How To Start An Internet Business With $179.72

One member of the "IMC Insider" community is currently facing a more difficult challenge than most. Mark just lost his entire business in a fire and doesn't know what to do next in order to begin again.

Well, Mark, if you're thinking about starting an Internet business, you're definitely on the right track. Out of any business you could start, an online one is by far the cheapest -- and the quickest!

To help you get started on the right foot, here are some tips on how you can get your business up and running in 30 days -- and making a profit -- with under $200.

Step #1: Use Wordtracker to find a product people already want to buy (1 month = $55.78)

The first thing you need to do is locate a niche market and discover a product you can sell to them.

Wordtracker is a keyword research tool that makes this step as easy as possible. It shows you what people are searching for in the search engines, so you can discover what their problems are and then present them with solutions.

A one-month membership should give you plenty of time to complete this first step. You can sign up for Wordtracker at: http://www.wordtracker.com.

Step #2: Choose a domain and set up your hosting account (3 months = $23.94)

Most hosting companies are dirt cheap these days and will give you a domain name when you sign up.

If you get a beginner account with 1and1Internet, you can get three months of hosting for just $23.94. It's a great hosting company and will provide you with everything you need to get started.

You can sign up by going to http://www.1and1.com.

Step #3: Build your site using NVU (It's FREE!)

Although 1and1.com provides you with a basic website builder, you may decide you need more advanced web editing capabilities to customize your site.

If you're on a tight budget, NVU will do the trick. It offers a great WYSIWYG editor for free. As you get more advanced, you may want to upgrade to Dreamweaver (which you can buy at Adobe.com). But NVU is more than enough to get you started.

You can try it out at: http://www.nvu.com.

Step #4. Set up your payment process using PayPal (It's FREE!)

If you're going to sell your own product online, you need to be able to take payment for it! And if you're counting pennies, PayPal is by far your best option because it's free and so easy to add to your site.

Be sure to sign up for a "Premier" account. It's still free but offers some additional features you need as an ebusiness.

Okay... so your site's up and you're able to process payments. Now you need visitors!

But how do you get traffic on a shoestring budget?

Step #5: Use pay-per-click engines to drive qualified traffic to your site (1 month starting cost = $100)

Here's some good news: When you sign up for your hosting account with 1and1.com, you get $100 in free traffic from Yahoo, Google and Microsoft. If you match that investment, you'll have $200 to play with -- and that amount of money can go a long way if you play your cards right.

Just make sure you don't blow on your money on high-priced, overly general keywords!

Stick to savvy pay-per-click strategies and bid on cheap, overlooked keywords -- and you'll be able to get quality traffic without draining your bank account.

(Hint: think synonyms and misspellings!)

Step #6: Distribute articles to free directories and content sites (It's FREE!)

One of my favorite free traffic strategies is simply writing a couple of info-packed articles and posting them in newsletter directories and free content sites where other people can pick them up and republish them.

It's a great way to get inbound links pointing to your site, so it rockets to the top of the search engine listings. Plus, the articles spread word about your business and help build your credibility as an industry expert, so your visitors will be more likely to buy from you.

Those are just two traffic strategies that cost very little and will get you ramped up and making money quickly. There are lots of others as well -- such as blogging, Web 2.0 strategies, affiliate marketing... the list goes on.

That's what I love about the Internet -- it's so unbelievably cheap to get started.

How cheap? Well, the six steps I listed above will cost you only $179.72 -- not a bad investment for a profitable business!

However, there's one thing you need to know: The secret to setting up a truly successful business in such a short time is to make sure you have the right training and information guiding you along the way.

The entrepreneurs who end up blowing all their money with nothing to show for it are the ones who spend too much on strategies that haven't been proven to work... or get sucked into "get rich quick" scams... or try to reinvent the wheel.

A small investment in your education will save you a huge amount of money over the long term. Not only will you learn what you need to do to avoid costly mistakes and grow your business in record time -- you'll also discover how to recognize incredible money-saving opportunities when they come your way.

(Opportunities, for example, like the one I'm going to tell you about below!)

So Mark, I hope that gives you some direction on how to bounce back from the fire and get started with your next business. I'm willing to bet this one will be more successful than your last one ever was!

Please drop me a line and let me know how you're doing. And if there's anything else I can do to help, just let me know.

To your success,

Derek Gehl