There are many free resources on the internet you can use to get up and running on the internet quickly. Here are the steps you should follow, and available resources to assist you:
This list assumes you are either already in business or you have all the proper licenses with which to conduct business.
Know your target market
If you are a Fort Collins based electrician and want to maximize your time billing out to clients, are you better off seeking local business or driving 40 minutes to Greeley to chase a deal? If you are a plumber will you get more business from people needing plumbing work or from home designers?
The name of the game is productivity. The more closely you can target a market that will keep you productive the more money you will make.
Set up realistic goals
Everybody wants to make lots of money right away. While this may be possible, it is usually the exception rather than the rule. If you are starting out with a brand new website expect it to take a few months before you see any kind of substantial traffic to your site. There are ways to make this happen faster but there are no free lunches so expect to either put in extra time or money to make this happen.
Register a domain name
If you don’t already own a domain name, you will need to get one. You can get free domain names but they come with strings attached, usually you will be advertising somebody elses business on your website. Why do that? There is already enough competition out there.
Create a web site
There are many tools available with which to create a great looking website and no programming skills are needed to do so. The art of this, though, is placing the right content on your website that will attract and convert the type of traffic that will make you money.
Get your web site noticed
There are many ways to go about this ranging from dropping your business card somewhere to giving a presentation to getting written up in the newspaper to getting others to acknowledge your site.
Set your business up to capture referrals
Once your web site is bringing in new business the best possible way to leverage this is by asking your new customers for referrals. Give your customers a reason to remember you and they will return the favor with referral business.