₦airaland Forum

Wowo geh

I know, I know you are probably expecting some mind numbing and blowing strategies but these are not those.
You probably know of these already but sometimes when we know something we still need that push to actually act and that is what this article is about to remind you so you can actually execute these strategies!

In case you haven’t noticed, there are more than a few entrepreneurs online daily talking and marketing the same kind of business, and offering the same services. You log onto social media and you see many of your entrepreneur friends that sell podcast services, build funnels, run ads, can teach you how to use live video, teach you how to create a profitable blog, and the list goes on. Building an online business isn’t easy, and there are some hard realities that you need to realize.

I know I’m not telling you anything new. Having said that, I love the freedom an online business can provide. As you’re reading this, I’m writing this article from a cafe in Kano, Nigeria. While I’m writing this, people are buying my books and other products on my website. I’m making money passively while enjoying the amazingness of Kano. If this is one of your goals, there are seven things you can do to get better results from building an online business or increasing your business' presence online.


1. Stop copying other entrepreneurs.
Customers buy from someone they know, like and trust. They don’t buy from strangers. If you are the clone of some other and/or famous entrepreneur, they’ll never get to know the real you. When they want to buy, they will buy from the entrepreneur you are copying. Use frameworks that work, but don’t be a clone. Model success but don't copy it. Let your voice come through, and build a business that’s yours.



2. Be clear about who your core audience is.
If you try to reach the whole world, you’ll end up reaching no one because your efforts to reach customers will be scattered. You won’t be able to help people where they are if you’re not speaking to a specific target audience. The more specific you can get with your target audience, the easier time you’ll have marketing, which is what ultimately grows your business. When you do, you will be focused on your strategies. Your branding and messaging should be very clear. So you need to take it a step at a time.



3. Don’t rely exclusively on social media.
While you can’t ignore social media, don’t make it your number one strategy for traffic and leads. The bottom line is that you want to build your business on your platform, not someone else’s. You want people to sign up to your email list, and interact with you personally, not just on social media.



4. Focus on what’s important.
There’s a wealth of information you can learn online. Most of these things aren’t important to where you are in the process. If you’re building, you probably shouldn’t be learning about SEO. If you guest post and build your audience in other ways, the SEO will naturally come, so your time is better spent writing guest posts. Sit down, and evaluate where you’re at in your entrepreneurial journey, and stick to what will help you where you are. Don’t fall victim to information overload because it can easily keep you from making progress. The speed of implementation is what makes you successful in business.


5. Don’t be afraid to charge a fair price.
It would be great to help as many people as possible for free, but you have a family to care for and bills to pay. If you add value and help people, you should be paid a fair price for it. Remember, you’re building a business; it can’t be a business if it doesn’t make money. There are people online who should be ashamed at what they’re doing and charging, but you’ll find that in any industry. As long as you focus on serving and adding value to your customer's lives, your prices will be justified.


6. Keep pushing towards your goals.
At the end of the day, if you want this to succeed, you have to determine right now that you’ll keep going no matter what. Perseverance is what makes your business grow. Even if you haven’t made the process you wanted to make at this point, you can’t give up. Build this business one relationship, and one sell at a time.

Have patience. This takes time to build. With focused effort, you can build a powerful online business or grow your business' presence online. Use these seven strategies to optimize your building efforts. Have patience, and build something that helps your target audience. Focus and you will do this.

ARTICLE SOURCE

I know, I know you are probably expecting some mind numbing and blowing strategies but these are not those.
You probably know of these already but sometimes when we know something we still need that push to actually act and that is what this article is about to remind you so you can actually execute these strategies!

In case you haven’t noticed, there are more than a few entrepreneurs online daily talking and marketing the same kind of business, and offering the same services. You log onto social media and you see many of your entrepreneur friends that sell podcast services, build funnels, run ads, can teach you how to use live video, teach you how to create a profitable blog, and the list goes on. Building an online business isn’t easy, and there are some hard realities that you need to realize.

I know I’m not telling you anything new. Having said that, I love the freedom an online business can provide. As you’re reading this, I’m writing this article from a cafe in Kano, Nigeria. While I’m writing this, people are buying my books and other products on my website. I’m making money passively while enjoying the amazingness of Kano. If this is one of your goals, there are seven things you can do to get better results from building an online business or increasing your business' presence online.


1. Stop copying other entrepreneurs.
Customers buy from someone they know, like and trust. They don’t buy from strangers. If you are the clone of some other and/or famous entrepreneur, they’ll never get to know the real you. When they want to buy, they will buy from the entrepreneur you are copying. Use frameworks that work, but don’t be a clone. Model success but don't copy it. Let your voice come through, and build a business that’s yours.



2. Be clear about who your core audience is.
If you try to reach the whole world, you’ll end up reaching no one because your efforts to reach customers will be scattered. You won’t be able to help people where they are if you’re not speaking to a specific target audience. The more specific you can get with your target audience, the easier time you’ll have marketing, which is what ultimately grows your business. When you do, you will be focused on your strategies. Your branding and messaging should be very clear. So you need to take it a step at a time.



3. Don’t rely exclusively on social media.
While you can’t ignore social media, don’t make it your number one strategy for traffic and leads. The bottom line is that you want to build your business on your platform, not someone else’s. You want people to sign up to your email list, and interact with you personally, not just on social media.



4. Focus on what’s important.
There’s a wealth of information you can learn online. Most of these things aren’t important to where you are in the process. If you’re building, you probably shouldn’t be learning about SEO. If you guest post and build your audience in other ways, the SEO will naturally come, so your time is better spent writing guest posts. Sit down, and evaluate where you’re at in your entrepreneurial journey, and stick to what will help you where you are. Don’t fall victim to information overload because it can easily keep you from making progress. The speed of implementation is what makes you successful in business.


5. Don’t be afraid to charge a fair price.
It would be great to help as many people as possible for free, but you have a family to care for and bills to pay. If you add value and help people, you should be paid a fair price for it. Remember, you’re building a business; it can’t be a business if it doesn’t make money. There are people online who should be ashamed at what they’re doing and charging, but you’ll find that in any industry. As long as you focus on serving and adding value to your customer's lives, your prices will be justified.


6. Keep pushing towards your goals.
At the end of the day, if you want this to succeed, you have to determine right now that you’ll keep going no matter what. Perseverance is what makes your business grow. Even if you haven’t made the process you wanted to make at this point, you can’t give up. Build this business one relationship, and one sell at a time.

Have patience. This takes time to build. With focused effort, you can build a powerful online business or grow your business' presence online. Use these seven strategies to optimize your building efforts. Have patience, and build something that helps your target audience. Focus and you will do this.

ARTICLE SOURCE

As a freelancer or an online business owner, you’re well aware of the importance of invoicing: If you don’t invoice clients, then how are you going to get paid? Thankfully, plenty of invoicing options available today allow you to easily send out these all-important communications. But, with so many services available, which one should you choose? Here are recommendations for 10 invoicing services perfect for freelancers and online business owners alike.

1. Due
Due is is one of the best options. One of its advantages is speed; it quickly generates professional invoices. What’s about this service is that it comes with a billing timer and the ability to export your invoices or estimates as an XML or CSV file. The clean interface also allows you to see which invoices have been sent or paid, and which ones are due. You can further create options for taxes, discounts and language.

