Before you start; before you dive in and begin learning HTML, CSS, and basic website design. Before you pick a domain name and topic for your website. Before you start to write pages of content and search for images to decorate. Before you start doing any of these things you need to know the key concept of making money with a website.
You will waste a lot of your time if you simply create a website, write some content and pretty it up with images and font colors. There are already literally thousands of websites out there about every subject imaginable. Without putting lots of thought into what your website will be about you are most likely just going to end up throwing another website onto of the Internet junk pile.
What ever idea just popped into your head has already been done before. Somebody has had it before you and has made a website. They made it pretty and followed all the latest in good website design. Whatever simply popped into your head has been done already.
Anything that just pops into your head will not work. Remember - you are competing against other like minded people. Like it or not you are not that special that great ideas just pop into your head. There are people whose job it is to think up great website ideas – they spend their days thinking of the next best thing. They will already have thought of what just popped into your head. You need to go beyond the initial idea pop.
You need to find a way to make your website different. And this will not happen with an idea that just pops in your head. You need to do research. Real research. Once you have an idea, spend hours on the Internet looking at what other people are doing with that idea. What can you do to make it different? What can you do to make people want to come to your website rather then all the others? What can you do to make people want to buy your apples rather then from the stand right next to yours?
The key concept to making money with a website is:unique .
Unique can mean many different things. It can mean original, or least expensive, or highest quality, or most accessible, writing style. The point is that it has to have some element that makes people want to choose your product over all the other ones you are competing against. People will not waste their time with you if you have nothing unique to offer.
With the apple stand example unique can mean:
- your stand is right at the market entrance you have only big apples your apples are blue your apples are the least expensive you sell half apples
Whatever it is you do, it must make you stick out from the crowd - it must offer something different.
It is easy to see with the apple stand example how to be unique. But what most people new to websites do not understand is that websites also require uniqueness. You need to find a way to differentiate your website from all the other websites out there. If you fail to do this right off the start then the next 6 months will lead to a dead end. For six months you will be making a pretty website and writing content – spending hours and hours in front of your computer. Then after six months, or more if you are really stubborn, you will realize that it is not working. A total failure – no visitors and no money made.
After these six months you will finally sit back and start to think about what you did wrong. And the conclusion will be that there is nothing special about your website. There is no reason for people to come to your website – no reason for people to buy your apples.
Save yourself at least 6 months of grief. Ask yourself this question. Why will people come to my website? What makes it unique?
