Brainstorm - Brainstorming is the first step in starting any business. There are all sorts of resources and great ideas out there; you just have to find the one that is most suited to your needs. It’s called finding your niche. Look around you, check out the stores and pay attention to what people are buying. Ask your family and friends for ideas. The Internet is a great resource for finding hot ideas and items that are selling. Join forums and see what people are saying about certain products or services you might be interested in offering on your website. Always use your creativity. The Internet market is always looking for fresh ideas. Set Goals - The goals you set for your business can make it or break it. Ask yourself what you want from your business and decide how much time and energy you are prepared to give to the business. How much money do you have to put towards your business? How many hours are you prepared to spend per day on building your business? Is this a part-time business intended to supplement your income? Are you planning to quit your job eventually and have a full-time online business? What kind of income do you expect to see? These are important questions to ask yourself so you can plan for the long-term. Set your business goals before you start, commit to them, and see them through. Start-up Costs - An online business can be started with as little as a few hundred dollars. Building a website can become costly, especially if you know nothing about it. Hiring someone to build your site can cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars but you don’t necessarily need your own website to start an online business. Blogging is a great way to start out and you can set up your own blog or blogs for free. After your business is better established, you might want to think about developing a website. Acquire the Skills - Anyone can start up an Internet business but will it profit? Finding a product or service to sell on your site is an important and integral part of starting your business but if you don’t have the skills to drive the visitors to your site you won’t be in business long. Just as an electrician or a plumber have to learn the skills of their trade, you also have to learn the skills of online marketing. There are many ways to drive traffic to your site such as affiliate marketing, article marketing, Ad Sense, Google Adwords and Press Releases just to mention a few. Learning the skills on how to drive traffic to your site an essential part of planning your online business. There are many courses on the Internet that offer to teach you these skills for a decent price. Check this out carefully but beware of scams. Remember, there are still people out there who are happy to take your money and offer very little in return. Good Customer Relations - It’s all about customer service. Building a good relationship with your customers is probably one of the most important tasks within any business. The goal is to build a long-term relationship with your customer based on trust. Selling a product or service for a fair price, offering money-back guarantees, doing what you say you’re going to do and treating your customer with dignity and respect is one of the best ways of gaining their confidence. This is a work in progress but the payoff is well worth it. talkgold.com