Lesson 1 - 3 Steps to starting your business

You want to get started quickly. Don't waste your time reading a lot of books that won't tell you what you need to know or don't apply. What this guide will teach you:

There are really only 3 steps to the process.

Your steps are: Business StartUp, Copywriting, Marketing

Do these three steps, in this order, and you'll be making money in no time.

The Steps
1. Business Startup.
This, of course, is the most involved step of the three and requires the most planning.

First, you want to choose a business opportunity, whether it's a product, service, affiliate programs or MLM.

Once you've chosen the right opportunity, then you'll need to decide what type of business you are running (sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation), and create your business records so that you can keep track of your profits.

This may also include things like creating a web site, setting up a newsletter or ezine, finding suppliers, getting a merchant account, a business license, etc.

Once you've completed this step, then you'll go to Step 2.

Step 2 - Write ads, sales letters, and other business copy.
If you want to sell your products and services, then you have to write sales letters, ads, email, etc. that will grab your potential customer's attention and make the sale.

There are 2 ways you can do this: write your own copy or hire a copywriter.

When you are first starting out, you may not be able to hire a copywriter, especially if you are on a tight budget. You can, however, learn to write your own copy.

There are two things you'll want to keep in mind at this stage: who your customer is, and what your product is. You'll know this from the beginning. I'll show you in lesson 1. Use this to develop your Unique Selling Proposition (USP), and you'll make the sale.

Once you've written your copy, you're ready for Step 3.

3. Marketing
Marketing is more than just advertising.

Marketing is about creating a plan for how and where you are going to sell your products and services.

This includes print advertising, direct response (advertising through the mail), press releases (part of public relations), as well as online strategies.

To be successful, you'll need to develop a combination of all of these strategies.

After you've completed these steps, there are three things that you need to do to continue to be successful in your business.

I call it the 60/30/10 Plan

If you are running a service business, the formula will be slightly different because you'll be spending more time on creating than if you run a product business.

Basically, here's the formula: 60 per cent of your time will be spent marketing your product. Thirty per cent of your time is spent on product fulfillment and writing and testing copy. The final 10 per cent will be spent doing your administrative tasks like reading email and keeping records.

The key to your success is to repeat this formula over and over.

I've broken this whole process down for you. First, we'll start with business set up. Then I'll spend a couple of days talking about web sites and why you need one. After that, it's a quick and intense primer on writing copy. Finally, I'll talk about various marketing techniques you can use in your marketing plan.

Virgil Griffin
GBN Web Development, Inc.

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