A few weeks ago, I posted a video on my YouTube channel discussing the daily tasks that an entrepreneur has to accomplish in order to build an online business.

You catch it right here

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In the video, I identified the 5 main tasks every online entrepreneur must do – reach out to people, make appointments, implement advertising strategies, create great content, and setup up-to-date e-commerce systems.

Now, for this blog, I want to elevate the discussion even more. In addition to what I discussed in my video above, I will add more specific tips to the general concepts than what was discussed.

So if you are a newbie online entrepreneur or still considering taking your brick-and-mortar business online, read on.

1.  Reach out to people.

The biggest mistake an online entrepreneur can do is focus on selling his or her product immediately. That is tantamount to setting yourself up for failure.

When starting an online business, you need to remember that you need to have a market first.  Reach out to people first, find out what they need and determine if you can provide solutions to these problems.

This is where market research comes in.  To find your potential market,  you should get yourself involved in online discussions to figure out what people’s problems are.

Visit online forums, Facebook, and Twitter to find out what concerns people are trying to solve.

By reaching out to people, you are equipping yourself with a very important thing, KNOWLEDGE. In doing so, you can easily check within your arsenal of resources if you already have a solution to these problems. If not maybe, you can create one.

One of the desired results of this task is that you become a valued member of every online community you are involved with.

By doing so,  your online network is broadened immensely and you will be able gather phone numbers and email addresses that you can use for your marketing campaigns.

2. Make every call, email, or appointment count.

Making calls, launching email marketing campaigns, and keeping appointments are a fact of building a successful online business.

Personally, this is one of the tasks that excite me most because I can put the marketing strategies I developed to really good use.

To be able to accomplish this task, you need to have a bunch of email addresses and phone numbers to work with.  You can build a list by offering a subscription only service.

Do not worry if your list is short, because you will be able to build your list as you grow your online business.

Think of every phone number or email address in your list as a lead. Each lead can turn out to be a potential client, business partner, or team member that can contribute to your business’ growth.

Furthermore, by connecting with the people behind each email address and phone number, you can gain access to more leads that actually convert.

So how many phone calls do you have to make in a week?

My rule is:  as many as you can. Your goal when making calls is to convince the other person to agree to an appointment.

If you aren’t able to make an appointment for a particular potential client immediately, do not hesitate to make follow-up calls.

My mantra when  making follow-up calls is 3 days, 3 weeks, and 3 months. You can develop your own strategy and tweak it if you have to.

Email addresses of potential clients are considered gold in the realm of business and marketing. Why?  You can email people virtually every day, providing them information about your products and services.  I believe I can attribute a huge chunk of my success to email marketing.

At the very least, an online entrepreneur should have at least one appointment per day.

As a business coach, I make a considerable number of phone calls and write as many emails daily to make appointments with clients for my coaching and consultancy  business.

Most days, I have appointments left and right but even if I only have one business meeting or a free trial session for my online business coaching service per day, I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment already.

3. Create great content.

You might have read one too many times on the internet that content is king and think that the premise has gotten really stale.

Actually, you couldn’t be more wrong because to this day, CONTENT IS STILL KING.  Remember, people turn towards the internet for information – whether they are looking for a product or service or simply looking for information about a particular topic.

So one of the  best ways to build your online  business is to establish yourself as an expert in your field.

For example, as a business coach, I provide information about business processes and business automation and create content aimed at helping working moms and entrepreneurs build their online businesses.

It really is hard work, but this is a task that you can’t skip.

You need to be able to publish informative blogs, articles, videos, and any other useful content.  These different types of content should be distributed through social media so always be creative.

If you create really good content, your readers, audience, and followers will naturally share it via email or through their social media accounts.

Successful email marketing campaigns directly result from great content.

When your subscribers and customers opt in to your email list, it’s like you have unearthed a pot of gold.

But how can you get your readers or followers to part with their email addresses?

Again, great content. If you create really great content, it will be easy to encourage a visitor to your website or business page to sign up using his or her email address for an opt-in offer. You can then start sending them highly targeted and compelling email offers and newsletters.

4. Use advertising to attract targeted customers.

The main goal of advertising is to drive targeted buyers to your online business.

If you have a new website, consider pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to capture your market.

This is faster than just waiting for your customers to find you. PPC advertising is an intermediate concept but it can be learned.

However, you might need to consider hiring the services of a PPC expert as your business grows exponentially.

You can also advertise on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

Social media advertising backed by a solid social media campaign is currently one of the most effective marketing strategies for increasing sales.

And once you get really good at why wouldn’t your prospects want to do business with you and buy our products? If you’d like help with the technical side of running traffic, I recommend taking an over the shoulder tour of successful marketers who have really high conversion rates on their ads. You can do it in this 100% FREE Traffic Workshop. I’d love to know what you think about when you’re through.

And last but certainly not least!

5.  Make sure up-to-date e-commerce systems are in place.

Whether you are selling services or products online, never forget that the success of your business also depends on the e-commerce systems you are using.

Simply put, your potential clients should find your site or page simple and easy to navigate.

Furthermore, the ordering and payment process should be a breeze, and you should also accept payments via credit card, debit card, as well as other services like PayPal.

Conscientious business owners utilize a concept called dogfooding.

In dogfooding, you experience what your regular customer goes through. If you own and manage an online store, you should test your e-commerce systems by performing activities like browsing your online store, viewing individual products, adding products to the shopping cart, paying for the goods, and having them shipped to a physical address.

This is to ensure a hassle-free experience for your customers.

Starting an online business may seem daunting but you can’t go wrong with the tips I’ve shared in this blog. If, after a while, you aren’t in any way near your business goals, evaluate the strategies you implemented to check if there’s a task you’ve been neglecting.

Do you want to start your online business the smart way? Join me for a free 30-minute business coaching trial session!