In my humble opinion, succeeding online involves very similar factors to succeeding with an offline business. There are some key things to learn, but so it would be if you started a new offline business. For example, if you were an expert in the shoe business but then decided you wanted to run a restaurant, you'd need to learn the ins and outs of running a restaurant.
But the basics of running a business are going to be the same: promotion and marketing; hiring and improving staff performance; sales and finance, all of the basics of running a business exist for every business.
However, external factors such as a "challenging economy" can cause business owners to take steps that might not be the correct steps for their business.
I've written a number of posts and articles on the economy and its relationship to the business owner. Here is one brief segment:
When the economy is in rough shape, one of the primary considerations of business owners is to “cut back.” Cut back on expenses, cut back on staff, cut back in any way they can.
I’m here to tell you one area you must not cut back on:
Promotion!
The key to doing well when the economy goes sour is to promote like crazy. I’m not telling you to spend every dime on promotion, but you must promote with an even greater intensity than before.
Go back and look at all of the promotional actions you took that were successful. Put back in every one that’s feasible.
Cutting back on promotion is never a good solution. When the economy weakens, it is even more vital that you ignore the impulse to reduce your promotional output.
I believe the same is true for an online business. If the economy sours, it's not time to cut back on promoting, it's time to increase your promotional efforts. The next few posts will discuss some of the tried and true methods of promoting online.
