Many people call or email me all the time telling me how they hate their jobs and want a quick way to start an online business and make money online so they can quit their job and have freedom.
It’s funny how so many people have the perception that I live this lifestyle where I never have to do any work and the money just magically keeps coming in. There is truth in the fact that I do have more freedom than most people, but I work my butt off. I come into the office at 8am and don’t leave until 5pm. I take a lunch break, a workout break and sometimes a golf break but other than that I am at my desk working. It doesn’t feel like work to me because I love to do it but I stay very busy.
Now, down from the soap box.
Here is the quickest way to start an online business.
Buy One That Already Exists. The hardest part of starting a new internet business is the time it takes to get the website created, get traffic, and then monetize the site. There are millions of people just like you that have already gone through that painful start-up process. The good thing for you is that most of them didn’t or don’t know what they are doing and are making either a little or no money. With the right internet marketing knowledge you can quickly improve a website and start making more money than the previous owner was.
If you buy an existing website the right way you immediately have a website that is either already receiving traffic, already making money or both. You also get to pick what industry you want which is important.
If you spend a little more money and get a website that is already making a good amount of money then you know you have a proven business model. All you need is to learn how to run the site and you are good to go.
What I think you will need to know to take over another website:
- Basic HTML and maybe some CSS
- How websites are structured (How dynamic sites work)
- Good Understanding of SEO
- What You Can Do To Improve The Site – If you can’t find anything, then you may not want to offer as much.
Some may argue that you need to have a good knowledge of social media, internet marketing as a whole, or other principles. This list is what you need to take over a website. You will need to learn these other techniques as you go but I don’t think they are 100% necessary in the beginning.
Read my post on How To Buy An Existing Website Effectively
A Word Of Advice:
If you are like most people I talk to then you are looking for a way out of the 9-5 job and so that is why you are trying to make money online. Well good for you. I have to warn you that as your new internet business or businesses start to make money, you will be very tempted just to ditch your job and focus only on your websites. Don’t do that. Don’t quit your job until you can replace your income completely. I was making over $70k a year with my internet stuff before I quit my day job. I could have done it sooner maybe but it was too big of a risk for my family.
Read My Posts About Buying An Existing Website
7 comments On Quickest Way To Start An Online Business
As a total newbie who think he is starting to figure out at least the technical side and get an idea of how to apply SEO principles I feel that my best starting point is to home grow or build from scratch. It gives me the freedom from pressure that comes with a lack of any financial investment, but that is just me.
I really appreciation your closing advice: “Don’t quit your job until you can replace your income completely”. While this is a distant reality for me, I have hope. I should add that with websites bringing in just a couple hundred a month I would feel a little more comfortable overall; sort of like a safety net or insurance policy. So if I got laid-off it would not mean $0 income and I would have some great, lucrative skills that would not depend on landing another job.
Buying an existing site, eh? I sure think thats a great idea. I recently have established a few new sites (hoping to see some of those high dollar checks come in like yours) and would have to agree that the take off is the toughest part.
Being so new to this field and not knowing a lot about html code it seems even more convenient and “CHEAPER” to buy an old site and adjusting prebuilt code not totally building a whole site. Building a new site not only takes time but $$$ too if you are not the one building it. Lots incremental cost being one of the other factors in building a new site.
I also liked the blurbs about “how to” buy a site, it seems like a much easier “to do” than I thought, especially with those free letter templates. Someday I’ll try it but first I got to perfect the sites I got.
I’m not so sure I agree. Finding the right site to buy can be just as hard as building your own. Either way, it’s going to be an investment in time to figure out the best approach and money.
If you have figured out a system to find existing sites that you can profit from, then you are probably better off continuing to leverage your investment and continue buying sites – as Adam suggests.
But, if you have figured out a system to build and launch new sites, then you are probably better off continuing to leverage your investment and continue launching new sites.
Curt, you are absolutely right. If you have a system in place to build new sites and profit from them then I suggest you keep with that system. For complete newbies, I still say buying a website is the way to go.
Yeah, I think buying a website that is already getting traffic and making money is a super quick way to get a new passive income stream started online. I guess one of the most important things is to ask the owner of the website to show you proof of income and the traffic stats.
Timeless info. :) Especially the one when to quit your job. There’s a learning curve to internet business, as to everything else and a lot of people don’t get that.
Still if you’re unemployed as many people are today, it’s a great thing to start. And it’s very fun.
I like to buy a new domain name and get a new website to make money,
Because i don’t have enough money to buy a good triffic website.