A step-by-step guide to starting your first online business
Justin Welsh
Building my one-person business to $10M in revenue and sharing everything I learn along the way.
Most people fail when they start their first online business.
A list of reasons why they fail is exhaustive:
The list goes on and on and on...
Want to give yourself a better chance at success?
Here's what I would do if I were starting my business from scratch tomorrow...
Step 1: Understand one problem that one specific group of people have
Notice I didn't say?"all problems"?or?"all people".?
You need ONE problem that ONE very specific group of people have in common.
Once you know the problem, you need to know how to solve it.
The easiest way to find this? Look backward in your life.
What's a problem you had, that you solved a few years ago?
Start there.
Example:?Let's say you and all of your friends from the local state college wanted to break into a great tech company out of school, but nobody knew how.
Then only you figured it out.
Congrats. You can solve someone else's problem.
Step 2: Create a clear and concise roadmap to solving that specific problem
We overestimate how much people want to learn at once.
Mostly, people are looking to solve one problem.
To get from point A to point B easily, quickly, and affordably.
Point A --> Point B
Craft an offer in the form of a roadmap or blueprint that is aimed at your specific target audience.
Example:?This 14-day roadmap shows state college graduates how to land their dream job at Google.
What state college kid, who wants to land his or her dream job at Google, wouldn't pay money for that?
Step 3: Figure out your product format
This doesn't matter as much as step 1 or step 2.
Just pick something you're likely to complete and complete it.
Doesn't matter.
Just get it done in whatever format means you'll actually finish.
Step 4: Figure out where to host it
Much like step 3, there are a million solutions out there.
If you're just getting started, please (PLEASE) don't overcomplicate it.
Go with?Gumroad ?or?Flurly ?or?LemonSqueezy ?or something simple.
Just pick one and get started. Don't spend a ton of money.
Get complicated down the road. Just get started now.
Charge between $75 and $150 for your product. That's affordable enough to get buyers without building trust over years.
领英推荐
New business? Nobody wants your $1,497 masterclass.
The goal? Make sure you deliver thousands of dollars worth of value, if not more.
Then?
Step 5: Find some customers
With the internet, there are zero excuses for not being able to find some customers.
Yes, it's work.
Find which of these lead to sales and then triple down.
Work smart.
Step 6: Turn customers into testimonials
Once you have a few customers, start automating testimonials.
I ask for a testimonial on Gumroad with an automated email 2 weeks after someone buys something.
Use Testimonials EVERYWHERE.
Your website, landing page, social media, articles, blogs, etc.
Social proof sells. Don't believe me?
17.2%?of people who land on this page buy the product.
That has led to over?$81k+ in sales in the last 3.5 weeks.
Step 7: Create a system for repeatable selling
Every good online business has a repeatable system
Know exactly where you'll post each day.
Know what times.
Know why.
Here's a great starting point to shoot for:
Find 4 people who will buy your $75 course each day.
4*$75*365 = $109,500
That's how you create a 6-figure online product.
Back out of that number. If you know 10% of people buy when they get to your website, then you need to drive 40 people to your site each day.
Find your best channel from above and get 40 people there.
Congrats. You just made 6-figures...
Well, that's it for today, everyone.
I hope this encourages you to go out and get something started.
If you need some help, here are 2 ways I can help you.
Grab my course, The Operating System (Comes out TOMORROW):?The most comprehensive course about how I use LinkedIn each day, week, and month to build my business. Go behind the curtain on how I grew my audience to over 110k+ followers and have generated $1.2M at 99% margins with zero paid ads.?Buy it here.
Work 1:1 with me:?If you want to work 1:1 with me to find your niche, grow your audience, and accelerate your income, then book a 1:1 coaching session with me.?Click here to book.
Cheers,
Justin
Building CODZIFY ?? Learn to Build Apps 100x times faster using No-Code Tool FlutterFlow.
1 年Thanks for sharing this roadmap Justin Welsh. I guess all we need sometimes is to hear it from someone else who has done that before.
I help Community Managers simplify parking
3 年All crucial points to building a business. Thanks Justin!
I help experienced salespeople book more meetings and work when, where, and how they want | Boring Business Builder in Mexico ????
3 年Love this Justin Welsh! 1) Understand the problem 2) Show how you go from having a problem to having it solved 3) Productize 4) Host the product on a website 5) Get a few customers 6) Get testimonials from these customers 7) Build a system to repeat Love the simplicity of it!
Sports Affairs Facilitator | Sports Administration | Making Things Happen | BE Physical Education; MBA Finance
3 年In! ??
Graduate at Southern New Hampshire University: Master's in Accounting/Finance.
3 年I think this is awesome, #JustinWelsh. Thanks for sharing