Due is 100 per cent free for unlimited invoices and unlimited clients. If you would like to use payments it’s a flat 2.8 per cent on all invoices paid with a credit card.


2. Sighted
Sighted offers a refreshingly simple easy to use for entrepreneurs and freelancers to send invoices and get paid faster than ever before. Sighted’s team are dedicated ensuring you get paid first time, fast every time you send an invoice. Cash flow kills many small businesses so if you are feeling the pain of needing your cash now give sighted a try. Managing your invoices and finances effectively dramatically increases your chances of getting paid on time and minimizes the risks of not being paid. Sighted flawlessly integrates multiple payment functions, so there is a seamless transition over different payment mediums. If you are currently using word documents, excel of pdf’s to send. In a nutshell, Sighted offers everything you need.



3. Freshbooks
There are several reasons why over five million people trust FreshBooks for their invoicing needs. For starters, the platform is incredibly user-friendly and easy to use. But, if you do have a problem, FreshBooks has an award-winning support team ready to assist you 24/7. If that weren't enough, FreshBooks allows you to add your logo to your invoice, initiate repeat billing, calculate taxes, send paper copies and get paid in any currency. You can even see if a client has viewed or paid your invoice in real time. In a nutshell, FreshBooks offers everything you need.
After a 30-day free trial, plans start at $19.95 per month.



4. Zoho
While Zoho Invoice has many features outside of invoicing, such as sales and marketing tools, this simple invoicing software is perfect if you want to create invoices quickly. Besides the well-designed invoices, Zoho also allows you to create automated payment reminders; collaborate with team members, like accountants; and track the time it takes to complete a project. Zoho also integrates with popular payment gateways, such as PayPal, Stripe and Authorize.net, so that you can get paid quickly online.

Zoho is free to use if you have under five customers; paid plans start at $15 per month.


5. Invoicera
What makes Invoicera stand out is the variety of features provided for different-sized businesses, whether they be freelance, small-to-medium-size online businesses or enterprise-size online businesses. Regardless of business size, Invoicera offers free invoicing templates that can be converted into PDF files or a different language/currency for global clients.

Another unique Invoicera feature is its availability of detailed invoicing reports. These can be used to forecast revenues in the future, which are handy for creating a budget.

A free plan is available for subscribers with fewer than three clients; pricing starts at $19.95/month.


6. Harvest
Like other invoicing services, Harvest allows you to quickly create personalized invoices in multiple currencies. Harvest also claims that its service will get you paid twice as fast. Some of its more unique features include the ability to create retainers and to feature the amount due on both the top and bottom of the invoice. There’s also a search feature, similar to PayPal’s, so you can easily locate previous invoices.

Harvest also has a number of add-ons, such as Trello, PayPal, Stripe, Zendeskand Salesforce so you can give your account a little extra boost.

After a 30-day free trial, pricing starts at $12 per month.



7. Simplybill
As its name implies, Simplybill allows you to create invoices with ease. In fact, the company boasts that it has“been designed to be the easiest online invoicing solution out there.” Besides its simplicity for creating and sending out invoices, Simplybill has around 40 template designs and the option to include tax rates. It also has a great dashboard which allows you to view which payments are overdue, and to see a snapshot of your invoicing history.

You can try Simplybill for 14 days, and plans begin at $5 per month.



8. Hiveage
Hiveage (formerly known as CurdBee) is used by over 45,000 small business in 140 countries. Why? Because not only is the service easy to use but it’s packed with a wide range of features. On top of the customized invoices, you can send clients reminders and convert estimates into invoices. Hiveage also sends you detailed reports and enables you to track your time and expenses and the power to manage multiple users and businesses.

You can use Hiveage for free, but if you require something more robust, plans start at $6.95/month.


9. Wave
Wave provides accounting software for small businesses, which includes invoicing. Like other invoicing software, Wave allows you to produce customized, professional invoices in a snap. Other features include recurring payments, and the ability to see when invoices are viewed, to add messages, to create estimates and to invoice for multiple businesses.

While Wave is loaded with more than enough invoicing features for your business, the fact that’s free is its most appealing feature.



10. MakeSomeTime
If you’re on the go a lot, then you might want to look into Make Some Time. It allows you to easily and quickly create professional invoices from your smartphone, tablet, or computer. On top of the customizable invoices, you can also create estimates and view reports that illustrate how your business is performing.

For under 3 invoices the service is free, if you send out more plans start at $49 per year. Starter plans begin at $9/month.

ARTICLE SOURCE

Over the past few years, the number of young people using Snapchat has nearly doubled from 100 million to almost 200 million users -- and more than 75 per cent of users are active. This significant growth is much larger than Facebook or Twitter. Even though Snapchat might be difficult to understand or even get the hang of, it is one of the most valuable social media platforms to reach today’s younger generations of buyers.

Snapchat was initially created for people to share countless selfies as well as exotic dishes from all around the world, however, it evolved and became the marketing nucleus for brands to reach their younger audiences -- since most of its users are under 35.

But how can you get involved in a way that it will eventually benefit your business? Below are five hacks to boost sales via Snapchat by building an interactive and engaging audience who will feel connected to your business on a deeper and personal level and will be yearning to buy from your brand.


1. Share engaging product demonstrations.
Showing original, creative and entertaining ways of using your products or services will attract new users. If you are selling a specific product or service, try to define what makes it unique and share different ways on how it might improve your customers’ life.

For example, if you own a tile manufacturing company with one of the strongest, most durable and lightweight tiles around, you already know that is your major selling point. Running a series of daily snaps featuring the above strengths will let users visualize the advantages and superiority of your product against your competition.


2. Exclusive promotions and giveaways.
Who doesn’t love free things? As you start to grow your Snapchat audience, you will need something to keep your audience interested and in tune every day. Launching special coupons with exclusive discounts can be a great way to achieve this. Offering promos and giveaways to users who share your products or share snaps using your products may prove to be an effective way to engage audiences, too.

Always keep in mind that promotions should be something your followers look forward to but won’t receive daily. The more often you run them, the less effect they will have on your audience. Followers won’t feel the need to engage or shop assuming there will be a new one the following day.

Whatever your strategy might be, make sure it complies with Snapchat’s rules for promotions.


3. Leverage social media influencers.
If you are a small business, you don’t have to go for the top notch, world-recognized and costly influencers. You can start with niche influencers around your neighbourhood and see if they may be interested in trying out your product or service for free in exchange of a few snaps to support your company.

To find the right influencer you might need to start analyzing your current followers and search around Facebook, Youtube or Instagram to see who the perfect candidate might be.


4. Using Geofilters.
Geofilters allow users and businesses to purchase, or even create, their own customized filter around a specific area for a certain length of time.

They are exceptionally good for your business if you are about to host an event. First, they may encourage your customers and followers to attend your event. Second, they are extremely helpful to spread awareness when shared with people who have a high chance of being part of your target audience.

However, in order to make sure you did not spend money without getting any return on advertising spend (ROAS), you need to make sure to post on social media and create signage advertising that you have a geofilter. Without proper promotion, attendees might not look for your filter. Also, keep in mind that geofilters can’t feature your website or social media platforms, therefore, you should consider asking your customers to add that information on their snaps.


5. Track your engagement.
Social media measurement can be complex in a partially new platform like Snapchat. So how can someone track content performance? Running a contest or a promotion offering a discount code might be the best way.

