Web sites should be designed to facilitate and encourage efficient and effective human-computer interactions.

Designers should make every attempt to reduce the user’s workload by taking advantage of the computer’s capabilities. Your web site prospects will make the best use of you site when information is displayed in a directly usable format and content organization is highly intuitive.

Prospects also benefit from task sequences that are consistent with how they typically do their work, that do not require them to remember information for more than a few seconds, that have terminology that is readily understandable, and that do not overload them with information.

Your site visitors should not be required to wait for more than a few seconds for a page to load, and while waiting, they should be supplied with appropriate feedback. Prospects should be easily able to print information.

In addition, designers should never ‘push’ unsolicited windows or graphics to users.

Here are 16 quick ways you can make your business web site a very user-friendly experience for your prospects and customers:

1) Do Not Display Unsolicited Windows or Graphics. Do not have unsolicited windows or graphics ‘pop-up’ to users. Users have commented that unsolicited windows or graphics that ‘pop up’ are annoying and distracting when they are focusing on completing their original activity.

2) Increase Web Site Credibility. Optimize the credibility of information-oriented Web sites. Based on the results of two large surveys, the most important web site-related actions that organizations can do to help ensure high web site credibility are to:

a) Provide a useful set of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and answers;
b) Ensure the web site is arranged in a logical way;
c) Provide articles containing citations and references;
d) Show author’s credentials;
e) Ensure the site looks professionally designed;
f) Provide an archive of past content (where appropriate);
g) Ensure the site is as up-to-date as possible;
h) Provide links to outside sources and materials; and
i) Ensure the site is frequently linked to by other credible sites.

3) Standardize Task Sequences. Allow users to perform tasks in the same sequence and manner across similar conditions. Users learn certain sequences of behaviors and perform best when they can be reliably repeated.

For example, users become accustomed to looking in either the left or right panels for additional information. Also, users become familiar with the steps in a search or checkout process.

4) Reduce the User’s Workload. Allocate functions to take advantage of the inherent respective strengths of computers and users. Let the computer perform as many tasks as possible, so that users can concentrate on performing tasks that actually require human processing and input.

Ensure that the activities performed by the human and the computer take full advantage of the strengths of each. For example, calculating body mass indexes, remembering user IDs, and mortgage payments are best performed by computers.

5) Design for Working Memory Limitations. Do not require users to remember information from place to place on a Web site. Users can remember relatively few items of information for a relatively short period of time.

This ’working memory’ capacity tends to lessen even more as people become older. One study compared the working memory performance of age groups 23-44 years and 61-68 years. The younger group performed reliably better than the older group.

When users must remember information on one web page for use on another page or another location on the same page, they can only remember about three or four items for a few seconds. If users must make comparisons, it is best to have the items being compared side-by-side so that users do not have to remember information—even for a short period of time.

6) Minimize Page Download Time. Minimize the time required to download a Web site’s pages. The best way to facilitate fast page loading is to minimize the number of bytes per page.

7) Warn of ‘Time Outs’. Let users know if a page is programmed to ’time out,’ and warn users before time expires so they can request additional time.

Some pages are designed to ’time out’ automatically (usually because of security reasons). Pages that require users to use them within a fixed amount of time can present particular challenges to users who read or make entries slowly.

8) Display Information in a Directly Usable Format. Display data and information in a format that does not require conversion by the user. It is best to display data in a manner that is consistent with the standards and conventions most familiar to users.

To accommodate a multinational web audience, information should be provided in multiple formats (e.g., centigrade and Fahrenheit for temperatures) or the user should be allowed to select their preferred formats (e.g., the 12-hour clock for American audiences and the 24-hour clock for European audiences).

Do not require users to convert, transpose, compute, interpolate, or translate displayed data into other units, or refer to documentation to determine the meaning of displayed data.

9) Format Information for Reading and Printing. Prepare information with the expectation that it will either be read online or printed. Documents should be prepared that are consistent with whether users can be expected to read the document online or printed.

The major reason web users gave for deciding to read a document from print or to read it online was the size of the document. Long documents (over five pages) were printed, and short documents were read online. In addition, users preferred to print information that was related to research, presentations, or supporting a point. They favored reading it online if for entertainment.

