Schewanick Computer Services

As my online business approaches its 1st anniversary, I look
back on my efforts and results, trying to summarize and draw
conclusions.

What would I have done differently if I had to start from scratch
again? What could I have done better? If you are just starting
out in an information publishing business, or thinking about
going into an e-business, the information I will share with you
could be absolutely priceless as I will speak completely from
personal experience.

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If I had to do all over again, here are the things I would do
differently:
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1. I would have focused on one product at a time - starting from
developing it to putting in place an effective marketing strategy.
Beginning to work on new products while my 1st product wasn't yet
selling well was a big mistake. I was completely overwhelmed by
the amount of work. I had to keep testing the ad copy, web
design, and headlines for my 1st book while creating the 2nd one.

My part-time business turned into a full-time nightmare for
a little while. Now I am definitely waiting - no new products
until my three books have a good and a proven marketing system in
place.

Now, that's not to say that I don't come up with ideas for new
products. I have at least 4 or 5 titles in my "idea bank", but
I will not start working on them until I can see that my current
projects are set up successfully.

2. I would have not jumped into forums and discussions groups
making a fool out of myself before even "testing the waters".
Being completely new to e-business (but not to web design) I
underestimated the power of message boards and their effect on
one's business. The Internet is not some huge universe of
anonymous creatures. Everyone knows everyone and a bad news
spreads fast throughout the online marketing community.

If I could do it over, I would have definitely lurked before
posting. Get a feel of what kind of people, messages and reaction
you should expect. Once you understand the forum atmosphere, your
posts will be much more in tone with others and appropriate.

3. I would have never believed those ads, web sites and people who
said that this is not hard work. There is no way you will be
"making money while you sleep". This statement is missing one
point: you need to work HARD before you can start "making money
while you sleep". In other words, you need to get your business to
a certain level before you start getting consistent orders, some
of which will arrive "while you are asleep" :-)

4. I would have definitely come up with a schedule of when to work
and what to do. For example, 2 hours a day. Monday - submitting to
Search Engines, Tuesday - contacting other webmasters for link
exchange, Wednesday - writing an article, and so on.

Because there is always something to do, I found myself working
too many hours a week and many times would not accomplish much.
Having a schedule and a plan helps a lot and allows rest time
without feeling any guilt :-)

5. I would have researched market better before developing a very
time-consuming product. I would have posted questions on related
forums, created a mini-product, and located my major competitors
first.

If I had done my homework before creating my 1st product, I would
have realized that I needed to target it better. In other words,
I would have focused on a specific niche of customers to market it
with more success. Product that is too generic is hard to create
an ad copy for, find good places to advertise, come up with good
keywords for Search Engines and discover common characteristics in
your customers.

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Even though I have made a lot of mistakes in launching my
e-business, there are some things that I would have still done the
same:
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1. I would have still created my free book, which was actually a
smaller version of my 1st product. There are a lot of web sites
and directories which collect free e-books (or link to authors'
pages) and bring a lot of quality traffic.

If the free book is of high quality, it also spreads a good word
about you as an author. Amazingly powerful viral marketing tool,
and I found it to be excellent for building my mailing list.

2. Regardless of the controversy about reprint rights, I would
have still offered the resell rights to my products. It helped me
generate quick cash and allowed me to acquire the things my
business really needed: advertising, software, and supplies.
Somehow, until you start making money with your business, you are
very hesitant to spend any. Reprint rights gave me the resources
I needed to take my business to the next, more professional level.

But since there are many loopholes in the reprint rights business,
I will think twice now before doing it again with my future
products.

3. The fact that I chose to write about what I already know saved
me a lot of time and embarrassment. It is always better to focus
your business on what you are already an expert on, or something
that you really want to get into and are willing to invest the
time learning.

4. I would have definitely hired a professional graphic artist
again to design my book covers! What a blessing... You see a cheesy
e-book cover and you think, they want me to buy this piece of
trash? Regardless of the book quality, people are bound to judge
it by its cover :-)

5. My own domain name (actually 4 of them) was a really smart
decision. A memorable and a unique name makes you look more
professional, serious about your business, and the Search Engines
will love you! And, yes - the Search Engines. I wouldn't spend my
life on optimizing my web site for every Search Engine and
directory, but I would definitely devote some time to choosing the
right keywords and submitting once a month. Just so they know you
exist.

There is a lot more to discover and much more knowledge to gain.
Learn from your mistakes and don't repeat them next year.

About the Author
Milana Nastetskaya is a full time web developer
and the author of two books: "Create Your First
Business Web Site in 10 days", "65 Instant Web
Design Answers".
http://www.firstbusinesswebsite.com
http://www.instantwebanswers.com