Time for a change in 2008.
Over the last year I’ve been looking for Blueprints that take you step by step through various aspects of setting up an online business. In the summer they were several well written ebooks, which provided some good details but since then virtually nothing until this week when a blueprint for setting up an eBay business appeared.
Now I have to admit to not being a great fan of eBay for selling things. The main criteria for buyers on eBay seems to be rock bottom prices. So why should I spend hours creating a good quality product and then get the absolute minimum of income from it.
Having said that I did buy Lee McIntyre’s first two books where he looked at using eBay to generate leads and subscribers. The idea to use eBay to lead buyers to your website or newsletter is a good tactic because of the sheer size of the eBay Marketplace. But for me its an add on strategy when you are already up and running not something to start with.
So as I sit here at the beginning of 2008 I’ve decided to turn things completely on their head by creating my own Web Business Blueprint. What I want is a Complete Blueprint going from start to finish, which you won’t find anywhere because it simply doesn’t exist.
You need something that starts with a blank piece of paper or computer screen showing how to put together your ideas and plans and then goes through ALL the steps needed to create a website and develop a product to generate a regular monthly income. Its that simple but as yet nobody has done it!
Building a web business is like completing a large jigsaw. There are lots of products telling you WHAT to do but not showing you HOW to do it. As any jigsaw enthusiast will tell you, yes they do exist my uncle was one, there is a method to use, you don’t just dive in and start.The blueprints that have been available only provide a small part of the jigsaw, you need to see and finish the complete jigsaw to succeed.
For example I read an eBook about setting up a web business, which was very good until it got to the point about building your own website. It then said that this was outside the scope of the ebook and just ignored it. What a cop out! Building your own website is a vital part of your web success even if you are selling affiliate products. In fact you now really need TWO websites, a “conventional” one and a blog.
This is how the Alpha Project was born. The first project to produce a complete guide to setting up a web business to generate a monthly income starting from scratch and on a small budget.
So that’s the plan. I’ve collected a huge amount of information over the last year or so and written a complete two part guide to building your first websites called Up and Running and Fast Sales Letters. These will be the start of the alpha project which I’ll monitor and use as my case study.
Over this coming year I’m just going to focus on this project and buy and review ebooks, software and videos that are suitable for achieving the goal of generating the first monthly $1000.
If you are interested in contributing to this project I’d love to know what areas you find particularly difficult.
As a final note it should be said that this project is aimed at people who have only basic computer skills, knowing how to use a word processor should cover it, and little or no experience in building websites or marketing.