Users generally favored reading documents online because they could do it from anywhere at anytime with 24/7 access. Users were inclined to print (a) if the online document required too much scrolling, (b) if they needed to refer to the document at a later time, or (c) the complexity of the document required them to highlight and write comments.

10) Provide Feedback when Users Must Wait. Provide users with appropriate feedback while they are waiting. If processing will take less than 10 seconds, use an hourglass to indicate status. If processing will take up to sixty seconds or longer, use a process indicator that shows progress toward completion. If computer processing will take over one minute, indicate this to the user and provide an auditory signal when the processing is complete.

Users frequently become involved in other activities when they know they must wait for long periods of time for the computer to process information. Under these circumstances, completion of processing should be indicated by a non-disruptive sound (beep).

11) Inform Users of Long Download Times. Indicate to users the time required to download an image or document at a given connection speed. Providing the size and download time of large images or documents gives users sufficient information to choose whether or not they are willing to wait for the file to download.

One study concluded that supplying users with download times relative to various connection speeds improves their web site navigation performance.

12) Develop Pages that Will Print Properly. If users are likely to print one or more pages, develop pages with widths that print properly. It is possible to display pages that are too wide to print completely on standard 8.5 x 11 inch paper in portrait orientation. Ensure that margin to margin printing is possible.

13) Do Not Require Users to Multitask While Reading. If reading speed is important, do not require users to perform other tasks while reading from the monitor.

Generally, users can read from a monitor as fast as they can from paper, unless they are required to perform other tasks that require human ’working memory’ resources while reading. For example, do not require users to look at the information on one page and remember it while reading the information on a second page. This can reliably slow their reading performance.

14) Use Users’ Terminology in Help Documentation. When giving guidance about using a web site, use the users’ terminology to describe elements and features.

There is varied understanding among users as to what many web site features are called, and in some cases, how they are used. These features include ’breadcrumbs,’ changing link colors after they’ve been clicked, the left and right panels on the homepage, the tabs at the top of many homepages, and the search capability.

For example, if the term ’breadcrumb’ is used in the help section, give enough context so that a user unfamiliar with that term can understand your guidance. If you refer to the ’navigation bar,’ explain to what you are referring. Even if users know how to use an element, the terms they use to describe it may not be the same terms that a designer would use.

15) Provide Printing Options. Provide a link to a complete printable or downloadable document if there are web pages, documents, resources, or files that users will want to print or save in one operation.

Many users prefer to read text from a paper copy of a document. They find this to be more convenient, and it allows them to make notes on the paper. Users sometimes print pages because they do not trust the web site to have pages for them at a later date, or they think they will not be able to find them again.

16) Provide Assistance to Users. Provide assistance for users who need additional help with the web site. Users sometimes require special assistance. This is particularly important if the site was designed for inexperienced users or has many first time users.

For example, in one web site that was designed for repeat users, more than one-third of users (thirty-six percent) were first time visitors. A special link was prepared that allowed new users to access more information about the content of the site and described the best way to navigate the site.

If you follow these tips for a great user experience at your web site, you prospects and customers will be more likely to stay longer and complete your “call to action” instructions.

[Thanks are given to the U.S. Dept of HHS for these tips from their "Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines." The information provided here is not original to BusinessEmpires.com]

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There are several usability issues, methods, and procedures that you need to consider when designing and developing new business web sites, regardless if you hire a professional for the design or attempt to build the site yourself.

Most important are issues relating to ’upfront’ decisions such as setting clear and concise goals for your web site, determining a professional and smart set of user requirements, ensuring that the new site meets user’s expectations, setting usability goals, and providing useful content within the niche you’ve chosen.

To ensure the best possible outcome, designers should consider a full range of user interface issues, and work to create a site that enables the best possible user experience.

The latest research suggests that the best way to begin the construction of a web site is to have many different people propose design solutions (parallel design), and then to follow up using an iterative design approach.

This requires conducting the appropriate usability tests and using the findings to make changes to the Web site.

