[speakeasy]

How did you decide on what type of business you would start? I love the idea of starting up some sort of small business, but I just don't have any idea what kind of business I'd come up with. I would think for most people they just segue into a business due to some specialized skill or knowledge they already possessed. That is what one of my close friends did who started his own business back in 2005.

What process led you to decide on the type of business you would start?

[Andy_B]

The first questions you need to answer are

"What are my talents" and "where do my interests lie"?

The intersection point of your talents and interests is things you can be happy doing with your life.

The third question is whether there's a market for it.

That one's a bit more complicated, but if you're clever about it, you can find a market for almost anything.

I mean, look at all the sub-genres of porn that exist. Someone had to be the first person to make a porn in each of these niches. similarly, somebody has to be the first to pioneer a new niche market in the business world.

[RichieP]

Yeah think about:

what you love doing
what kinds of activities you find your flow in. Deal-making? Buying and selling? running numbers, analysing? Communicating in writing? Solving problems? building/perfecting systems? Giving advice?
What you're good at, what you already have "chops" at already
what sort of people you want to serve, and in what way


the best thing to do is just research lots of different types of businesses and see what takes your fancy, get a feel for what you'd enjoy. "enjoy" isnt really the right word because plenty of it will not be accurately described as enjoyable, lol. Better to phrase it as: what would you value doing I guess.

[Alpha Mind]

I run a large ecommerce website and an SEO agency (top 100 US SEO firm). Fell into the ecommerce game via a job I got, and learned SEO along the way.

Takes a LOT of work to get this kind of stuff setup, but it's relatively low risk. I put maybe 30K up between both, although I had maybe 5 or 10K in debt from previous failed ventures.

The important thing is to try a bunch of low risk stuff while you have a job and see what works, makes money, frees up your time, and keeps you happy.

[Nineteen84]

(08-08-2012 06:06 PM)Alpha Mind Wrote:  

I run a large ecommerce website and an SEO agency (top 100 US SEO firm). Fell into the ecommerce game via a job I got, and learned SEO along the way.

Takes a LOT of work to get this kind of stuff setup, but it's relatively low risk. I put maybe 30K up between both, although I had maybe 5 or 10K in debt from previous failed ventures.

The important thing is to try a bunch of low risk stuff while you have a job and see what works, makes money, frees up your time, and keeps you happy.

what are low risk areas good to get your feet wet in?

[Alpha Mind]

Dropshipping, private label products/supplements, importing cheap products from China and selling them on Amazon, etc.

It's hard if you don't know internet marketing. I honestly don't know anything about running a brick and mortar business, although the concepts are similar.

Aliexpress.com is a great way to import a batch of products without a high minimum order quantity. You won't make a ton of money, but you can test the product out on ebay or Amazon.

Also, if you know how to do anything that can benefit a business, throw up a listing on craigslist, make sure the ad is GOOD (research how to write an ad/ad copy). You can get some seo gigs from Fiverr.com for $5 (will probably need more than one) and drive links to the craigslist ad to get it to rank. When looking up seo gigs on fiverr, sort by rating and don't buy anything that's going to send you thousands of links. SEO is about many things, but quality over quantity probably the best rule to follow if you don't know the game.

[RichieP]

(08-08-2012 06:06 PM)Alpha Mind Wrote:  

I run a large ecommerce website and an SEO agency (top 100 US SEO firm). Fell into the ecommerce game via a job I got, and learned SEO along the way.

Takes a LOT of work to get this kind of stuff setup, but it's relatively low risk. I put maybe 30K up between both, although I had maybe 5 or 10K in debt from previous failed ventures.

The important thing is to try a bunch of low risk stuff while you have a job and see what works, makes money, frees up your time, and keeps you happy.

Nice.

Couple of qs:


-What does a SEO firm do now that Penguin has mashed alot of linkbuilding techniques? What ranking strategies still work? Do you go and get (shock horror) real "links of love" etc?

in your 2nd post you mention copywriting / writing ads. What are your favourite resources for learning this? I heard Cashvertising is good?

