Think Business Plan Right Away to Avoid Mistakes

Think money right at the start

One of the biggest mistakes many brand new web marketers make is not to think money right at the start. Even if you are only thinking of starting a blog for fun and to write just a little every now and then to share with friends and family, think money.

As an aside, if you are only going to use the blog for fun and nothing serious of making money online, it's better to use Facebook for that. Invite all your friends and family to share with you there. If you are going to start a blog and do some serious writing and sharing, then think money right at the start.

Why is this a good idea? Can't I just develop a site and find some money-making ideas later? Of course you can always find some money-making ideas later. But if you start with the idea that you might as well monetise your blog, even if just for a bit of pocket money, then you approach your venture with the correct mindset.

If you start with your new blog planning that it will be a small business your approach will be quite different than if you use your blog purely as a journal. Of course the journal part is how blogs started. It was a way for people to talk about their interests and share these with other people on the Internet.

However, in these times of global economic doom and gloom and where every third or so worker isn't quite sure whether they will be getting their marching orders or not every day they get to work, it's not a bad idea to consider the money aspect of your blog.

So how would that change your approach? Firstly, it will focus your thinking a lot more closely on finding a niche for yourself. Your blog needs to be about a specific interest. Waffling along about all sorts of things, commenting on news snippets, posting the odd video and in general using your blog to air a few ideas, is not going to bring you in any money.

The Internet, because of its huge size, needs you to be specific in your interests. The Internet says that people will find you and might end up buying a product from you if you show that you know you are knowledgeable in your niche. Identifying and using keywords that represent your niche is, therefore, also important as it contributes to the "being found" component.

The Internet visitor is looking for entertainment and/or information. They want to be amused or they want to learn something. Pick one of the two and find a niche that you can make your own. That doesn't mean you need to be the only one in that niche. But do find something that interests you and that you could be fairly passionate about. Don't worry about the size of the niche. It can be small. With a billion or so Internet users, there will be thousands who will be interested in what you have to say about a remote niche.