How to Start an Online Business with

WHO IS THIS GIRL, ANYWAY? Part I

My early attempt at fame That’s me!

Timeline February 2009 – Twitter is invented. May 2009 – Graduated from Stonehill, cum laude, with BA in English. September 2009 – Started attending Bridgewater State to get my MA. Fall 2010 through Spring 2010 – Discovered marketing and was determined to teach myself. Spring 2011 – Started freelancing social media marketing. Winter 2011 – Started doing business under the name Liz Theresa. Became full service agency.

WHERE YOU NEED TO START Part II

You need an idea.

2 Basic Routes to Take Service Primary overhead is time You sell expertise Using your personal brand You can sell physical and/or digital products as well. Physical product Overhead is materials and labor You sell a physical item or perhaps a digital item You can use your personal brand, but it may not be the best route You can also sell services

Wheels turning, yet? What do I enjoy doing? What type of advice/expertise do people come to me for regularly? What do others tell me I’m good at? What do people ask me to do as a favor and then thank me profusely? What is something I do for fun or relaxation (where the hours can FLY by me) and I’m happy ?

These questions will determine your next path. Are you going to be an online business exclusively (no brick-and-mortar)? Are you going to have an online store but also sell at a physical location? Are you solely going to sell in-person but would like to get more customers from the internet?

HOW TO “BRAND” YOURSELF Part III

What the heck is “branding”? In its simplest sense, having your logo on something is the same thing as branding whatever it is. BUT – it’s really this… Branding is the means through which you convey the messaging of your company/product.

So wait. What? So you need messaging (that’s the first piece you gotta get clear on before you try doing a logo or something). Messaging is made up of a few parts… – Your Story – Your Target Market/Audience – Problem You Are Solving These next steps will also help you get clear on your elevator speech.

Story! OK, Liz, I’m with you. The story or what I call “The Story of Overcoming” is the most critical piece to have in place for your budding business. Most common (and effective) story is a story of how you used this product/service to solve your own problem (that way, it’s more believable that you could help others or that your product could help others). Any questions on what your problem might be?

Mad Libs! Except for your story. Service Based Business… Hi! My name is ______. I help ________ like you ____________________ by _____ ____________________________________. Product Based Business… Hello! The ________ is a product that helps people like you _______________ by __________________________________.

Extra Credit Bonus Points Get bonus points if you can add the following fill in the blank to your sentence (service OR product)… Unlike __________, ________ does _______. My product is better than _____ because _________________________.

Target Market The demographic that you are trying to reach with your product/service online. Your IDEAL customer. The more specific you are, the better results you will yield.

Oh yeah – back to the Story! So the Brand Messaging is made up of those Mad Libs which help you get clear on who you are, what you sell, who you help, and what you help them with. You now need to incorporate your own Story of Overcoming that will help you sell this puppy. Questions?

WEB + ECOMMERCE TOOLS Part IV

Your Website If you expect to have an online business, you gotta have a website. I recommend WordPress as the platform you should use. What You Need… – A Domain Name (dot-com) – Hosting ($12 in total) – Visit

List Building marketing is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO IN ONLINE MARKETING. Did the all-caps convince you? Your list is your only asset in an online business. Your list is MUCH easier to convert into customers than Facebook fans. Opt-in Gifts & MailChimp

My Fave Payment Processors PayPal Stripe Square Clickbank

eCommerce Tools WordPress – WooCommerce (FREE) – EasyDigitalDownload (FREE) Shopify (FREE + transaction fee) Offsite Tools eBay Etsy

Walkthrough Break! Q&A

BLOGGING + SOCIAL MEDIA Next Presentation… June 2, 2014 at 6:30pm