Starting A Free Online Business, Step by Step
posted on August 30th, 2008
Every day, thousands of people search for information on starting a free online business. They are looking at online business systems, searching for free online business opportunities, and basically looking for legitimate home business ideas so that they can work from home.
That’s what I do, and I love it. That’s a photo of me above. It was actually taken several years ago - this is my 12th year working from home. And it was taken at a friends house too. I love being able to work anytime, anywhere!
Anyway- yesterday I had opportunity to meet two such ladies who were searching for that very information, and who happen to live in my town. They found me on MySpace, so we talked there and then decided to meet for lunch and discuss what it takes to start an online business.
I’ll share the same details with you here that I shared with them over lunch, which were simple steps for starting a free online business. I cant share the fabulous spinach salad, or the great conversation we had, but hopefully this will prove useful to you if you are searching for internet business ideas yourself…
Home Business Ideas
There are so many home business opportunities and internet business ideas, that it can be a little overwhelming to figure out where you should start. We talked about a few of the different business models - from ecommerce sites that use wholesale dropshipping, to offering a service or starting your own blog.
You can make money online in a variety of ways. Just a few examples include: sell your own product, offer services, sell advertising on your website or blog, or promote other people’s products and/or services.
That last option is called Affiliate Marketing. It’s basically commission-based sales, and I compare it to the offline model of selling Kirby vacuum cleaners. When you make sales, you make money. You can sign up as an affiliate for a company and they will give you an Affiliate Link. You promote that link, and anyone that goes through your link to make a purchase will be tracked - resulting in a commission to you for that sale.
This is the internet business model that I focused on during our conversation over lunch yesterday. I actually use a variety of internet business models to make money online myself, but Affiliate Marketing seemed to be a perfect match for my new friends.
Some business models are active, while others are more passive. An active business model requires a more active role on your part. A membership site for example is high maintenance. If you offer services, then you need to interact with clients and take phone calls on a regular basis. I prefer passive income models, which allow you more freedom and flexibility.
That’s not to say that active business models cant be incredibly profitable and successful, just that something more passive seemed like a good fit once I got to know her a bit.
To clarify, when I say passive I dont mean that you wont have to work at it. I think we’ve all kind of figured out by now that “get rich quick schemes” dont really work. And we were discussing real, legitimate ways to make consistent income online. Not spotty one-off ways to make a few bucks here and there.
We discussed the realistic investment of time and money, and I confessed that I put a lot of time in upfront to get each of my internet business models up and running (some more than others). I explained that you could invest money to get sales rolling in quicker, or you could invest time (up to 6-12 months even) to get your sales up to a good level on a consistent basis. You’ll make money along the way of course, but geting that consistent income is the key.
Going that route, you can get started for less than $10. Yes, literally.
The passive part comes in after you have your affiliate site up and running - once you’ve done that groundwork. With affiliate marketing the merchant is handling orders, shipping and customer service. All you have to do is send them traffic through your affiliate link.
Once your site is up and running, you’ve set up your systems (such as a newsletter, blog, or whatever fits your model), and you’re driving traffic to the site… most of the “work” from there can be automated, and maintained in very little time. For example, I can usually run a site like that in as little as 5 hours a week. That frees you up to create more just like it, and duplicate your income 
Starting a Free Online Business
I mentioned above that you can get started for less than $10. I know that a lot of people are interested in starting a free online business, but this small investment is well worth it. Especially if you are serious about making a consistent income with a real online business.
You could actually spend a lot more than ten bucks, but if you take my advice you’ll save a lot of money - and still end up with a solid internet business model.
What are the steps in creating an online business?
Your first step is to decide what niche you will target. Meaning: what are you going to sell, or what topic is your website going to be about? You might start with the product, or you might start with the topic - it doesnt really matter as long as you get that initial idea.
To help you, here are some of my own mini-tutorials on keyword research. Keywords are simply the words or phrases that people are searching for online. If you read through the links on that page, you’ll have a much better understanding of how you can research keywords to choose topics or products.
Once you decide what your website will be about, you’ll need two things: a domain name and a hosting account. The domain name is your website address (like www.ClickNewz.com is mine) and the hosting account is the space online where you will put your website.
I use GoDaddy.com to register my domain names. For hosting, I use HostGator - they allow you to host multiple domains or sites on the one account (saving you money when you start duplicating!) and they have tons of cool features that save you time & money too.
The domain name will cost you $8.95 for the first year. The HostGator account is $9.95/month, but I have a coupon code you can use to get your first month free. And that’s all you really need upfront to get started - so start up cost is actually less than $9, and then 9.95/month.
So you’ve picked a topic for your website, you registered a domain name, you set up your hosting account… now you need to create a website. (This is the hard part for most people)
It might be tempting to just hire a web designer, and that’s certainly an option, but you really want to learn some things yourself if you are going to be running an internet business. Creating your own website will also save you a lot of money.
You’ll find some tools in your hosting account to help you develop your website. You can also find all kinds of free resources online by doing a search. If you decide you need some help, consider hiring someone to design a template for you - not an entire website. Its much cheaper to just outsource the template design and do the rest of the work yourself.
You’re going to run into questions along the way. But dont let that stop you! I have an online business discussion forum where you can stop in and ask any questions you have, and get help from others who have already gone through these steps themselves.
Go back through the steps and check out some of the links. Read my keyword research tutorials, and then join us at the forum if you have any questions before you get started.
Next, see: Starting A Home Business? Read this…
If you liked this tutorial, be sure to sign up for my free weekly tips. It’s the best way to get the current scoop on free resources, and new online business tips!
