Many people today venture into home or online businesses for numerous reasons. The main reason is that having an internet business saves time, money and energy. Funds typically allocated for a leased physical location is alleviated. Your commuting time is cut up to 98%. A walk down the hallway to your office is better than spending an hour or more commuting each way. Your energy is not consumed in commuting which means more time for your online business and personal endeavors.

Upon launching your online business there are a few things to consider. One of the most important things is to determine is how you will be marketing your business so you reach your targeted audience. I highly recommend that you plan out your marketing campaign, otherwise no one will know about it.

Here are some of the simple ways for you to set up and promote your business:

1.   1. Set up your website. How? GoDaddy.com can help you find a domain or url (same thing) which is the “real estate” of the internet. You will want to have a domain name that relates to your business or is very catchy and creative. GoDadddy.com is a catchy and creative domain. A newbie to the world of online business wouldn’t have a clue what GoDaddy is about. Word of mouth and ads gets the news out about this type of domain. WordPress.org is a place to build your website yourself. WordPress is more explanatory as to what it is used for. Upwork.com is a website that has freelance contractors to do any type of online work. You could hire a contractor there to set up your site.
3. Importance of a good website: Your website is the perfect platform or vehicle to get your message across to your target audience using text, audio, video, infographics, and other medium. This is a place where you can highlight the features and the benefits of your products and services. A business website is like a owning a dirt store, but is much more efficient and effective. There are 4 billion active online people who has access to the internet through their mobile phones and smart devices.
5.  2. Create a blog. A website is your store, your blog is where can share your thoughts, ideas and expertise in your industry. This is another excellent way for you to promote your business. It is also better if you include images on your blog to make it look more interesting. To start, get a domain or url then a blog host. GoDaddy or Hostgator.com is a good place to start. Then determine the kind of content that you will be posting on your blog. Content = a story or teaching something pertaining to your subject. Make sure it is unique, interesting, engaging and informative. You can blog about your business and incorporate some personal insights or updates. People like personal engagement.
6. Success Tip-In order to establish a solid fanbase, be consistent with your blog posts. Start with one or two posts per week. Then ramp it up to two or more weekly. Google loves peoples blogs and will start lifting your blog higher in the ranks which will give you more views. Wordcount is preferably 500 words.

3. 3. Social Media importance. Social media is being used by over two billion ‘connected’ people. The main social media sites are, in order of usage, – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat. You can see news, talk show programs, advertisers amongst other television programs with the symbols of the ‘Big Four’ somewhere on their screen. Find out the ones that are largely used by your customers. Facebook and Instagram are notorious for baby boomers, while Twitter and Snapchat are used mainly by millennials. The size of your business has no bearing, it’s all about promoting it. You can promote for free by being very active posting content, videos or sharing photos. Being active takes time, alot of time, to get your business in the minds of your consumers. Paid ads are one of the best ways to promote while spending less time. However, you need to learn and understand how to promote via ads. I have learned by using the Invisible Empire to help me with Facebook ads and setting up my business. As with a blog it’s important to be responsive and engaging in your social media posts for more views. Aside from establishing your fan base, social media offers plenty of opportunities for you to network with people who can help you grow your business.
5.  4. Email marketing. Email is another effective way for you to share information about your products and services. On your website, you should have an ‘opt-in page’ where you can offer a sample of your product in exchange for your potential customer’s email address. You will start collecting email addresses using an email collection software product called an autoresponder. I use Aweber.com. Another popular autoreponder is GetResponse.com. Thses autoresponder software programs can be automatically set up to set a thank you message to the person who just opted into your opt-in page. Then you can start to send your potential customers information that is relevant to your company’s products to keep them informed and engaged on a regular basis. Your List of potential customers will start to grow. Your email list is your business Asset. Treat it with respect. Be sure to send an email to your ‘List’ on a regular basis, at least once a week or even daily. Email marketing is the new counterpart of direct mail marketing.
6. New Online Vocabulary term: An opt-in page is the same as a ‘squeeze page’ or ‘capture page’.
8. 5. Online press releases. Online press release is a chance for you to introduce your brand. This is now your chance to share a newsworthy story about your business. You can talk about company, your employees and workers, your website, and more importantly, the products and services you offer. Here you can have a freehand on how you want your brand to be known. It is why it is very important that you filter the information you are going to discuss in the online press release,making sure it is relevant to your consumers.

This is just the beginning to starting and running your own home or online business. I advise you to dive deeper into promoting your business by going to the Invisible Empire where you can learn everything you need to know about marketing. You will learn in depth – Facebook set up and marketing(the most viable way to promote), the new mindset and how to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams.