LESSON #2: What is an online business?

By | June 12, 2008

Contrary to what some of the so-called guru’s may say, having an online business is not for everyone. But in order to judge whether it’s a good fit for you, we first must define what an online business is and what it isn’t.

Please watch the following video:

Main points:

  • My personal definition is that it’s a business which is conducted primarily on the internet.

  • A website is NOT an online business.

  • It’s not a job.

  • There may be risk involved, but it’s all about how you perceive it.

  • If you’re afraid to start a business, then you need to either…

    a) get over your fear

    or

    b) decide to be happy with your job, and forget about starting a business

    Action steps:

    1) Answer the following question honestly:

    Do I want to run my own business?

    As always, you are welcome to post your questions and comments below.

    Have a great day!

  • 835 thoughts on “LESSON #2: What is an online business?

    1. Norman

      Wow is all I can say Eric. This lesson hit home for me….Thanks for being a giver and I look forward to the next lesson.

      Reply
    2. Hugh Fraser

      Hi Eric,
      It is so great that someone has started doing this I have felt so lost. I have been try to start for the last six month with no success.

      All the best,
      Hugh

      Reply
    3. Learn Guitar Online

      Thanks Eric,

      I know from experience, you might not even know you have fears about doing something different.

      You might fool yourself by continuing to “learn” about how to do something, while you already possess all you need to get started. You just don’t get started. And you don’t get anything done. And you don’t make any money.

      Once you do anything a few times,it will be like second nature before you know it.

      Ted

      Reply
    4. Raven

      I love the new tips Eric. I agree that having a website is not a business, but can be. I have worked at my own business off and on since I was 15, and I have worked for others in the wage-slave world. Which I am doing now to earn the money to set up the new business that I am starting. I appreciate that you give real advise and not hype. Working for yourself means that you are the one that has to get up and do it, all without someone there to say you have to. You are your own boss, but that means really doing WORK! OMG! That can be hard! That is why they always say find your passion! That means that you will enjoy getting up to do the hard stuff! Keep up the great lessons! Raven

      Reply
    5. Kat Durling

      I’ve got Carol Smith’s problem, Eric – limited access to highspeed service (for now). Everybody has gone to videos & I feel as if I’ve been locked out of the library! Is there any chance you could share the transcript (ie – a pdf file?) with us that you use to prepare each video?

      Kathy
      http://www.delaneyvineyards.org

      Reply
    6. Donna

      Eric,
      Thanks, To say the least.
      I hope to get my site started soon and follow your lead – to help others.

      Reply
    7. Fauzi

      Hi Erics,
      Now you come forward to introduce ‘the online Business’. Let everybody knows the concept of online in the Internet. What is ‘offline’ business? These terminologies are very important if we need to understand fluently in the internet marketing.

      If we go further, some other things coming across and we should be happy to face all these without any unsatisfied complain.

      That’s why these basics are very important to be acquired as a beginner, and thus help us to really understand and succeed in this virtually internet marketing world.

      I hope we can follow all what is going to be exposed by Erics, and everybody must be patient
      to wait till the ends of the course.

      Thank you for your organized intro,Erics.

      Reply
    8. Michael Ogu

      Hi,
      I have been slaving for others for quite some time now but would like to be liberated through internet business – ebooks business.
      However, I have encountered countless problems and deceits and therefore feel terribly betrayed and discouraged to continue.
      They tell me internet business is easy, very easy but immediately I part with my money, they start singing a different tune, asking me to build the website myself using their tools, draw traffic myself to my website yourself, etc, etc until I give up since I do not know how to do these things. I have lost out countless times in this manner. The cycle of deceit continues. I wish I had one truthful person who can really help set me up thoroughly ( set up the website for me, including affilliate programs, draw traffic etc and hand the business over to me, and tell me in advance the cost. I recently paid a company to draw traffice to my ebooks website. According to their own records, they are sending thousands of visitors to my website but there is not even one visitor or customer or activity recorded in this website.
      Can anyone help please. Mike

      Reply
    9. adri

      So what the definition of business on line, if we have make website and want to make money from that website by referring affiliate is it business online ?

      Reply
    10. Karen

      Q. How do you eat an elephant?
      A. One bite at a time.

      Two lessons in and I am truly appreciating the bite size servings. These few minutes with you are clarifying and focused. I have time to digest what you are saying and relate to it before moving on to the next step. Super great pace for someone working a JOB and trying to get a business going at the same time.

      Thanks, again.

      Reply
    11. Leona

      Thanks for this. You must have read my mind or else there are a lot of people out there just like me.
      Everything happens at the right time.
      About a fortnight ago I pulled by website down that I paid a designer to do and have relaunched it one step at a time.
      I have been doing so much reading and research that I have hundreds of bits that I should do someday. And of course I am getting very confused.
      I WILL make it work this time.