How does it work? First, you need to publish a snap letting know your followers you are about to share a discount code that they should immediately screenshot to redeem. Snapchat lets you track views, as well as see the number of times your code was captured by screenshot. If your code was uniquely designed for your specific promo, you will be able to see exactly how views and screenshots translate to actions.

My last piece of advice would be to encourage every brand to try Snapchat and test its capabilities to see if it is a fit for your brand strategy. Keep in mind that Snapchat is a much different platform than the ones you already are familiar with, so your objective shouldn’t be based solely on getting the most followers, but rather keeping your followers engaged once they opt-in to follow you.

ARTICLE SOURCE

Yesterday, we started talking about how your business can fail and what you need to ensure you do not fail.
There are four important questions (though not exhaustive)that you will need to answer in order to craft a good mission statement.

The questions are:
“What do we do?”
“Who are our customers?”
“How do we plan to do what we do?”
“Why do we do what we do?”

Step 1: Describe what your company does, and keep it simple.
The first thing you need is to define what type of business your company is into. Do you provide services, manufacture your own products for sale, or just sell other people’s products?

Using the examples above, it’s clear that Bizilla’s business is about “connecting people who want to sell a business with people who want to buy one.”

What Amazon does is “sell goods to everyone.”

What Google does is to “organize and provide universally accessible information.”
What we do at Nigeria Online Business is“provide information, inspiration, insight, tools and guidance.”

So, think of the unique service your company as a whole offers to the world and write it down in a language that is simple enough to understand.

Remember, it also has to be believable. If it’s not, there’s no pointing crafting a mission you don’t believe in. It just won’t stick.

The whole point of a mission statement is to define a purpose that your business is going to live by.

So, if I wanted to describe what my imaginary shoe company does, for example, I can start by writing that I want “to provide shoes.
Keep it as simple as you possibly can.



Step 2: Define clearly who your customers are.
This is the point where you define who you are in business to serve.

Some businesses like Amazon provide services to everyone. Here at Nigeria Online Business, we serve“aspiring and experienced online entrepreneurs.”

At Bizilla, their customers are “those who want to buy businesses (buyers) and those who want to sell (brokers and sellers).”
Google’s customers are “everyone in the world” since their search engine seeks to provide universally accessible information.

Even if your mission statement does not directly state who your customers are, you should still be able to answer this question just by reading the statement. This would guide a lot of the efforts within the company to build the business.

So, let me try to tailor the mission statement for my imaginary shoe company. Let’s say I decide that women are my customers. I’ll continue by saying “To provide women’s shoes”.


Step 3: Define your uniqueness[b][/b]
This part is a little tricky because you are not necessarily looking for a detailed description of your business’s operations. Instead, you are looking to include a word or phrase that communicates the uniqueness of your business.

For most people, this could mean including the unique value your business provides to the market. This often comes in the form of qualifying words or expressions like: excellence, quality, innovation, leadership, teamwork and integrity.

It’s very important to focus on what your business is really good at before you decide which value you include in your mission statement.
For example, Amazon believes the customer is more important than anyone else in its business, so they have reflected this in their mission statement.

That’s why Amazon’s mission statement contains the qualifier: “most customer-centric”
Here’s the full mission statement again: “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”

So, to Amazon, being customer-centric is what makes them unique. That’s why they want you to see it in their mission statement.
So, continuing with the mission statement for my imaginary shoe business, I’ll include my unique angle to it and edit it to read: “to provide quality and affordable women’s shoes.”


Step 4: Describe why your company does what it does.
This part of your mission statement reflects the passion behind your business.

It’s true that most people go into business initially just to make money. However, to create a legacy there must be a “why” behind your mission.
Why does your business do what it does?In order to answer this question, you might need to really think back on why you started your business in the first place.

Amazon’s “why” is to help customers “find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”
Google’s “why” is to make information “universally accessible and useful.”
Our “why” at Nigeria Online Business is to help entrepreneurs “exploit business opportunities, make money, create jobs, and impact millions of lives in Africa.”

So, applying the same rule to my imaginary shoe business, I’ll reflect my “why” as follows:
“To provide quality and affordable women’s shoes so every woman can find a shoe she loves.”


There you have it, a full-proof process for crafting your mission statement!
The experience is beautiful and magical.

As you can see, when your mission statement is finally done, it creates beautiful magic. Nothing beats a business whose actions, thoughts and attitudes are focused on a single defined purpose.

I can’t say enough about the importance of a mission statement.

A mission helps to ensure that all the decisions you are making about your business is intentional, focused and leading to an end goal. Without it, you are probably going around in circles.

A mission is a vital ingredient for the magic your business needs, no matter the size of your business – big or small. Unfortunately, most businesses hardly have one on paper.

Put in the effort to craft a good mission statement for your company today and you’ll improve your odds of success, and watch your company become your dream.


Don’t craft your mission tomorrow, or next week, or next year.
You should have done it yesterday.

But since you didn’t, please do it today.
Yes, right now.
And yes, on paper!

ARTICLE SOURCE

My most-prized function on any computer is the “Undo” button.

No matter the mistakes, missteps and indiscretions I make, I know I have the power to go back in the past and make everything right. I wish starting a business had an Undo button.

I can only imagine how much valuable time, money, stress and emotional turmoil I could have saved myself if I knew all these before I started my businesses

I hope the 9 points in this article will save you some regrets.

1) Business ideas are overrated.
I have found that getting a business started is miles ahead of having a brilliant idea that sits squarely in your head. Your business ideas are not valuable until you act on them.

The glory always goes to those entrepreneurs who execute their ideas, and not to those who first had the idea.
Business ideas are overrated unless they’re backed by passionate execution.


2) There are more options to raise capital beyond bank loans.
One of the biggest obstacles startups online entrepreneurs face is access to capital. But I have found that access to capital isn’t always the problem. The real problem is access to information about the options for raising capital.

Beyond banks, startups have a range of options for raising capital including incubators, accelerators, angel investors, business plan competitions, grants from venture capital and investment funds, government programs, and several other options. Learn more about these other options,

3) Nobody owes you anything
The entrepreneurs who actually start a business don’t wait for the government to provide all the policies, programs and infrastructure they need to start a business.

The people who actually get started are those who learn to adapt to their environment and improvise with the limited resources they have. Taking the “nobody owes me anything” mentality puts you in the driver’s seat.


4) It will be hard, so you better love it.
For most businesses, it can take months, or even years, before they turn a profit. What most people don’t realise is that the “waiting period” before the profit comes could be, at once, the most tortuous and rewarding, moments of your journey.

In those periods, it feels like you’re pouring water into a leaking bucket and your initial excitement in your business is thoroughly tested. So, if you’re not going to love it, don’t do it! The good news the period of wait is shorter for online businesses but you need to work just as hard if you want to grow.


5) You have to know when to let go.
According to this study, a whopping 42 per cent of startup businesses fail because their products or services “did not serve a market need.”

There is a considerable chance the market may not want your product. Remember, the market is the ultimate judge. And you must learn to humbly accept its verdict. When the market decides against you, you have to learn to let go. Try a new product or a different strategy.


6) Failing is OK.
When we read the profiles of successful entrepreneurs in glossy magazines and blogs, it’s easy to think they never failed at all.

