So you now have a good online business in mind. You’ve got a great marketing plan, have done your market research and have carefully identified your target market. You are determined to make your online business work. The next thing that you will have to consider is how to fund your new venture.

For your marketing plans to work, you need to have funds to start and sustain your online business. This step is crucial and can be a big factor that will determine your success or failure in your online business. There are several funding options that you can use to finance your new internet-based business. Each option has its own risks but if managed properly, you won’t go wrong in ensuring your online business success.

• Extending your mortgage or line of credit.
• Personal funds – savings or funds you get from selling belongings or a property.
• Retirement plan or life insurance plan (both only available under certain conditions)
• Credit Cards
• Borrowing money from family and friends
• Getting a loan from banks and other financial institutions
• Government grants
• Investor capital

These are the most common sources of business funding. The majority of small businesses these days are funded via loans from the bank or other financial institutions. As long as you are able to present a solid and convincing business plan you can get a loan from the bank or private financial companies. Some choose to ask the assistance of family members or close friends in funding their new online business. This is an easier route considering the level of trust you have with your family and friends. You can also use your credit card to fund your business. Credit cards are easy to use and provide quick access to cash but it is important to consider the interest that goes with your credit card usage. Some people use their retirement fund or monetize their insurance policies to finance their online business. Fortunately unbending rules tend to apply to these funds making them difficult to withdraw money. If you decide to use these funds do so with great caution.

It is also important to remember that taking control of your business cash flow is vital in making sure that your business won’t end up in bankruptcy. One of the most common mistakes of some businessmen is that as their business grows their debts also grow. To lessen the risk of failing in your online business, you need to be smart and be a hands-on financial manager. Use your financial capital wisely. Make a financial plan and keep track of all your expenditure.

Not all online business owners are experienced in this area so make sure to get all the assistance that you can get to avoid failing in this step.

Many people today with the economy in shambles, are desperately looking for ways to make a living. Some of these people are considering starting an online business and wondering if making money online is really possible.

My answer to that is yes, absolutely it is possible. However to really be successful online one needs to have the correct mindset before they even considering the possibility!

Here are a few questions only you can answer:

– Do you have a good work ethic? Please understand that working online is a lot of work, nothing earned is nothing gained and nothing gained is a waste of time.

-Can you set a work schedule where you can concentrate and get you daily tasks complete without interruptions?

– Are you willing to take the time to learn online skills necessary to market online and then implement the skills you learn?

– Are you someone that stays the course according to plan or do you lose interest and jump from one thing or the other?

So, if you answered yes to the first three questions above than you are a good candidate for self employment. The last question is the real deal, if you have a history of completing set goals than it is likely you will be successful running your own business online. If you however fall into the group that most do, lose interest quickly and never quite get things done, than I recommend not starting an online business.

An online business is not unlike any other business when it comes to work ethic, skill set and perseverance. Without these three qualities it is unlikely you will be successful online or off when it comes to running a business.

For those that understand and believe they have a strong work ethic, ability to follow a business plan and get things done, here are the basic steps for making money online.

– Have a product or service that you wish to sell. Develop a marketing strategy to bring value in front of your customers. Value will be your only real asset!

– Learn basic online skills. Develop these skills before building your website and web-business. Learn on page and off page SEO (search engine optimization) so that your website gets traffic. Either take the time to learn keyword research or pay some else to do it for you, but get it done and understand it. Use these keywords in all articles, videos and sales copy content.

– When you have your branded or keyword rich domain name, build your website. Make sure you use keyword rich content an internal linking structure within your website.

– Get your website hosted. I recommend not spending a lot of money on hosting to begin with, just get the basic plan and upgrade as your business grows.

– Develop an advertising campaign and monitor the results. Always testing new content and copy.

– Develop a social and business networking campaign and get your brand out to the world.

When your website is up and running and you understand these basic online skills, as a business owner you need to focus most of your attention on creating value for your customers. Take the value you create and make it part of your brand and get it into the face of your customers.

By taking the time to learn these online skills you will have a good understanding of what needs to happen under the hood of an online business. In time you will have the ability to outsource the busy work you either don’t have time to do, or that others do better. The sooner you are able to do this the better for your business. The key is to thoroughly understand the basics so that you can monitor the results and make adjustments along the way.

We have a lot more good information about internet marketing strategies on our website for those interested in learning more about starting an online business. Remember this, how you market is more important than what you market when it comes to being successful online. Therefore take the time to learn a few online skills and internet marketing strategies before you do anything else.