Everyday millions of people try their hand at online business. Everyday millions of people fail at it. So how do you not become one of the failures? The internet is a tough racket, but with a few pointers, you can be well on your way to success.

 1) Treat a web business like opening a brick and mortat store. Some of you may already own a store somewhere, great! But that only means you have the stock sitting around. What would you do if you opened a second location across town? You would order more stock, hire more employees, have a contracotr come in and customize the space, get phone lines, internet connections, utilities, then the all important advertisng campaign so people know you are there. The internet is no different, in fact, the advertising on the internet is way more important because people don't just drive past your site and decide to stop in.

The main purpose of this is to say, set aside the amount of money it would cost to open a second location for a web site. The price for a contractor goes to the cost of the web site, the lease is the hosting, tv/print ads go to online ads, andit would be good to also invest in a 1800 number and hire a person who is 100% devoted to online sales, support, and service. 

2)  Hire someone to make your site look good! Sure, you can do it yourself, or even hire the neighbors kid, but do you really want to trust your onlines business to a 12 year old? Don't get me wrong, believe it or not, when I was 12, i did just that.... but then again, it was in the middle of the .com bubble and people would try anything.

3) Keep your content fresh! You've heard it before, now hear it again; content is king! But more importantly, fresh contentis king. You know that person I told you to hire, make sure they keep the site fresh and updated. Thnigs like monthly or weekly specials, give aways, even contests will help you look more legit. Also, constantly add products and keep your stock updated online. It looks bad if you let someone order something just to have to call them to say it's backordered.

4 ) Spend the money for SSL, BBB, and Hacker Safe style logos. Sure they cost money, maybe even a lot of money, but they make your customers feel better inside. SSL should already be on your site, might as well add the logo. BBB and hacker safe both give customers a more legit feeling. They know you are serious about online business. Believe it or not, all 3 are proven to increase conversion rates, put them together, you may actually see a 14% increase in conversions.

5) Have a solid brand image. There is a little thing called brand equity. Some marketers even use brand value and put a value on it. For example, the Coca-Cola logo and font is supposedly worth $66 billion dollars (heard that in a advertising class). Thats just the value of the logo, as in if i were to buy cokes logo and they changed there name to "Cola", i would be paying $66 Billion for it.

 Regardless, it's easy to recgonzie an unique image and style. I bet if i said Google or YouTube, you can picture their logo in your head. You should brand yourself the same way. Simple, but easy to remember. Make the image worth something too, such as good service or good prices.

6) Just because it works for them doesn't mean it will work for you. The other guys have a blog, but is anyone reading? They have forums, but is anyone posting? They developed a social netowrk, but is anyone joining? The internet is generated by fads, but that doesn't mean you have to fall into them. Just because the other guy does it doesn't mean it will work for you. Find your own niche and don't worry about the other guy. Let him worry about you.  

7) Don't give in. The main reason people fail on the internet is because the don't try hard enough then throw in the towel too soon. Give it as much as you can, and you may even loose a lot of money at first, but keep at it and you will be sucecssful. 

Okay, maybe that last one is a little loaded, but it's principleis true. I have had a few clients who refused to add product to their new sites and didn't want to shell out cash for advertising, no one came, they didn't make anything. So they threw in the towel. However when they shelled out the cash for ads, they generated a few sales, but not enough to break even, but they didn't shell out very much. A little more cash and unique online advertising avenues goes a long way in making you successful. So don't give up unless you can say you did all you could.