Start Your Own Online Business

The Internet has changed the way people communicate and how businesses operate. It's also made it easier to fulfill your dreams of creating and building a business from the convenience of your own home. In the Starting Your Own Online Business course, you will learn how to develop a digital or traditional product or service and build a website to sell and deliver that product online. This course outlines a step-by-step approach that's easy to follow—from building a simplified strategy to branding your business. From start to finish, you will gain an understanding of what it takes to create, build, and maintain a profitable online business!

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6 Weeks / 24 Course Hrs
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Start Your Own Online Business

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Course code: syb

Today, the Internet has changed everything. It is now entirely possible to create, launch, and build a profitable business from the convenience of your home with little to no upfront investment. This course will give you a solid foundation for building and growing a successful digital business.

You will be given a step-by-step approach that is easy to follow—from building a simplified strategy to branding your business. You will learn to create a product and how to build and launch your own website. You will learn to engage prospective customers, and implement a process that will drive fresh leads to your business. You simply need to know what to do and how to do it. So whether you are looking to generate a nice side income or even to replace your current income and ditch your full-time job, this course is for you.

What you will learn

  • Build a business brand that is ready to be launched online
  • Create products and services that you can sell as part of your online business
  • Create and launch a business website
  • Set up an email management system, write engaging content, and deliver emails in a timely manner
  • Generate leads to keep your business growing
  • Implement an online support center for your business

How you will benefit

  • Discover the techniques, tools, and strategies necessary to create a successful online business
  • Create a healthy and vibrant online business by generating leads to continually grow your business
  • Be able to supply your online customers with online support to increase customer satisfaction and minimize refunds

How the course is taught

  • Instructor-Moderated or Self-Guided online course
  • 6 Weeks or 3 Months access
  • 24 course hours

In this lesson, we will build the foundation you need to start and grow a successful online business. You will understand what an online business is, the key components that make it work, and the steps for building your own. You will also learn about the three most popular online business models. Finally, you will be introduced to the concept of a Visual Business Strategy (VBS) diagram, which you will use to summarize your Internet business plan.

Learn how to build a business brand that's ready to be launched online. First, you will discover some secrets about developing an influential and recognizable name for your business. Next, you will learn how you can quickly and easily stake a claim to that business name throughout the Internet. After that, we'll examine ways to get a logo to support your business branding. Finally, you will gain an understanding of the importance of keywords and learn how to craft an effective keyword strategy for your business.

See how to create products and services that you can sell as part of your online business. First, we'll explore the various types of products and services and how to build them. Next, you will consider what makes a "good" product and zero in on the right product for you. Finally, we'll look at how to tackle building your product, from creating your product development plan to leveraging your past efforts to develop your product more quickly and efficiently.

Tackle the task of creating and launching a business website. You will understand what type of website you should build and learn how to align it with your business strategy. Then you will see how to develop an outline for your website, wireframe individual pages, and create or find the content you will need to make your web pages come alive. After that, we'll explore ways to build and launch your website without having to know anything about website design or coding. Finally, you will learn what it means to "host" your website.

Gain an understanding of the basics of selling products on the Internet and learn how to design and document a sales process that aligns with your business strategy. Next, you will learn how to implement your newly created sales process by selecting the right mix of third-party tools and accounts that work with your website to conduct business transactions online. Finally, we'll examine how you can monitor, track, and measure the effectiveness of your sales process and use that information to increase your sales over time.

Learn what a digital communication network is and why you need to develop one for your business. Next, you will gain an understanding of the different types of digital communication methods and how you can use each to engage and develop relationships with your followers. Finally, we'll examine some advanced strategies that you can use to optimize and automate your communication with your prospects and customers consistently.

First, learn about the importance of utilizing an email management system to communicate with your prospects and customers. Next, we'll examine how you can set up your system, write engaging content, and deliver emails in a timely and automated manner. Finally, we'll explore some advanced email marketing strategies that you can use to help grow your email list and increase engagement.

Build a foundation for using social media to grow your business. You will understand the definition of social media and explore critical principles to make sure that you're using social media in the right way. Next, you will learn about a process you can follow to consistently and effectively engage with prospects and customers. Finally, you will learn about different ways to generate and publish content quickly and easily.

Examine the importance of generating leads to maintain a healthy and vibrant online business. First, we'll explore the concept of a lead generation process and review the types that exist. Next, we will work together to outline a lead generation strategy that is customized for your business. Finally, we'll outline the steps necessary to implement and systematize the lead generation processes you have selected to drive targeted prospects to your website.

Why should you consider using video as one of your main lead generation processes to grow your online business? In this lesson, you will find out why, and we'll walk through the steps you can take to create compelling videos without being a video expert. Next, we'll take a peek at basic and advanced methods to create and distribute videos to gain exposure for your online business. Finally, you will learn how to host, record, and automate the delivery of videos through webinars.

Gain an understanding of how you can build a partnership program to introduce more people to your online business. First, you will learn what a partner program is and how it can help grow your business. Next, you will explore the critical aspects of any partnership program and how to integrate it into your website. Finally, we'll examine some crucial strategies for introducing your partnership program to prospects as well as new and future customers to generate an ongoing stream of fresh leads.

See how to implement an online support center for your business. First, you will learn about what types of expectations online customers have for customer service and support and examine the essential pieces of any online support center. Next, we'll explore both basic and advanced ways that you can provide customer service support over the Internet and investigate various support solutions that you can use. Finally, we'll examine some key strategies for engaging with new and legacy customers to maximize customer satisfaction and minimize refunds.

Brad Semp

Brad Semp, Ph.D., is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at a global corporation, a life-long entrepreneur, and a former professor of Bachelors and Masters of Science courses in Internet Marketing. Dr. Brad is active on social media platforms to engage with prospects and customers, expand relationships, and to grow businesses. He routinely coaches other entrepreneurs and business owners and consults with Fortune 500 organizations on how to design and implement effective social media systems, strategies, and tactics.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

  • This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

  • PC: Windows 8 or later.
  • Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
  • Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

  • Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

Instructor-Moderated: A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.​

Self-Guided: Your course begins immediately after you enroll.​

Instructor-Moderated: Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

Self-Guided: You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.

Instructor-Moderated: The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.​

Self-Guided: There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.

Instructor-Moderated: Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.​

Self-Guided: Because this course is self-guided, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.

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