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First things first:
Fact: An Internet business can be achieved by virtually anyone, anywhere
Another Fact: It is not as easy as it looks
Another more important fact: As with offline business, you need a plan for your business.
No rules
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The Internet is like the Wild, Wild West. the first rule is: there are no rules. Start-ups enter with their new business models, sometimes totally unheard of and gobble up existing players.
As an Internet player, you have to be bold enough to take risks, and take on competitors much larger than you.
The Internet, at this time, creates yet again, a unique opportunity to make real money. And this time, there is not even a need for a venture capitalist. The wide availability of the Internet and the affordability of the tools gives everyone an opportunity.
Be bold, be creative, be outrageous. But have a Plan.
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What's your Plan?
Before you even start, you must first decide how you are going to make money. Here are some business models that currently exist:
Business to Consumer of B2C: This is the most common example of e-business, also known as e-tailing. The most notable example of this model is amazon.com. However, there are now a lot of one-man sites that follow this model. You have something to sell, build a site and sell it.
Business to Business or B2B - As the name suggests, this site caters to business owners, usually facilitating the exchange of goods and services of people engaged in business. An example is alibaba.com
Content Portal: These sites are heavy content providers and provide a lot of value to visitors. They can include directories, a search engine, news, email, stock quotes, etc. Yahoo is a prime example of a content provider. These kind of model relies on its very high level of traffic.
Infomediary: This is a type of site that adds values to business transactions py providing a lot of valuable information. Examples are travel sites that provide extensive information about different travel destinations while at the same time selling tickets and accomodations.
Communities: This business model relies on building a niche or community and features products, services, delivers information that cater to the particular community. In the earlier days, the revenue was mainly derived from advertising and sale of goods and services. Examples of these sites are ivillage.com, femina.com
Through the years, the flexibility and affordability of the Internet has enabled people to marry different business models to come out with their own. As I previously mentioned, the first rule in Internet Business is, there are no rules. Do not be pressured to follow what other people are doing. if you have a brilliant idea that does not exist yet, as far as you know, go ahead and try it.
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Popular Business Models for Non-Techies
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The popularity and accessibility of the Internet has resulted in a lot of people, even non-technical ones, venturing into their own Internet businesses. In contrast to the early Internet business models that require venture capitalists, massive offline advertising to drive people to the site and a roomful of technical people, content engineers, designers, etc., today's business models are simpler to plan and implement. If you had the chance to visit the Success Stories, you will see that regular people, even those with no computer background at all are making real money from their Net businesses.
One of the more popular business models for non-techies is e-book publishing. This is a business that you can start with very, very minimal investment.
We will be discussing about e-book publishing in greater detail in E-Book Publishing. Those who wish to have a very detailed step-by-step explanation of ebooks as a business model may consider the Secrets to Success on the Internet. This is the book that I used to get me started with e-book publishing.
In the meantime, let's take a look at Preparing your e-Business Plan.
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