What many people don’t know is that you can very easily go broke when starting your internet marketing business. Yes, you read that right! Internet marketing start-up costs could drive you into bankruptcy.
You see, many IM “gurus” are quick to tell you that starting an online business is very easy and very cheap. They are only partially right.
Sure, relative to most brick-and-mortar businesses, starting an online marketing business is cheaper. Yet when Internet marketers are polled about their biggest frustrations, most newcomers listed start-up costs as one of their top concerns.
It’s a valid one, too – because unless you know exactly what you want to do and the best way to get there (which newbies don’t), you could end up spending a small fortune and have nothing to show for it.
There are many reasons why people are so anxious about online business start-up costs. One is because when many people go into Internet Marketing, they’re already at a place of financial desperation.
A second reason is that friends and family are often skeptical and uninformed about online marketing, so they’re closely watching you spend money and reminding you of how long you’ve been waiting to make any money from that business.
And let me tell you, the cost of starting an internet marketing business can add up quickly, if you don’t know what you’re doing – from hosting cost to website building, tools, plugins, content, graphics, courses, and coaching, etc.
Hence, you need to have a plan going in. It doesn’t mean you have to know exactly what you want to do yet, but there are minimal preparations you can make before you end up with less money than you came in with.
You Could Start 100% Free
While it may be pretty tough, it’s possible that you can start your online marketing business with zero or near-zero cost. Just be prepared to learn a whole ton of things by yourself as quickly as possible, and be committed to investing a lot of time in your business, as you are likely going to be doing a whole lot of things by yourself. Be prepared also to invest every dime you happen to earn back into the business right away.
Some potential options for starting out free include:
- Kindle publishing – 100% free
- Affiliate marketing on Clickbank, Hub Pages, Bubblews, Youtube, etc. – 100% free
- Freelance services – 100% free
- WordPress – 100% free
Now those may not be the exact things you planned on doing online for the long haul, but if you want it bad enough, you’ll get started however you can, get some money coming in, and then morph that into something you do want to do.
There are no excuses for procrastinating and waiting until you have megabucks to invest.
The Right Time to Take Start?
Sometimes, you don’t have a choice. You get a pink slip from your boss or you end up with a medical disability and you’re floundering from home wondering if those “envelope stuffing” offers in the back of a magazine are really viable.
Fortunately, Internet marketing can work for you in a pinch – but you have to use common sense, shop smart, and work off of a plan. You can’t just log on and buy everything on a whim hoping for some push-button magic moneymaker.
It doesn’t work like that.
If you have a choice, then the right time to commit to an Internet marketing career is after you have taken some time to educate yourself about the business.
You want to have some time to develop your business, and that means you need time to:
- Educate yourself about the industry
- Research who you can trust and build relationships with them
- Create products
- Provide services
- Learn the technical ins and outs of the business
- Implement courses that you buy
- Answer emails and handle customer support
This could be before you leave for work each day, on your lunch hour or after work and on weekends. Or, it could be a full-time gig for you if you’re retired or unemployed with savings.
Why are we talking about the time commitment? Because if you don’t have time, then it becomes a money problem. You’ll start trying to throw money at anything that can pay off fast for you.
I can’t stress this enough: online marketing business is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme.
Knowing What Kind of Costs You Can Expect
How much do you need to save up? What will you be buying? Let’s go over some options for newbies and what you might need to pay for as an online marketer if you’re finished with or don’t plan to take the free route.
Courses:
If you’re not educated about online marketing, then you may want to buy courses that teach you what you need to know. For example, if you want to do affiliate marketing, then you may want to buy an affiliate marketing course that shows you the ropes.
Sure, there’s plenty of free information online, but it’s a convenience to get content that’s organized and more detailed from people who have experienced success in a particular area.
Courses range from free or low-cost ($7) to mid-range $37-97 courses to those that are priced in the thousands of dollars range. There are boiler rooms where salespeople will call you based on a low investment you make – and pressure you into maxing out your credit cards because you won’t want to pass up on this fantastic offer.
Domain name(s):
Domain names will be a necessity for certain things. You need to be in control of your business. It’s great to use sites that give you free sub-domain to start, for example, but you might wake up one morning and find that your entire account has been locked.
That won’t happen when you have your own domain. And domains are one of your cheapest investments that provide you with a certain amount of authority in your niche.
Some domains, such as dot info domains, are less than $2 per year from Namecheap. Others, like the most popular dot com addresses, are around $11 a year – but even then you can usually find a monthly coupon code to cut that in half or more.
Website hosting:
Hosting is what keeps your site live and online. You can get hosting for one site or unlimited domains. It too is dirt cheap – but it’s a monthly payment of anywhere from $4.99 to $11 a month, depending on which service and plan you use. I use Bluehost for this site, and I’m happy with them.
Advertising and traffic:
Some marketers never pay for traffic and others only use paid traffic. You can go either route or a combination of the two. Free traffic can be generated from sites like Twitter, Google, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.
Paid traffic can be found using solo ads, AdWords campaigns, Facebook ads, and other avenues. Costs can vary – and you can do things on a small scale (like send a solo ad to a small list) and then grow it over time.
Tools:
There are tons of tools you’re going to encounter regularly when you’re a new Internet marketer. In fact, many of the courses you take will make it sound like you won’t succeed unless you buy the tools.
You’re going to have to be discriminating. Consider what you really need versus what’s a luxury item as you’re starting on this journey. Keyword tools are a good example of this.
You can pay hundreds of dollars for some top-notch keyword tools. You can also use free keyword tools that get you started. They may not provide as much in-depth detail as the paid ones, but that’s okay – it’s enough to get you rolling.
Email autoresponders are another option. You can start with free tools like MailChimp. Or, the very affordable Mailerlite. There are many other options, too.
Graphics:
You’re going to want graphics for your website (a minisite package, for example). Those will include the background, header, footer, and even eBook cover graphics if you put out your own info product.
Services:
As your business grows, or whenever you encounter something you don’t know how to do, you’ll need funds to outsource to someone else. You might outsource technical tasks – or time-sucking tasks like writing.
Prioritizing Your Spending
There are a million opportunities being thrown in the faces of newbie marketers. You’ll be told by everyone that you have to have certain courses, tools, and other items.
You have to prioritize what you want to spend money on according to what’s most important - and in what order. For example, you don’t want to spend money on a domain until you know what kind of business you want to operate.
Make a list of items you really think you need and items you want, and then put them in order of importance based on timeliness – at what point in your career do you need to have them?
You may not know this right away, but as you educate yourself about Internet marketing, you’ll have a better idea of when to invest money. Also, make sure you stick to a budget.
Don’t let experienced marketers with hard-selling boiler rooms pressure you into charging up your credit cards or getting into debt. You should save up for what you need and then pay it without anchoring yourself down in debt.
Make sure that as you begin profiting, you start re-investing some of those earnings back into your business. You want to keep up the momentum and put your efforts on track to grow your success.
Alternative Options to Help You Move Forward
Partnering with people to get ahead faster is one way you can cut costs and increase your productivity. You need to be careful about who you partner with, though.
Find someone who has opposite talents of what you have. For example, if you can write well, and someone else can handle technical tasks, that might make a good pairing.
Barter with others to get what you need and want when you’re just getting started. If you see a course that you want, but you don’t have the cash, why not contact the owner and see if they need anything you have to offer?
If you can write, offer some free pages of content in exchange for a copy. If you can do graphics, provide them with a free minisite or ecover as an exchange. Don’t be too proud to make an offer to help build your business.
Finally, be wise and smart. You do not have to go broke when starting your internet marketing business.
