PT 84 - How To Start a Successful Internet Business
PT 84 - How To Start a Successful Internet Business
- So, here's how we do it in Florida, USA., there are six things you would need in Florida to get started. It works pretty similarly around the rest of the US.
1.) File your Business Entity That just means you need an official business name that‚s recognized by the government. You can do this one of two ways.
A.) Corporation: You can file a corporation with your State. Florida has a web site at http://www.sunbiz.org, where we can download and print all the forms we need to file a Florida corporation. I believe that all States in the US have a site like this. They also have instructional forms that detail what goes where, and what everything means on the forms. Once we complete our forms, we mail them in with about $90, and poof-we‚re a corporation!.... We get our official copies back in a couple of weeks.
B.) Fictitious Name: This is a simpler way to register your business, but it does not afford you the protections that a corp does. Same thing-in Florida, sunbiz.org has the forms, and we fill them out and send them in. This doesn‚t cost as much as a corp. In some States, this is called a DBA (Doing Business As), and is obtained from your local County Office building for a minimal fee. ($35 would be an average).
If you‚re not sure which way you want to go, see an attorney or accountant. This is an important decision!
Once your business entity is registered, you need an EIN (Employer Identification Number). Go to http://www.irs.gov for information on obtaining your EIN. The IRS uses this number to identify taxpayers who are required to file business tax returns. There is no charge for this that I know of.
3.) Obtain a Business License - Here in Florida, we are required to have a Business License issued by the county our business resides in. This takes a couple of hours at the local County Office Building, and costs about $30. We must show our Business Entity papers and supply our EIN. In some other States, a county Business License may not be required.
4.) Obtain a Resale Certificate - In almost every State you are required to have a Tax Resale Certificate. In Florida, we can get a Resale Certificate in about 20 minutes for $5. We must again show our Business Entity papers. This is done at the local State Tax Office. When you buy from a wholesale supplier, you will be asked to supply them with a copy of this certificate. They use it as proof to the IRS that they are not required to charge you tax on the products they sell you at wholesale.
5.) Open a Business Bank Account - If you‚re going to do business, you must have a business bank account. You‚ll need your Business Entity papers, your EIN and your County Business License, (if required). Here, we can open a business account for a deposit of $50 to $100. Almost all banks offer business accounts.
6.) Open a Merchant Account - The last thing you need is a Merchant Account. You‚ll need everything you obtained in the five steps above for this one. (Unless the County Business License is not required in your State.) This is the thing that allows you to accept credit cards from your online customers. Without this, you'll get nowhere. Online buyers are instant gratification junkies. They want it NOW! If they have to mail you a check, they'll go somewhere else and buy. Merchant accounts used to cost a thousand dollars and more to set up. They've come down a LOT. We just opened a new one for a setup fee of $150. The Merchant Account will collect funds from your customers‚ credit cards, and deposit those funds in your business account. The Merchant Bank will charge you about 2.2% of the amount you charge your customer‚s credit card, plus about 30 cents per transaction.
Your Merchant Banker will help you to incorporate your Merchant Account into your Internet store software. Well, there it is. That‚s the business end of an Internet business. Sound complicated? It isn‚t, really. The hard part is waiting for one thing before you can obtain the next!
MARKETING ON-LINE - One of the best ways to get people to read your ad is to start it with a question. "Looking for a new car?" People who answer yes are automatically pulled into your ad copy. Make your question a bold headline. You can put it in quotation marks for added emphasis. Don't be afraid to make your question very specific. Ad copy that speaks directly to a customer with needs that exactly match your product or service will far out pull a more general ad.
A question at the beginning targets your ad only to those people who are ready to buy. By getting them to say yes, prospects start off with a positive feeling that you are selling something they want. One successful strategy has ads continue to ask questions and make statements all down through the copy. As the prospect mentally says yes--yes--yes, she is finally ready to say yes at the end of the ad when you ask for the sale.
Have You Looked At A Newspaper Lately? by Bob McElwainNo, I didn't ask if you had read a newspaper lately. I asked if you have looked at one. Closely. Have you examined one with care? If you take a good look at the front page, here is what you will find. t's A Work Of Art
The main headline can be read at a glance, even when located on a newsstand quite some distance away. It grabs attention hard. It often draws you toward the rack, at least close enough to read the subheadline. And, as often as not, just as millions do every day, you buy a copy to read the related article. Does the creation of the headline for your site matter les than that of creating one for a newspaper?
Only items with maximum appeal are selected. And the headline for each is crafted with extreme care. The object is to have at least one that grabs the attention of any reader. The best are used in the first fold, the part that shows in the newsstand. Do you have at least one subheadline that grabs the attention of most visitors? Have you a couple others in the first screen that loads?
The amount of space given to the text of each article on the front page varies. Such decisions need to be handled with care, for space is limited. If one chooses to run too much text in a given article, another may need to be removed to an inner page, which subtracts that headline from the front page.
While a web page has no fixed limit, visitors will not scroll down indefinitely. Thus formatting matters here as well. Include those elements most likely to be of interest to your target as close to the top of the page as possible. And each needs an attention grabbing headline.
Newspapers generate profits from advertising. Yet you will not see an ad on the front page of any major daily. Instead, all is headlines, followed by the beginnings of the story. Photos are used sparingly on the front page, for headlines and content are generally the better draw.
To - Video International Inc. Gene Lapansie
4444 US 98 North, #64 Lakeland, FL 33809Dear Gene Lapansie,
As the CEO for PlayStream, I'm writing to provide you with a mid-year update on our services and the new projects that we have in development for you. To begin, we celebrated the company's transition into Net Operating Income Profitability last month, an accomplishment that is quite contrary to how the media depicts our industry, today. Unlike all-too-many dot- coms, PlayStream focused on building a business from the ground-up using old fashion business principles rather than chasing venture capital deals. We have shielded ourselves from the low moral, excessive debt, high turnover, and cash depletion that are wreaking havoc on so many Internet companies. Instead, we've been able to focus on serving our customers, and improving our Quality of Service. In the process, we preserved 100% of our company ownership for employees and stakeholders who have taken an active role in the operations and success of our company. In June, monthly revenues sailed over the $1,000,000 revenue mark per year, all while operating as a privately funded company by the hands that work for the company. This month, we will celebrate our third year anniversary. What does this mean for you, our Customer? It means you have a service provider focused on improving the quality of our service, adding value and new services, and continually training our staff...not worried about being delisted from NASDAQ. It means you have a company dedicated to investing its profits in research and development, not on loan interests used to salvage high cash-burn ratios. In summary, it means you have our undivided attention. When you send us a suggestion or complaint, it's reviewed and shared among no less than the majority owners of the company. We are grateful for the years of service you have given us, and we look forward to improving our Quality of Service to better serve you in the future.
Sincerely,
George Grubb,
Founder & CEO,
PlayStream - Serving Customers Since 1998
INDEX