Eager to launch your own online business, but not sure where to start? You're not alone! 

Many people believe starting a business is a mysterious process. They know they want to start a business, but they don't know the first steps to take. In this chapter, you're going to find out how to get an idea for a business--how you figure out exactly what it is you want to do and then how to take action on it.

Below is a sequence of 7-steps that I’ve seen thousands of people start and grow successful online businesses from:

1. Find a need or a problem  - then fill it or fix it
2. Set-up an easy to use website
3. Drive traffic to your website through search engines
4. Establish a good reputation
5. Build a relationship with your customers through email lists
6. Increase your revenue with back-end sales
7. Start the process over again – create multiple streams of income

Find a need or problem - then fill it or fix it
Most people who are just starting out make the mistake of looking for a product first, and a market second. 

To boost your chances of success, start with a market. The trick is to find a group of people who are searching for a solution to a problem, but not finding many results. 

The internet makes this kind of market research easy:

• Visit online forums to see what questions people ask and what problems they're trying to solve.
• Do ‘keyword research’ to find keywords that a lot of people are searching, but for which not many sites are competing.
• Check out your potential competitors by visiting their sites and taking note of what they're doing to fill the demand.

Then you can use what you've learned and create a product for a market that already exists and do it better than the competition.

Set-up and easy to use website
Once you've got your market and found a product to sell or promote, you're ready to start creating your website and the sales process. Remember to keep it simple. You have fewer than five seconds to grab someone's attention--otherwise they're gone, never to be seen again. 

Some important tips to keep in mind:

• Choose one or two plain fonts on a white background.
• Make your navigation clear, simple and the same on every page.
• Only use graphics, audio or video if they enhance your message.
• Include an opt-in offer so you can collect e-mail addresses.
• Make it easy to buy--no more than two clicks between potential customer and checkout.
• Your website is your online storefront, so make it customer-friendly.

See our ‘How to set-up a website’ section for a more in-depth guide on how to create your own website including details on domain registration and hosting.

Driving traffic to your websites
Without great marketing, your new Website will not produce sales. Learn how to build steady and constant traffic. You will need to learn how to build online traffic campaigns, including Google, Yahoo, Bing, Social Networks and Content Marketing.

Pay-per-click advertising is the easiest way to get traffic to a brand-new site. It has two advantages over waiting for the traffic to come to you organically. First, PPC ads show up on the search pages immediately, and second, PPC ads allow you to test different keywords , as well as headlines, prices and selling approaches. 

Not only do you get immediate traffic, but you can also use PPC ads to discover your best, highest-converting keywords. Then you can distribute the keywords throughout your site in your copy and code, which will help your rankings in the organic search results. 

Read our guide on the' top 10 ways to drive traffic' to your website.

Establish a good reputation
People use the internet to find information. You can provide that information for free to other sites, including blogs, forums, articles and social bookmarking and you'll see more traffic and better search engine rankings. The secret is to always include a link to your site within the information that you are providing. If people like what they are reading then they will click through to your site.

Below are some tips for establishing a reputation: 

• Give away free, expert content. Create articles, videos or any other content that people will find useful. Distribute that content through online article directories or social media sites.
• Include "send to a friend" links on valuable content on your website.
• Become an active expert in industry forums and social networking sites where your target market hangs out.

By providing free information and advice on other sites not only will you build up a good reputation you'll also, reach new readers. But even better, every site that posts your content will link back to yours. Search engines love links from relevant sites and will reward you in the rankings.

Build a relationship with your customers through email lists
One of the most effective ways of communicating with and building up your customer base is by creating a mailing list.

Email marketing is an important component of your online business because, with an opt-in email list you’ll have a group of people eager to listen to what you’re saying. With a regular email newsletter, your visitors won’t have to remember to come back - you can keep in touch directly. 

Aweber has a great set of templates to easily create newsletters. Aweber also allows you to manage multiple email lists and websites with one account. 

Below are some key reasons for building an email list:

• You're developing lifetime relationships with your customer.
• The response rates are 100 percent measurable.
• E-mail marketing is cheaper and more effective than print, TV or radio because it's highly targeted.
• You can contact and sell to the same customer over and over again.

Aweber is probably the easiest tool to start building your email opt-in lists.

Increase your revenue with back-end sales
This point follows on closely from the points made in building a relationship with your customers through email marketing. One of the most important internet marketing strategies is to develop every customer's lifetime value. At least 36 percent of people who have purchased from you once will buy from you again if you follow up with them.

Closing that first sale is by far the most difficult part and not to mention the most expensive. So use back-end selling and up-selling to get them to buy again without incurring the cost of the initial sale again.

You could do this by:

• Offer products that complement their original purchase.
• Send out electronic loyalty coupons they can redeem on their next visit.
• Offer related products on your "Thank You" page after they purchase.

Reward your customers for their loyalty and they'll become even more loyal and in the long-term you will make more money from your customer base.

Start the process over again and create multiple streams of income
Not every topic you create your online business from will make money. However, this doesn’t mean you should give up. Once you have found a topic which works and your businesses is making money then keep on starting the process over again. This strategy will allow you to create what we call ‘multiple streams of income’. Meaning you are generating income from more than one business or source. This is also a term used by other successful internet marketers and online business millionaires.

Final Point
The internet changes so fast that one year online equals about five years in the real world. However, the principles of how to start and grow a successful online business haven't changed at all. 

If you're just starting a small online business, stick to this sequence. If you've been online awhile, do a quick review and see if there's a step you're neglecting, or never got around to doing in the first place. You can't go wrong with the basics.

If you’re a complete beginner and still find all of this too confusing then you may want to read our reviews on the ‘best make money products’ these products have been developed to help new people to start making money online by following simple step-by step guides and video tutorials.

Click here - to read reviews on the best make money products

Still not sure where to get started or not found any online business ideas that interest you?

Here are a collection of online business ideas to get you thinking on how you might make money at home with an Internet business.

• Sell on eBay and other online auction site
• Start your own e-commerce website and sell products online
• Create your own website and promote products through affiliate programs.
• Instead of a website you could start your own blog and get paid to advertise products
• Use your skills to do freelance jobs
• Get paid for participating in market research campaigns with paid surveys