If you are thinking about starting an online business, congratulations! Creating an online business is one of the best steps you can take to financial independence. When you create a virtual business online, you are creating a passive income for yourself and creating a residual income that will last for many years.
With all of the great benefits, you’ll derive from having your own online business, there’s also the practical side you have to consider. What will it cost?
One of the first things you will need to start thinking about, is a budget plan for your website and content. The cost of creating and maintaining a business of any kind can typically run into thousands of dollars. But the good thing about an online business is that, unless you also have a brick-and-mortar building, it is relatively low. When compared to starting a business in a typical brick and mortar building, you will find that the cost is very reasonable.
This should get you excited about making plans for your online company in the coming year. But it’s a good idea to flesh out the various costs and see what the price point will be before you start. But keep in mind some of the costs we mention below are only averages and estimates, based on the standard market that you can find online.
This does not mean that everyone prices their services in this range. It’s best to check out as many options as you can before committing to one particular company.
Web Design and Development
First, to have an online business, you have to have a website. It’s not just about the design. But you need a professional designer to create the kind of branding image you need to do to attract the right people. Remember you are not trying to sell to everyone. You are only trying to get to the people who are most likely to invest in or purchase your products and services.
But it is worth the extra money you may spend in getting top-notch designers to create the look and the functionality that you need to create the best website for your business needs. This should include creating an online payment system through Paypal or some other format and creating original graphics, multimedia-ready platforms, and a UX-friendly web environment and navigation system that customers will be glad to use. If you frustrate your customer, they may not be back.
Costs: The costs of web design vary greatly. This site features some price ranges that you can expect to pay for professional web design. But understand that these are just averages. If you do some checking, you may find you can get a professional site for much less in many cases.
Domains and Hosting
Once you get your website idea carved out the way you want it, you’ll need a web host to put it on. It’s best if you can find web designer that also offers web hosting. This way, you’ll have it all in one place. This comes in handy when you need help with either your website, hosting server, or both and avoids you having to chase down different people to get things done.
But if you decide to use a separate host for your web site, that’s fine. Just do your homework and look around to make sure the host does what you need. Among the specifications you should be looking at are:
- Amount of storage space (in GBs)
- HD and media requirements
- Bandwidth
- Number of pages
- Ads or no ads
Costs: These are just a few of the important considerations that you should consider. Costs for good web hosting server can range from $8 per month up to $300 per month or more. It’s important to know what you are getting and to check around for the best rates. There is no need to pay for more than you need to accomplish your goals.
Social Media Maintenance
Many business owners just don’t have the time to manage their social media accounts. So they hire out freelance social media managers to do it for them. This is fine if you get a dependable person. But keep in mind that some of these freelancers may also be maintaining the social media accounts of others.
If you do contract out for a social media manager, it might be best to get one who has the time to devote to only your social media accounts. If you want the person to be exclusive to your social media accounts, expect to pay more.
Costs: The cost for social media can range from $200-$7500 per month or more! Web Builder Expert offers to do this for a fee, and they have some impressive results and companies to their name. But you should compare other sites to see what you get for that price and decide is that’s an investment you can afford.
Media Production Costs
When you decide to create website, expect to budget some money for media production, as well. These days, you can’t afford to have a website without creating original media content to engage your visitors. This will need to be counted as part of your costs unless you decide to do it all yourself, which can get sticky if you don’t have the time or experience to carry it out.
Costs: Costs range from $50 by a freelancer to $50,000 for a high-class first-rate production company. But do you need a Spielberg-style production to get your point across? Probably not!
Marketing and Promotion
If you forget this important step of online business creation, there’s no need to do the rest. Marketing is at the heart of online business success. Unless you tell people about your brand and what you have to offer, it’s all a mute point.
Costs: Marketing costs depend on how much marketing you want to do, how often, and how you wish to implement your marketing plan. Marketing involves everything from creating weekly email marketing campaigns, social media promotion, videos on YouTube and more. The wise startup business owner will pool their resources and make a list of what strategies and tools you will use to keep your ROI high while utilizing the best tools available.
Some of the costs may involve people power while others may involve tools that you use such as automated email campaign software, independent contractors, and design costs.
All of these things should be considered when starting a business. We know that we said at the beginning of this post that the costs are minimal compared to a “real world business.” But don’t let some of the expenses in this post scare you. Learn not to accept everything you read and look into your options for yourself.
In a Nutshell
The key is that you just need to create a great website that gets results and use the tools to your advantage. We’ll make it easy for you. Rather than trying to gather all of these resources in various places, try us out instead.
At webdesignteam.com, we can create your site, host your pages, help you create custom media and video animations, infographics, and more all at one low price.
We love helping business owners reach their goals through a systematic but creative approach. We will work with you individually and create a plan that meets both your business goals and your financial budget needs.
Check out our portfolio at webdesignteam.com, then contact us for a free estimate. We can help you reach your goals in 2017 of creating your online business, a cash cow that will keep making you money for years to come.