As a result, a growing number of entrepreneurs personalise their failures and are unwilling to share them because they don’t want to be considered “losers”. Note: Your attempt at starting and growing a business failed. You didn’t fail.
Failure is an event in the past, not a permanent status.



7) The doubts and fears are normal
It often looks like successful entrepreneurs are always sure-footed and fearless people. Nothing is farther from the truth. Business is always about risk. And when you’re taking a risk, you’re bound to experience fear, uncertainty and doubt.

Only focus on the one thing that matters in your business
In the beginning, some people focus on getting posh office space in the centre of the city. Some others focus on chasing capital, building a cutting-edge website, stocking up the warehouse, or hiring advertising space on billboards and in newspapers.
But a lot of these things are distractions. There is only one thing that matters: your customer. Before you do anything, ask yourself: How will this get, serve, or keep a customer?


9) The learning never stops.
In the early days of business, most entrepreneurs wear several hats. You’re responsible for hiring, organising your operations, leading the sales efforts, and being the accountant.

The only way to survive this juggling act is to learn. And to keep learning. And even when you’ve reached the dizzying heights of success you dreamed of, the learning still doesn’t stop.

ARTICLE SOURCE

Most online businesses fail even before they start because they are mainly treated as hobbies and not as businesses. You can treat it as a hobby and a business at the same time, After all, you have to enjoy what you are doing.

The very first step is to treat your online business as an actual business, write a business plan, do SWOT Analysis and Feasibility studies. In the process of doing all these, you will learn more about yourself and the business.

“Find yourself, and be that.” – Anonymous.

Name any successful online business that has withstood the test of time – Amazon, Alibaba, eBay, and others – and I will show you a business that knows who they are and what they are about.

That’s what I define as the “soul” of a business.
If you’re trying to start, run or grow an online business, you definitely know what I’m talking about. There is no short supply of challenges. Time and again, it seems like you are putting out one fire after the other. This is especially the case if you’re trying to build a business in Africa.

But here’s the thing though: there will be many dark days in your business.

A lot of times will come when you would feel like throwing in the towel. In those dark periods, the only thing that will help you hang on is clearly reminding yourself why you started the business in the first place, and what you set out to achieve.

I get that often times businesses usually start out as plain hustle. You spotted an opportunity to make extra bucks and before you realized it, you got sucked into trying to keep it all together.

The best part is, no matter how far gone you are in business, it’s never too late to sit down to clearly write down what you intend to achieve with your business. In other words, craft your mission statement.

Many online entrepreneurs think mission statements are only for offline big and mature companies. And this is exactly why we get it all wrong.


So, what is a Mission Statement, and why do you need one?
A mission statement explains to your customers “why” you exist and “how” you aim to serve those people who are important to your business.

In fact, research shows that companies with a good mission statement usually perform better than those without them.

For example, Amazon’s mission statement says that they want “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”

Today, Amazon is one of the world’s most successful companies, and its CEO Jeff Bezos is now the richest man in the world.
This is a clear example of a company with a soul that is finding full expression.

Our mission at Nigerian Online Business is “to provide aspiring and established online entrepreneurs with a refreshing flow of information, inspiration, insight, tools and guidance they need to exploit online business opportunities, make money, create jobs, and impact millions of lives in Nigeria and by extension Africa.”

This is our soul and it guides every single decision we make about the website. It guides the type of articles we write. It guides the kind of online entrepreneurs we feature. It guides how we relate with the world and express ourselves.


A business is really like a baby.
As a baby grows into maturity and adulthood, it develops its own uniqueness.
Every entrepreneur is a parent who is building a business that will likely grow from a baby into a mature and independent business whether online or not.

Most of the successful businesses in the world today are not run by their founders – that is, the entrepreneurs who started them.

Google and Microsoft, for example, are doing extremely well even though they’re not run by their founders. A strong reason for this is that everyone in the company clearly knows what Google and Microsoft are about.

Both companies have an identity – a soul and DNA – that’s independent of their founders. That’s what a good mission statement seeks to achieve for a company. It defines the company’s purpose and how it expresses itself, regardless of who’s running the company.

A good mission statement also moves your business a step further from just hustling. It helps to introduce quality and clarity to the hustle.

A good mission statement helps a business find its soul. It takes your business on that journey of self-discovery where you are able to clearly define how you want the world to distinctively define your business.

The world should be able to link your business to a particular identity(DNA). You can guide the impression you create in the mind of your customers. And you do this by knowing and telling them your mission – what your business is about, who you are trying to serve, how you plan to serve them and doing just that.


Once you’ve defined your mission, your life gets easier.
Your mission guides every decision you make about your business from that point. And once at maturity, that unique identity makes the business separate from the owner and other similar businesses.

A major problem with online businesses is that the business doesn’t have a separate identity from the owner. As a result, once the owner is no more, the business dies a natural death.

Every business that has lasted for a century has a unique soul that clearly shows everyone what the business is about, and what the business does. This creates independence from the owner and lays the foundation for continuity in the business.


So, how exactly do I craft a mission for my business?
Based on the examples and analogies I’ve given so far, I’m sure you are beginning to see how important it is to define your business’s soul or, better still, craft your business’s mission statement.

The next question on your mind is probably “How do I craft a good mission statement?”
I’ll answer this question in the subsequent paragraphs of this article.
The first important point to note is that the statement should be short.

It should express your business’s purpose in a way that inspires support and ongoing commitment to it. It must be concise and specific so your customers understand your purpose and how you provide value to them.

A great example of a mission statement is that of a company called Bizilla. Of all the different mission statements I read it resonated the most within me.

The company’s mission is “to help connect people who want to sell a business with people who want to buy a business.”

Can you see how well this mission statement sounds?


There isn’t anyone who’ll read this kind of statement and will be vague about what the company does, who their customers are, or how they serve their customers.


Watch out for part two of this article tomorrow.

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Listing your business in local business listing websites is a great way to increase your business online visibility, reputation, and branding. Local business listing websites help a business to get more traffic from its target customers. If you are visible in front of your target customers, you will get more traffic and leads.

Adding your business to an online business listing directory is one of the best SEO strategies for small businesses as it will positively impact your business ranking on search engine websites such as Google, Bing etc. Aside from referral traffic, posting your business with appropriate points of interest for your business or an organization can give help your potential keyword positioning also.

There are numerous quality business listing websites that have premium memberships however we have tried our best to give you the free quality listing of business listing sites in Nigeria.


1. Google My Business.
Take charge of what people see when they search for your business. Getting on Google My Business can increase your chances of showing up in Google’s Local Pack, Local Finder, Google Maps, and organic rankings in general.

Google My Business gives you the tools to update your listing, build a website, and engage with your customers from your phone, tablet or computer. Qualifying local businesses can also claim an existing free listing on Google and include information about their company, like their address, phone number, business hours, and types of payments accepted.


2. Facebook Business Page.
A Facebook business page is a free public profile you can create for your local business, brand, or product. Similar to your personal Facebook account, you can use the Page to promote your business or products by posting status updates, links, event announcements, comments, or photos and videos.

Facebook also allows users to list local business or brand to FB pages. You can publish your local business on FB and also get some good reviews from your customers. Facebook reviews also appear in the right sidebar of Google search.


