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How to start an online business when you've got no shoestring

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You've seen the books about how to start your own business on a shoestring...

but what if you've got no shoestring? And why is it called a shoestring instead of a shoelace in this instance? Well, this lens will answer the first question, though not the second. Read on to find how anyone with an internet connection can start their business from nothing but creativity and hard work. I did!

Step One: Decide on your business

Tip: make sure you love what you do

Whether you want to focus on affiliate marketing, ebay, or drop shipping there are a plethora of choices. It's easy to become overwhelmed, so try making a list of things you love before you go searching. (i.e., books, hunting, gardening, etc.) Choose a business related to something you love. Or maybe you already know what you want to do and are ready to get to the money part. Proceed to step two!







Tip: Have an online business suggestion? Add it to the Plexo list below!

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Step Two: Get your website for free

Yep, get paid register your domain and host your website

Go immediately to Hosting Lagoon, and sign up. There are many websites similar to Hosting Lagoon where you get paid for taking advantage of trial offers and such. Hosting Lagoon has a different hook- they will pay you in urls (domain names) and hosting services! So, you complete offers, and Hosting Lagoon helps you register your chosen domain and set up your website.

IMPORTANT Tip: Keep careful track of any trials you sign up for, so that you can call and cancel. You must be organized. This is your business, treat it like one! You will have to work hard to make money!

Step Three: Apply for a credit card

Many, many credit cards give you outstanding bonuses to apply. You just have to know where to find the best ones. And I'm telling you. The most complete website for finding bank account and credit card bonuses is icardbonus.com. It is not unusual to have 100$ bonuses to sign up for a card (sometimes more). If you have good credit you should be able to get several hundred dollars this way.


Tip: If you want to sign up for multiple cards, do it in one sitting. Your credit rating will take a temporary dip when you get a new card, and might cause you to be refused for the next one if you don't do them back to back (complete all offers before your first new card is reported to the credit agencies).

Step Four: Open a bank account

What! You can get money for opening a bank account?!!

Yep, you can get money for opening a bank account. Read all the fine print to see if there is a minimum deposit, etc. to get the money. Go to ibankbonus to find banks that are giving bonuses. I've made several hundred dollars this way.


Tip:Don't forget you can sign your spouse up for the same deal (with their knowledge, of course!) and take advantage of the free money twice. Some banks even give bonus money for making a referral, so you get even more.

Step Five: Earn marketing money

Marketing is extremely important. Your customers need to be able to find you! There are many no cost ways to market (I don't say free because you must expend time and creativity). For instance, you surely want to start a Squidoo lens and link to your webpage! Look for other no cost ways to promote your business, such as adding a link to your signature in emails and forum posts. (Get more ideas at the Website Traffic 101 lens). I do recommend you pay for advertising, too. Make an advertising budget and earn enough through the pay for trial offers to pay for it.


Cah Lagoon- my favorite, for high payouts and reliability. Your money will be in your Paypal account within 24 hours! I have been very pleased with them.


SWAT cash- wins my award for crazy, good fun. They carry their SWAT theme throughout the whole site. You might love it, you might hate it.


Tip: Do not pay money to people who promise you 1,000 visitors to your site for one low price. These are scams, usually run by folks who have a high traffic website themselves, such as a porn site. They program their page to "ping" yours somehow (hey, I'm not the expert on how these things work!), and it registers as a 1-3 second visit. The so called visitors to your website probably never even saw the page load.
Tip, too: Check out the websites you like to visit to see how much it costs to advertise through them. You might find some economical options, targeted right at the audience you are looking for.

Reader Feedback

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  • Reply
    asoffpoker Sep 27, 2011 @ 11:29 pm | delete
    Hi, you have a cool lens here and i find very informative. Check out my site about free credit score. I'm sure you can find lots of information in there which you might need. Thanks, Domz.
  • Reply
    DOmz Jun 7, 2011 @ 3:11 pm | delete
    Hi, you have a cool lens here and i find very informative. Check out my site about free credit score. I'm sure you can find lots of information in there which you might need. Thanks, Domz.
  • Reply
    rcolby7400 Jan 15, 2010 @ 9:28 am | delete
    Great lens! A lot of people want to work at home but quiting that day job is scarry. Learn how to save hundreds of dollars a month at home first and then you may be able to start your own business. Visit http://upperhanddepot.com for tips and articles on how to save money at home and have more money at the end of your month.
  • Reply
    BusinessPlanMaster Sep 29, 2009 @ 12:03 pm | delete
    These are excellent ideas. We've got a bunch more too at http://www.businessplanmaster.com/online-business-plan.html . Thousands and thousands of people start online businesses everyday. The first few weeks can be a bit overwhelming, but overall there just isn't a better business anywhere!
  • Reply
    Adrie Nov 24, 2007 @ 6:00 am | delete
    Hi
    I like your lens, good info.
    Did you know you can use self hypnosis to increase your business success? You can read about it in my Lens Self Help Hypnosis
    Adrie Rackers
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