I’ve been interviewing some of Australia’s leading online entrepreneurs lately and what I’ve discovered is that ‘success leaves clues’. For this blog, I thought I’d share with you a few of the lessons I’ve learnt from these very successful and innovative business owners.
1. Start! Yes, it sounds simple but procrastination, fear, and doubt often stops us from taking action. Break the tasks down into bite size chunks, choose the easiest and get started.
2. Focus on a passion, not what will make money. Sure, it’s important your idea be commercially viable, but often that won’t become apparent until after you’ve begun. If you chase the money upfront, chances are you’ll run out of puff before the business has a chance to return a profit. Start with something you love and work from there.
3. Focus on creating great quality content. You’re probably assuming I would say that (being a copywriter ‘n all), but when I asked each entrepreneur ‘what is the most important ingredient in your website’s success’, they all said ‘get great content’.
4. Partner up. You can achieve great things on your own but if you can find like-minded people who have complementary skills and as much to gain as you do from the venture, then find a way to get them involved, help them meet their goals and you’ll be on your way faster.
5. Get comfortable with technology. Having a website that works and does what you need it to do (now and in the future) is essential to a successful online venture but without that technical know-how (or access to someone who can help you), you’ll always be on the back foot. Ask for help from your website developer to find out what your site is capable of doing, research sites that are working well and ask who did their development, or just ask a tech buddy to help you navigate the website development maze.
If you absolutely have to use free website builder packages for budget reasons, just remember that with products like that, you generally get what you pay for, so buyer beware!
