Business Beginner

Now that you've decided on your business focus,  started creating exceptional content , and started leveraging your social media networks to build an audience... you're ready to begin monetizing your new digital media. This is a subject of some debate for many media producers. It really depends on your perspective when to start monetizing your sites. Some people don't want to monetize their media in the beginning of building a brand for fear of losing readers / viewers / subscribers with of customer-repelling ads in return for a small amount of income ( think Mark Zuckerberg in Facebook's infancy). I certainly respect that outlook and agree that it should be seriously considered depending on your target audience.  My opinion, however, is that implementing a monetization system and plan early on in your business development will: a)  Give you valuable data you can analyze including a baseline for revenue and what income channels are most successful b)  Avoid shockin...

How do you get the word out about your new website or digital business? Once you've identified the niche of your digital media business, you'll need to get the ball rolling. In addition to being able to create high quality and unique content that adds value for your audience (a tall order on its own), you need to build an initial content distribution system. You can create the best articles, videos, ebooks, presentations, etc but if nobody views them they are essentially worthless. Most larger businesses will get a new media property going by paying for traditional advertising, spending lavishly on digital advertising , paying Influencers with enormous existing followings, or leveraging plentiful existing assets they already own. If you're frugal like me and don't plan on spending much or any money you'll obviously need a different game plan.  In the beginning a frugal entrepreneur really needs to use every free resource you have available. People don't know abo...

Having an online business is one of the most popular ideas of the 21st century. The notion of internet has opened a whole new world of possibilities for both small businesses and individuals with great ambitions in their minds. This not only allows them to work from home, cooperate with people all over the world and operate globally, but also makes it a lot more lucrative. Unfortunately, even here it is not all milk and honey. Some people still fear doing business online for more than obvious reasons. However, by applying a proper strategy you can secure your online business .  Keep Your Data Safe  First of all your website as well as your business data will contain a lot of sensitive information that simply cannot fall into the wrong hands. Even some of the world’s largest conglomerates have a hard time recovering from this kind of security breach. For a startup or SMB a failure of this kind can be absolutely devastating. Take care of where you leave sensitive data online,...

Once you have determined the focus of your brand and started to create a significant amount of high quality content , you'll realize how critical it is to be able to amplify your efforts. You need to build up an audience and awareness for the articles, blog posts, presentations, videos, email newsletters , and other digital media that you've created. You might have the best writing and videos in your industry but if nobody reads them it is a wasted effort. Here are some tips to boost your reach. Partner Up Work with friends, family, clients, former clients, associates, or anyone that has a website or social media presence to create a win-win alliance. Offer to assist them with their business efforts and online marketing in return for their help promoting your online brand. Partner with other bloggers or YouTube creators in the same or similar business niche as you. Choose your partners wisely and make sure they reflect positively on your brand but you'll need some business ...

Once you've reached a certain level of success you can leverage your influence to become a public speaker, columnist, author, or media personality. If you get really big you may even be considered a " Thought Leader " and have your pick of nearly any form of media available. Media outlets like radio, TV, podcasts, webinars, magazines, and newspapers will all be viable options when you've proven that you can generate and grow a large audience. Which media outlet(s) you choose will really depends on the niche you want to carve out for yourself as a media influencer and public personality. Podcasts Podcasts are excellent tools to promote yourself , grow your following, and cross-promote with other media personalities. If marketing gurus like Gary Vaynerchuk, Tim Ferriss, Grant Cardone, and Neil Patel do them every week you can bet they are effective! Obviously you can create a simple podcast early in your business process to use as a valuable tool for producing high qual...

The success of your business will often hinge on the quality and quantity of content that you can produce. You need to draw in web site visitors or prospects with unique media that will either entertain them, educate them, or provide value to them. The content that is available on the web is nearly infinite and increasing exponentially every week, so you'll need to produce plenty that will stand out. Here are some of the major free content production platforms and some tips for each one: Blog Business blogging is incredibly important and if your business is digital media content production then this is your bread and butter. Most free websites, including free WordPress or Blogger sites, allow you to easily create blog posts that are easily picked up in search engines like Google , Bing, and Yahoo. You have all the freedom in the world to create engaging content including essays, tutorials, news, opinions, product reviews, studies, and your personal brand.  A good way to start out...

Once you've enjoyed some success with your digital media business and generated some significant revenue there are some people that would like to launch a more traditional business venture. By "traditional" I mean opening a storefront, manufacturing a product, developing technology, starting a professional services corporation, opening an entertainment venue, or countless other business ventures. These days the traditional business model isn't always the most sought after path, especially if you have built a successful online enterprise. Huge expenses such as inventory, liability insurance, rent, property taxes, permits, payroll, employee health insurance benefits , and much more are not issues that most digital media businesses have to really worry about. But sometimes if you want to go big you'll need to take on the additional risks of increased overhead and liability.  Some common examples of more traditional business models that I've seen digital media in...

You can leverage your digital media expertise you've learned here at Bootstrap Business to earn a great small business or corporate career in more of a 9-5 capacity. Chances are if you've gone through the my Bootstrap Business tips and tutorials, you aren't really looking to work a 9-5 job. You probably want a major change in the status quo . You can skip to the next section if you need to, but you might want to keep an open mind. The lifestyle of an entrepreneur year after year isn't for everyone. Even if you're a die-hard entrepreneur now or can't wait to drop your current job, your perspective now it can certainly change. Entrepreneurship can cause severe burnout over time and the security of consistent work, health benefits, paid vacation, and a 401k might be major considerations depending on where you are in your personal and financial life. You can always be a "sidepreneur" and enjoy entrepreneurial business ventures during your free time with a...