by Case Lane

In the delightful comedy W1A about management life at the BBC, one of the characters has the useless corporate title, Director of Better.

No one, least of all the holder of the title, knows exactly what the title means nor what the role is supposed to do.  The show is a continuous standup play on the triumph of bureaucracy in maintaining employment for well-meaning, educated professionals who essentially do…nothing.

But as uncomfortably true as the antics may be, the laughs will not last.

Even before a global pandemic, those who keep an eye on the economy were already documenting how technology and access to the global market were changing the future of work, and the expectations of society.

The value of every mythological line in the American dream was under scrutiny, and lifelong ideas about the ‘right’ thing to do with one’s life were being unmercifully contested.

In the midst of this, the often questionable journey for the entrepreneur continued to expand online, and created not only a new category of businesses, but an entirely renewed way to view the entire profession.

No longer the dominant road only for status-quo-defying risk-takers, online entrepreneurship opened up to anyone who was willing to do the work, to transform their speculative idea into a product or service for the global marketplace.

The result has been an up-leveled opportunity for anyone to take their place in the global economy through electronic means.  This realization changes the game for all those who thought there was no room for them on the Internet money train.

For these reasons you should become an online entrepreneur:

1. The Need for Solutions
2. The Opportunity to Deliver Value
3. You Can Have Any Idea
4. You Can Operate in Any Niche
5. You Do Not Have to Be an Expert
6. You Do Have to Do the Work
7. The Reality May Not Meet Your Expectations
8. There is Money to Be Made
9. There Are People Making Money

The Need

Surfing the Internet is another way to say searching the Internet.  People are online looking for…everything…to satisfy their desires across a range of wants related to the most demanded, and most obscure, human needs.

This endless searching has allowed the major internet companies to gather data on consumer desires.  And this data is for sale.

While business people have always attempted to ‘know their customer,’ now they can extract that information based on the customer’s own requests demonstrated by their typing, clicking, searching, reading, listening and viewing all day.

This demand-driven activity has not stopped entrepreneurs from considering the innovations people did not think to ask for.  But they can just as easily assess demand by creating introductory products, service instructions, or even spin-offs of existing products or services for those who can never find exactly what they seem to want. 

In fact, the online entrepreneur does not have to create anything new at all.  A promotional video, deftly worded advertisement, or ten minute podcast generates enough data to understand consumer demand for a directed product or service designed to meet the expected need.

And the bottom line is…there is an endless stream of unmet needs across all consumer demographics all over the world. 

The Opportunity

Anyone watching internet surfers continuously looking to be fulfilled, can see an opening that presents an opportunity to deliver a product or service to these desperate consumers.

An aspiring entrepreneur can target potential customers through the search engines like Google, social media platforms like Facebook, or their own proprietary e-mail lists, with advertisements, promotions, stories, images, audio and videos designed to encourage a connection.

Any Idea

A person who recognizes gaps in the economy…and fills it…is the entrepreneur.  And more often than not the gap is related to an unserved demographic frustrated with never finding products or services that are aimed at them.

The ability to deliver products or services to this specific niche is the cornerstone of the online entrepreneurship opportunity.

The ‘mass’ market is on the decline.  Consumers are searching for products or services designed specifically for their exact desires.  They want a business that hears their voice, and meets their needs.  And the intrepid entrepreneur is often one of the potential customers who has grown tired of waiting for someone else to invent the product or service they keep searching for. 

All Niches

Decades of marketing practices aimed at the ‘mass’ market has left a wide-open field for entrepreneurs who are willing to deliver for those who do not currently receive.

An aspiring entrepreneur can immediately be the automatic leader in their field by delivering a product or service from their unique perspective, and using their singular approach. 

The nutrition, diet and fitness market presents the typical example of how this works.  Until everyone on earth finds a food plan they enjoy, and a health routine they can maintain, for the ideal look they aspire to…there is an opportunity for an entrepreneur to deliver a new nutrition, diet or fitness product.

The entrepreneur only needs to determine how best to deliver the product or service to those potential customers who will become their pampered community.

Not the Talent

For any idea the entrepreneur wants to develop there is an opportunity to approach almost anyone in the world who may be interested.  In the most successful scenarios, the entrepreneur builds a community around their product or service, and continues to nurture and cultivate their fans.

But the entrepreneur has to first find these fans, ideally, through the online platform where they are most comfortable.

If you prefer writing, you can become a blogger, and seek to attract your audience by delivering value in the form of interesting articles.

If you prefer to talk, you can start a podcast and organize your value in a discussion or interview, which showcases the product or service you want to deliver.

Similar options exist for using images or being on video.

And if you do not like any of those options, and you just want to be an executive or manager, you can outsource the work to a content creation team based anywhere in the world.

Not an expert

Online entrepreneurs are creators, writers, instructors, influencers, marketers, store owners, coaches, consultants, developers, artists, speakers, photographers, organizers, and some…are experts in a particular field.

As noted in the next paragraph, to be successful, the only expertise one needs is the amount that is generated relative to the work the entrepreneur is willing to do.

