The U.S. Small Business Administration estimates that more than 580,000 small businesses will start up this year. Unfortunately, about 576,000 small businesses will fail during that same time period. So how can entrepreneurs hedge the odds in their favor? One way is to start a Web-based business or take your current business online.
Internet businesses sell merchandise, services, information and most anything a traditional brick-and-mortar business can sell-but often with a smaller operating cost because they only conduct business online. Brandon Lewis, president of StoresOnline, offers these tips to help online entrepreneurs make the most out of their companies:
Know Your Audience
A common online marketing mistake is to try to target too many audiences. There are 938 million users on the Internet. Marketing to all of those eyeballs is simply not effective and can be very costly. If your target customer group is women ages 14-27, it does you no good to spend time and money marketing your site to men ages 55-90. Take the time to find your customer and then customize your approach to people who actually search for and therefore want to buy your product or...