Publish/launch social media and website

• After getting a solid foundation ready for your social media accounts/websites, you can move on to publishing your accounts and site for potential visitors.

At this point you can start to invite people, advertise, and post content to attract people to whatever your end goal was in the beginning.

7. Advertise and Monetize

Now that everything is set up, all that is left to do is advertise your business and start monetizing off of it.

There are many different ways to advertise but the top ways are through social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Etc.

 The decision to do it “naturally” or through paid ads is up to you.

• For more information on advertising, check out my post “Promoting Your Online Business”.

Just like advertising, monetizing your business can come in different forms as well and will vary on depending factors such as the type of business/website you are running, your audience, and what you are selling.

The main forms of monetization will be selling your own products or services, but there are a lot of other ways now to make money off of your websites such as advertising for other companies or using affiliates.

All are great ways to make money and monetize off your site, but just like a lot of things when running your own business, the final choice is up to you. What might work for some, might not work for others. So, find out what suits your business the best and give it shot.

Overview

1. Have an Idea/Plan
2. Create Business/Company Name
3. Get Domain Name/Hosting
4. Create Social Media Accounts for Business
5. Start Creating Content/ Fill Out Website and Social Media Profiles
6. Publish and Launch Website/Social Media if you haven’t done so yet
7. Advertise & Monetize Your Business

There it is, all the information you need to start creating your online business and getting it up and running!

Thanks for reading!

Having a business with an amazing product or service is great, but you won’t get too far if no one knows about it. That is where advertising and promoting comes in.

There are tons of ways to advertise your business, but by far the top places you’re going to want to promote is going to be on social media and in person by word of mouth and/or merch.

Below are some of the best places to promote your business on social media as well as some ideas on how you can promote in person;

Social Media:

It’s no secret that social media is one of the top ways to promote your business in this day in age. With that being said, you have to actually utilize and use them to reach an audience.

• Facebook – This is the obvious one, but create a page for your business, invite friends/family, and make posts. Be active with it and people will see that you are invested and will take more interest in what your business has to offer.

• Facebook Ads – Facebook Ads is an amazing way to reach a large audience. You do have to pay for your ads and make sure that you follow Facebook’s policies, but it is definitely something you should have in your arsenal if you are serious about promoting your business.

• Instagram – Same as with Facebook (Facebook owns Instagram), start making an active presence and promote what you are selling.

• Twitter – See above

• YouTube – A great way to show showcase what your business has to offer is to post videos of what you do/ what it is. This can work great for artists who want to demonstrate their skills or for a salesperson to showcase/ review a product they’re selling.

• Twitch – Same as YouTube, Twitch can be a great way for people such as musicians and artists to showcase their skills. It can also serve as a great way to get live feedback from an audience.

** Note – Remember to stay consistent when promoting on social media. If you only post every few weeks or so, you run the risk of losing your audience’s attention. **

In person:

Before the internet, you had to promote your business in real life. And that is still a great way promote your business today. Don’t underestimate the power of word of mouth.

• Friends & Family – Just like Facebook, tell your friends and family what it is your doing and ask them if they’d mind telling one of their friends, etc. The more people hear about your business, the more likely they are to check it out.

• Merch – My favorite way to advertise and promote my businesses’ products/services is with merchandise. It’s fun, easy, cheap, and once done, it does the work for you. If you have a cool logo for your service/product, try slapping it on a t-shirt, hat, or sticker. People tend to lean towards what they recognize, and having people wearing your merch is a great way to get recognition.

• Here are some things I like for merch, but if you think your logo will work on something, try it out!
  • Stickers – By far my favorite way of advertising in person. I can’t even count how many cool places I have been because I saw a sticker for it. Put your logo on a sticker and start getting them out there.
  • Clothing – Hats, T-Shirts, Sweaters/Hoodies, Etc. Wearing your logo helps create brand recognition to those around you.
  • Keychains
  • Water Bottles

Miscellaneous:

As I mentioned earlier, there are tons of ways to go about promoting your business. Here are a few other ideas to consider;

• Billboards – Although quite expensive, they are always an option for larger businesses to consider as they have the potential to reach a large audience.

• Commercials – Another popular but more expensive way to promote your business is by running some commercials locally and in places where your target audience has access to it. Commercials can catch people’s attention, especially if they’re clever, so it’s always a solid idea to have on the back burner.

• Flyers – This is something to consider no matter what size of business you have. See if your local grocery store has any boards for local businesses that you can post on or spend an afternoon passing them out on a busy corner if law permitted. I have found a couple cool businesses from random flyers, so don’t completely ride them off.

I hope this has helped in giving you some ideas that you can use to advertise and promote your own business. See what works for you and your business and have fun!

Thanks for reading!

When I first learned that I really could make money online, I was super excited to say the least and extremely motivated to do so. That is also where things got pretty confusing for me. I didn’t really know where to start and how to go about doing everything, or anything really. I knew that it was possible to make money online and people were doing it, but I found it hard to find any information on what steps to take.

These are the basic steps I have found are necessary to start making money online and once you know different ways of how to go about it, then you will be able to find what works best for you.

• 1. Gather all materials / Build your workspace

  The first step would be to gather all the necessary materials to start working online. Those would be a device to do the work on; such as a laptop, tablet, or smart phone. As well as a reliable internet connection. Both of those are necessary to start working and making money online.

There are other things that you can get to further improve your work environment, but those two are absolutely necessary to begin the process of working online.

