What is an online business system and how can it run on AutoPilot you might be asking yourself, Right ?
There are a few things to consider when looking for an online business system that delivers results and is not excessively expensive. After all most entrepreneurs starting an online business don’t have a huge budget.
There are two ways to have a online business system that can run almost on autopilot:
- You can build your own sales funnel which we will be going over below.
- There are also online business systems that are already set up for you and all you have to do follow a couple of steps and your setup.
So, what are the components of an online business system ?
- You need a capture page or squeeze page.
- You need an email autoresponer service that manages your list for you and provide you with the ability to create opt-in forms.
- Preferably you need a website but not necessary. I’ll share the pros and cons of having or not having a website.
- You need a product or service to offer your prospects.
- I recommend you have a Free eBook or Newsletter to give away. I’ll share why you needs this below.
- You need emails set up with your autoresponder to be delivered to your email list.
Now let’s go over each of these areas below:
- Capture Page or Squeeze Page:
What is a capture/squeeze page and how does it apply to your business ?
A Capture/Squeeze Page is a page where you can include an opt-in form, a video, images and text which will provide your readers with a message you want to convey to them.
In the capture page you should have these elements to improve the chances of getting the prospect to opt-in your autoresponder form:
- An irresistible offer that they can’t refuse and will give you their name and email.
- The message should be clear and congruent with what they will find in the next page ( ie. your product or service ) after they have opted in to your list.
- If you include a video it is critical that you deliver the message and make sure you have a call to action at the end of the video like, ” Enter Your Best Email Below To Get Your Free Report, Free eBook or Free Newsletter ” etc…
- You will need to get the opt-in form HTML Code you will include in the capture page and input into the email autoresponder box you will find when creating your page.
- Email Autoresponder:
What is an email autoresponder ? An email autoresponder is a service that averages about $20 per month. What this service does is it collects the emails through your opt-in forms and places them in a specific list you designate within the autoresponder back office.
This service allows you to manage all of your prospects, buyers, readers, or newsletter subscribers all in one place. What is awesome about this service is it allows you to deliver content in a massive scale regardless of how big or small your list is.
If you wanted to stay in touch with a list of 1,000 or even 5,000 subscribers all you have to do is type up an email and select what group or list you want to send to instead of sending out 5,000 emails individually which would take you a very long time. This service also allows you to build as many lists or opt-in forms as needed.
Some of the more popular email autoresponders are: Aweber, Constant Contact, and GetResponse.
- A Website:
As I discussed earlier in this article, a website is optional but if you have your own product or service I recommend you have a website.
Even if you are selling affiliate products it is a good idea to have your own website specially if you plan on doing advertising on Google for example.
Some advertisers are not affiliate marketer friendly and having a website can help you bypass the red tape.
What are the Pros of having a website ?
- It is your domain and you can do what ever you want.
- You can choose a Domain Name that represents your product and/or company. A Domain Name will run you approximately $12 to $15 per year.
- Another benefit is, you can add your own products, affiliate products or what ever service you offer.
- You can design your website to your liking or what is more suitable for your products and/or service.
- It also allows you to have a blog on your site as well which I highly recommend if your going to be in business for a while. It is the best way to stay in touch with your audience, subscribers, readers and can provide them with solutions they are looking for.
What are the Cons of owning a website ?
- It takes work to keep a website updated.
- You need to be familiar with the working elements of your website. Including; how to set up your website, how to build pages, how to build a blog, how to incorporate your autoresponder and how to make your website user friendly.
- You need to know and understand SEO ( Search Engine Optimization ). Why? If you know how to optimize your website properly it can generate a nice flow of free search engine traffic to your site.
- You also need a Hosting account. This is where your website will be hosted and up-kept for you. This will run you approximately $10 a month. You can use services like Hostgator, 1and1, Bluehost among the most popular.
- You Need A Product or Service to Offer:
Whether you have your own product or service or even an affiliate product it needs to provide a solution for a specific problem or ailment the prospect has and more importantly it needs to be of high value.
In business we always try to over deliver and go beyond a customers expectations. Why? Because you only have one chance to impress your customers.
Today with the internet at their finger tips it is easier than ever to find someone else who will provide them with a solution to what they are looking for. So, it is important that you keep your eye on the bigger picture.
Which is having a long lasting relationship with your prospects, subscribers and consumers of your product. What this will do for your business is bring down the cost of marketing and running your business.
- Free Report, Free eBook, or Free Newsletter:
Why do you need any of these ? Simply put you need to get your visitors and prospects to give you their email in exchange for your Free Report, eBook or Newsletter.
If you want to maximize profits and you keep a good balance sheet of your business costs, profits and losses you will understand why.
It is cheaper to keep a customer for life than it is to get a new one every time you want to sell a product because you can just send them an email with updates, new sales or discounts or just blog updates.
It is a more cost effective way to run your business and give you the opportunity of expanding and scaling your business as it grows with less costs involved.
Picture this for a moment; Imagine if you were to close the doors of your business tomorrow for one reason or another. The next day you can turn around and send your list an email and if you have taken good care of the people on your list they will respond positively to whatever it is you have to tell them.
Your email list will be the most pride possession you will have in any business. An email list is truly, ” Pure Gold ” because you can create cash on demand.
- Emails:
Lastly, You need to have pre-written emails that you will include in your email autoresponder to send out automatically. These emails can be segmented depending on where your prospect, subscribers or buyers are in the process.
Meaning if one of your subscribers becomes a buyer than they should be forwarded to your buyers list and not receive the same email your newsletter subscribers or non-buyers are getting.
You can set this up when building your list inside the autoresponder service. Like Aweber for example they give you an option of selecting a box to forward them to the buyers list after they have made a purchase.
Earlier we talked about building your own capture page which is what we just discussed above and all the working elements of a capture page and a squeeze page.
Now I want to discuss online business systems already designed and set up where you just plugin your products using templates and forms provided to you by the service.
If you search online by the name of, Capture Page System, Squeeze Page System, Lead Generation System, Marketing Funnels, Affiliate Funnels you will find quite a few. The situation will be, Which one works best for my business and will get the results you are looking for.
In the past I have built my own capture pages and funnels and while I have enjoyed the experience I have to say that it is a lot of work.
But, If you don’t mind getting in the trenches I recommend you do it at least once to get the experience of what your funnel, capture page and/or squeeze page should have and what works best for you and your business.
I now work smarter and use ultimate sales funnel system already set-up where I just plugin whatever product I have to offer or just simply to build my list and allows me to mastermind with other entrepreneurs about what is working now and not yesterday. The internet is moving fast and you need to keep up.
