Nothing displaying? Tough to read? Click here and view the Classroom in full-size. Feel free to link here.

Launching an online business doesn’t have to be, and isn’t, that difficult.

Making use of the Internet for your first company allows you many advantages over the traditional brick-and-mortar business.

• An online business doesn’t require a high amount of capital to start with — many businesses can be started for $200 or less.

• You can constantly test (Startup Launchr readers will soon find out how anal I get about numbers) and tweak according to what the market is telling you.

• Spreading the word is easy with the help of social media tools (how did YOU find this site?) and other vehicles for word of mouth.

• Your shop is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I could go on and on, but you probably already know all the benefits of setting up shop online or else you wouldn’t be reading this.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pocketpreneur has officially been launched.

It’s live and kickin’ at this very moment, so head on over the minty-fresh, brand new blog and have a see for yourself.

How I Chose The Name

If you look at the poll from a couple weeks ago, “Pocketpreneur” received over 50% of the overall votes. In addition to that, I also ran PPC ads on Facebook to test which name would generate the highest click-through rate.

Looking at the click-through rate, “Compact CEO” comes out being a slight winner with a 0.17 CTR (yes, Facebook advertising come with very low click through rates as you can see). I should’ve left the test on for longer to get more accurate data, but I’m quite an impatient man.

Next, I took “Compact CEO” and pitted it against Pocketpreneur.

Pocketpreneur pulled twice as many clicks as Compact CEO did (47 clicks after 77k impressions; Compact CEO would pull approximately 24 clicks at the same amount of impressions).

So if you have to decide on something (such as the name for your next online business, for example), pay-per-click advertising is a relatively cheap way to find out. It’s a great tool to test titles, names, concepts, and even actual products. I’m a firm believer of acting on instinct, but it’s also smart to have numbers backing up your decisions.

How does Pocketpreneur differ from Startup Launchr?

Got sidetracked there for a moment, but here we are again.

It’s quite a simple difference, really. Startup Launchr is dedicated to the execution side of things, while Pocketpreneur is for the business ideas and planning. Both topics are huge beasts, and I felt they both deserved their own dedicated platform (can’t be bad for the branding, either).

So head on over to Pocketpreneur, have a read around the published posts, and subscribe. I’m sure the one-two combination of Startup Launchr and Pocketpreneur won’t disappoint you.

Tough to read? Click here and view the presentation in full-size

So you’ve read through the 6 rules to follow when starting your online business, and you’re itching to launch something.

You understand that your business must, first and foremost, solve a problem for a certain group of people. You’ve taken it to heart that you must be able to get your business up and running quickly. And most important of all, you understand that your business must scale and should require the same amount of work whether you’re servicing 10 or 10,000 customers.

With that said, I’m going to share you with 10 types of businesses you can work on today. These are all businesses you can start without having to quit your job, and can be worked on during nights and weekends.

Hopefully, this should generate some buzz for the launch of Startup Launchr’s sister site (name TBD — help us name the new blog, will you?).

Read the rest of this entry »

Tough to read? Click here and view the presentation in full-size

“What kind of business should I start?”

Most aspiring entrepreneurs ask this very question during the beginning of their journey into business. If you are like most people, the idea of starting your own business probably involves a restaurant franchise, a coffee shop, or a retail store of some sorts (such as selling clothes or books). Or, if you’re a little more in-tune with the times, you’ll be thinking of starting a technology company of some sorts and hoping to secure some venture capital funding.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with these types of businesses. However, if you’re a first-time entrepreneur (and likely, you are if you’re asking this question) these businesses are a bad idea to start with. They are very risky, take a lot of start-up capital, and you’ll most likely end up doing 12-hour work days, 7 days a week. Even more so, you are betting your most important resources (time and money) on an unproven strategy.

Instead, I challenge you to think of your first business as a pet project of some sort. Something that you are passionate about, and don’t mind spending a little bit of money here and there. You’ll never “fail” — you’re simply learning.

And to maximize your chances of success with your business, here are 6 rules you should follow when you’re launching a new business.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tough to read? Click here and view the presentation in full-size

Note to readers: This post marks the beginning of this blog officially being an interactive business blog. Future “meaty” posts on Startup Launchr will include Classrooms™, an interactive presentation such as the one included above. For more on Classrooms, click here.

You’ve got that million-dollar business idea, and can’t wait to put it to action.

This idea probably came to you in less time than it takes to snap your fingers at first. But you’ve nurtured this concept, and over time its evolved from a vague idea to a full-grown brainchild.

You’ve taken down your notes, and whatever spare time you have are spent with visions of your new company up and running. Any book with “how to” and “start business” on its front cover probably catches your eye. You’re thinking about subscribing to Entrepreneur magazine (if you haven’t already done so) and follow a huge set of blogs about business.

And there’s only one thing stopping you from pulling off this plan of yours.

Read the rest of this entry »