Business Building 101 – Websites

– Update: My domaining book/eBook has been released. Check out “The Art of Domaining: A Comprehensive Guide for Domainers” today! –

Business Models on the Internet change slightly from what we see in the more traiditonal business world, but thought and preparation still needs to be placed on developing them fully. You still need a business plan, somehow to market it, a way to please the customers once you get them there, and so on. Without those things, the site lacks validity and will not become nearly the success that you are hoping for.

After all, remember that you have about 3 seconds before the customer clicks the little X in the top right corner. It is up to you to make the most of the 3 seconds. An additional note, there has been research conducted about what it is that a person looks for when they open a site. They skim the top, move down about 1 inch and skip the top again, and then they look down the left sidebar. If it is the least bit confusing to them, they will leave.

With that said, there is a general matrix which you can put your idea through to figure out where your money will be coming from. The following is a list of guidelines which should help you pick your business model and may even define some other areas of interest. Some are common knowledge, but I wanted to assemble this list so that you can see your choices in one section.

Website Business Model Matrix:

1. Sell goods and services
2. Sell information or digital content, possibly with a subscription
3. Advertising and PPC supported model
4. Fee for transaction model – think ebooks
5. Peer to Peer – a regulated user exchange system
6. Auction – general, specialty, business to business
7. Web portals or virtual communities
8. Technology based products – ie. data mining, software as a service
9. Multiple sites – one website per demographic
10. X Factor – a new service or technology that changes the game, ie. Youtube, Facebook

Now, to throw a bit of domaining knowledge in there, try to use an EXISTING domain name. They will rank better. Establish trust with your site and do not use frames in its coding. Have a good look and feel with pleasant graphics. Choose your colors wisely, they say a lot about your company. And have extremely good customer service. Return emails quickly and promptly. You may be a one man operation, but being online the right way can make you look like an army.

tags: websites, business, models, technology, peer to peer, internet, web, ppc, entrepreneurs

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