Here are 11 important design considerations that every business owner ought to ponder as he/she begins the design process:

1) Provide Useful Content. Provide content that is engaging, relevant, and appropriate to the audience. Do not waste resources providing easy access and good usability to the wrong (irrelevant) content. Many users say that content is the most critical element in their choice of which web site to visit. Content is more important than navigation, visual design, interactivity, and even functionality.

2) Establish User Requirements. Use all available resources to better understand users’ requirements. The more information that can be exchanged between developers and users, the higher the probability of having a successful web site.

These could include customer support lines, customer surveys and interviews, bulletin boards, sales people, user groups, trade show experiences, focus groups, etc. Successful projects require at least four (and average five) different sources of information.

3) Understand and Meet User’s Expectations. Ensure that the web site format meets user expectations, especially related to navigation, content, and organization. Users often define ‘usability’ as their perception of how consistent, efficient, productive, organized, easy to use, intuitive, and straightforward it is to accomplish tasks within the site.

The use of familiar formatting and navigation schemes makes it easier for users to learn and remember the layout of a site. It’s best to assume that a certain percentage of users will not use a site frequently enough to learn to use it efficiently. Therefore, using familiar conventions works best.

4) Involve Users in Establishing User Requirements. Involve users to improve the completeness and accuracy of user requirements. One of the basic principles of user-centered design is the early and continual focus on users.

Users are most valuable in helping designers know what a system should do, but not generally in helping designers determine how best to have the system do it.

5) Set and State Goals. Identify and clearly articulate the primary goals of the new site before beginning the design process. Primary goals might be to educate, inform, entertain, sell, etc.).

Goals determine the audience, content, function, and the site’s unique look and feel. It is also a good idea to communicate the goals to, and develop consensus for the site goals from, management and those working on the web site.

6) Focus on Performance Before Preference. If user performance is important, make decisions about content, format, interaction, and navigation before deciding on colors and decorative graphics.

Focus on achieving a high rate of user performance before dealing with aesthetics. Graphics issues tend to have little impact, if any, on users’ success rates or speed of performance.

7) Consider Many User Interface Issues. Consider as many user interface issues as possible during the design process. These can include: the context within which users will be visiting a site; the experience levels of the users; the types of tasks users will perform on the site; the types of computer and connection speeds used when visiting the site; evaluation of prototypes; and the results of usability tests.

8) Be Easily Found in the Top 30. In order to have a high probability of being accessed, ensure that a web site is in the ‘top 30’ returned results (SERPs) presented from a major search engine, especially Google.

One study showed that users usually do not look at Web sites that are not in the ’top 30’ or even the ‘top 20.’

Some of the features required to be in the ‘top 30’ include appropriate meta-content and page titles, the number of quality links to the site, proper and relevant keywords, as well as updated registration with the major search engines.

9) Set Usability Goals. Set performance goals that include success rates and the time it takes users to find specific information, or preference goals that address satisfaction and acceptance by users. It can also help make usability testing more effective. For example, some intranet Web sites have set the goal that information will be found eighty percent of the time and in less than one minute.

10) Use Parallel Design. Have several developers independently propose designs and use the best elements from each design.

Most designers tend to adopt a strategy that focuses on initial, satisfactory, but less than optimal, solutions. Group discussions of design issues (brainstorming) by design firms often do not lead to the best solutions.

The best approach is parallel design, where designers independently evaluate the design issues and propose solutions. The more varied and independent the ideas that are considered, the better the final product will be.

11) Use Personas. Personas will keep the design team focused on the same types of users. Personas are hypothetical ’stand-ins’ for actual users that drive the decision making for interfaces.

They are not real people, but they represent real people. They are not ’made up,’ but are discovered as a by-product of an investigative process with rigor and precision. Interfaces should be constructed to satisfy the needs and goals of personas.

Some usability specialists feel that designers will have far more success designing an interface that meets the goals of one specific person, instead of trying to design for the various needs of many.

It is usually best to detail two or three technical skills to give an idea of computer competency, and to include one or two fictional details about the persona’s life.

Keep the number of personas for each web site relatively small – use three to five. For each persona include at least a first name, age, photo, relevant personal information, and work and computer proficiency.

