I want to earn money working from home. Though several options are available, I believe, internet business is the best one," Kanchana told me. "There can be no question about it. However, unless you have clear goal, great business plan and sound knowledge about what you intend to do, you may find it difficult to make reasonable income. It is true for any business. Now, tell me, what is your plan?" I asked Kanchana.
Kanchana is a B.A graduate. She is a housewife. Her husband is a software engineer in Bangalore. They belong to upper middle class society. Though she does not have any financial difficulty, she wants to spend her time usefully. She wants to show to her family members and friends that she too can achieve great things in life.
"I have always been impressed by the success of Amazon.com. It started as the biggest online book seller and now has grown into online seller of millions of products. I would like to start a big online bookshop like Amazon.com," Kanchana said. "Amazon.com invested millions of dollars in the venture and several hundred software experts work for the company. Do you have someone who can invest huge amount of money in your venture?" I asked Kanchana. "I thought if I learn how to use a software program such as Frontpage, I too can build a website like Amazon.com! Now I realize it is not simple and easy. I want to earn a few thousand rupees a month by selling books online. Is it possible to achieve that humble goal?" Kanchana asked me.
"That is not difficult. What type of books do you want to sell?" I asked her. "All types of books," replied Kanchana. "If you build a general website, earning even a few hundred rupees will be difficult. People must have better reason to go to your website than to go to Amazon. So, I suggest that you must focus on a niche. Concentrate on something special. Build your website around that theme. Then people will have a strong reason to come to your website," I said.
"I know a lot about astrology and numerology. Will that topic work?" Kanchana was not confident about the theme of her business. "It's an interesting subject. Most newspapers and magazines carry a regular feature that tell the readers what is going to happen in the next few days. Though no one takes those predictions seriously, millions of people read them regularly! So, that topic will certainly work," I replied her.
"Do you believe in astrology?" Kanchana asked me. "What I think is not important. You must give customers what they want if it is within law. In our country, people do consult astrologers before taking up any important activity such as marriage, starting business and buying a house. So, there is a big market for it. Any instrument, whether positive or negative or neutral, can be an instrument of infinite progress. So, use your knowledge to inspire people and help them make progress. If you work with this attitude, your business will be successful," I said.
"Can you please give me specific suggestions?" Kanchana requested me. "First of all you must make the site useful to the visitors. Then you must make them come again and again. Create a section with useful information and articles for each important aspect in our life such as marriage, business, job and education. Then update the content regularly. These two activities will attract visitors to your website and make them repeat visitors," I told her.
"How will I make money?" Kanchana asked me. "Join the affiliate programs of big online book sellers. If you refer visitors to their websites, they will pay you commission for each purchase the visitors make. There are software programs that will get content from big websites and show them on your website. Use them to create content rich website. There are thousands of other useful services and products that are not listed in online stores. Then promote your website through search engines. If you do these tasks right, earning a few thousand rupees a month will be easy," I replied. Then we discussed the project in detail for an hour.
Kanchana spent the next four months in developing content for her new website. Once her site was ready to go online, she applied for affiliate programs. One of the websites is a big online astrology website and has tens of thousands of visitors. In response to her application for affiliate program, this website sent her an email: 'Our website has content on western astrology. When reviewing your site, we felt we must include content on eastern astrology also. We are pleased with the quality of your content and the presentation. We are willing to buy your website for $6000. You can continue as webmaster for $250 a month '
You don't need the services of an astrologer to guess what Kanchana's response to that email was.