Starting Out in Internet Marketing

For any one who has wanted to start a business on the internet but has soon become overwhelmed by the amount of information they need to learn and what they need to do, take heart.  It really is not that difficult.  It is just our minds telling us it is because we are venturing into new territory and we are scared.  I should know. I’ve had those same barriers myself.

The important thing to remember is to take it one step at a time. Rome was not built in a day.  There were many steps that made Rome it what it is today. Your business will be the same.

Some key steps that I have learnt as a professional marketer and project manager that will help you in your journey are:

1. Identify any knowledge gaps you might have and determine whether these are best left for you to learn and do yourself or make a decision to outsource
2. Break down everything that needs to happen in small manageable tasks
3. Order those tasks into a logical sequence of what would need to happen first before you taking the next step
4. Try estimate how long it might take each task to be completed.  Try and put realistic timings to each task.
5. Construct a project timeline
6. Plan your time, or your suppliers time accordingly
7. Assign costs to those tasks that might require you to spend money. If you don’t know all the costs, try and set a budget for what you are prepared to spend.
8. Get buy in from your suppliers on the timelines and costs before you start a project
9. Start the project and put your plan into action
10. Repeat the same process for your next project

I know doing this little task might seem like a pain to do.  But really, the whole process should take no more than 30 minutes.  The good thing about doing this is that you will be able to identify how long your project might take and how much it might cost.  Once you have done your first project, you will be able to tweak your timeline based on what you learnt the first time and will be able to use this timeline over and over again.  As you gain experience, I can guarantee that the length of time you spend both on the timeline and your next project will halve.  And by doing the thinking up front, you will save more time and spend less money than what you would have done.

Comments

comments