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7 Simple Online Business Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

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The Cost of Ignoring these Lessons

I'm about to tell you about the 7 lessons that I learned after 3 years of attempting to build a profitable online business. Because I ignored these lessons, it took me 3 years just to make $113 online.

I will admit, the lessons may seem obvious, but knowing about the lessons and applying them are 2 different things.

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Lesson 1: Acquire Knowledge

man sitting at laptop with coffeeBefore you can start an online business, you need to know how to start. Find a quality teaching source, one that works for you, and stick with it until you succeed. If you jump from one teaching source to the next, you're going to spend all your time learning and not enough time doing.

How do you learn best? If you prefer learning from ebooks, then get an ebook. If you prefer learning from videos, then look for a video course. Finding a quality information source is crucial. Find a teaching source that is based on techniques and strategies that actually work. If you follow bad advice, you're only going to waste your time and money.

ElvertBarnes

The teaching source I wish I knew about 3 years ago

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The Internet Marketing Advantage

Lesson 2: Do Your Research

The research phase is critical to the success of your online business. Do research to understand the market, your potential competitors and audience you're targeting. Once you've found a market that interests you, do keyword research to find profitable keywords to target. Knowing what keywords to target is important if you plan on generating free traffic through search engine optimization. Keyword research is also important if to plan on using paid advertising services, such as Google Adwords.

If you don't do proper research, how will you even know if the market you're targeting is even profitable. It would be a waste of your time and money if you build a website or blog and generate traffic, only to realize later that the market you're in wasn't very profitable to begin with.

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Lesson 3: Be focused

If you're starting out, pick one type of online business and focus on that one until you succeed. Once you've gotten a handle on that type of online business, then you can think about trying another type of online business.

What do I mean by one type of online business? Well, if you start out in affiliate marketing, don't try website flipping or eCommerce at the same time. If you jump from one to the next, you're going to find it difficult to succeed in any one of them, because your focus is divided. A divided focus just means you won't spend enough time on any one of them for a long time. Don't try to master multiple types of online businesses. Master one, then move on.

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Lesson 4: Quality over Quantity

It doesn't matter whether it's putting content on your blog or building links; always think quality over quantity.

Take Blogging for example. What good is having a blog with 200 blog posts, if no one is interested in reading those posts. If a visitor lands on that blog and doesn't find that information useful or interesting,they'll just leave your blog and you won't make any money. A visitor will stay longer on a blog with only 10 posts, but each post is well written, interesting and is worth reading, than they would if the blog had 200 low quality posts.

People want quality, so give them quality. What good will it do you putting loads of content out there, if it's just going to get ignored?

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Lesson 5: Targeted Traffic

blue and yellow target red backgroundDon't aim to generate traffic. Rather aim to generate targeted traffic. When I say targeted traffic, I mean traffic that would actually be interested in your blog or website. A little High targeted traffic will convert a lot better into sales that a lot of general traffic. Spend your time attracting targeted traffic.

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Lesson 6: Persevere

woman running down empty countryside roadThink of every little thing you do in your online business (every link built, every minute spent on research and learning, every article written etc.) as getting you one step closer to success.

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Lesson 7: Keep Learning

student studying from a table full of booksDay by day, the internet is evolving: how people use and interact on the internet is changing. What does this mean for you? Well, it means online business strategies that were effective a few years ago, may be useless now. As the internet evolves, the online business and internet marketing industry also evolves. If you want to reach your target market, stay profitable and have an edge over competitors, you need to stay updated with what works and what no longer works.

Keep learning. There is not a point where you can say, "Okay, I've learned enough now... I'll stop learning now."

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The Lesson that Stands Out

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johnA11

Hi, I'm John. I've been messing with internet marketing on and off for the last 3 years and only now getting the hang of it.

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