How To Start Online Business From Home

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If you’ve dreamed of one day starting your own online business from home, then you’re not alone. In fact, there are 38 million home-based businesses in the United States. Many of these business owners cite reasons such as wanting to be their own boss, wanting to pursue their passion, and dealing with the loss of their job due to unexpected life events, such as the coronavirus, as the main driving forces which push them to get creative and look to online methods of earning their income.

But there’s a reason why many of us don’t go in the direction of our own online business dreams. Starting an online business from home isn’t an easy feat. You might be stuck wondering what you can offer potential customers, or where to begin in figuring out how to start an online business.

Our step by step guide, How To Start Online Business From Home will walk you through the steps of starting your online business right now, even if you never done it before. Our comprehensive information will give you an idea of how to start an online business for free.

Benefits of doing business online

You don’t have to run your entire business over the internet to benefit from online business opportunities. Small businesses might only need an email address to communicate with their clients, customers and suppliers electronically. Other businesses might use their website to conduct their entire business online.

The many benefits of online business include:

global access, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
improved client service through greater flexibility
cost savings
faster delivery of products
increased professionalism
less paper waste
opportunities to manage your business from anywhere in the world.

Customers may prefer to visit your website to find out about your products and services, instead of visiting you in person. They will also expect to see your website address and your email on business cards and other promotional materials

Start a business that fills a need.

Most people who are just starting out make the mistake of looking for a product first, and a market second.

To boost your chances of success, start with a market. The trick is to find a group of people who are searching for a solution to a problem, but not finding many results. The internet makes this kind of market research easy:

Visit online forums to see what questions people ask and what problems they’re trying to solve.
Do keyword research to find keywords that a lot of people are searching, but don’t have a ton of competition with other sites.
Check out your potential competitors by visiting their sites and taking note of what they’re doing to fill the demand. Then you can use what you’ve learned and create a product for a market that already exists — and do it better than the competition.

Write copy that sells.

There’s a proven sales copy formula that takes visitors through the selling process from the moment they arrive to the moment they make a purchase:

Arouse interest with a compelling headline.
Describe the problem your product solves.
Establish your credibility as a solver of this problem.
Add testimonials from people who have used your product.
Talk about the product and how it benefits the user.
Make an offer.
Make a strong guarantee.
Create urgency.
Ask for the sale.

Throughout your copy, you need to focus on how your product or service is uniquely able to solve people’s problems or make their lives better. Think like a customer and ask “What’s in it for me?”

Design and build your website.

Once you’ve got your market and product, and you’ve nailed down your selling process, now you’re ready for your small-business web design. Remember to keep it simple. You have fewer than five seconds to grab someone’s attention — otherwise, they’re gone, never to be seen again. Some important tips to keep in mind:

Choose one or two plain fonts on a white background.
Make your navigation clear and simple, and the same on every page.
Only use graphics, audio or video if they enhance your message.
Include an opt-in offer so you can collect e-mail addresses.
Make it easy to buy — no more than two clicks between potential customer and checkout.
Your website is your online storefront, so make it customer-friendly.

Use search engines to drive targeted buyers to your site.

Pay-per-click advertising is the easiest way to get traffic to a brand-new site. It has two advantages over waiting for the traffic to come to you organically. First, PPC ads show up on the search pages immediately, and second, PPC ads allow you to test different keywords, as well as headlines, prices and selling approaches. Not only do you get immediate traffic, but you can also use PPC ads to discover your best, highest-converting keywords. Then you can distribute the keywords throughout your site in your copy and code, which will help your rankings in the organic search results.

Establish an expert reputation for yourself.

People use the internet to find information. Provide that information for free to other sites, and you’ll see more traffic and better search engine rankings. The secret is to always include a link to your site with each tidbit of information.

Give away free, expert content. Create articles, videos or any other content that people will find useful. Distribute that content through online article directories or social media sites.
Include “send to a friend” links on valuable content on your website.
Become an active expert in industry forums and social networking sites where your target market hangs out.

Define your brand identity

#1. Implement design and UI/UX

When defining your brand identity, it’s important that you focus on design features such as your:

Logo
Color scheme
Typography
Font
Graphics / photography

Your online business should have a brand style guide, which is your rule book for how your brand is represented visually. It helps maintain consistency with the look and feel of your brand, especially when working with a graphic designer.

Along with the graphic design, other important elements of your visual identity include UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) design.

A UX designer considers the user’s entire journey to solve a particular problem. For example, what steps do they need to take in order to make a purchase? They focus on the overall feel of a user’s experience when interacting with your brand.

A UI designer, on the other hand, considers all the visual and interactive elements of a product interface, including buttons, icons, spacing, and responsive design. It’s also their job to make sure the design is consistent, coherent, and aesthetically pleasing.

Find a brand style specialist for hire

#2. Choose the right e-commerce platform for your online business

An e-commerce platform can be thought of as the central hub for your online business.

When determining which e-commerce platform is right for your business, you’ll want to make sure it offers the following:

The ability to sell an unlimited amount of products, including both physical and digital products
Basic built-in e-commerce features including promotions and discounts, analytics, and catalog management.
An e-commerce website builder that is cost-efficient, easy-to-use, and mobile-responsive
Security features, such as secure payment processors
SEO-friendly features, such as the ability to have a custom domain name, meta tags, meta descriptions, SEO optimized URL structures, and more
Abandoned cart recovery tools
An extensive app store with pre-built integrations and add-ons

While there are lots of e-commerce options available, we recommend WooCommerce as a strong solution for many online businesses.

