How To Start An Online Business

One of the hardest presentations to make is the entrepreneurial pitch. You have a great idea for a business and you want someone to give you money to make it happen. The problem is that venture capitalists, angel investors, and even rich uncles are heavily predisposed against you. Why? Because 99% of the pitches they hear sound like sure-fire prescriptions to lose money!

If you are pitching investors to give you money for a new venture, you should subscribe to the following rules:

1. Explain exactly what your business is within the first thirty seconds. Many entrepreneurs waste valuable time giving loads of data, background and other info—all the while investors are left scratching their heads thinking “What does this business actually DO?”

2. Tell your audience who your customers will be. Paint a vivid, specific picture of these people.

3. Explain why your customers going to give you there hard-earned money.

4. Explain who your competitors are. (And if you say you have no competitors, that is a certain sign you are unsophisticated and deserve no investment money!)

5. Explain why you are the ONE to make this happen.

6. Give your presentation with confidence and enthusiasm. Investors want a founder/CEO to be a chief salesperson; they want to see that you can convince the world of your dream—not just them.

7. Explain what star you can hitch a ride to. Has Best Buy or Radio Shack agreed to distribute your new product? Investors feel much more comfortable knowing you have an established player willing to distribute your wares.

8. Ask for a specific amount of money. If all you do is ask for money, then you can’t complain if an investor gives you $3.25 for a cup of Starbucks coffee.

9. Tell prospects exactly what you are going to spend the money on (hint:a trip to Maui for you and your friends will not impress)

10. Dress well, act confident, and put on the air that you don’t really need their money, but would be willing to accept it if they bring enough to the table to be a strategic partner for you. Sad but true regarding human nature, but people are much more likely to give you money if they feel you don’t really need it.

Finally, make each pitch presentation serve as a focus group for your next presentation. When one group of investors asks you a series of questions after you pitch, write down all of those questions and make sure most of them are answered in your next pitch so that the next group doesn’t have to ask them. Keep pitching and keep improving your pitch and eventually you may get funded.

Most home business opportunities are overdone and oversaturated. With most home based business opportunities that are promoted in magazine and websites the options are all the same; start a day care center, become a personal shopper, site at home and stuff enveloped and so on. While a dedicated person can make income, and sometimes great incomes, from such ideas, the market can only handle so many work at home personal shoppers. Ebooks however, are in a market that is only just starting to see entrepreneurial interest. Ebook authors are starting to be called ‘info entrepreneurs”. They compile high quality information or write their own fiction ebooks and sell them online. Some people are able to secure very comfortable full time careers from this, and yes, they do it 100% from their own home.

Ebook Entrepreneurship

Being an ebook entrepreneur is no easy feat. It will require long hours of research and writing, web design and gaining a little knowledge about ecommerce. However, the payoff could be huge. And unlike many other home based businesses you won’t be limited to your region. The beauty about ebooks is that you can publish them and then distribute them throughout the world. You could get orders from Indonesia, Canada, USA, France and so on. This global opportunity doesn’t apply to many other work at home opportunities.

Ebook Stores Don’t Open & Close

Another defining feature of Ebook Entrepreneurs is that they don’t have the regular 9-5 hours of operation. You will sell ebooks while you’re awake and while you sleep. Not bad huh? Most of the work that goes along with setting up an Ebook business is done in the beginning stages. This industry is front heavy, but after you set up your infrastructure you can continue to sell with very little daily maintenance.

Not Just For Authors

Likewise, ebook authorship is not just for authors. Anyone who has an interest in anything could write about their interest and convert in into an ebook. Some of the best ebooks are actually from unknown authors and some of the highest selling ebooks have been written by unknown authors who have a knack for online promotion.

If nothing else, Ebook publishing it is something worth consideration. Ebooks may not replace traditional paperback books, but they certainly are gaining popularity at a rate that should make all authors stop to think about how they could use ebooks to their advantage.