10 Rules of Online Success

To celebrate our 5 years online we thought we would share with you our 10 Rules of Online Success.  Some we are sure you will recognise right away whilst others you might not yet have come across.  We have gathered them together over the years.  We’re sure there are many more than 10 rules of online success and that you will add your own to these.

As we’re sure you will appreciate some were very much earned along the way as they will be for you too but if we can shortcut some of your journey with our 10 rules of online success then we’ll be happy

Let’s Get Started With Our 10 Rules of Online Success

Rule #1 Build Your List

Luckily we were taught this from day one and we have had our list building account with Aweber from that very first day and it’s served us well.  This is the ONE true asset that you absolutely 100% own.

Everything else can fall down around you but no one can take your list away.  It really is (in the online world) your ‘license to print money’ .  Think of it like an insurance policy if you like.

There is one other thing and we could have included it as an addition rule but it belongs here….

Build a relationship with your list – it’s more important even than the size of your list.  Those who fail to realise this will never have the true success they’re looking for. As they say “the money is not in the relationship with the list”

Rule #2 Feed The Market

This should arguably be the #1 of the 10 Rules of Online Success and it’s the one that is overlooked far too often in our excitement to grow this fantastic business.

People are often not interested in what you expect and therefore there is no point in trying to solve that problem for them (they don’t have one or don’t perceive they have one)

You have to sell what the market wants! Not what you think it wants.

We have written extensively on this particular rule of the 10 rules of online success under such headings as Know Your Perfect Customer , Who is My Market etc

Rule # 3 Have More Than One Source of Traffic

Rule #3 of the 10 rules of online success. This one we really did learn the hard way and whilst we always recommend getting good at one form of marketing before embarking on multiple sources of traffic it’s essential to have at least two.

It was on a skiing holiday in December 2011 that we learned that our ONE principal source of traffic had dried up unexpectedly.  Google had shut our adwords account in the blink of an eye (along with just about every online marketer or home business marketer)  They decided they didn’t want our advertising revenue any longer!

If you’re dependent on one source of traffic you’re in trouble.  You must diversify and have multiple ways of getting your message in front of people.

You should be looking at Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and blogging, Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google +, Pinterest, Instagram and the new kid on the block Periscope),  live and virutal (webinars, hangouts, teleseminars) events, and of course Pay Per Click (Facebook, Bing, Yahoo) and media buys

There are numerous sources – you just have to find the ones that work best for you – your success with traffic is an essential of the 10 steps of online success.

Rule # 4 Branding & Authority (Be Known)

To make sales in this market and stand out from the competition you HAVE TO brand yourself.  The saying goes “people buy from those they KNOW LIKE and TRUST” and it’s absolutely true – THEY DO!

In the highly competitive online world where you are competing with hundreds of other people likely selling the same program or system you HAVE TO BE DIFFERENT.

Ideally a search of your name on Google should dominate the first page in every possible way from creating a Facebook, Linkedin, Google +  account etc to ownership of your own domain (yourname.com) and your content creation that you put on that domain (blogs, videos etc)

Always know that no matter how hard you try there will always be someone somewhere who will “hate” you and usually that what they say is out of spite because something didn’t work for them.   It’s sad but true 🙁

However on the other side of the coin those who love you and buy from you who you satisfy over and above with value will become raving fans and help you spread the word.

Rule # 5 Create Value

This is probably one of the most important of the 10 rules of online success but often overlooked in the hurry to make sales.

Without adding value to the market place ‘a sale is just a sale’ and they might buy the once but never again.  You have to add massive value into the market place so that your customers or clients become your evangelists as in Rule # 4 above.

If you are always in “sell mode” then you will be judged on that.  If however you are in “value mode” then the same applied and people will not only buy but recommend you to others.

Rule # 6 Decide What You Selling

This may seem very simplistic on first reading but it is one of the 10 rules of online success that you need to focus on and get clarity on.

Do you want to sell other people’s products as an affiliate or licensee and make commissions that way or do you want the higher profits from creating and selling your own products.

It really depends on your ultimate goal of your business.

We have created our own products but in all honesty we prefer to market other people’s products as a licensee since we earn good commissions and all the product creation has been done for us.

We also sell products (resources and tools) as an affiliate to our target market and our buyers to help their grow their business.  This is a ‘win win‘ position as it generates income for us to put back into our marketing.

You cannot create all the products that your clients need yourself.

Rule # 7 Building Relationships

As your business grows it’s important to make connections with other people in the industry either virtually through social media or by attending events.  The value of this is unbelievable and we would urge you to cultivate these relationships.  Even if they seem on the surface to be a competitor you may find ways to work with them on a joint venture in the future.  Always find a way to give them some value first and then build the relationship.  Your net worth is your network!  Of the 10 rules of online success realise it’s not always about the money!

Rule # 8 Revenue : Making Your First Sale

We’re in business to make profit so that first sale is very important but whatever you do don’t show that you are desperate for it!  When we first got started (and we were selling what is known as ‘high ticket’ ) we were realistic in our expectations as we had to place adverts and have people click on them and join our list (see Rule # 1) and then for us to build a relationship with them until they were ready to buy.  We set ourselves a goal to have made our first high ticket sale in 3 months.  Did we succeed?  Yes we did but better than that we were building that asset (our list) who we could continue to communicate with and offer not just our program but also tools and resources they might be looking for and thus generating some smaller affiliate sales.

As you start to make sales just keep it real and don’t go an splash it all on a yacht or a fast car until money is coming in consistently

Rule # 9  TIME

This is always a challenge to begin with.  Not just managing time and prioritising tasks and projects but also avoiding distraction of the next ‘shiny object‘ or the transition from part time in your online business to full time.  Even as far as making a decision on what road to go down …

of the 10 rules of online success this is probably the most difficult for most people – making a decision and not wasting TIME.

Rule # 10 Everyone Starts From The Same Place

We’ve left the best to last because quite often people go to the end of an article and then read again from the beginning.  This really is one of the most important of the 10 rules of online success because no one who is successful now became successful overnight.  They took baby steps knowing that each thing they learned made them as an entrepreneur better and their skills improved as a result.

Remember “Rome was not built in a day” neither is your business.

Your business one day will give you the life you dreamed of if you let it.

There are probably numerous rules in addition to the 10 rules of online success we have shared with you here but let’s hope there are enough here to be going on with.

A BONUS Rule (everyone loves a bonus) would be to feed your mind.  Read every day and don’t just study.  As one of our mentors said to us ….  Learn.  Do.  Teach 

Enjoy the journey 🙂

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