      Reply
    12. hs

      Hi Eric,I am a newbie and am following your tips closely.i am not making any progress,could you kindly log in to my site http//onlinedatingcode.com to comment on my site.
      Thanking you in advance

      hs

      Reply
    13. Lyn

      Thanks Eric. Great advice. You’re right about not asking family they can really be negative and end up pulling you down. I guess they only want to protect you.
      Lyn

      Reply
    14. Andy

      Hi Eric,
      Thanks for your hasty answer!
      But for a free one?…
      Best Regards,Andy

      Reply
    15. Learn Social Marketing Tactics That Generate Traffic Instantly

      Hi Mike

      I understand the way you feel, and I used to feel the same way until I discovered my coach and mentor who taught me how to:

      1, Build and maintain websites and Blogs
      2, Drive massive traffic to my websites easily
      3, Convert traffic to customers

      You need to focus on your goals and consistently work at it.
      Internet/Niche marketing is not child’s play especially if you want your “Ebook website” to have good rank listing in the search engines (Google, Yahoo, & Msn)

      I have watched my traffic and rankings improved
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      You’ve also enquired about Affiliate programs. You can easily apply for Affiliate programs; here are the 3 I’d suggest you start off with

      1, https://www.clickbank.com/index.html
      2, http://www.cj.com/
      3, http://www.amazon.com/

      I hope this puts you in the right direction

      Regards

      Dola
      http://contentdesk.com/cmd.php?af=794301
      Learn Social Marketing Tactics That Generate Traffic Instantly – Free Authority Black Book

      Reply
    16. Ray

      Hey, Eric, Good Video. I have joined Justin Brookes SiteFlipAcademy.com and am interested in websiteflipping. I have a website for a while, but I am learning to drive traffic to hit with various methods: article, blogs, forums, and I will work on USFreeAds.com and PPC. My website has Google Pr Rank of 0. Do you have any suggestion of getting traffic. I am just starting out and have a hard time with webdesign. So I have hired someone out to do that. Any suggestion for good blogs or forums to go in. I think one of the most effective ways to gain traffic is post YouTube, MySpace, Digg and other social bookmarking sites. I have a camcorder, but I am going to start using Camtasia with Powerpoint and create my own products that way. So I think online Business is great if you are dedicated and motivated. I think the hardest is to decide what to do. I guess I should try to write out a schedule and be more organized. I think an online business, so be treated like a business. Most people think of it as a hobby. That is why they fail. But if you think of it as a businesss, good things will come. I guess I am just rattling off. But have a good day, Looking forward to lesson 3. Thanks alot, Eric, Ray

      Check out my websites, Let me know what you think, Ray.

      http://officialinternetmarketingexpert.com
      http://ebooksforsale.blogspot.com
      http://martialartsandnutrition.weebly.com

      Reply
    17. Jeff Miles

      Michael , you just got scammed by junk traffic
      provider. Its one of the longest running scams.

      Also everyone who tells you internet marketing/business is easy, is well, bluffing.

      Its low cost way to set up your business but it takes lots of time effort and money to consistently drive targetted traffic to make money. And you have to find ways to keep ahead of competition which if you don’t know is in the 100 millions !

      I found a better simpler way, it takes money but lot less time and effort more like 10 – 15 minutes a day to check my account.

      I’m talking about making money from little known investment opportunities before rest of the investing public get wind of.

      we get access to 21 teams of top grade private investment analysts who do all the grunt work
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      last year made $54600 just investing in these opportunities.

      For more info : jeffmiles1968 @ yahoo.com

      Reply
    18. Gerald L. Bishop Jr.

      Thanks, you do a excelant job as a teacher. I appreciate your clear no BS style and your subject task breakdown, I wish I found you three years ago. The web can suck money faster than a rigged casino.

      Reply
    19. Israel Camareno

      Hi Eric Id being about 6 months trying to understand what an online business is all about, to my deception I found out that most programs are selling just a lot to read, where they explain what to do, but not how to do it. For example buy a website, pay for hosting,autoresponder,email lists, ebooks,manage PPC, subscribe to affiliates that you never know if are working or steeling your comissions since there’s no reliable way to proof if someone is reading or not your articles, and some more things that looks like tools that are useless. I’ll be honest to you I haven’t make a penney yet, I don’t invest much is true, but is like you said. If I don’t understand what Im buying I hasitate, unfortunatelly you won’t know what you are buying until you pay for it. This days knowing who to trust is more difficult, it seems like everybody got scamed and everyone has a solution for it. “Which seems like scamming forward”. When they offer you a money back guarantee they make sure you have so much to read that by the time you finish understanding, the cancellation time will be due and you end up overwhelmed and frustrated. So I hope your lessons are quite different, because I really want my own business since a very long time ago.

      Reply
    20. Kim

      Hi Eric,
      Great video. I especially appreciated the part about not asking family & friends. I began looking into internet marketing a couple of years ago and have gotten back into it pretty seriously the last 6 months. I didn’t mention anything to anyone about what I was doing until I got a couple of sites up and started working a little with Adsense. Now my family is interested in how I can help them do the same!
      I appreciate your integrity- looking forward to the rest of the tips.
      Kim

      Reply
    21. Joel Therien

      Hi Eric

      Very well done! I would love to bring you in as a guest speaker to my network at http://www.kiosk.ws πŸ˜€

      Joel Therien
      President
      Kiosk.ws
      Hotconference.com

      Reply
    22. Eric Post author

      hey Joel- Thanks! I’m not taking on any speaking engagements right now… but I know who you are and I take it as a huge compliment. Keep up the good work.