[PUA_Rachacha]

Read Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. He's boiled down the essence on how to transition from business idea to an actual profitable enterprise. The business can make you $5k a year to millions. All depends on what you want and the energy you want to expend.

A caveat: I have yet to successfully found my own business pursuant to the guidelines that Ferriss lays out in his book. I actually went for the remote-working option and had starting a small business as my fall-back approach. My employer acquiesced to working from home, which is very satisfying, nonethless becoming an entrepreneur has piqued my interest.

No better market in the world to start a business than America. You have 300 million people speaking the same language in an enormous area with the same laws, so you're bound to find your niche. Roosh exemplifies this.

[AntiTrace]

1. Avoid advice from everyone that tells you do what you love.

2. Drink a lot of alcohol, if it makes writers creative and it will make you creative as well. And its fun.

3. Dont try to find the idea that no one else has done

4. Grab an idea and run low cost tests to see if anyone will actually pay for your service.

5. Execute. Grow. Execute. Grow. Execute. Grow.

6. Stay liquid.

So what led me to start the business I did? I was fed up with the way a certain task was being handled. A lot of people I knew agreed with me. I started a small sample test that produced positive results. I scaled that into a fully functioning business. I then brought on people as partners that had the skills i was lacking, and were more passionate about the idea than I was. And guess what, I had absolutely no experience in the given field.

The biggest hurdle you will ever face is execution. But once youve dropped 1k on an idea, dropping 2k on the next wont be as hard. 5k on the third wont be daunting giving the experience from the first two, and so on. Eventually through execution and experience you will hit your mark.

[Alpha Mind]

(08-08-2012 11:24 PM)RichieP Wrote:  

(08-08-2012 06:06 PM)Alpha Mind Wrote:  

I run a large ecommerce website and an SEO agency (top 100 US SEO firm). Fell into the ecommerce game via a job I got, and learned SEO along the way.

Takes a LOT of work to get this kind of stuff setup, but it's relatively low risk. I put maybe 30K up between both, although I had maybe 5 or 10K in debt from previous failed ventures.

The important thing is to try a bunch of low risk stuff while you have a job and see what works, makes money, frees up your time, and keeps you happy.

Nice.

Couple of qs:


-What does a SEO firm do now that Penguin has mashed alot of linkbuilding techniques? What ranking strategies still work? Do you go and get (shock horror) real "links of love" etc?

in your 2nd post you mention copywriting / writing ads. What are your favourite resources for learning this? I heard Cashvertising is good?

Penguin didn't mash link building. The people who were doing it like fools and/or spamming got smashed. Link building definitely still works, and will continue to work for years to come. In fact, thanks to all the dumbshits that lie/think/pretend like they know how to do SEO, Penguin has made me a substantial stack of cash.

Anything from Copy Hackers is a solid start. That and write as much as you can. 10 minutes a day adds up quickly and is very helpful.

[Sonofzeus]

[quote] (08-13-2012 06:52 PM)Alpha Mind Wrote:  

[quote='RichieP' pid='250296' dateline='1344486275']
[quote='Alpha Mind' pid='250157' dateline='1344467160']


Penguin didn't mash link building. The people who were doing it like fools and/or spamming got smashed. Link building definitely still works, and will continue to work for years to come. In fact, thanks to all the dumbshits that lie/think/pretend like they know how to do SEO, Penguin has made me a substantial stack of cash.

Anything from Copy Hackers is a solid start. That and write as much as you can. 10 minutes a day adds up quickly and is very helpful.[/quote]

AlphaMind, where would you suggest one starts with regards to amazon and ebay businesses?

I 'learned' SEO last fall, created a site from scratch and earned some good dough as an affiliate for one product. I say 'learned' with quotations because I was one of those fools who relied on buying links, didnt watch anchor diversity etc...

The site I spent months on converts for the related keywords, but I cannot get traffic.

Any suggestions on where to get relevant traffic now that I've been slapped into oblivion in google search?

[ColSpanker]

I agree with AntiTrace. Sometimes you have to just go with the flow and avoid whatever "the experts" are saying.