Online Business In Nigeria: What Does It Really Mean And What Does It Take To Start One

This is a guest post compiled by Mr Akan. 

I had a talk with one of my subscribers the other day. He had bought one of my courses some time ago. He asked me a few basic questions about online business. Here is a summary of what we discussed.

==> First of all, what is an online business? It means business done online right?
Yes

==> So internet or online business means – the buying and selling of goods and services using the internet. right?
Yes . In other words , if you are not selling something (products and services) online you don’t have an online business. PERIOD.

Take a good note of that statement above.

So What Can One Sell Online?

Although I have already mentioned products and services , what you can sell depends on the online business model you choose. A business model generally refers to how money is made in a business.

Here are some examples of online business models:

1. Information marketing (here you produce and sell information products that helps people. This is what I do and this is what Jide does too. This is one popular online business model)

2. Sell direct adverts( here you sell direct advert spots on your website or blog )

3. Third party adverts (here you sell adverts via third party services on your blog or website. This is where Google Adsense comes in)

4. Affiliate marketing (selling other peoples products and services for a commission)

5. Service websites ( provide a service to  people for a fee. A good example is web hosting services who help people host their sites for a fee) Jide’s bulk sms service is a good example here too.

These are just a few online business models . They all have their different strategies for execution and success but there is something they all have in COMMON…

They all involve SELLING SOMETHING.

They all require that you have something to offer.

Remember this,
"... you will not make any money whether offline or online if you don’t have something to sell or to offer to people. And whatever you have to offer must be valuable to people".

So What do I Usually Advice People To Do When They Start?

This is what I advice:

1. Know the basics

You need to take your mind off irrelevant pursuits and information. You need to know that just having a blog is not what makes you money . You need to know that PayPal and ClickBank are just services and can be seen as bank accounts and bank accounts do not make money. You need to know that making money online does not happen overnight. You need to have the right mindset.


2. Pick an online business model

You have to do this after you might have gotten rid of irrelevant information from your mind. I have mentioned a few of them already but you can research more and pick the one you like. Learn all you can about it from a mentor or from paid course from a mentor. Invest in the knowledge and tools needed to succeed using that business model.

3. Focus

Put all your mind and energy to the online business model you choose and follow through. Remember that online business is business and businesses usually do not succeed overnight. Businesses need growth to succeed. If you focus and learn you will move ahead.

Many people will not take this next statement serious because it may seem tedious and because from experience I did the same thing.

The top recommended online business strategy that works with any business model involves building a list of prospects and customers then market them to buy your products or services. This, you can easily do with a blog.

Finally
There are many things to learn to succeed online but you need to start with what matters and focus on one model and one thing at a time. The first and most important thing is the foundation of your online business. You need to learn the basics and do away with bad knowledge. I spent the first 2 -3 years online failing and discovering these bad advice and lies. Now I know the truth and that is what I just shared with you in this article just in case you have the same wrong assumptions.

I hope it helps. 

If you've got any suggestion or question concerning this article, kindly relay your comments in the box below.

This post was written by Mr Akan. He is a Nigerian blogger and entrepreneur . He runs www.NairaCow.com where he writes on internet marketing and online business for Nigerians