Creating online business systems can be paramount to your online business growth and success. Discover some great tips in creating online business systems in this segment from an interview between Dale Beaumont and Mike Rhodes.

Two days after starting his first business, Mike experienced a minor setback when his internet cafe was flooded. After the water had gone, he went on to build a popular business, which he sold in 2001 and then moved to Sydney, Australia. Mike now spends his time speaking, consulting and mentoring with businesses on the subjects of online marketing and building websites that work.

What are your tips for creating systems for online businesses?

A system saves you from having to reinvent the wheel each time you do something. Here are my tips for creating systems:

• The most obvious systems are those that get your product to a client or customer. So if you sell information products, setting up automatic delivery is a must.
• Set up an auto-responder sequence for when a new prospect gives you their email address. This is a great way to start a conversation and earn their trust gradually over time.
• Use a product like AWeber to manage your email lists so that when someone buys, they are automatically moved from your prospect list to your customer list.
• Set up systems for your marketing. This might involve hiring an AdWords professional and a search engine optimisation (SEO) expert to ensure a steady stream of new customers. Doing so will allow you to focus on giving value to existing customers, without having to worry about finding new business.
• Have a system for handling money in and out of your business. No good with money? Well, you’re in business so you need to know about money. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to actually do the nitty gritty – you can hire a bookkeeper to look after your money systems – but you have to know enough to be able to ask the right questions.
• Implement systems that monitor the ways your visitors use your website so that you can improve it. Google Analytics is free and gives enormous insight into your consumers’ mind-set.
• Ensure that you have management systems in place. Gerber likes the concept of management by exception. That is, keeping an eye on the key performance indicators (KPIs) of your business to indicate changes in business performance. Changes in these mean that action is required.

For more of this interview and tips for creating online business systems check out “Secrets of Internet Entrepreneurs Exposed!“

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Are you building a website and need to know what makes a great website? There are so many websites out there, what will it be that makes yours a standout one? In this segment of an interview between Dale Beaumont and Mike Rhodes find out the hallmarks of a great website.

Two days after starting his first business, Mike experienced a minor setback when his internet cafe was flooded. After the water had gone, he went on to build a popular business, which he sold in 2001 and then moved to Sydney, Australia. Mike now spends his time speaking, consulting and mentoring with businesses on the subjects of online marketing and building websites that work.

What do you believe are the hallmarks of a great website?

There are three things that any website needs – from an SEO point of view and, even more importantly, for your readers:

• Great content – people search the web looking for answers and solutions. That could be a deep insight into a topic; a great product, service or experience; or free resources like mind maps or how-to videos. So, having great content is important for two reasons: to quickly prove to a new visitor that you have the information they need to answer their questions or solve their problems; and to convince those visitors to come back time and time again.
• Great design – I strongly believe that a website must do its job and achieve whatever goals you set. That doesn’t mean it has to be ‘pretty’. It means that the site has to be designed to be highly usable and to work. If a visitor can’t get to all the great content, if they can’t navigate easily around your site or buy your products, then it won’t matter how good your information is or how your site looks. It’s an extension of being found – visitors have found your website, now they need to be able to find the answers to their questions.
• Plenty of links – Google and the other search engines believe that if you’re linking to other relevant information, then that must be of service to your visitors and so your rankings in the search engines improves. Your readers like those links because they don’t use the web in a linear fashion, they hop from one place to the next following the conversation across multiple sites. And, like everything in life, you’ll reap what you sow – link to other sites and you’ll start getting links back to yours, thereby building traffic and gaining more readers – it’s called link love!

For more of this interview and what makes a great website check out “Secrets of Internet Entrepreneurs Exposed!“

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Two days after starting his first business, Mike experienced a minor setback when his internet café was flooded. After the water had gone, he went on to build a popular business, which he sold in 2001 and then moved to Sydney, Australia. Mike now spends his time speaking, consulting and mentoring with businesses on the subjects of online marketing and building websites that work.

What are some of the ways people can decide what type of internet business to start?

The key word in that question is ‘business‘. Don’t aim to create a short-term promotion that cannot be sustained. The Google Cash idea and other similar methods of selling online are not really businesses in the true sense. Sure they might create a few hundred dollars – maybe even each day – but they need ongoing care and attention to run. One major change in Google’s rules and your income can disappear overnight.

There’s much more satisfaction, fun and wealth in building something long term and sustainable. Kiyosaki’s definition of a business is this: ‘Can you leave your business for one year, come back and find it doing better than before?’ The only way you’re going to be able to achieve that is with a big vision, solid goals, great staff and lots of hard work. That’s why you need to be passionate about the subject of your business. It’s what will pull you through the tough times and keep pushing you forward.

So, how do you figure out what you’re passionate about? Here are some things to try:

• Brainstorm with like-minded friends.
• Create a mastermind group and meet at least once a month.
• Ask your mum what you loved doing as a kid.
• Read Unique Ability by Dan Sullivan and Catherine Nomura.
• Look at how you spend your time when you’re not working. What do you like to do for fun? What gets you excited? What can you do for hours without getting bored?
• What blogs and magazines do you like to read – is there a theme that you can turn into a business niche?
• What would you happily do even if you weren’t being paid to do it?

The last one in particular will lead you in the right direction. A friend of mine in New Zealand loves golf and wine. So he created a company that takes small groups of tourists to different golf courses for a game in the morning, then tours the vineyards in the afternoon – do you think he loves his job?

For more of this interview and information on Internet Business check out “Secrets of Internet Entrepreneurs Exposed!“.

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Are you an aspiring entrepreneur looking at starting an internet based business? There is much that you need to understand before beginning this journey to success. Find some great tips and advice from an expert in this field in this segment of an interview between Dale Beaumont and Mike Rhodes.

Two days after starting his first business, Mike experienced a minor setback when his internet café was flooded. After the water had gone, he went on to build a popular business, which he sold in 2001 and then moved to Sydney, Australia. Mike now spends his time speaking, consulting and mentoring with businesses on the subjects of online marketing and building websites that work.

What recommendations would you make to an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to get started in an internet-based business of their own?

Just do it! Operating an internet-based business is a great way to live, offers a very flexible lifestyle that’s incredibly rewarding and allows you to work from anywhere you choose. Some steps to get started would be:

• Start by figuring out what things really get you excited, then find a way to create a product or service of real value that is related to that excitement and that people need.
• Get your prototype in front of plenty of people very early on and ask for feedback – don’t shy away from criticism.
• Use a very simple website to capture email addresses of interested people and ask them what challenges they hope to solve with your product.
• Offer them an incentive to help you – maybe a free trial once the product is ready.
• Aim to be remarkable. Don’t try to please everyone and don’t build for the masses – go for the early adopters, the ones who will spread the word about you and your product or service.
• Get the word out. Talk to bloggers, post on forums offering help (not selling) and generally be of service to your target customers. Give before you ask and you’ll do well.

For more tips on starting an internet based business check out Dale’s “Secrets of Internet Entrepreneurs Exposed!“.

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