By considering these web site design issues well in advance of beginning the development process, your new web site will be positioned to give your users the optimum browsing and site user experience.

[Thanks is given to Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines, U.S. Dept of HHS for these design considerations. This is not an original work of BusinessEmpires.com]

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All small business owners will be faced with the decision to use less than truthful advertising and promotional strategies in their sales letters, email communications, ads, and other promotional material.

How do I know? It seems to be the way business marketing has evolved on the Internet.

Deceptive practices include all those little white lies, half truths, and marketing tactics that many feel are perfectly legal, excusable, and appropriate in this day and medium.

Some, I know, would question why we are even discussing this topic as they feel anything is game as long as you don’t cross the line of outright lying in your presentations.

I don’t see it that way.

I believe that Internet marketers has a responsibility to their prospects and customers that includes being upfront, honest, and ethical in everything they publish, say, and do.

I understand that I am opening myself up to a lot of potential criticism from the IM (Internet Marketing) community by suggesting what I am about to suggest.

But I do it as an IMer who wants to help and “take care” of my own customers. I want to practice what I preach about putting the customer first.

Haven’t we all been repeatedly giving lip service, at least, to “It’s not about you (the IMer), it’s about the customer and what he/she wants.”

Okay, here’s my rant:

1. Why does every big launch IM product cost $1997?

2. How can a product with a “real value” of $38,650 be sold for $297?

3. How come all the “short window” launches are reopened or extended because the guru’s server crashed (again) from all the massive unexpected traffic? Didn’t he learn how to take precautions the first time that happened?

4. Why do I need to know that I’m not going to pay $10,000, or even half that much, no not even $2,000, or $1,000, not $700, not $397, not even $197, not even a ridiculous $97, but if I order in the next ten minutes I only have to pay $47!

5. Why do IMers get to send me multiple emails on the same day promoting their offers simply because their email service messed up again and they’re not sure if the list I’m on ever received the first email?

6. How could there only be 7 copies left of any digital product?

7. How can an IMer send me promotions for nearly every offer that comes along and still claim that he only wants to tell me about “the good stuff that he uses.”

8. If a product owner is willing to pay affiliates 50% or more for a buyer from the affiliates list, why should I (the consumer) not feel like I’m paying at least twice what the product is actually worth to the owner?

9. How many IMers actually read or immerse themselves in a product prior to promoting all kinds of wonderful things about it? Let’s be honest now . . . 20% ? . . . 10% ? . . . 2% ? . . . Why is that?

10. Why does an income screen shot of a merchant or Clickbank account really matter:

a) when they are easily doctored or faked altogether?
b) when the small print income disclaimer at the bottom of the page says that the income described in the sales letter is not typical and that YOU may not experience any income at all?
c) when it’s the product owner’s account rather than that of a product user – someone like you or me that’s purchasing the product?

11. Why should I care about being on the first page of Google? (I only want to be ranked for relevant search terms that will bring me traffic that will convert to sales)

12. Why are guarantees only for the cost of the product? If you guarantee a six figure income, why isn’t that the amount you should pay me?

13. Why do you say “this is the most important email you will ever read” over and over again?

14. I recently copied and pasted a guru’s one- page sales letter into WORD and it ended up being 37 pages long . . . how could that be?

15. When I close a screen it means I want to go somewhere else. Why do I have to be interrupted by another pitch, then another, then another, then another when I’ve already decided I don’t want your product?

16. When you claimed your product generated $350,000 last month alone, shouldn’t you also disclose that you and your staff burned through $335,000 in operating and marketing costs to get there?

17. Is there anything wrong with seeing a picture of you sitting in a rented Lamborghini in front of a friend’s mansion?

18. If I initiate contact with local businesses about purchasing a web site I designed, contracting for my SEO services, buying a domain name I’ve already registered, or simply listing your business in my directory, how is that not considered unsolicited commercial email (UCE), or as we have come to affectionately call it . . . SPAM?

19. Why didn’t you tell me that your PLR or MRR product would be selling for $1 on eBay shortly after it was released to the public?

