how to start an online business

How to Start anOnline Business

with

WHO IS THIS GIRL, ANYWAY?

Part I

My early attempt at fame

That’s me!

Timeline• February 2009 – Twitter is invented.• May 2009 – Graduated from Stonehill, cum

laude, with BA in English.• September 2009 – Started attending

Bridgewater State to get my MA.• Fall 2010 through Spring 2010 – Discovered

marketing and was determined to teach myself.• Spring 2011 – Started freelancing social media

marketing. • Winter 2011 – Started doing business under the

name Liz Theresa. Became full service agency.

WHERE YOU NEED TO START

Part II

You need an idea.

2 Basic Routes to TakeService• Primary overhead is

time• You sell expertise• Using your personal

brand• You can sell physical

and/or digital products as well.

Physical product• Overhead is materials

and labor• You sell a physical item

or perhaps a digital item

• You can use your personal brand, but it may not be the best route

• You can also sell services

Wheels turning, yet?• What do I enjoy doing?• What type of advice/expertise do

people come to me for regularly?• What do others tell me I’m good at?• What do people ask me to do as a

favor and then thank me profusely?• What is something I do for fun or

relaxation (where the hours can FLY by me) and I’m happy?

These questions will determine your next path.

• Are you going to be an online business exclusively (no brick-and-mortar)?

• Are you going to have an online store but also sell at a physical location?

• Are you solely going to sell in-person but would like to get more customers from the internet?

HOW TO “BRAND” YOURSELF

Part III

What the heck is “branding”?

• In its simplest sense, having your logo on something is the same thing as branding whatever it is.

• BUT – it’s really this…

Branding is the means through which you convey the messaging

of your company/product.

So wait. What?• So you need messaging (that’s the first

piece you gotta get clear on before you try doing a logo or something).

• Messaging is made up of a few parts…– Your Story– Your Target Market/Audience– Problem You Are Solving

• These next steps will also help you get clear on your elevator speech.

Story! OK, Liz, I’m with you.• The story or what I call “The Story of

Overcoming” is the most critical piece to have in place for your budding business.

• Most common (and effective) story is a story of how you used this product/service to solve your own problem (that way, it’s more believable that you could help others or that your product could help others).

• Any questions on what your problem might be?

Mad Libs! Except for your story.Service Based Business…• Hi! My name is ______. I help ________

like you ____________________ by _____ ____________________________________.

Product Based Business…• Hello! The ________ is a product that

helps people like you _______________ by __________________________________.

Extra Credit Bonus Points• Get bonus points if you can add the

following fill in the blank to your sentence (service OR product)…

Unlike __________, ________ does _______.

My product is better than _____ because _________________________.

Target Market• The demographic that you are trying

to reach with your product/service online.

• Your IDEAL customer.• The more specific you are, the better

results you will yield.

Oh yeah – back to the Story!• So the Brand Messaging is made up

of those Mad Libs which help you get clear on who you are, what you sell, who you help, and what you help them with.

• You now need to incorporate your own Story of Overcoming that will help you sell this puppy.

• Questions?

WEB + ECOMMERCE TOOLS

Part IV

Your Website• If you expect to have an online

business, you gotta have a website. • I recommend WordPress as the

platform you should use.• What You Need…– A Domain Name (dot-com)– Hosting ($12 in total)– Visit http://www.liztheresa.com/15

Email List Building• Email marketing is the SINGLE MOST

IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO IN ONLINE MARKETING.

• Did the all-caps convince you?• Your email list is your only asset in an

online business.• Your list is MUCH easier to convert

into customers than Facebook fans.• Opt-in Gifts & MailChimp

My Fave Payment Processors

• PayPal• Stripe• Square• Clickbank

eCommerce ToolsWordPress– WooCommerce (FREE)– EasyDigitalDownload (FREE)

• Shopify (FREE + transaction fee)

Offsite Tools• eBay• Etsy

Walkthrough Break!

Q&A

BLOGGING + SOCIAL MEDIA

Next Presentation… June 2, 2014 at 6:30pm