7 Steps to Starting an Online Business: Real-Life Examples from Silicon Valley Success Stories
Starting an online business? Let Silicon Valley Girl share her 7 essential tips, from figuring out your product to building a community, and get started with confidence!
- 1. The speaker, from Silicon Valley Girl, will discuss 7 steps to starting an online business.
- 2. She started her first company in 2011, a study abroad booking platform.
- 3. Her advice is to start with something basic and easy to sell, like a service based on your expertise.
- 4. Beginner entrepreneurs often waste time trying to make their product perfect before launching.
- 5. Instead, get feedback from the market and pivot/change as needed.
- 6. You don't need to hire an expensive developer; many online tools can help you build a landing page or website.
- 7. Tools mentioned include: Tilde, Carrd, Clickfunnels, Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress.
- 8. Start collecting people's emails from the beginning, so you can build a relationship with your audience.
- 9. Services like GetResponse, MailChimp, SendGrid, or Aweber can help manage email campaigns.
- 10. Figure out how you will collect payments; popular services include PayPal and Stripe.
- 11. Be cautious when choosing payment processing services, as some may have hidden fees or unfavorable terms.
- 12. When pricing your product, don't underestimate its value, but also consider the market and competition.
- 13. Starting with a lower-priced product can help you become profitable faster and validate your business idea.
- 14. To attract your first customers, start a Facebook campaign and target people with similar interests.
- 15. Collaborating with influencers is another way to reach potential customers.
- 16. The speaker recommends a 70-30 rule for traffic: 70% from targeted ads and 30% from your own community.
- 17. Building your own community is essential, especially if you don't have an idea yet.
- 18. Share your knowledge and build relationships with your community through social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
- 19. The speaker is offering a free trial of the Great Courses Plus, which includes a course on starting an online business called "The Entrepreneurial Toolkit."
- 20. To win promotion for your idea, comment on the video with your idea and relevant links before a specified deadline.
- 21. The speaker will randomly select one idea and promote it on her Instagram account, which has over 330,000 followers.
- 22. This promotion will provide instant validation and feedback for the selected idea.
- 23. To participate, subscribe to the channel, hit the red button, and comment with your idea or current project.
- 24. The speaker will announce the winner on her Instagram account and post a community challenge in the comments section of the video.
Source: Silicon Valley Girl via YouTube
❓ What do you think? What is one thing that, if you were to start doing today, would significantly increase your chances of success in building an online business? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!