20. Why do I have to give your company my name and email address for every single new video or offer that you release? Can’t you keep track of what I’ve already given you?

I could go on and on some more, but I will stop there.

Yes, I understand some of the reasons, techniques and motivations of selling and marketing that lead IMers to employ these tactics and many, many others. And no, I don’t claim to be an expert in any of them.

What I am wondering, however, is whether using these strategies is really in the best interest of our beloved prospects and customers?

Or do we simply believe we need to use them because that’s what we see other IMers doing so we figure that’s what we must do as well to be successful?

Most of these strategies, when you get right down to it, contain elements of deception . . . or dare I say it . . . lying!

You might say to yourself, no I’m not really lying since I’m not intentionally trying to harm or hurt my prospects.

I just use these tactics to help my conversions because that’s what I see all the experts doing and supposedly that’s what works.

Please understand that I’m not singling out any person or accusing the entire IM community of underhanded and dishonest marketing methods.

My purpose in discussing whether or not we are doing a disservice to our prospects with these strategies is rooted in my desire to be up front and honest with my own customers and to not insult their intelligence with obvious tricks, games, and techniques that could lead them to the conclusion that I care more about my own sales than I do about what’s really best for them, my customers.

In the early days of the Internet, consumers may have been oblivious to such tactics.

But to me at least, it seems apparent that today’s Internet consumers are becoming more and more aware of, and tired of (no . . . actually fed up with) these and other deceptive marketing approaches.

Am I being too harsh about marketing practices? Is this really not as much of a concern as I’m making it out to be? In your mind, are these practices really not deceptive at all?

Do we in the IM community need to stretch the truth in our marketing in order to be successful at promoting and selling our products? You will have to decide that for yourself!

 

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When it comes right down to brass tacks, I would say every Internet business owner should consider herself or himself an information publisher.

It seems to me that all business web site owners need to be publishers of:
a) website information;
b) sales letter copy;
c) site content in the chosen niche;
d) products in digital or hard copy form;
e) blog content;
f) email communications;
g) customer service responses;
h) advertising / marketing copy;
i) articles and press releases;
j) probably other things I’m forgetting about …

My point is, whether you consider yourself to be an info marketer or not, you really need to pay close attention to your publishing (i.e. putting it out on the net or in emails) and how it can affect your overall business.

Fred Gleeck is an info marketer extraordinaire. He has authored over 15 books, literally spoken hundreds of times a year about info marketing for many years now, been a recognized authority at numerous high dollar seminars, and a consultant with many companies regarding their own marketing, customer relations, info presentations, etc.

Fred also publishes his own information products in written, audio, and video formats.

I was very interested in what he has to say because he is known as “the King of Content.”

If there was ever an Internet marketing information expert that you ought to pay attention to, it would be Fred Gleeck. You can read all about him at Fred’s home site.

I have been most impressed with Fred’s contention that all information marketers need to employ publishing “systems” in order to be effective and successful at selling information.

What are systems? They are processes or procedures that the owner puts into place in order to handle or execute certain functions of the information business. Your business systems, once in place, leverage your time and effort so that a certain amount of automation and integration can transpire without your unending and continuous personal attention to every single activity and task.

Here are the systems Fred says Internet publishers will benefit from employing:

1. Back Office Online System. Your information business needs to have a system in place for taking customer orders, processing credit cards or other forms of payment, maintaining your database of customers, tracking your ads, and much more.

2. Domain Name Registration System. Most serious information marketers have a need for numerous domain names. Best practices suggest that every product or unique offering is promoted most effectively from its own top level domain. It’s easy to track, renew, and even sell domains from a single system that is set up in advance by the business owner.

3. Creating and Publishing Web Sites. Fred suggests setting up more than one web site for an information business. In fact, you will most likely end up with numerous sites and having an integrated system for handling this area of your business makes a lot of sense. But rather than paying for custom web design, Fred is a proponent of using WordPress and professional templates that are readily available.

He also suggests hosting all your web sites yourself – which just happens to be the next system you must have.