3. VConnect Nigeria.
VConnect helps you hire local professionals for all your service needs. From repairing your car to planning your wedding, the platform connects you with the best service businesses to get things done.

VConnect is committed to making a meaningful impact through continuous innovation to meet the dynamic needs of SMEs and empower users by creating a system that delivers better value through easily accessible information and connections with the right service businesses.


4. Business List.
Business List Nigeria integrates all the best services and businesses in Nigeria into an easy-to-use, searchable database with a user-friendly and stylish interface. The platform helps you look into the Nigeria business world with confidence and style.

Listing your business on Business List website will give you the online presence and visibility you need to attract more customers online. The platform is completely free and you don’t need to pay any money to get listed.


5. Connect Nigeria.
ConnectNigeria.com makes it easy for you to find businesses and places. Whether it’s the nearest amala joint, a bank branch, a restaurant or an embassy. You can find it on ConnectNigeria.com fast and easy.


ConnectNigeria.com’s mission is to organize Nigeria’s information, making it easy to find and easy to use. If you want to get some free publicity for your new business, ConnectNigeria.com is the right place to be.


6. DealDey Nigeria.
DealDey is one of the most popular e-commerce websites in Nigeria. DealDey supports local business and merchants who want to attract new customers and consumers who want to save money and take advantage of great services and activities in their own city.

The company philosophy is simple: To help great businesses be found by consumers who are looking for a great deal. If you want to give your business the right online publicity in Nigeria, then get listed on DealDey.


7. SME Arena.
The SME Arena is one of the largest SME search engines in Nigeria that you can sell and buy anything at the marketplace, engage in the community and enrol at the directory by signing up for free.

The now-defunct Etisalat Nigeria launched SME Arena on August 10th, 2016 in Lagos. This e-commerce portal allows small and medium-sized enterprises to showcase their products and interact with customers and business partners.


8. Finelib.com
Finelib.com was developed with an idea to develop Nigerian local content thereby leveraging information technology potentials for higher productivity, good governance and global competitiveness for Nigerian companies offering goods and services.

The website helps businesses who need customers to find them. Finelib.com works in all the areas local customers search which includes online, mobile and more. The company’s primary goal is to develop and grow Nigeria local content in a wide variety of topics.


9. NG Contacts.
NGContacts is a database with profiles and contact details of companies and businesses in Nigeria. It also has details of company executives in various companies and organizations. NGContacts is one of the trusted and leading source of business information for company executives in Nigeria.

NGContacts is used for research and marketing, to promote your products and services, and reach millions of customers in Nigeria and beyond. It contains addresses of companies, phone numbers, emails, and much more.


10. LGT Nigeria.
Just in case you are wondering, LGTNigeria stands for Let’s Go There Nigeria. The main goal of the company is to organize Nigeria’s Business Information; making it easily accessible and useful to the general population as well as provide a platform to help promote the Nigerian startup business and their products.

Business merchants can list their business information for free and catalogue, manage and advertise their products. Customers can also easily search for local business info, purchase products, request services, provide feedback and share their experiences.

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It’s tempting.
The allure of “being your own boss” is one of the most common among millennials. The biggest draws are the flexibility and independence that come with it.

But becoming an entrepreneur, online or offline because you like the title, or because other people are doing it, can end up being the most life-altering decision you ever made.

Unlike a job that begins and ends from 9 to 5, entrepreneurship is a full-time engagement that is very likely to take over and define your life. Yes even if it is online, you should focus on it like that. So, make no mistake, it is not a minor decision or undertaking by a long shot.

So, what is your “Why?” Why do you want to do it? Why are you doing it?
In this article, I explore five main reasons why you should choose the path of online entrepreneurship.

I’ve arranged them in no particular order.


1) Money
It’s no surprise money comes first. Actually, it’s deliberate. That’s because many people who become entrepreneurs do it for the money. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Money is important. Money gives you more options in life and affords you the unique power to provide for yourself, your family and everyone who depends on you. Money settles the rent. Money pays the bills. Money can solve a lot of life’s problems. In many ways, money makes you self-sufficient.

While many people are likely to start an online business because of the money, what we often don’t realise is that money will never be enough.
Did you know that up to 70 percent of people who win the lottery end up broke within seven years?

We may never be able to fully explain why people who come into a lot of money end up losing it all. However, this reality just proves that money for money’s sake is just never enough. You need a stronger reason.
By the way, have you ever wondered why most of the world’s richest and most successful people look for meaningful ways to give out some or all of their hard-earned money later in their lives?

Why are the world’s most successful entrepreneurs — like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Richard Branson — giving away all their money to fight poverty, eliminate diseases, improve lives and make the world a better place?

Why would they spend all their lives making a lot of money only to give it all away?Some call it philanthropy. Others call it charity. But I think it has a lot to do with the next big reason why people choose to be any type of entrepreneurs…


2) Impact
Sadly, not a lot of people think about impact at a young age. We’re often too preoccupied with making money that ‘impact’ almost always feels like something we should worry about in retirement or toward the end of our career.

Entrepreneurship is one of a few ways to cause real impact in society. You were born into a world that has the luxury of television, aeroplanes, microwave ovens, and other symbols of modernity. Most of these things were built by creators, inventors and entrepreneurs.
People who choose entrepreneurship just don’t want to enjoy the world and leave. They want to contribute something, however small. They want to matter.
Every young African is fortunate to exist on the continent at this time in history. Like the daring entrepreneurs, explorers and visionaries who built America, Europe and the Far East, our generation of Africans has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform our continent.

Right now, Nigeria and Africa as a whole are challenged by several serious problems – hunger, unemployment, poor education and several others. To solve these problems, we will need the contribution of both thinkers and doers. Africa needs its visionaries and entrepreneurs right now more than ever.

There is a growing number of entrepreneurs and the online entrepreneurs are growing even more – like these ones — who are building businesses that solve serious problems on the continent. These entrepreneurs are proving beyond every doubt that it’s very possible to make money and still cause great change and impact at the same time.

But, even with impact, it’s still not a complete package for some people until they have one last element, which happens to be one of the biggest reasons people decide to pursue entrepreneurship.


3) Freedom and control
I once saw an ad by an automobile maker that read: ‘Power is nothing without control.’

It’s true. Actually, power is dangerous without control. No matter how much money and impact you make as an entrepreneur, it’s not worth much if you don’t have any freedom for yourself or control over your life.

There are entrepreneurs who complain that their business feels like a job. They’re making good money, and have a strong positive impact on the lives of their employees, partners and customers. But inside, they feel there’s something missing. They feel caged. They feel like they’re not in control of their lives.

Doing what you want to do with your life and having the freedom and control to direct your life are rare perks of our modern world. Money, work or business should not control your life. YOU should control it!


4) Requires Little Capital
Starting an Online Business is not nearly as expensive as an offline one. You can start from very little to build your presence, generate revenue and then use the money to expand. Most offline Businesses start as a hobby or freelance jobs.


5) You Start Something You Are Passionate About
If you are starting an online business, chances are it is something you enjoy doing and comes to you naturally. So really, this is basically "work and play" mixing together and you "living your life!"


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Every online e-commerce store wants to increase traffic and sell more. For many first-time e-commerce entrepreneurs, this can be a very hard nut to crack due to the complexity and trickiness of starting or running a successful e-commerce business.

