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If you’re a new Internet Entrepreneur, you definitely need to think about keeping your startup costs down and building your free stuff pile high.

I’ve compiled a list of great free resources for building your internet business below. Most of these are information resources, but valuable nonetheless. Take a look:

• I’m a long-time fan of iStockPhoto, but I just discovered a new free source for photos and images at stock.xhng – very useful!
• Analytics are great. Long-tail information is even better. Check out the free service over at Hit Tail today!
• I just discovered Caroline Middlebrook this month, and she has tons of free stuff for you at her website.
• Yaro Starak is a successful Internet Entrepreneur who has attracted a lot of attention lately with his Blog Mastermind group. Get his free report today.
• In this business, competitive information is everything. SpyFu has a tremendously powerful free service, which allows you to “spy” on your online advertising competition.

Have any other suggestions? Plop ‘em down below.

Let’s take a look at the very concept of an “internet business” to define the term right away:

The typical “internet business” is a company or organization that generates regular profit from sales made exclusively online. Some business components may exist in the “offline” world, but the sole medium for sales processing and customer contact is the Internet.

For a specific look at various types of internet business models – that is, different ways of using the internet to create a revenue stream or to maximize and enhance existing revenue streams – check out “The Top 4 Internet Business Models.”

The idea of an “internet business” is appealing because of the potential for automation and mobility. Without a need for a brick-and-mortar store or a standing warehouse, you can travel anywhere with the business on a laptop, or decide tomorrow that you’d like to move, never once worrying about the impact on your business plan.

So what are the essential elements of an internet business?

Well, like any other business, first you’ve got to have a product or service to sell.

Then, you’ve got to have an effective marketing and promotion plan for your product or service.

And, finally, you need a product delivery mechanism – i.e. shipping the product or providing the service.

To be true to the definition of an “internet business,” you must fulfill all three of these basic business processes via the internet. Your product or service must be presentable via a website. Your marketing and advertising methods must effectively deliver customers to the website. And your product or service fulfillment must be initiated and tracked online.

Some internet businesses can function with an entirely digital infrastructure: websites that feature the product, online advertising that instantly delivers customers to the websites, and even a digital product that can be accessed or downloaded immediately. Classic examples here include digital information products, membership sites, and some affiliate marketing methods.

Most internet businesses will require at least some offline mechanisms: offline advertising, physical inventory storage space, traditional shipping methods, customer service call centers, etc.

As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, it is truly impossible to build an entirely digital internet business, as at least some elements will always be handled offline. The internet is, after all, a manifestation of the offline world. (I know some people like to pretend otherwise.)

Still, with the current state of and constant progress in the world of technology, a primarily digital business is possible and comes with a handful of great advantages:

• Automation creates less or zero need for permanent employees
• Online marketing allows for more focused measuring and testing
• Digital delivery can greatly reduce shipping and fulfillment costs
• Email communication streamlines customer service requests

Any one or combination of these can lead to reduced overhead and increased profit margins – important attributes of any solid business model!

Related Articles:

• What is a Business Niche?
• The Information Marketing Business System
• Podcast Review - Internet Business Mastery
• Why Money is Important
• Keeping a Business Journal

Product development is a crucial area in any business. Investing plenty of time in the initial phases of product creation can make or break the success of your release to the market.

I have been hard at work in developing my next information product and thought I’d share some of my insights into that very important first step: brainstorming…

1. Generate a list of niche areas based on your own expertise and interests.
It’s always best to look to your own life in the early stages of brainstorming. The idea here is to chase something you’re actually interested in from the start. The greater your own level of interest, the longer you’ll manage to sustain the idea over the course of its “shelf life.”

2. Choose one specific area and solve one of its problems.
Sometimes the obvious move from step one to step two lies in solving a problem in the first place. If you generate a list of 10 interest areas in the step above, but only one seems to have a problem you’re interested in solving, you’ve already narrowed the list.

Also: avoid getting “hung up” on the problem itself. The trick here is to effectively combine productive problem-solving with attentive market research. You’ll see what I mean soon….

3. Develop some general ideas for products.
Perhaps the best way to approach problem-solving by product-idea is to put yourself in the market. Become your own customer. Ask yourself, “If I were searching for a product to solve problem X, what would I want in the product? What benefits would I look for? How would I want to get the product/solution?” And so on.

When you arrive at a good idea (hopefully, a few good ideas) it’s time to start testing - the next phase in the product development process. We’ll look at that process in a later post.

Happy brainstorming!

Reader Toolbox:

Since always, professionals have favored 310-200 more than 642-533. They even deem it more than enough experience to write 642-444.

Related Articles:

• The Information Marketing Business System
• 5 Secrets to Information Marketing Success
• Creating Passive Streams of Income

Perhaps the most important principle for starting and running a successful online business is “Find Your Niche!”

This is great advice.

The only problem: most people will never really tell you what a niche is or how to go about finding one.

Much of this problem is directly related to the definition itself. I recently hunted around for an appropriate explanation of “niche” and turned up these two interesting definitions:

1. a position or activity that particularly suits somebody’s talents and personality or that somebody can make his or her own;

AND,

2. an area of the market specializing in a particular type of product.

So here’s the problem:

The second definition is the very general approach you’ll hear most of the time. “Go find an area of speciality,” they say. “Look for your target market.”

Good advice? You bet it is. But something is definitely missing here. This is where we need to reconnect with the first definition, especially the part about what “somebody can make his or her own.”

The bottom line is if you’re going to be successful in any niche, it must *suit* you – it must be an appropriate fit for who you are.

I recently read about one Harvard professors theory of “Multiple Intelligences” and how each of us occupies one or more areas specific to who we are and where we excel – whether in kinesthetic, linguistic, spiritual, musical or other such areas.

This is a great place to begin looking for your niche.

The key, of course, is to bridge that gap between what’s unique to you in personality and what can be developed into a valuable product and service for a hungry marketplace.

What’s the most promising product to create and sell for substantial profit in today’s economy?

I know… you’ve heard it all before, but I’m going to drive it home again.

That’s right: information.

Dan Kennedy’s book, How to Make Millions with Your Ideas, provides just one more testament to the fact.

What I really enjoy about this book is Kennedy’s approach to demonstrating the importance of creating vertical businesses or profit-centers around one key area of proven success. This is where information comes into play, maximizing profit potential through successful creation and marketing of print-on-demand or digital information products.

In the world of internet business, perhaps the most successful area of information profit lies in showing others how to succeed in their own online business efforts.

If you’re plugged into the stream of internet gurus, I’m sure you’re well aware of the multitude of products available in this highly saturated niche. Despite the saturation, I’m sure many of the pros and newcomers are making a substantial amount of money selling their ideas.

Check out Dan Kennedy’s dated but classic read How to Make Millions with Your Ideas today and start cultivating your own mental moneymaker.

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