4. Web Site Hosting. Making web sites and pushing them online is different than having a system to host your sites. Again, it will pay dividends for you to host your sites from a central system that you have set up and can manage without outside assistance. There are an infinite number (it seems) of companies that you can choose from for your hosting system but it certainly pays to do your homework and pick one that is reliable, inexpensive, has the right options for your purposes, and is totally secure.

5. Video Email. I was a little surprised by Fred’s inclusion of this system as a “must have” component of information marketing businesses. But he insists it increases your email conversion (closing) rate and adds features that improve your communications beyond just the written email systems. Video email accounts can be set up for as little as $10/month. To be honest, I had never given video email a second thought!

6. Continuity (Membership) Site Software. If you desire to keep some or all of your content (information) secure so that it is only accessed by paying members, it is smart to have a dedicated system set up on the site for that purpose rather than using unpublished URLs, etc, for the purpose. Such software varies greatly in its cost according to the features present, but setting up a system that is integrated with other systems on your site makes for the greatest efficiencies and least amount of work for you, as the business owner.

7. Tracking the Competition. Fred believes you need a system in place for following your competition’s activities, products, marketing, publishing, etc. Not only will you get ideas about things you could be doing in your own business, you will also know what you need to do to beat the competition at their own game.

You can find out for yourself what systems Fred recommends for each of these areas – I will not divulge his personal favorites here.

The point is, you need to leverage yourself and your time if you are an info marketer, and one of the most effective ways to do that is to set into place a series of integrated processes (systems) that will work together to execute the various tasks needed for this kind of business.

One of your main considerations should be to make sure that all the systems on your web site combined accomplish their tasks in a seamless, smooth, and efficient way. I couldn’t agree more!

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We are continuing our discussion of the fear of Internet selling. You see, many would-be entrepreneurs have extreme fear of offering products and services online to potential customers.

Some have expressed their frustration with fears so intense and debilitating that their business has stalled and they have not been able to get past this single obstacle.

In our previous discussion (Part 1 of the same title) we listed the top seven fears that seem to be fairly common among new business owners.

Today’s discussion is about how to approach those fears and move past them in order to push a new business idea forward.

Here is a very simple but undisputed fact: only a small percentage of the people that have ideas about making money online ever get to the point of actually doing it!

For many, one or more of their fears have paralyzed their ability to implement their business plan and carry it through for income generation.

Here are the seven top fears that entrepreneurs express as the reasons they have not been able to move forward with their online solo business … and … what can be done to dispel the fear:

1. Fear of “spinning wheels” in the wrong niche.

Many people feel that market research is a daunting task. They have read about markets that are not profitable for online business. They fear that by making a commitment to a niche they will be locked into that decision forever.

But in reality, choosing a niche can be a relatively quick and painless activity. One doesn’t have to survey the whole online landscape. All that is needed is to find a single niche that looks promising, make some quick online testing of the niche, and decide whether to attack it further or not.

Some serial entrepreneurs feel that the more competition there is in a niche … the better. They like the idea that there is a lot of activity and selling going on (even by others) and that they will carve out a place for their own business so that they can share in the action.

Fear is often dispelled by action. Jump into the niche quickly, do some testing, and either decide to ramp sales up or get out now!

Fear is often a human emotion that is not totally rational. Fear is flamed by negative thoughts and “supposed” outcomes that never materialize. Some would say fear “is all in the mind.”

2. Fear of being able to compete with many other small online businesses who are vying for the same prospects and customers.

If you fear competition you have several alternatives to choose from. First is to dig down deeper into the niche (specialize more) where the competition is less or non existent.

A second idea that will help to overcome the fear of competition is to position your business so that you are not competing directly (or head-to-head) with the other businesses in the niche. If most of your competitors are selling ebooks on a topic, you might decide to sell videos or audio recordings on the topic in order to differentiate your business.

You can also become unique by changing your income generating strategy. Maybe instead of selling books and reports on a topic like all of your competitors, you might decide to create a membership site and hold private “webinars” to dispense your information.

3. Fear of failing at small business.

Creating a viable and successful small business can be a very scary undertaking, especially for newbies that have never attempted this kind of activity.

There are lots of detailed and “uncommon” steps that new business owners need to execute in order to get an online business up and making sales. A certain amount of risk can be associated with business creation. The track record of entrepreneurial success is not in favor of the first time owner.