Best,
p.s. I also have a great little report called The Fast Cash Strategy, which is a strategy I use to make money online myself. Its not free, but I let my readers download it for only $10. You can click that link to see more and decide if its something you’d like to check out.
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[...] Steve ultimately asked what it is that I do, and I gave him the quick spiel. When I mentioned Affiliate Marketing, it got his attention. That’s when the tables turned, and he started asking the [...]
[...] My friend Lynn Terry has a great article about it on her website. She discusses starting an online business for free in great detail. Head on over there (after you finish reading this article of course ;-)) and see [...]
Lynn,
What a nice set of resources you provide for do-it-yourselfers looking to build a business online!
In trying to decide how to build parts of a web business (like build a web site, or Internet Marketing), I like to use a framework I call “Different kinds of Cheap”. There are four different kinds of cheap: DIY, Templates/toolkits, packaged business services and custom-built. Each has its own pros and cons.
At the complete DIY level, you can use wizards from hosting providers if you don’t feel comfortable building your own site and editing HTML.
At the template/toolkit-level, this blog entry and others you have outline some terrific approaches using templated web sites and simple to use, free editors.
Next, you can use a packaged business service like Logoworks website design packages.
Finally, you can have a custom design put together … and this can range from $1,000 to $25,000 (and beyond).
Which one you choose is a function of your own design sense, your technical proficiency, your plans for your web business and your budget. But its nice to know the options available to you.
Hope that adds some useful ideas to the thread. Thanks for this wonderful resource, Lynn.
-Skip
[...] Next you may want to see Starting a Free Online Business, also here on ClickNewz. Leave your question below, then scroll up and subscribe by email, then [...]
Thanks Lynn,
I am glad to see you doing this and appreciate your generosity.
Having NO technical proficiency, I find it hard to get a good start! I have visited your other site and noted you have a sticky post for “Ultimate Supertips”, so I chose to start with that. Now if I could just learn to set up a decent website with autoresponder I’d be across the “beginning” line.
I will visit often I am sure!
Rita
This is such a good articles. When we discuss about affiliate marketing, selling one products in one page is very effective. However, I have a question here. Does selling a lots affiliate products in a single blog will drive the same effectiveness in terms of sales? Since it is the most easier way to maintain it.
[...] If you’re looking for a starting point, see Starting a Free Online Business. It is a detailed explanation of how to get started, and includes helpful free resources. [...]
[...] Starting a Free Online Business [...]
[...] Placement For Affiliate Links or Banners July - The Secret To Writing Really Great Content August - Starting a Free Online Business September - 10 Smart Ways to Use Social Media… Successfully October - Stand Out! How to Dominate [...]
Lynn,
Ditto what others have said in regards to your information and willingness to help others. Quite refreshing. Anyway, when I clicked on the links you provided “Free Affiliate Marketing Tutorial” and “Free Affiliate Marketing Guide”, they didn’t quite work as indicated. When I click on the Tutorial, it tells me the link isn’t found. When I click on the Guide, it seems to be an ad letter for a program. Could these links be out of date or could they have been input incorrectly. Or, and this is very likely, did I misread and/or misclick?
Thanks.
Tom
I appreciate the heads-up on that, Tom. I removed the links because they got changed as you mentioned. All of Jeremy’s tutorials are now on this one page: http://www.theblackinkprojects.com
I do like all the information you shared, about the only thing I’d do different is suggest an autoresponder (bringing the monthly cost up to $20) as starting “The List” while you’re starting everything else will ultimately make life a little easier in the long run.
Though adding an autoresponder later isn’t any big deal, when you import your list they will often want to send out another confirmation so the potential of losing part of your list is there. It happened to a friend of mine, she lost half of her list because they didn’t reconfirm, for whatever reason.
If possible stay away from free hosting and free autoresponders as they often inject ads into your sites and/or emails.
- Jeffery
Oops, I can’t do math. I meant the monthly cost goes from $10 to $30, not $20. I’ve heard of places that have autoresponders for $10, but I haven’t seen them and the most popular ones are $18-$20.
- Jeffery
[...] me. She has been doing this full time for about 12 years now. Her excellent article on starting a free online business can give you some ideas for getting going [...]
[...] me. She has been doing this full time for about 12 years now. Her excellent article on starting a free online business can give you some ideas for getting going [...]
[...] Also See: Starting a Free Online Business [...]
thank you! my mom has been wanting to work at home for years ….. NOW SHE CAN!! thany you once again!
Great article! Thanks for the tips
I just wanted to add thanks to this blog post as I have referred many people to it many times.
Its the simple and clearly defined posts like this that make all of the difference to people and really encourage them to get started,
Nikki
Great advice from a great site!
I wish there were more
The thing that I love most about you is that you are such an honest person. I love that you tell it like it is. You do the one thing I’ve always wanted to do–help people. Thanks for all you do.
[...] that claim. Like Darren, Lynn is willing to share information openly and freely. She blogs about Starting a free online business. She breaks it down step-by-step. In addition to blog posts she also has a Forum and Webinars which [...]
I am really trying to get my online business going. Have not had to much success with the dropshipping stuff think I will stick to ebook and adsense sites. Thank you for the insight though this is some great info!
I have a new post up that may interest you as well:
Starting a Home Business? Read this…
http://www.clicknewz.com/1898/starting-a-home-business/
What an excellent post! You defined the whole process of starting a home business in such a clear, concise manner. I look forward to reading your future posts. Thank You.