Welcome Back To My DoFollow Blog! I’d Like to Extend a Big Thank You to You and Give You FREE Access to my “101 Ways to Connect for E-commerce” Report. Discover NEW Key Ways to Reach Your Audience! ~ Christine Brady
In building your online business, I bet you’ve come across hundreds, if not thousands of programs, products and services all geared towards growing your business online.
There’s a lot of good stuff out there, but, unfortunately, there is way more fluff.
From my post here, I have been undertaking a case study in list building. List building is a business model, but one that also requires other means to achieve that end.
Changing Landscape
The nature of the Internet is fast and ever changing. Keeping up with what is going on now and where the Internet is headed is a full-time job in itself.
However, it doesn’t have to consume you. Sticking with a few popular trends is better than attempting to jump from method to method trying to do them all.
In this list building quest, I have uncovered a few hot spots that either are or will be dominating the face of the Internet. Be there and be profitable.
Where to be now
1. You tube. You tube is the most highly used search engine after Google. Incredible! And it’s not just for watching mindless videos of dogs singing or cats dancing. People use You Tube to watch what they want to know. Instead of Googling a term, they search for a video on You Tube to watch the answer.
Let’s face it, as consumers we are lazy – yes, downright lazy. We don’t want to work hard at finding an answer to something. We want to type in a word or phrase and then watch as the answer unfolds in front of us.
You Tube is hopping and a site to get comfortable with now.
2. Audio. Creating an audio and making an Mp3 is a hot button topic. Think about this for a moment – Have you ever tuned in to a podcast or other recording and then opened another tab on your computer to do something else while you listened?
Audio recordings allow people to continue in their multitasking. And we are all multi-taskers! Audio will continue to be a very popular method of reaching people.
3. Product creation. If you haven’t started on that book you want to write or that course you want to develop, now is the time to do it. Creating a product – your product – offers limitless possibilities for your online business. The concept is simple – create it once and sell it many, many times over.
And it gets better than that – how about having someone else sell your quality product for you? They are doing all the marketing, you just deliver the product! How is that for a business model?
Here’s a little food for thought on product creation – Mike Geary is the creator of the Truth About Abs program (it’s an abs fitness and nutrition course). Guess what his sales are per month from his business? 1 million dollars per month! That is a combination of his course, his subscriber list and media buying, but what did it all start with? A product!
4. Pinterest. I’m throwing Pinterest in here because is a hot spot for growing a business. Pinterest is quickly becoming a marketplace for sharing and marketing. But only if done correctly. Pinterest is still by invitation only, but ask around Facebook and someone will surely invite you.
The idea behind why Pinterest is an up and coming hot spot is that marketing on Pinterest is, for the most part, untapped. That is why it is a good thing to master now – learn how to market yourself and your product and you will be way ahead of the curve.
5. List building. And not just list building, I mean building a relationship with a list of people so that you can communicate with them and they will be receptive to your suggestions. There has never been a better time to start a list than now.
On the internet, people are becoming increasingly more leery of everything. It seems like they are skeptical from the time they start searching and reading. Completely understandable. That is why you need to learn how to build a list effectively and be the trusted source they get their information from and buy from.
Here are a few posts to help get your list started:
How to build a list the easy way
5 Action steps to build a list now
6. Mobile websites. According to forbes.com, there are more than 160 million iPhone, iPad and iPod touches users out there and another 152 million Android users. The numbers are only increasing – before long the majority of web browsing will be on a hand held device.
A mobile website puts you in the game of mobile web browsing.
7. Social commerce. According to Business Insider, as of September 2011, people in the US spend 16% of their time online on Facebook. And that is up from 10% just the year before! And here’s another alarming number for you – the fastest growing segment on Facebook is the under 25 crowd -
It’s a fact that people on Facebook don’t like to leave Facebook once they get on. So doesn’t it make sense to get your products and services integrated with Facebook to allow for purchases right there, so they never have to leave? This Facebook Fanpage Toolkit does just that. This is on my top 5 list to get completed by this month 
8. How to coach or teach. We are in the midst of generation Y. They are smarter than us – and more open to the possibilities that the Internet offers. They are in college but avid mobile users, gamers and technologically savvy individuals. Many are looking to the Internet to make a living.
What better way to help people and build your business than to coach an up and comer on how to build an online business.
And it’s not just the Generation Y, many people, from all walks of life, would love to start their own businesses. Offer your services to help develop the next wave of Internet success stories.
