Online Success – How Much Money Do You Really Need?

Starting an online business has helped many people become financially independent. In addition, most of them started with a small amount of money. A lot of online programs claim that you do not need any money to start. From my experience, these claims are false. Here is the real cost to start an online business. Let’s break it down to seven parts.

1. Domain name:

This is the name of your website. You will buy this from a company like go daddy. A domain name will cost you about ten dollars. They will try to sell other features, but you won’t need them. I recommend buying a dot-com as opposed to a net or biz.

2. Auto responder:

An auto responder compiles your list of potential buyers and sends emails to them. This is the machine that runs your business after you set it up. You must have an auto responder. A company like Aweber sells this service for 20 dollars per month.

3. Hosting:

A web host is where you send files to. Then, they put your files online. Most companies that sell domain names will also host your website. Hosting usually cost ten dollars per month, but some companies do it for free.

4. Squeeze page:

This page is made to give away free content and collect an email address.

You can find templates for 20-40 dollars. A web designer might charge $100-$200 to create one. Your squeeze page might not cost you anything if you are an affiliate marketer.

5. Product:

It hard to estimate the cost of your main product. If it’s information, you might only pay for graphics. The graphics for an e-book might cost $20. This is also something you can get free. If you are selling a video course, editing software is required. Free video editing software is easy to find.

6. Free product:

This is what you give away on the squeeze page. Your free information shouldn’t cost anything to create. When you create informational products, the focus is quality. Appearance is important, but make sure the information is valuable.

7. Main website:

At this point, you might have all the tools needed to create your website. Now it’s time to put everything together. You want to buy any graphics needed. This shouldn’t cost more than $40 dollars. The other option is to buy a template for $20 dollars. In any case, you should put the page together instead of hiring someone to do it. Affiliate marketers might only need a squeeze page. If that’s the case, you can skip this step.

In conclusion, the minimal amount to start an online business is about $50-$75 dollars. This number isn’t zero but it’s close enough. The main thing this business requires is time not money.