If you are interested in further improvement to your home office then you can check out my post “Building Your Remote Office”.

• 2. Choosing Your Niche – What field? Product or Service?

The next step would be to figure out what niche you want to work in and what service or job you want to provide, or if you are selling a product, then what product are you selling and where will it be sold?

When thinking about choosing a niche, think about what excites you or motivates you, that will help in choosing something that is of value to you, which in the long run will make your product/service better and your job more enjoyable.

• There are many different types of niches to make money in the online world;
  • Website Testing
  • “Turking” – Tasks
  • Surveys
  • Transcription
  • Writing
  • Blogging/Vlogging
  • Graphic Design

The list goes on and on.

You can learn more about the different ways you can make money online from my posts;

• 5 Ways to Make Money Online With No Experience
• 5 sites to Earn An Extra $250 a Month

• 3. Freelancing – Working for yourself or someone else?

For the most part, when working online you will be freelancing. The question to ask is, do you want to freelance for someone else’s business (I would recommend doing so for a month or two as you are learning about working online) or do you want to start your own business up? If you want to do the latter, then you will need to figure out where you want to sell your service/product.

If selling a service, then the most popular freelancing sites will be Fiverr, Upwork, and Guru.

If selling a product, then you can look at services such as Fulfillment by Amazon or selling your products on online marketplaces such as Etsy or eBay.

• Other people’s business
  • See –
    • 5 sites to Earn An Extra $250 a Month
    • Top UX Testing Sites to Earn Money Online
    • Top Survey/ Task Sites to Earn Extra Money Online

• Own Business /Services –
  • Fiverr
  • Upwork
  • Guru

• Own Product –
  • Fulfillment by Amazon
  • Online Marketplace
    • Etsy
    • eBay

Once you have started making money online or figured out your product/service and have joined a platform for customers to purchase it, then you can start creating a presence on social media as well as creating bigger things such as a website.

Those are the necessary steps I believe need to be taken to start earning money online.

As a re-cap;

• Gather Materials – Get a device to work on as well as a stable a reliable internet connection.
  • Device – Such as a laptop, tablet, or smartphone
  • Stable and reliable internet connection

• Choose Niche – Choose the Niche or field you want to be working in. Then either join company to work with and earn $$ or Create own product/service.
  • Join Company
    • Do work – Earn $$

• Create Product/Service
  • Join platform to sell Product or service
    • Create Social Media presence and website to get word out about Product/Service.
      • Sell Product/Service – Earn $$

I hope that these steps helped in your own journey to working and making money online.

Thanks for reading!

Making money online can be daunting at first. How are you supposed to do it? Where do you start? Is the money even worth it?

These questions all have varying answers depending on different factors:; such as skills, experience, and demographics.

As a rule of thumb, you usually will get paid more for the more experience that you have in a certain field. Although some (See Focus Groups below) would prefer that you don’t have any experience and will pay the same as if you did.

Below is a list of 5 different ways you can make money online with no experience.

User Testing

• User Testing is by far my favorite way to make money online as someone starting out and with no experience. The basic concept is that you “test” a client’s website by either performing set tasks or just browsing through the website. You then explain what you are doing, as you are doing so your screen is being recorded as well as audio. This is then used to help the client figure out what users like about their website are what and where to improve on. No experience is usually necessary other than the application video. You are usually paid per video (around $10) and each video averages at around 15-20 minutes. Longer videos and face to face ones can offer the chance to earn more. I think that user-testing is one of the best paying online jobs as well as a fun one at that. Testing a bunch of different websites can be super fun because you never know what the next one will be.
  • • If you are interested in User Testing you can check out my post “Top UX Testing Sites to Earn $$$ Online”, there I go through my favorite sites that I have used to make money online by User Testing.

Surveys/Tasks

• One of the most popular ways to make money online is by doing surveys or random tasks on survey websites. This is what I did before finding out about User Testing and I do think that there is value in these sites. Although it is true that a lot of them do not pay that well or are scams, there are a few that I have found beneficial in my journey to making money online, as well as a couple that still provide quick ways to earn side cash.
  • • If you are interested in any survey or task-based websites, then you can check out my post “Top Survey/Task Sites to Earn Extra Money Online”.

Transcription

• Transcribing is another way that you can make money online without any experience. Most transcription websites will require you to do an application test before paid work, but no experience is needed. I never got too into transcription, because 1. I am not the fastest typist and 2. I think that there are quicker ways to make money online. However, if you are interested you can find websites to work for by searching Google, many do reward you as you gain experience as well.

Writing

• Writing is another one that you can get into without any experience. Just like transcription sites, freelance writing sites will have you take an application test and write a sample piece. A tip for this one would be to write a piece on something you enjoy or are very knowledgeable about. You can find websites to write for by searching for freelance writing jobs on Google.

Focus Groups

• Focus groups are another really fun one to me. This is when a client will get a group of people together and ask them questions on specific topic or to try a product. A lot of focus groups are now done online and this offers an opportunity to make good money for just offering your opinion. If you are interested in focus groups and definitely recommend signing up with sites to find local tests in your area.
  • Check out my post “TOP 5 FOCUS GROUP WEBSITES TO EARN EXTRA MONEY REMOTELY” if you’re interested in learning more about focus groups.

Those are just 5 of the many different ways that you can make money online, there are many other ways so feel free to search around and test to see what works for you.

 I hope that this has helped you get some idea of the ways you can make money online and motivates you to try some.

Thanks for reading!