The Start-Up of “Internet Marketing Boomer”
September 16, 2008 by Reba
Filed under Blog, Hot Topics, Internet Marketing Boomer Start-Up
After doing all the tech-stuff to get Internet Marketing Boomer, this beautiful website you’re reading right now, all set-up and ready to go, I found myself in the precarious situation of not knowing what to do next. It seems the business plan I had written wasn’t detailed enough, focused enough, or something. This was not a position I wanted to be in so early in the start-up of my business and I realized very quickly that it was a big mistake on my part that I was in this position. I was, and continue, to spend a lot of time writing information for this site, however, at the same time, I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around what I was trying to achieve. I knew I wanted to teach internet marketing to baby boomers, but what I couldn’t seem to figure out was exactly how I was going to do that. Yeah, it was time for me to have a sit-down with myself and figure it out.
All the research I’ve been doing to find information for this site put me into “overload”. There’s soooo much information about internet marketing and the more information I gathered, the more questions popped into my head. Where should I start, where would I find the time to write about everything I’m learning, what topics should I cover, what information was the most important to convey first, how do I present the information, how do I present the information so it’s relevant for baby boomers, and I could go on and on and on.
Well, with the help from my Traffic Secrets 2.0 Course to get my thoughts focused and the motivation of Brent’s post on goal setting and the Start Fast Finish Strong 100 Day Challenge, I’ve made some decisions.
- Rome wasn’t built in a day. Yes, Brent and I work full-time jobs and this website, as much hope as it brings me that I will some day be able to work on it instead of going to my day job, it’s just not possible to put everything we know and have learned over the last 10 years of studying the internet into words overnight. So patience and consistency will be my mantra, I will post on a regular and consistent basis.
- Too much of a good thing. There is just too much information to try to “dump” it all on a website without first having a focused plan. It’s not fair to my readers to just “dump” a bunch of unfocused information onto web pages and expect them to figure it all out. I will make a plan that will benefit my readers while remembering to stay patient and consistent with the information I’m presenting.
- I will not do this “half-ass”. Sorry for the language but after trying many things to make a living on the internet, I find that when you try to do things quickly instead of building quality over time, they don’t work, you end up with a “half-ass” product. I will not do that to my readers and in return my readers will read what I teach and reward me by using my affiliate link when they are ready to buy.
The three statements above will become my doctrine for Internet Marketing Boomer. Very soon I will finalize my plan and post it for you. You will know in advance what topics we’re going to cover and can expect those topics to be covered thoroughly in upcoming months. I’m going to cover topics in a sequential manner that you can follow easily, I even plan to use some video. I’m sure my “plan” will evolve over time as I plan to allow YOU to have input as well into what’s covered here.
And lastly, I just want to talk about the power of having a plan. Just having written this post I feel empowered. I now know what I need to do and will make every effort to actually do it. I feel energy that I didn’t have prior to making the decisions I stated above. I now feel the desire to make this website a premier place for baby boomers to learn how to make their dream of earning money on the internet a reality.
In fact, I’m now so motivated I’ve already made a decision. This post will become the first in a case-study for how we’re building the Internet Marketing Boomer website. To access the full series as it happens, just go to the Case Study category and choose Internet Marketing Boomer Start-Up. Every post in chronological order will be post there.
Next post from me? I’ll post my “plan” before we leave for California on Thursday. Brent and I will be taking the weekend off, we’re going to our youngest daughter’s volleyball tournament at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. Texas State will be playing Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge over the course of the weekend. It’ll be a great weekend vacation after living through Hurricane Ike last weekend.
Until my next post…
Reba
Why You Need A Business Plan
September 1, 2008 by Reba
Filed under Blog, Business Start-Up, Hot Topics
Have you considered writing a business plan for your new internet business? Many owners skip this vital step when setting up their small start-up companies. And why do you think a smart, energetic, excited and knowledgeable entrepreneur would skip this step? Precisely the reason they’re starting their business in the first place, because they’re excited and energetic and want to get things started. Writing a business plan slows down the process of getting started as it involves a lot of hard work, research, and introspective reasoning.
One of the most important things you will ever do for your business is to write a business plan. Those who take the time, do the research, and commit a plan to paper are 80% more likely to succeed with their venture. And that’s exactly the reason you need to take the time to write one. Doing the work to create a business plan will challenge any preconceived assumptions you may have and raise questions that will require you to find answers. The exercise of committing your plan to paper will highlight the strengths and weakness of your business idea and prove to you whether or not your plan is viable.
During the process of creating your business plan you will anticipate problems that may cause roadblocks for you in the future. You will learn to do research to collect information so you can make more informed decisions regarding your business. And after doing the legwork necessary to write a business plan, you will have an organized document to help you approach issues as they arise.
Since a business plan defines key areas of your business, it will become your “roadmap,” so to speak, to lead your business to a place in the future. Without this “roadmap”, it’s hard to know where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. It will also serve in the months and years to come as a measurement tool to tell you how well you’re doing against your original objectives.
In your business plan, you will articulate in narrative form the following key strategies:
- Executive Summary – a compelling overview of the entire plan
- Company Profile – what the business does and how it will make money
- Business History – only necessary if expanding an existing business
- Marketing Plan – how you will market your products including market trends, target market, competitive analysis, and distributions strategy
- Operational Strategy – how you plan to make your product including information about inventory, processes, risk management, facility, equipment
- Management Team – key personnel and their background
- Financial Plan – start-up costs, income statement (projected revenue, cost of goods sold and expenses for the first year of business), cash flow analysis, breakeven analysis, balance sheet (assets, liabilities, and equity), explanation for the use of funds, and expected outcome
- Conclusions/Actions – what are the actions needed to fulfill your plan
As you can see, there is a lot of information that needs to be analyzed and a lot of research will need to be done before you can even sit down to write your plan. If you’re feeling a little lost about where to start, don’t panic. Don’t expect to be able to just whip this out in one afternoon, and don’t skip the hard questions for if you ask and answer them now, before you commit your investment money to your new venture, you will be way ahead of your competitors.
I found two excellent resources to help you organize your business plan and all the information that needs to be considered. They are both free, the first is a business plan workbook that leads you through the exercises and asks the questions you need to answer. The second is a software program that takes you step by step in writing your plan. Using these two resources in conjunction with each other gives you everything you need to know about how a business plan is presented and what information needs to be included. All downloads offered at www.download.com have been tested and are certified virus and spyware free, so be sure to take the time to download these excellent resources and get started today writing the “roadmap” to your next new venture.
Reba