If the title of this blog post piqued some interest in you, I am sure you are someone who falls under either of these three categories:

You have an online store that is not selling well.
You have an online store is selling well but can do a lot better.
You are in the process of building an online store that should sell well.

No matter which category you fall into, any eCommerce wisdom that will help you sell more is worth its weight in gold. In this post, we’re going to share some nuggets of e-commerce wisdom that you can apply to help turn your online store into a customer magnet.


1. Real-time Personalization.
This is the era of personalization. From socks to jet interiors, everything is personalized to one’s whims and fancies. Why would eCommerce be an exception to it? In fact, it is one industry which is taking the game one step ahead by personalizing product recommendations.

Online stores and e-commerce websites can now tap into customer data like age, gender, location or even past shopping trends to figure out personalized suggestions for their next purchase. Needless to say, it is something that will help any online store sell more.


2. Display Social Proof.
Have you heard of the term herd mentality? This is a common mob behaviour that describes how people can be influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviours on a largely emotional, rather than rational, basis. Which brings us to the point of displaying social proof alongside a product.

Social proof in e-commerce refers to the number of star ratings, reviews, customer testimonials, purchases, etc. that a product has raked up. A majority of the customers would want to buy a product that somebody has already bought, used and are satisfied with. So displaying social proof alongside products on your store can help spike your sales.


3. Customer Testimonials.
There is nothing more powerful than a customer himself/herself admitting the goodness of a product. It has more persuasion power to it than a strong marketing campaign. In fact, in today’s internet age, a popular study has shown that customers trust customer reviews as much as suggestions from their near and dear.

Customer testimonials can help your business in several other ways too. For instance, it gives SEO juice and ranks the product higher in search results. Also, it gives a better understanding of the product from the customer’s perspective. A well-detailed customer testimonial can fill in gaps that marketing collaterals may not cover.


4. Provide Accurate Product Details.
One of the reasons why customers return products immediately after a purchase is due to the wrong choice. Online shopping can give only so many details and images of a product. Sometimes it is difficult to estimate the fitting of clothing until it is delivered. If it happens to be a wrong size or bad fitting, it gets returned.

Most goods that are returned are never re-ordered. This kind of ugly situation can be avoided by providing accurate product details. For clothing products, a detailed size chart that gives specifics in multiple measurement units could be key to helping the product sell more.

5. Contain Cart Abandonment.
Containing cart abandonment is one of the archrivals of a healthy bottom line. Cart abandonment happens when customers add products to shopping carts but do not check them out as a purchase. In other words, they do not complete the purchase with a payment.

Cart abandonment could happen due to several reasons like – security concerns, hidden costs, long delivery time, etc. Security concerns rank as the primary reason why customer abandon shopping carts. It can be avoided by adding a cheap price RapidSSL certificate to the website. It will give the HTTPS URL and also padlock symbol for the website which will help in reducing cart abandonment rate because it creates trust in customers for their data security.

6. Retarget Customers.
There is a popular business quote that says “make a customer, not a sale”. MaKing a customer and not a sale is beyond buying and selling, it goes to an interpersonal relationship, which bond’s family-like relationship, such kind of customers will forever be loyal to you and refer as many contacts as possible.

Don’t see your customers as a one-time transaction but rather as relationships to be nurtured for the long term. That is why it makes sense to send them occasional drip emails informing upcoming offers, latest products, new features and so on. Retargeting existing customers can help serve the dual purpose of retaining them as well as increasing your sales volume without additional cost.

7. Act on Data Analytics.
When it comes to making informed business decisions, it’s hard to escape all the talk about data. Effective data analytics comes from the careful examination and exploration of how information flows through and improves the business. To successfully compete in today’s marketplace, businesses need to embrace the use of the right analytics tools.

Armed with actionable insights and information from acquired data, e-commerce stores can more effectively and efficiently market to customers, design and manufacture products that meet specific needs, increase revenue, streamline operations, forecast more accurately, and even better manage inventory to hold the line on related costs.

Conclusion.
Swelling the sales figure is the first priority of any business. It is no exception for eCommerce stores either. But, the ‘how to increase question’ is where the buck stops. The answer to that question is what forms the plot of this blog. Whether you are selling fashion clothing or electronic gadgets, these tips are sure to come in handy.


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An accomplished and highly successful entrepreneur once told me that “entrepreneurship is the best personal development program in the world.”

I agree the same can be said for online entrepreneurs. Very few endeavours in life will give you the opportunity to discover your true self and come face to face with your fears, limitations, frustrations, and biases.

The biggest battles entrepreneurs face are with the forces within. And until the psychological distractions within are tamed, it is impossible to achieve any level of success on the outside.
In this article, I share four major psychological obstacles that often stand in the way of many entrepreneurs and a few tips to help you get beyond them.


1) Jack Of All Trades, Master of None
Most online entrepreneurs start their business journey alone. Armed with a brilliant idea and a compelling vision, they can’t wait to build the business of their dreams.

In the beginning, it’s very likely you will be running the business alone. Most entrepreneurs adapt by learning how to juggle several balls at once, and with time, they get good at it. They also get very used to being in control and doing everything by themselves.

But nobody, however energetic or talented, can build a business alone. You will need help. At some point, you will need partners, employees or investors. At some point, if you want to be successful, you will have to give up the art of juggling several balls and wearing all the hats.

The Hero complex is one of the big reasons why some businesses remain a “one-man business” for a long time. Such businesses hardly live up to their true potential. Remember, a business is only truly a business when it becomes a system that can run even when you’re not there.

To make this happen, you need to learn to trust, develop and lead a team of people over time. To escape the hero complex, you will need to stop being a labourer and learn to become a leader.


2) The Shiny Object effect
One of the major challenges entrepreneurs face is distraction. And very often, these distractions come in the form of impressive opportunities – which I call “shiny objects” — that need to be pursued immediately. As a result, some people keep chasing shiny objects and lose focus on the one thing they should be working on.

Staying focused is often a very big challenge for entrepreneurs, especially if their current business or project is not moving fast enough or yielding the kind of results they expected. And when a new opportunity comes knocking, there is a temptation to abandon the current project and chase the “so-called” brighter opportunity.

Over time, this leads to a string of false starts and partly-completed projects, and then they realise how much progress they could have achieved if they stuck to one project.

To avoid the shiny object effect, you must first realise that as an entrepreneur, bright ideas will always come your way, but it’s your job to order your priorities, and stay focused and committed to your existing project. If you want to move on to a new shiny object, you have to complete the existing project first or move it on to capable hands before you earn the right to jump on the next bright idea.


3) Perfection
Some entrepreneurs spend a lot of time tinkering with their product before they officially launch it. They want it to be a big hit from the time it’s launched so they waste a lot of time in design, planning and production.

Most times, no matter how perfect you think the product is, its likelihood of failure is still high and there are two reasons for this. First, it’s likely you’re thinking in terms of features – things like design, functionality and beauty that really don’t mean much to your target customers. Remember, customers, care more about benefits, not features.

The second reason a “perfect” product is likely to fail is if you’re assuming you know what your customers want. And according to this survey, more than 40 percent of young businesses fail because their assumptions about their customers were wrong.

To first step to avoiding the perfect product fallacy is to accept that you could be wrong. Accepting this fact alone reduces the temptation to build a perfect product before launching it. Rather, you should build the most basic version of your product – which could be a prototype, pilot or sample – and then use that to test the market’s reaction.

