Navigating Your Way To Online Success
First you have to acknowledge that there are many paths to a single destination. Unfortunately there are also 100 times more paths that will never get you there.
Which Way Do I Go?
For the purposes of this article we will look at the path that is time tested, and works for any niche or industry.
Build An Audience... And They Will Buy Anything...
The Oprah Effect
Have you ever realized that Oprah has the Midas touch when it comes to exploding the growth of any small business.
Why? Because she has a huge audience of raving mad fans.
If you make cookies and Oprah declares them to be her favorite, get ready to buy a lot of flour.
When she adds a book to her book club, they often make it to the top of the best sellers list.
The lesson here is to build a huge following of raving fans.
So how do you go about doing that?
Leveraging systems is the key to unlocking the vault of profits. 
Step 1 You Have To Plant Your Flag!
It starts with having your own home on the internet (website)
Building a brand, even if it's just yourself, needs a place for your following to reach out and connect. Which means you need to draw them there regularly.
All marketing and communication should lead them back to your site.
On your social channels, bring them back to your world to deliver content. This will also remove them from the attention deficit worlds like Facebook and Instagram.
You now control the environment. They are now in your house.
Step 2- Serve Your Following
Sigmund Freud once said that people make decisions by two motivating factors. Either to increase pleasure or to decrease pain.
Think about that. How do your readers feel after an encounter with what you are serving up. Are you serving up Fillet Mignon with a side of lobster? Or are you serving up stale crackers?
Do you leave your readers bored and wishing you would get to the point? Or are they thinking they should bookmark your website as a favorite and searching for your previous content?
That is something you should think about every time you communicate to your following.
Step 3- Automate
This is an area that goes as deep as it is wide. But suffice it to say, automation will allow you to duplicate your efforts without the need for a staff or at least a personal assistant.
And no matter who you are, or where you are from, we all get just twenty four hours a day. Making best use of that time is crucial. Time IS money.
Leveraging technology is a must if you want to thrive, let alone survive.
There are a handful of tools every online business must have to succeed. Learn them or hire someone to get you set up. And if you hire someone, still take the time at some point to learn them yourself.
Here is one of the best resources available today. It's a step by step tutorial on how to set up a online business for any niche or industry. For those who are not familiar with setting up tools for automation, if you finish the training, you will likely know more about the subject than most of the so called experts. It's called The Challenge and taught by Vick Strizheus.
Step 4- Multiple Streams of Income
Apple and Walmart are two very different companies. But one of the things they both have in common is they sell multiple products and services to their customers.
You will need to do the same.
And once you have a buyer for any particular product or service, you need to keep track of that through your automation. What people choose to purchase tells you something about them. If they like t-shirts with cats, they are likely to to buy jewelry with cats as well.
Also, you want to treat you buyers special. Turn a fan into a raving fan.
Step - Residual Income
Whatever business you are in, whether it's a product of your own or someone else, there are subscription based services that you can offer.
This particular step cannot be stressed enough. And here is why.
-Sell it once and get paid over and over
-It will stabilize your income
Monthly checks create income consistency
-Very very low customer acquisition costs
Because the long term value of the customer is so high, and cost to get them is nothing.
Step 6- Be Enthusiastic And Have Fun
If you are not passionate about what you are doing, it will show.
Passion is the secret sauce. If you don't have it, take a vacation and go find it.
To your online success,
-David Newman