By Patricia Tomaskovic

You're excited! You've come up with a great idea for a profitable

online business. Maybe it's an original idea that has

not been marketed online before? Maybe you've come

up with a new spin on an old idea? Whatever it is

that has influenced you to start your own online business,

be sure that you have a plan before you begin. This is

not the time to “pick it up as you go”. Here are six

essential elements that you should be sure to include in your

business plan.

Start with the business summary which should give a brief description

of the entire business. It is an integral part of the

overall business plan. Your next action is to begin to list the

objectives or the goals that you want to accomplish

through the business. Lastly, and perhaps most

importantly, you should develop your marketing plan.

The marketing plan addresses all the specifics of

the business.

When developing your marketing strategy

you need to address the following:

1.The target market

The target market is the customers

that you expect to see visiting your site. For example

will your product be more appealing to college

students or to those who are in retirement?

2. Consider the competition for your product.

Choose a product that will be seen as unique and useful. Visit sites

that are offering the same or similar products. Find

out the cost of their product. How they are marketing their

product? Finds out the pros and cons of their business

and try to improve your product based on their flaws.

3. Research.

Explore the various methods for advertising online.

You should become educated about search engines and

how they work since each one is different. Also be

sure that you know how to submit your site to search

engines. You should be prepared to spend a small

amount of money on advertising, but the profits that

you gain from the advertisements will prove to be

money well spent.

4. Think about pricing.

Again, look at the competition

and see what similar products are selling for. Pricing

can play a big role in the success of your product.

Selling a product well below the average price

may lead the customer to believe that there is a problem

with the product or that your product is not of the best

quality. Consequently, pricing items too high could also

deter customers from purchasing.

5. Determine the shipping method.

Be sure that you know how products will be shipped

so that you can have shipping details clearly posted

on your site. If you are shipping things of great value,

you should consider providing shipping insurance. Also,

consider whether you will ship internationally.

6. Methods of payment.

If your business does not accept credit

cards, you should be ready to give up more than half

of your sales. If you decide to accept credit cards,

will you use a merchant account or will you use a

third party credit card processing center? Both will

help you get started and the third party processing

center will handle all of the business so you don’’t

have to. When conducting business online, it is imperative that you

have a secure server. Also, will you accept checks or money orders?

These few items will help your online business

become a great success. You will have peace

of mind knowing that you have thoroughly investigated

and planned for a smooth transition to the

opening of your online business.

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