Online Entrepreneurship

“There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes” - Richard Buckminster

Sometimes we get stuck in habits that prevent us from achieving success. In my opinion, one of the main obstacles for entrepreneurs is the unwillingness to act upon new ideas or development strategies which go beyond their comfort zone.

We bask in familiarity and repeat the same processes again and again because we know what to expect, because we fear uncertainty. Sometimes, businesses or websites stop short of the tipping point because they fail to offer that one special feature/benefit which makes them relevant and essential.

The year is coming to a close. When December finally changes into January, I will inevitably get a bittersweet feeling of starting over again, as I anticipate the opportunities yet to come in 2008.

Here is another chance for me to embark on new ventures, to accomplish the plans I’ve made in the last year, to do what I failed to do before. One more chance to do something extraordinary; something that changes my life and everything around me.

A vast plot of land can be used for many purposes; to build schools, residential houses, nightclubs and shopping malls. People visit these locations to purchase products, learn skills and have fun.

The internet is similar. Websites are often created to accommodate the needs and desires of the crowd. People will visit these sites or use them to get both information or entertainment.

When generating income online, view the web as virtual real estate: like physical buildings, websites are profitable entities that can be developed or bought.

I’ve been reading a lot of books lately. My time this week was mostly spent on researching business ideas and connecting with other people. I soon came to a realization: what you do away from your site is even more important than what you do on it.

Everything adds up in the end. Peripheral activities contribute to the core. All relevant actions are causes which lead to relevant results.

It’s very common for business owners to focus too much on their niche audience and hence, fail to consistently pull in new customers/readers. In the same way, it’s easy to overlook the importance of knowledge acquisition and transferable assets when it comes to making money online.

Visitors arrive at your website to get something out of it and their preoccupations can be divided into emotional and rational interests.

For instance, they either seek out specific content or absorb information so they can re-use it in their personal or professional life. This is a rational interest.

Take the example of a blog about blogging or self-help.

Readers often seek to use the suggestions highlighted in each article on their own websites or in their professional life. They will spend time and effort to understand what you’ve written because they want to make use of the content they read.

People are the ones who make you money. They click on your ads, hire your services, buy your products all the while helping you to grow your business and make it profitable.

They do this in two main ways: By visiting your site or making purchases, they are helping you generate immediate revenue, which you can then reinvest for more income.

Secondly, they indirectly benefit you by providing publicity and leads: people are the ones who will talk about and recommend you to others they know.

Markus Frind is a Canadian entrepreneur who owns PlentyofFish.com, the world’s largest online dating website. According to reports in 2006, he earned around $10,000 a day through Adsense’s contextual advertising program.

According to a recent article [1], Plenty of Fish now receives 45 million visitors along with 1.1 billion pageviews every month.

His annual income from PlentyofFish.com alone is currently $5 to $10 million a year.

What is fascinating is that Markus Frind is a one-man show. He virtually ran Plenty of Fish by himself, along with help from his girlfriend and other voluntary moderators.

Her numbers are indeed impressive. 17 years old high school dropout. Made more than $1 million. Earns as much as $70K a month. Owns a website that attracts more than 7 million monthly visitors and 60 million page views.

Her first Adsense paycheck was $2,790 and she has already rejected a $1.5 million buyout offer. I’m referring to Ashley Qualls, the founder of Whateverlife.com, a free MySpace layouts website.

Fastcompany recently published a fascinating feature article on Ashley, a teenage entrepreneur from Detroit who has made a substantial amount of money online by targeting a niche market (girls on Myspace/social networks) and fulfilling their needs.

Creativity and a willingness to experiment are qualities of a successful online entrepreneur. If your website isn’t making you the money that you expect, try operating in a new niche or adopting a fresh business model and monetization strategy that works.

After all, your personal experience and skill sets are transferable. What you are already applying to a specific website or business can be easily implemented in another industry with great success.

So just how do you discover new websites and business models that are profitable?