9. Facebook Ads. Advertising on Facebook really needs no explanation, Facebook is where people are at – they spend hours upon hours there. Be there with them.
Facebook ads are a great, affordable way to market to your targeted group like never before. The demographics of Facebook are so targeted, you can reach exactly the prospect you want to reach. If you are going to offer coaching, Facebook ads are a great way to market your services to get the right people you are looking for.
Whoa – where do I start?
As the Internet moves forward, having a website or blog is just not enough anymore. Reaching out and exploring other avenues is essential. Learning new platforms and new ways of doing business just comes with the territory.
While all 9 of these to-dos rank very highly in importance, the only way to actually accomplish any of them is to pick one and do it. Then pick another and do it.
Constantly learning and staying ahead of the curve…
Thoughts, comments, suggestions?
Hi Christine: I’m really enjoying your posts both on building an online business and list building. The information is very timely and matches my goals. Thank you for the great info!
Peggy
Hi Peggy,
Thanks so much – glad you enjoyed it!
List building and online business building are two of my favorite topics – both in writing and doing!
~Christine
I certainly agree with you Christine when you say the internet is changing fast. Too fast for me sometimes as I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all.
I think the best thing to do is to tackle it one bite at a time. I have decided to tackle videos to start with and maybe leave “Pinterest” et al for another day. This is despite recieving multiple warning emails to “jump on the bandwagon or you’ll be left behind”.
One step at a time!
Wendy (wowen)
Wendy Owen recently posted..Learn These Sleep Apnea Symptoms
Hi Wendy,
I totally agree with you – one could easily get overwhelmed by focusing in 10 different directions.
One step at a time is awesome advice!
~Christine
Great breakdown of the areas you need to know about if you want to grow your business online, Christine.
It can all seem a bit overwhelming at times, so I think your advice is very good – just work on one area at a time, get good at it before you move on to another.
I think sometimes people expect to see instant results on the internet, but it’s just like offline business, it takes time and work to build things up.
Valerie Cuell recently posted..What Motivates You?
Hi Valerie,
It does take time – great point – but it’ so hard to be patient and not jump on every new shiny object out there!
Focus and the results will become much more clear –
~Christine
You will probably hate me for this but I’m going to play devils advocate!
Perhaps you do not NEED to learn many of these things, you just need to think about how you take advantage of certain elements within your list.
Gideon Shalwick is well know for his video based stuff as is Marie Forleo. Youtube and perhaps list building is what they concentrate on.
Some of the other elements may be useful to add a bit extra but they are not the core of their business and thus most likely not a great area of importance to them. (Even if they do them, they most likely do not do it themselves anyway, they simply outsource it and thus do not need to really know it).
The reason I bring up this counter point is simply for one reason. Many marketers I come across spread their skills to thinly across too many areas. Really we should be concentrating on 2 or 3 key methods and ensuring we really work them well.
To give you due credit you do mention at the beginning that it is better to stick to a few proven methods rather then jump from trend to trend, but I believe 9 methods s far too much for many of us mere mortals!
Good post Christine, I really do like the way you write, it is always well laid out and very easy for the reader to well… read!
Dee
Dee Kumar recently posted..10 things I learned about getting your story to journalists
Hey Dee,
I am always curious to read your responses
Learning these 9 segments is not too far-fetched – over a weeks time period, you could master one avenue and then move on to another and then another. I know several bloggers who use at least 8 out of these 9 segments regularly – and the thing about it, is once you learn it, you’ve got the basic idea. Mobile websites – set yours up and you’ve done it, Pinterest – once you’ve gotten into the groove, adding pins to it will come naturally.
But, you’re right – trying to conquer them all at the same time will only do more harm than good.
Thanks Dee – always great to hear from you!
~Christine
Hi Christine,
This thing about Generation Y? Spot on. This new generation is basically planning from now to not get a j.o.b. but start right from 17 years of age to dominate YouTube and mobile.
I think it’s a good strategy to develop good coaching and mentoring savvy to complement their tech skills.
Good post and an eye opener about a blog perhaps not being enough.
Dee
Dee Ankary recently posted..Is Content Curation The New Black?
Hi Dee,
They are VERY techie – so much so that even my 8 yr. old can install new software!
They are the up and comers and they are looking for coaches and mentors!
Glad you liked it!
~Christine
It is always good to find somebody that know what to do to improve your business. That is not only saving time but also more money and wealth.
Online Business Help,
Hi Finau,
Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
~Christine