Thursday, September 23, 2010

Start An Online Business - Tips From The Book Crush It

In my last few articles I have been reviewing the book Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk. Although he primarily describes how he built his wine business, he also offers great principles that can be used in any niche. They are some of the same principles I learned when I started an online business.

Start An Online Business - Make the Decision to Go For it!

Vaynerchuk is known for asking people, "Are you happy with your job?" He says that if you are not just dying to get out of bed in the morning and go to work, you might consider doing something else. And I can admit that in the last years of my home remodeling business that is exactly how I felt.

I know a lot of people on my own email list want to do something else with their time and energy. But it can also be scary to decide to go for it. You might consider working at night to build your own business, going at it on a part-time basis until you build some momentum!

Start An Online Business - Go Viral

You might consider one idea for building an internet business that we are going to be implementing throughout the year: a little more social media. And a little more viral marketing. This can take a little bit of time to build up. But we are going to be giving out good content on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, those kinds of things.

Again, this is something that takes a little time, especially if your company has strict rules about posting on social media sites while you are at work. I have even heard of some companies that discourage posting outside of work.

Start An Online Business - Build Your OWN Brand

A brand is what differentiates you from others in your niche. With Vaynerchuk, he knew he was not a good writer, so when blogs came along, he knew that was not for him. So he continued to wait.

When videos became popular, he saw the potential with videos. That is when he decided he would use videos to develop his brand: WineLibraryTV.

One brand that my wife and I have been working on is "The Couple Next Door." We want people to see us normal people who do everyday regular things, but we have just sort of fallen into some concepts that work online. And that is the truth. We are not internet marketing gurus or business hotshots. We like to share with people so that they can be successful.

One thing to remember as you are developing your brand is giving good content. Good content is essential, and one of the best ways to do that is through storytelling. Vaynerchuk is a great storyteller. And when you tell stories, people remember, and then they can associate whatever the content is with what you are trying to teach them.

There are still so many other elements to starting an internet business: building your list, choosing your platform, capitalizing on your strengths, etc. If you want to know how to start an online business, Vaynerchuk's book is a MUST read. It can offer you some useful insight.

By : Stephen_R._Beck

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