#3. Develop content guidelines

Your content is how you communicate with your customers, engage with your target audience, and portray your business professionally.

Therefore, it’s important you determine the following content-related elements for your brand:

Copy guidelines

This set of rules should outline what to do and what not to do when writing content associated with your online business. It should also focus on:

Grammar rules
How to format text
What words should and shouldn’t be used in association with your brand

Copy guidelines are especially helpful when multiple writers oversee your business’ content, or even just to help you stay on track.

Tone of voice

This isn’t about what you say, but rather how you say it.

Think of your online business as having a certain personality, then determine how this can be communicated through your words and what sort of impression you want to have on your audience.

For example, will your tone of voice be formal and professional, young and trendy, or friendly and conversational?

Mission statement

This is a summary of the aims and values of your company. When writing your mission statement, you should think about:

Why your online business exists
What your overall goals are
The products or services you provide
Your target audience
The geographical location in which you operate

Find a content marketing specialist

Define the marketing strategies to fuel business growth

#1. Define your acquisition funnel

Next, you must understand how your target customer will move through the stages of the buyer’s cycle (sometimes called an acquisition funnel) until they make their first purchase. These are the four stages you will see.

Awareness. Awareness is the first time potential customers interact with your products or services. It typically happens after they begin online research for a problem they are trying to solve.
Interest. Next, potential customers want to have confirmation that you are an expert in your industry. They may think you are the right solution for their problem and are looking for information to support that. At this point, they may have expressed interest in your company by providing an email address or following you on social media, but they haven’t made a purchase.
Decision. Once the potential customer has expressed interest, you must demonstrate that you are in fact an authority in your field and an expert in your niche. You can do this through blog posts and articles, case studies, or even offering a free trial of your services to convince them you are the right solution.
Action. This is the final stage of the funnel where a prospect has made the decision to buy and turns into a customer.

#2. Inbound marketing mediums/channels

An inbound marketing strategy can include several different channels and types of content to attract prospects and customers to your website.

The aim is then to continue to engage and delight them, even after they become customers. This allows you to grow a business that provides value and builds trust amongst your audience.

Inbound marketing strategies to consider include:

Launch your online store

Once your online store is open for business, there are some important steps you’ll need to take to ensure its continued success. You see, the actions you take after a sale, as well as how you measure and drive growth, are vital steps that can either make or break your online venture.

#1. The next steps after the sale

Order fulfillment:

Process the order
Ship the order, if handling in-house
Manage and process returns, if required

Follow up:

Contact customers to thank them for their order and provide a delivery timeframe
Reach out to customers once their order has arrived to ensure they’re satisfied
Encourage customers to provide a review or testimonial about your business or product

Build customer loyalty:

Invite your customers to keep in touch through social media channels
Invite customers to join a loyalty club where members are offered special discounts
Offer rewards for new customer referrals
Send personalized cards for special occasions such as birthdays, offering gift promotions

Generate repeat sales:

Send updates via email and social media to advertise sales, offers, and promotions
Offer product demonstrations that may be of interest to your customer
Highlight related products that provide customers with additional benefits

#2. Measuring success

There are three main areas, as well as several KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), to consider when measuring your online business’ success:

Ecommerce data

This includes the data from your online business’s website where customers can buy your products or services. Important KPIs to monitor include:

Number of sales
Conversion rate
Average Order Value (AOV)
Shopping Cart Abandonment Rate
Product affinity (which products are often purchased together)

Online acquisition and marketing success

You’ll also need to analyze your website in terms of acquisition and audience behavior. Think about the following questions:

How much traffic do you drive organically? How much comes through direct traffic, social media, or referrals from other sites?
How long do visitors stay on your site?
What percentage of visitors make a purchase or take another action, like signing up for email lists?

Business performance

Additionally, you’ll want to focus on the profitability, growth, and overall progress of your business. Measure the following KPIs to ensure you’re achieving your desired goals:

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Cost of Goods Sold (How much you’re spending to sell a product)
Gross profit
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
Average Margin

Find a web analyst for hire

#3. Focus on growth

You’ll want to stay engaged with your target audience and generate more buzz for your brand to drive growth and acquire new customers. This can be achieved through:

Online marketing strategies, such as running competitions through social media, influencer outreach, hosting or appearing on a podcast, blogging, SEO efforts such as keyword research and targeting, and producing informative video content that addresses your target audience’s wants and needs
Omnichannel strategies, including selling your products or services on other online channels, such as Amazon, Etsy, and eBay
Email marketing, where you focus on growing your email subscriber list through offering opt-in freebies such as eBooks, event invitations, printable art, discount codes, and more in exchange for the user’s email address. You should continue to nurture your sales funnel by sending targeted emails offering value and in-depth content to turn leads into sales

Additionally, you should continuously monitor your KPIs to ensure your business is reaching its goals and achieving growth each quarter.

Regularly assess this information and ask yourself:

What did we do well this quarter?
What do we need to do better?
How much growth or decline are we experiencing?
What are our new goals or benchmarks for the next quarter?

Conclusion

Hundreds of people from around the world have been able to do this, and you can too! What does it take to do this? Is it hard to build an online business? Start learning today about how you can start your own business in your spare time. Online businesses are easy when you know what to do. Learn how to start free online business right now with our eBook on building an online business with no money!