Every business needs a business plan, but if you operate on the internet, you absolutely need an online business plan. Don’t have one? Don’t worry. No matter what stage your business is in, you can benefit from an online business plan. It’s not rocket science, either. You can create an online business plan in three easy steps.
Step One: Analyze
I know you’re ready to start doing something. In fact, you probably already have! But for effective online business plan purposes, hold on a minute (or two). You will get the best results when you think before you act – this is the whole idea behind an online business plan.
First, analyze your product or service to see how your need to tailor your online business. Ask yourself these fundamental online business questions:
What is the biggest benefit of my product or service? This will tell you how to craft the messaging coming out of your business plan, as well as the keywords to select when you get to the action part of your online business plan. Maybe someone is looking for financial freedom. If your product or service offers that, you’ll want to be there. Being where your prospects are is a key goal of your online business plan.
Who will buy my product or service? Determining who your target market is essential to your online business.
Will my target market buy the product? This speaks to your price point, something you figure out during the online business plan development process. If it’s higher than your competitors, it’s not a death sentence. With your online business plan, you can turn this into an advantage by emphasizing value, for example. Your online business plan can help you overcome objections.
What is the environment surrounding my product or service? A well rounded business plan addresses environmental factors. For example, the competitive environment should be assessed in your online business plan. Do you have many competitors? What is their quality? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
The environment at large is also a big player in your online business plan. If the economy is doing well, you don’t have to be so concerned with the cost of implementing your business plan. If it’s a bust, you need to target your dollars toward the most efficient opportunities for a good return on your businesses investment.
Step Two: Strategy
In the battle of marketing, no one marches without a strategy. Your online business plan strategy will tell you how to march …that is, which actions to take in order to achieve maximum results.
An example of an online business plan strategy: If your price point is high, offer customers three easy payments. Or, build the value proposition by throwing in other items for free.
If your competitive environment is tight, offer a 30-day trial of your product. Or find the holes in your competitor’s online business plan strategy (i.e., look for places they are not, indicating something they overlooked in their online business plan) and exploit them.
One of the goals of your online business is to orchestrate your prospect’s online experience so that any objections are overcome before the point of sale. Only by doing the analysis and taking the proper strategic steps during your online business plan process can you uncover those objections – and defeat them before they arise.
Paying attention to strategy in your online business is important – there are too many ways to lose customers or end up flying under the radar. Having a sound, strategic online business plan is the best defense as well as offense!
Step Three: Action
After the first two online business plan steps, the action items will come easy.
The three things to consider at step three of your online business plan process: your website, search engines, and your brand.
Your website and search engines are inextricably linked in your online business plan. Not only should your website look good, tell your story and sell the product or service, but it should also help you rank higher on the appropriate search engine results pages. Your website’s design will naturally flow out of the online business plan process.
Building your brand also builds traffic. Your online business plan expresses your positioning and message. Now communicate that online business plan message through search engines as well as social marketing, interest based blogs, article marketing and more.
With your online business plan, you know who you want to be in front of. With your online business plan, you know what you want to say. Now use those tools to get your online business plan message out. Take article marketing for instance – write that article on financial freedom and submit it to sites. You build traffic and back links – and funnel a constant stream of prospects to you. (The best outcome for your online business plan!)
Done right, an online business plan can sell for you…automatically…every hour of the day and night.