      Reply
    23. chris

      Eric,
      Could you please tell me how to make a folder using gmail.
      Your the greatest

      Reply
    24. Eric Post author

      I’ll be talking a bit about adsense, but my friend Joel is the expert on that topic. I recommend grabbing his new ebook for $9.95:
      AdSense Secrets

      Reply
    25. Eric Post author

      And I agree partially πŸ˜‰ A business is one of the best sources of equity, but I would not say it’s the only way. There is another way, and that is to be an investor (which is not necessarily a business in itself). I will be mentioning it in lesson #6

      Reply
    26. Eric Post author

      for now i’m not going to have time to make PDF’s, but I’ll try to beef up the points after the lessons when I can.

      Reply
    27. Mary

      My answer is a resounding YES!! I’ve been an “offline” business owner and I know the freedom that comes from it. All I need is now is a product or service and some knowledge, which I’m getting thanks to Eric!

      Good luck everyone and thank you Eric.

      Mary

      Reply
    28. Beverly Saltonstall

      You don’t make folders in GMail. You need to make labels. The labels will be listed at the bottom so you can sort your mail that way. It’s one feature I don’t like about Gmail. I have my Gmail forwarded to the Thunderbird email program and there I can use folders like I am used too. If you need more help is setting up labels, I will be glad to help.

      Reply
    29. Fermin Suero

      Yeah, I love it. No more searching through tons of comments to see if you have gotten a repy.

      Thanks much,

      Fermin
      FerminSuero.com

      Reply
    30. Joe Tedesco

      I know the answer to the action step right off the bat…I’ve thought about it long and hard over the past year, and the answer is most assuredly yes! Though I know I was not required to comment on my answer here, it felt good to do it;)

      Reply
    31. Shirena

      Hi! yes, i am passionate about what i am doing as a personal performance coach and definitely want to have my own business.
      I have not yet developed a website but do you have any suggestions as to how to do a questionaire specifically to health professionals online now? Thanks

      Reply
    32. Enobong Essien

      First and foremost i want to appreciate ur effort for ur several mails u have sent so far, pleae Eric i’ll like to know the risk so to say about this online business and also how to go about executing the business. thanks

      Reply
    33. Shane Umlauf

      Love This site. I like for eric to visit my site and maybe join. I like for him to send tips to my members.

      Go to sendtoall.com

      Reply
    34. Pingback: Can anyone start their own business? | makegoodmoneyblogging.com

    35. Petre Tudor

      Hi Eric,

      You didn’t replyed to my posting from Lesson #1 but I found out the answer to my question to you from the other comments.I’m sorry you aren’t going to have time to make your videos into .PDF files.
      I’m sure into your videos will be the most important details as to how to start an online business from A to Z.I don’t like videos just if they are the most modern method and because I less understand audio files.
      But I’ll follow your lessons because I still will learn more skills from you in the long run.

      Of course, I do want to run my own online business if this is the single action step of Lesson #2.
      I ask you:
      May I use a link to your lessons on my blog,website to send it to my online friends to help me to understand your speach from your videos?

      I look forward to your next lessons.

      Reply
    36. Perla Portera

      Hello Eric,
      I read up to lesson 6 and it will not let me go further. Do I have to wait till I get the e-mail from you?
      I’m looking forward to the future. I’M a rep for a Health and Wellness Company and have my own web site but not doing well in it. I do not have traffic going through. I do love the product line and been using it for 2 years. I also have a Cleaning business right now but I’m very slow. I’m always willing to learn.

      Reply
    37. Pingback: Basic to Advance Internet Marketing Tips - Lesson #2

    38. Gary

      Wow Eric,
      These courses have been absolutely wonderful so far. Thanks for providing such a down to earth experience…it’s so refreshing after seeing all the other alternatives out there!

      Reply
    39. Gary

      Yes…your statement is very true! It’s important to clear your brain of all the little daily distractions so you can be more present with focusing on your goals πŸ™‚

      We Give You 120 Individual Turnkey Websites With Your Paypal ID On Each
      http://www.Instant-Paysites.com

      Reply
    40. GIBSON DOEPOH

      I AM INTERESTED IN GOING FULL WEBSITE BUILDING AND HOSTING, E-COMMERCE AND OTHER FUNKIES.

      Reply
    41. Gary

      Also if you look in the help tab within Gmail you should be able to get all your questions answered.Best of Luck to you!

      πŸ™‚

      Reply
    42. Gary

      Yes…and the funny thing about it all is: a lot of time they don’t suppoet or incourage you but when you start making the money their opinions change real quick! Lol..just a little side note to think about. Best of luck to you!

      πŸ™‚

      Reply
    43. Gary

      Yes…Corporate bean counters and working 9am-5pm. There has to be a better way…I agree!

      πŸ™‚

      Reply

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