The online entrepreneurship field is one devoid of formal credentials.  The magic is in understanding the target consumers’ needs and, literally, speaking their language, then working persistently to deliver such sufficient value that these dream customers tell all their friends.

The Work

To create an online business, the aspiring entrepreneur picks an idea, a niche and a platform, and then delivers lasting value.  The challenge is…how?

The number of entrepreneurs who have created one product, and took it to immediate success in the market without any changes is probably zero.  By default, the entrepreneur must be prepared to adapt and change to consumer demand.  The ‘big’ idea typically needs to be refined and molded until consumers respond.

The same is true for the distribution or marketing.  A great idea poorly delivered will not find its intended base.

A good product poorly marketed will not find its audience.

A typical entrepreneur is likely to try dozens, perhaps hundreds, of iterations changing one segment after another of the product or service to find the ‘hit’ lurking just over the horizon.

This is where the statistics about entrepreneurship success and failure begin to play out.  Those that actually make it are the ones who have the resources to keep trying until one version of their idea survives.

Those who can no longer hang on…fall by the wayside.

The Reality

Entrepreneurship is no walk in the park.  Not because the work is particularly difficult, not because the potential consumers are missing, not because the idea is bad…but because the aspiring entrepreneur has no idea what is going to work.

The online entrepreneur has to be prepared to try and try again.  From changing a headline on a landing page, to adding just one more email, to responding to every comment on social, to posting a question they never thought to ask before…the key to the game is perseverance.

Many successful entrepreneurs will tell you about the ideas that flopped.  But each one led the entrepreneur to try something new, to watch for any signs from the market that the idea was resonating, and to scale rapidly when the most recent fix appeared to be a hit.

The question is: will you be successful before your energy or money runs out?

For those who keep their 9-to-5 while working on their side hustle, the question becomes: will you be successful before you really can’t stand your regular job anymore?

Either way, the only successful players are the ones who are persistent, and do not give up.

The Monetization

Where does online money come from…here’s a short list:

• Advertising and affiliate links on websites
• Private Coaching
• Private Consulting
• Advertising and sponsorships on podcasts and videos
• Direct digital product sales of books, videos, audio, courses and software
• Percentage of affiliate sales from joint ventures selling other people’s products
• Speaker fees
• Physical product sales of t-shirts, coffee mugs, pens, books and more
• Masterminds and conferences

How is the money made from these products?

By marketing to potential customers, and convincing them that the product or service you have to offer, in the form you offer it, will meet their needs.

This is the part where many aspiring entrepreneurs fall short.  After locating a potential customer base, and confirming they are searching for the product or service you have to offer, you still have to be able to close the sale.

You have to get them to buy.

So aspiring entrepreneurs must create an incentive for potential customers to look at what they have to offer, make a purchase, spread the word, and come back for more.

The options for encouraging this path are as equally endless as the money spigots…

• Build a social media following by consistently posting online
• Start a blog, podcast or YouTube channel full of interesting content
• Create a website loaded with compelling content, and allow ads and affiliate banners
• Align with existing entrepreneurs in a joint venture (if you have something to offer them)
• Write and promote a book, course or app
• Create and promote other digital products
• Apply as a paid speaker, after volunteering to speak for free and building a reputation
• Set-up an online store and use social media to promote the products
• Tell everyone who will listen what you are doing, and convince them, even if they’re not interested, to tell others…

The Survivors

The Internet is littered with millionaires who are not afraid to tell you about their success.  Many webinars begin before breathing to recount the host’s great successes from zero-to-million-dollar paydays, to zero to million follower social feeds, to total domination by learning the ‘one true way’ to do…whatever they purport to do.

They can deliver dozens of testimonials, endless words of public praise, and smiling and delighted successes at every turn.  The presentations are slick, beautiful, and hyped for mind-control returns.

These are the successes.

The people behind these numbers are often exactly who they say they are, whether or not the ‘one true method’ they teach is repeatable and can work for others.  And any way you slice their story – they have managed to at least get to the point where they can display a life of bling, and get you to listen to them talk about it.

Something went right.

In many cases, the successes did one thing legitimately and consistently correct…they did the work.

They posted every day, talked to everyone they knew, pushed through imposter syndrome, overcame fears, chanted affirmations, read every book, took every course, and continuously applied their learnings until their message clicked.

Keeping in mind all of the above, the aspiring entrepreneur can select any one of those models to emulate, or try to forge a new road.  Either way, the fundamentals will not change.

If you have an idea that fills a gap, delivering a product or service to a niche consumer base that wants or needs what you have to offer; through an approach they can find; and you are willing to keep working until your dream customers find you and respond…you will have your business. 

You just have to get started.

Case Lane’s latest book Recast: The Aspiring Entrepreneur’s Practical Guide to Getting Started with an Online Business is available now at Amazon.com

The book details the first ten actions to take when getting started online.

Disclosure: Links. to Amazon.com are affiliate links which earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.