Everyone wants to make money. Everyone wants a return on their investment. Many have flocked to the online medium under the false pretence that they can make a quick buck from their website. Apart from a very select few, most have never recouped their investment for a whole number of reasons. This post does not set out to point fingers nor antagonise industry folk but rather seeks to emphasise the key facts about online business to prospective investors, web entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

1. Online business is just as difficult as running any “bricks and mortar” business and is equally as demanding
2. Having invested in the formation of the website, this is not where it ends – there needs to be a well planned strategy and approach to marketing, optimisation of marketing activities to best ensure effectiveness and continued market research to keep an eye on key competitor(s) activities
3. The key to successfully monetising a website is to continually appraise all your marketing activities and optimise your marketing budget so as to minimise budget wastage
4. Have a plan and strategy and stick to it. Craft either yourself or ideally with someone like me a scalable and future proofed strategy that is robust to see the business through at very least the next 12-24 months. This strategy should typically include;
5. Key online marketing objectives;
   • Key stakeholders, target audiences for the new website and value propositions;
   • Recommended online marketing model & mix;
   • Opportunities for innovation & game change innovation strategies (this will involve an experienced online marketing strategist such as Alisdair Blackman from Shifted Pixels);
   • SWOT analysis;
   • An analysis of competitors in your space and opportunities for differentiation – looking at best practice, industry benchmarking, conduct a detailed gap analysis and finally identify best of breed online strategies and models used both domestically and internationally;
   • Assessment of commercial model;
   • Full appraisal and brain dump for the immediate and medium term opportunities for commercialisation & monetisation (this will involve an experienced online marketing strategist such as Alisdair Blackman from Shifted Pixels);
   • Provide a comprehensive list of all technological requirements and functionality for the new website so as to support monetisation and pressure test functional requirements against potential ROI – this is practically a functional specification which is often used by clients to obtain costings from developers;
   • Outline strategies around how to Attract, Acquire, Convert, Retain & Grow the traffic to the site and our # of subscribers;
   • A comprehensive marketing plan of all the tactics (email acquisition campaigns through permission based marketing, search engine optimisation, search marketing, affiliate marketing, display advertising, viral / word of mouth and interactivity (ie. Podcasts, webinars, web casting, BLOGs, forums, Facebook/MySpace/Linkedin/Twitter social networking, linking strategies, mobile & SMS, videos etc.) that will be used to market your business and enhance the exposure and brand recognition of your website thereby increasing traffic and share of voice; and,
   • Revenue Projections with full Budgets and Timelines etc
6. In order to make money, you need to spend money – BUT CAREFULLY! Results will reveal themselves in real-time and it is both a skill and art to respond in a timely fashion to best optimise your results, while at the same time minimising budget wastage.
7. Many clients opt to outsource their online marketing work to marketing agencies. While I have always supported this approach to online marketing, do be careful as to who you approach and entrust with the marketing of your business. There are many self professed experts and many are just full of hot air!
8. Online businesses are a risky business and as such the rate of return can be vastly different dependent on industry sector, size of market, market maturation etc. A solid business plan and online marketing blueprint is critical for both management and owners to have some degree of comfort over the viability and sustainability of a business.
9. Shop around and try and align yourselves with practitioners with as many years of experience as possible to best ensure they provide you clear, trustworthy and sound recommendations around the growth of your business.Web businesses can be both rewarding and profitable provided a medium term approach is taken. Seldom has it been the case that websites will yield immediate or short term profitability. With sound guidance and professional support from the likes of Shifted Pixels with your online marketing, results will be forthcoming.

Alisdair Blackman is Managing Director of Shifted Pixels and has been a pioneer in the field of online marketing. With over 13 years experience in working with clients to devise strategies that bring about the best return on investment, he is a trusted authority and specialist in areas of commercialisation and monetisation.