Kimberly J. Bowles Presents the “Global Institute Headquarters Business Model”
Monday, November 16th, 2009
How to Choose the Best Business Model for Your Online Business Venture
You’re convinced that now is the time to start your business venture online. You’ve heard all of the success stories of those who have developed successful businesses online and you feel confident about moving forward and grabbing your piece of the fortunes to be made on the Internet.
A vital step in this process is to develop a business model. This will clearly define how you will generate revenue from your online business venture.
You will also need this information as you develop your business plan, which will become the blueprint for your business as you move forward from the idea to the implementation stage.
Here are some typical online business models adapted by online entrepreneurs:
1. Ecommerce sites selling goods or services
Whether you are selling books or baby toys, with the ecommerce model you will be generating revenue through the sale of goods or services online. With the ecommerce model your website would typically include a shopping cart.
2. Content sites selling advertising
Using the content model you would create a website or blog centered around a topic or a collection of topics. Visitors are attracted because of the quality and usefulness of the content, which is monetized by ad sales.
3. Membership site/subscription
Similar to the content model, except instead of getting free access to content, users sign up to pay either an annual or monthly fee for unrestricted access to quality content and in some cases access to an expert who is either a coach or a trainer.
4. Lead generation sites
The goal of the lead generation model is to entice visitors to leave their contact information in exchange for more information about the topic of interest and about the products and services that the website merchant has to offer.
Of course these are not the only models available for your online business, but these are a great place to start as you consider the kind of business that you want to operate. In fact, most online businesses are in fact a combination of two or more of these business models. For example, you might have a content website on the topic of natural skin care products, but then you decide to launch a membership site which would give members exclusive access to how-to videos, interviews with beauticians, video spa tours and special discounts on products.
Choosing the business model for your online business may also depend on your personality or on how much personal interaction you’d like to have with your customers.
As your business grows your ideas may evolve as you work with your customers and adapt to their preferences and needs. But in the beginning you’ll want to choose a specific model and focus in on that before you take on too many new things.
Make it a point to understand your market and your ideal customer. Your success will come when doing what you are passionate about fulfills the needs of your market.
When you are ready to take the next step towards developing your online business model from idea into an actual business venture, you will want to visit, http://inabbo.org, where you can learn about our ‘Success Blueprint.’ While you are there, be sure to grab your free copy of the “Free Info Product Creation Toolkit” today.
