10 Steps to Take Your Idea to an Online Business

Are you attracted to the freedom that comes with running your own business, setting your own hours, and following your own dream? Are you sitting on an idea you would love to turn into an online course? But you’re not sure where to start? 

Here are 10 steps that will take you from the idea stage to starting your online business.
 
1. Brainstorm

First you need to define what it is you want to offer. What are you passionate about? What knowledge and experience do you have? What talent and skills do you have you could share with others?

Next you need to figure out what other people need that you could help them with? One common mistake is the need to help everyone with everything. Try to limit your ideas and be more specific about who you want to help and what they need that you can help them with?

Summarize this into a business idea.

2. Define your marketing strategy

Your marketing strategy will position you as an expert in your niche and help you to stand out online. To master your marketing strategy, you’ll need to:

1. Define your niche
2. Define your ideal customer
3. What do they need? What are their desires? What are their pain points?
4. What value can you offer? Why are you different to your competition?
   
   

Related reading: 12 of the Most Profitable Course Niches for a Digital Course


3. Research

I recommend spending some time researching your target market and competitors to have a clear idea of what your ideal customer wants. Are there other companies out there doing what you’re planning to do? If so, that’s not a bad thing. It means that there is a market for the type of business you want to build.

This research will also be valuable when crafting your marketing messages, as it will help you communicate your marketing strategy, so it reaches your ideal customers.

Related reading: 5 Ways to Define Your Ideal Customer

4. Choose a business name

Choosing a name for your business and check if it’s available as a domain. Then register it as soon as possible.

5. Create your brand

Finding your voice is the most important thing you can do for your business.

If you want to reach a specific group of people and get them to pay attention to you, you must first understand who they are and then know how to make them resonate with you and your brand. It's not about trying to convert everyone, but getting your people, those who are waiting for your services, to place your brand in the right place in their mind. It's about standing out from the crowd with your unique brand voice and attract the clients who will love, respect, and trust you. 

Your brand is more than just a logo or a website – it's a promise that resonates with people on an emotional level. It's what makes customers feel like they'll be taken care of when they do business with you. And it's what makes them want to come back again and again!

Related reading: 3 Strong Reasons why a Brand is Important for an Online Business
 

6. Define your offers

When trying to decide what type of offers you’re going to sell, base them on the results of your business idea: what you truly enjoy, what you are good at, and where there is a demand in your market.

Examples of digital products:
A mini workshop
A course
A program
A membership

Ideally, you’ll want to design offers that you enjoy delivering and that your ideal customers want and are willing to pay for.

Once you’ve decided on your offers, you’ll want to package and price them so they’re competitive in the market.

7. Select a course platform

If your online business is going to be a success, you’ll need a website that your ideal customers can find, and you’ll also need a platform for your digital products. There are several platforms, like Kajabi, who provide an all-in-one solution with a website, course platform, sales pages, landing pages, pipelines and funnels, email automations and multiple payment options. So, need to take some time to research all the options available.

8. Get your market’s attention

Driving traffic to your offer starts well before you begin to design your online course. The first thing you need to do after you have defined your marketing strategy is to create a good lead magnet or freebie as it’s also called to build your email list. To be a successful course creator you need to grow your email list, so you have an audience to sell to. Start promoting your lead magnet as soon as possible to create awareness of your business idea.

Related Reading: Needing Tips on how to Build Your Email List as a Small Business?

9. Create a content plan

Create a content plan around your brand value and develop your “know like trust” with social media. This means that you must get your audience to first understand and then believe in your brand, to become prospects, leads and customers.

10. Have an entrepreneurial mindset

Running a business, when you are a solopreneur and small business owner, your mindset plays a role in everything you create. When you come from a place of confidence, curiosity, and excitement, it translates into everything you do.

The biggest obstacle to an entrepreneurial mindset is self-doubt, and you need to believe that you can.

I hope this has been helpful to you and that it gets your entrepreneurial spirit flowing.  

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