There seems to be a fallacy about online businesses that makes people think the business models are some how different that a standard offline business. It is almost like: since the internet is new that must mean the old ways of doing business do not apply and new rules for success need to be developed. This is precisely the wrong thinking that caused the Dotcom crash close to ten years ago. Everybody thought since the web was new the old business models needed to be changed. This turned out to be completely false.

The basics of business and commerce have stayed the same ever since the first civilizations in Mesopotamia allowed people to specialize and offer their services to others for a price. The basic is, a business must solve a problem for the customer or it will not be successful. You can have some great ideas for business opportunities online but if you don’t succeed at this one truth your business will not be successful.

Oh sure, you can fool the customers for a while like the old “snake oil” salesmen did in the wild west, or like Bernie Madoff did recently, but you will not build a long term business and you will always be looking over your shoulder waiting to be found out. It is much better to develop a business based on problem solving for your customers because that gives a win-win solution. Your customer is happy because their problem is solved or their concern is met and you are happy because you receive compensation for making the customer happy. Nothing could be better.

At the Christian Business Opportunities blog we focus on using the internet to build long term, successful businesses that result in both happy customers and happy owners. If you are thinking about starting an online business then you really need to decide if you are in it for the long haul or if you are going to try to make a fast buck and get out. If it is the former we can help you. If it is the latter, good luck because you will need it. One thing the internet has done is allowed scammers to be found out very quickly. The successful online business opportunities are the ones that offer a solution that really works.

The internet is turning out to be the most effective method of marketing ever devised. For decades advertising men have been talking about being able to target the sales message to the individual customer. This never worked because it was impossible to create a letter directed at each person. The best they could do was to try to hit as many bases as they could with their direct sales letter and hope they got some of the people interested.

This being able to focus the message on individual customers, the holy grail of marketing, is now a realty. With the internet it is so easy to communicate that you can easily have a customized message for almost every person. For example, lets say you are selling something like pet sweaters. If you were going to advertise your store you wouldn’t be able to laser target your message to each animal owner, instead you would have to cast a wide net but only talking about animal sweaters. So the guy with the poodle gets the same message as the guy with the ferret and the guy with the iguana.

With a web site though, you direct the message to each customer by using search engine marketing. It works like this. You get your web site listed in the search engines when someone types in ferret sweater and they go to the page on ferret accessories. When someone types in poodles they go to the page that only talks about poodle sweater, booties, etc. In this way your customer feels like you understand them and they are more likely to start a business relationship with you. You can now afford to have a page for each pet type and target your message to that kind of person.

If this search engine marketing seems interesting the visit us at the Christians Business Ideas blog and see what other ways the web can be used to grow your business.