Because it is so easy to fail, many let their fear of failure become a stumbling block to moving forward to the outcome of success.

Here are some ways to overcome the fear of failure:
(1) find a mentor to help you calm your fears about setting up your business;
(2) outsource those tasks that you don’t think you can execute successfully on your own;
(3) set up a management team to guide your business creation so that you can rely on outside talent to minimize failing at various aspects of starting your business;
(4) minimize the possibility of failure by modeling what other successful businesses are doing – both in and outside your niche; and
(5) choose a very simple and straightforward business model that will allow you to ease into business without getting too technical or complicated.

4. Owner fears that he hasn’t gained sufficient knowledge and skill to begin making money online just yet.

Some of the same solutions listed in #3 above will also help to dispel the “don’t know enough yet” fear that many owners have.

Here are some additional remedies for this mindset:
(1) set a time limit or deadline for the amount of learning or research that can be done prior to working on starting the business;
(2) find a partner that you can work with who already has the knowledge you lack so that together your knowledge and skills will be sufficient to get moving forward;
(3) jump into business and get started even though you may think you lack the necessary tools or skills right now – you will be surprised how much you learn quickly with “on the job training!”
(4) find a “done for you” type business building package – there are many of these being promoted online. You simply let the business system be implemented by someone else. [ A word of caution here: there are many alternatives in this arena but not all of them are tried and proven. This is a niche rife with less than honest sellers! ]

5. Information overload is blocking the business plan.

Most every new business owner feels overwhelmed with all the various business creation alternatives and strategies that are being touted online. There is no end to the number of sellers that will offer you their own “proven” or “guaranteed” system.

My best advice is to get the opinion of several successful online business owners, choose a methodology and strategy that fits your comfort and skill level, then move forward with testing and tracking sales results to see if you can turn a profit.

Refinement, modification, new products, and back-end development all work to increase your business effectiveness and bottom line as you move forward. If it becomes obvious that you are not going to be successful and your business savvy friends agree, get out of the niche or change your strategy quickly so you don’t invest additional time and effort in a losing campaign.

6. Fear of the technical aspects of online business.

This is a straightforward problem to have: either learn what you need to know (usually not the fastest or best alternative, at least in the beginning) or get some outside help to accomplish the tasks you need to have done.

I have often heard very successful Internet business owners say they don’t know the first thing about creating a web site, setting up an auto-responder, or fiddling with HTML code. They simply leave the technical tasks to others!

Understand your own limitations and get partners or 3rd party service providers to do what you can’t do. It’s easy to find technically competent help for small solo businesses these days. Popular sites like eLance, Rent-a-coder, and ScriptLance are filled with willing and able experts who offer their services at reasonable costs.

7. Fear of rejection – that the customers will not like an email, blog, e-book, or a product or service that is offered by the owner.

Strange as it may seem to some, this fear is very real to many people who want to run a business but can’t bring themselves to “laying it all out” for the customer’s reaction. I can tell you that, short of scamming innocent prospects, most potential customers will overlook a lot of owner oversights if they feel that they are “getting their money’s worth” from a product or service.

There will always be (in every niche) a small number of customers that will never be satisfied, customers that will take offense to something you do, and customers that will complain about your business or the way you treat them … regardless whether the alleged wrong is real or not!

Most successful online business owners will simply say goodbye to those few trouble makers and focus on building their relationships with their best customers. They reason that 2% of their customers are not worthy of 50% of their customer service time and commitment.

A second thought here … every business owner needs to develop the mindset that allows them to not take complaints or criticisms too personally. Some percentage of every business following will be very intense and vocal (typically the complainers). Come to understand that this is their nature and they treat most businesses the same way regardless of what you as a business owner do for them.

The next time you recognize that one or more of your personal fears is standing in the way of your online business moving forward, I hope you will have the courage to admit your fear, think about why you have the fear, what you can logically do to remedy the situation (maybe by reviewing this discussion and taking the appropriate action) and then have the conviction to move forward knowing that you can do business successfully in spite of your seeming shortcomings.

 

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