Accepting the fact that you could be wrong is a humbling experience that can save you tons of sweat and tears down the road.


4) The Tunnel vision effect
Tunnel vision is a tendency to focus on a single or limited objective. People who come under the spell of tunnel vision have already made up their minds on their version of reality and find it difficult to listen to or accept the opinions of others. The bottom line is, when tunnel vision sets in, we believe we are right and there’s no way we can be wrong.

Tunnel vision often manifests itself in several different ways: ignoring feedback from your customers, refusing input and opinions from your employees, or overriding important advice from partners, experts, mentors or advisors.

Again, like with the perfect product fallacy, the first step to breaking out of a tunnel vision is to accept that you could be wrong. Being open-minded and listening to others is critical to avoiding the consequences of the tunnel vision effect.

Another problem online entrepreneurs face is that they do not treat their online business as a proper business. Draw a business plan, come up with strategies, register your business and make everything official.


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You have been hearing so much about online businesses these days, everyone is writing about it and there is so much information about it on the internet that if you decide to google a couple, your brain will probably freeze from being overwhelmed by the amount of information. Do this, do not do this, so many contradicting opinions from self-proclaimed experts.

When trying to learn about a new online business, you should pick an online mentor that ranks well and well, is consistent.
What are the top online business ideas to start from home? What are the best small internet business opportunities? Do you want to learn what it takes to start a business on the internet with no money? Then, I advise you read on.

It is no longer news that the world is filled with business opportunities and startup business ideas but unfortunately; not everyone can see such opportunities. Bill Gates once said that: “if your business is not on the web, then your business will be out of business,” and i believe this statement is the truth in its entirety.

Now there are lots of business opportunities online, but the question is: which is the best for you. So in this article, I will be reviewing some successful internet business ideas and in the end; I will discuss the best online business ideas for beginners to start.

However, before I proceed, I want you to understand that this list of business ideas does not in any way replace the need for you to conduct a feasibility study on the ideas and write a business plan.


1. Do-It-Yourself program
Just as the green revolution is on, the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) movement is also on. As the economy gets tighter, people are spending less and they are learning to do things themselves to save money. You can still take advantage of this situation and position yourself as a DIY expert and start publishing tutorials on how to fix things, install gadgets and make repairs. You can even write a blog for this.


2. Blogging
If you have a particular subject that interests you and you are passionate about it, then you can start a blog around such a topic. Blogging is one of the fastest growing business trends on the web and the sweetest thing is that it is an information-based business.

So no worries about technicalities, programming, etc. You also don’t need to invest a dime to get started as there are free platforms you can utilize like Blogger, TypePad, Joomla and WordPress.


3. Online Beading Store
If you love beading, and you have beading skills, you can launch an online business that will not only focus on selling the coolest beads on the web but also offer video tutorials on how to make beads (why has no one thought of this really?)


4. E-Book Publishing
If you love writing and you possess some marketing skills, then you can venture into information marketing. In this situation, your business will be to identify people’s problems and provide a solution in the form of an ebook.


5. Affiliate marketing
The first venture you can start online is to own your own affiliate store. To become an affiliate marketer means that you are promoting other people’s products and services. Whenever there is a sale, you will get a commission and the most interesting fact here is that you don’t even need a dime of your own to start it and you get to partner with some of the biggest companies in the world.

6. Advertising Network (Ad Network)
You can also start a company online that connect advertisers to websites who want to host advertisements. The key responsibility of an Ad Network is the aggregation of Ad space supply from publishers and matching it with advertisers demand.


8. Website flipping business
You can start buying and selling websites for a profit. To understand this business model, just consider yourself a real estate entrepreneur; who buy houses at a low price, renovates the house and resells at a higher price for a profit. You can begin by checking out websites that are listed on Flippa.com to understand how this business works.


9. You Can Make Money Taking Surveys Online


10. Set up an e-commerce store online
Yes, you can set up an e-commerce or retail store online and you can start this online business from home without even owning a single product. You can sell virtually anything ranging from books, clothes and electronics to household item through wholesale drop shipping or by setting up an affiliate store with Amazon or eBay.



11. Start Trading Forex Online


12. Research and sell information online
Yes, you can research on people’s problems and needs; then all you have to do is to come up with a solution, package it in an eBook, video or audio format and you are in business. In fact, the overhead startup cost for this business is so low that anybody can do it. To have an idea on hottest selling information products, I will recommend you visit Clickbank.com

We will be continuing the remaining 18 business opportunities to make you money this 2019 tomorrow. Hope you stick around for that.


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What does it take to run an online business? Do you need to be able to write a great business plan, design amazing graphics or craft effective copy?

Depending on the exact nature of your business, there are a variety of skills that are good-to-haves. But not all are must-haves, and that’s worth taking a look at here. Because some skills are absolutely essential to your success in the online space. Especially when you are at the nascent stages and are unable to hire staff.

If you want to run an online business, you need to master the following five must-have skills.

1. Technical
Online business is where your technical abilities will be put to the test. Registering domains and buying a hosting plan is easy. Many hosts even let you install WordPress with a single click.

But things can get pretty complicated from there. What if you want to custom-design a template for your site? What if your WordPress site gets hacked, and you need to get it back up and running as fast as possible? What if you need to install a script or fix a column in your MySQL database? What if you need to code and develop a proprietary web application?


There are a lot of technical aspects to running a website that varies in terms of complexity. You can outsource and hire freelancers to do some of the work, but it’s best to know how things work, in case you encounter any major issues or emergencies. You do not even need to go too deep, just the basics.



2. SEO
For most websites, organic search is the number-one source of traffic. If you aren’t doing your keyword research, creating optimized content and constantly tweaking your website to improve its SEO, your business is not going to remain competitive in the online space.

Keyword research is really just a starting point. You’ll want to familiarize yourself with Page Authority and Domain Authority, responsive design, backlink building, clean code, load times and much more.

But your main area of focus should be ranking your content in search, since there are many technical aspects in the constantly shifting world of SEO, and keeping up with it all is a full-time job in and of itself. There’s no way to stay on top of it all when you’re running a business.

Again, strategically hiring freelancers or agencies might be a better way to keep your website optimized in the long run. Nevertheless, the knowledge you gain won’t go to waste, as you’ll also be able to verify the quality of the outsourced work should you choose to pay for SEO services.



3. Content creation
The ability to create quality, value-added and search-engine-optimized content is key to running a successful online business in today’s online environment. Content drives traffic, builds trust and attracts new leads and customers to your business.

This often means writing articles and blog posts, which can be a time-consuming process. Audio podcasts and videos are also quite effective but can be even more intensive in terms of the time, money and effort required.

With this in mind, don't underestimate the value of content, as it is likely to be the primary driver of traffic to your site. You’ll want to create and manage an editorial calendar, stick to a publishing schedule and create valuable content that answers the questions of your target audience.

Content builds credibility with visitors coming to your website, and consumers are more likely to trust businesses that provide valuable content. Don’t forget to put strategies in place to get visitors onto your email list.


4. Expertise in a given niche
Are you knowledgeable in the specific niche you’re planning on doing business in? If not, you may want to rethink your topic choice.

In order to build trust with your audience, you'll need to be able to demonstrate that you are knowledgeable and experienced in your industry.

This doesn’t mean that you need to know all of the ins and outs of your niche, as many entrepreneurs begin their journey with just enough of an understanding of their topic. But if they have risen quickly in their niche, that's because they invested in their growth and became voracious students of it.

Additionally, if you’re passionate about a project, you’re more likely to stick with it over the long haul. Business requires perseverance, and you are less likely to stay with the grind if it’s a project you don’t care about. Expertise in a given niche will help you build authority in your space.


5. Paid advertising
While content can drive a lot of organic traffic, paid traffic is also immensely valuable.

Most advertising platforms feature extensive targeting and filtering options that allow you to better reach your target customer. They also enable you to test the effectiveness of your landing pages and product or service offerings.

But it's important to keep in mind that advertising isn’t necessarily a set-and-forget solution. Crafting effective ads and refining your targeting can be a challenge unless you have prior experience. Conversion optimization becomes all the more important when you’re spending money to bring people to your website.

You also need to try Affiliate Marketing, get other platforms to talk about your business, advertise for you and even refer your business for them. You should focus on Authorities in the line of your products/services.

There’s a lot you can figure out by trial and error with advertising, but you will inevitably end up wasting some money in the process. If you aren’t confident with your paid advertising know-how or don’t have a big budget, you’ll want to either take the time to learn or hire an expert who can help you create effective campaigns.

Final thoughts
If you’re going to run an online business, you'll have to wear a lot of different hats. No matter what business you get into -- even if it’s a brick-and-mortar business -- multitasking will be unavoidable.

The key is to focus on the high-level tasks that will help you grow your business. You can begin to systematize and delegate tasks as you increase revenue and get to the point where you can hire. Some tasks can also be outsourced to freelancers.

But, this list helps you know what skills you'll need to run an online business, so now you can study and cultivate the knowledge necessary to be successful online.

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Across the country, smart online entrepreneurs with brilliant business models find it hard, and often impossible, to get small business loans. In fact, many do not even know they can get loans. This may be because they are not taking their businesses serious. or the banks are just not lending.

Have the banks run out of money? Of course not! In fact, the volume of bank loans to large companies, multinationals, and big businesses are increasing every year.
So, what are the secrets of getting your small online business loan application approved?


What kind of small business loan should you apply for?
An overdraft is a type of loan that allows you to withdraw money from your bank account even if you have little or no money in it. So, if your bank approves an overdraft of N1,000,000 for your business, it means you will have access to this money even if your account balance is zero.

Unlike overdrafts, a term loan is a sum of money released to you by the bank and starts to accrue interest from the moment you receive it; whether you use it or not (unless the bank agrees to a delay, usually known as a ‘moratarium’).

This type of loan is best for long-term projects and can last from two to ten years, depending on your needs and terms of the loan. Just know that the longer the loan lasts, the more interest you will have to pay over time.


The reason why banks don’t like to give loans to small online businesses…
Why do banks not like to give loans to small businesses and startup entrepreneurs?
They call it ‘high risk.’

This simply means there is a high likelihood that something may go wrong with a small online business and make it unable to pay back the bank loan (plus interest).

If your bank believes that giving you a loan is a ‘high risk,’ your loan application will surely be denied! Unless you can do, show or prove something that reduces the risk to a low level, very few banks will want to give a loan to a high-risk business.
Let’s look at some effective ways to reduce the risk in your loan application and ensure that it gets the approval that you need to secure that small business loan.


Ways to improve the chances of getting your loan application approved…
Fortunately, it’s not an entirely sad situation; risks can be reduced.
Entrepreneurs who can successfully apply any of the ‘open secrets’ I’m about to reveal will significantly increase the chances of getting the loans they want from their banks.


Get a supply contract (or purchase order) from a credit-worthy customer
One of the big risks that worry your bank about your loan application is the ability of your small business to sell enough products or services that will make money to repay a loan.

A supply contract from a creditworthy customer (usually a company or organization with good business performance) proves to the bank that somebody is interested in your products and is willing to pay (and can pay).

With a contract in hand and a credible large company behind you, you would have significantly reduced the high risk that would make your loan application difficult to approve.


Do you have a good credit history?
If you have taken out a loan before and paid it back with all the interest and no delays, it often signals good behaviour and creditworthiness to banks.

Banks and other lending institutions can verify your credit history and gauge the ‘riskiness’ of giving you a loan. If you have been coming up short on a loan you took out previously with another bank, this may show up in your credit history and reduce your chances of getting your loan application approved.

If you have a poor credit history, the banks may insist on collateral or other forms of security for the loan.
This process was not common but now that almost everyone has a BVN, it is easier for them.


A detailed business plan always helps!
To convince the banks that lending you money will not be a gamble, it helps to present a detailed and well thought-out business plan.

What will your business be about?
Is there a market for your products and services?
What is your plan for marketing and selling your products?
What background and experience do you have to make the business work?
What will the loan amount be used for?

The more of these questions you can answer, the more comfortable and convinced the bank becomes.

Your business plan should be a road map that shows the bank that a lot of thinking and planning has gone into your business idea. Most small businesses and startup entrepreneurs do not do a good work of presenting detailed information about their business to the bank.


Writing a business plan can be a simple or complex affair depending on the type of business and who the business plan is meant for (you, banks, investors, business partners etc).


Get a guarantor to cover you
A guarantor is a person who guarantees to pay the bank in the event that you are unable to repay the loan and any interest it accrues. A guarantor is often someone who is wealthy or has valuable assets that can be used as collateral (or security) for the loan.

Having a guarantor to back up your loan application reduces the likelihood that you will not be able to pay back the loan. This usually gives banks the assurance they need to classify your loan application as a ‘low risk’.

And depending on the policies of the bank, your loan application would be approved.
Now you know how to get a small business loan from your bank: have you had any problems?

If you’re like many Nigerian startup entrepreneurs and small businesses, you may have been unlucky with your small business loan application.
What were the problems you faced?
Have you used any of the methods discussed in this article to help you secure a business loan?
We would love to hear from you.


ARTICLE SOURCE

Bigmikedagod:
ok

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SEONaijaExpert:
Still reading

Done reading

Nice tips

2 points stood out for me though. Others seem not feasible.

I like the wash your own car point, yeah. It's cool and I think most men does it. But sometimes for a thorough wash you've got to pay once a while for that. It's important

Talking about doing your own maintenance is cool. Some fault are just little fix even away from the car to generators. Sometimes I pieces my generator and fix it myself. I learnt by looking at those boys I've paid so much while fixing it. I'm always proud when it works. Lol

Nice tips once again.

thanks. your likes are rear on NL.

12345baba:
Example dstv boost up

.

millionboi2:
Won good tin abt havin ur own entrprise is dat ones built,u will reap d fruit till death and atimes unto ur children.

well said

Agboki:
all dis na my new yr resolution and e dey work 4 me!no more my favorite start lager beer for me again.

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tomdon:
Mcheeww
All na wash
Get more, you will have more savings.

bro if you do not have saving mentality, more money will only lead to more extravagance.

Justbeingreal:


Saving is not easy tho!

Is when the income is good that's when u can save efficiently or else you will keep running back to the savings to eat it....

saving is not easy. nothing good comes easy, it takes sacrifices. bro you can start saving about one tenth of your earnings even if the earning is not that good.