Creating a successful online business doesn’t have to cost a lot of money! In fact, I started this business with $20, so I know firsthand that starting your business does NOT have to cost an arm and a leg. These are the 3 online business strategies I found the most helpful, along with some testimonials from big businesses we all know and love. (By the way, these can work with physical businesses too, but it will cost more money.)

Include Your Target Audience in the Creation Process

For some reason, everyone seems to believe you must wait until you launch your business to talk about it. WRONG. One of the best strategies is to include your target audience in your creation process. Why Kat? Because now you have built an insane amount of trust with your audience. They are also more invested in the success of your product or service than you are.

The biggest company to do this is Kylie Cosmetics. Do you remember in 2016 when the Kylie Jenner Lip Kit was the only thing people talked about? I do. I was in high school at the time, I know I just aged myself but let’s ignore it, and if you did not have a Lip Kit you were doing it right. It didn’t help that I was on the dance team to be fair, but I digress.

Kylie Jenner involved her followers through her entire makeup line creation. She was doing makeup tutorials with popular Youtubers and posing on Instagram in all these bold and fun liquid lip colors. When it was finally time for her to launch her business she sold out completely in under 1 minute. That’s insane, but it shows you how well this strategy actually works. If you want a more in-depth analysis of how Kylie used this strategy to her full advantage check out this video. 

Here’s how you can start using this strategy today:

• Create a free social media account dedicated to the creation of your product.
•  Give daily updates on what’s happening with your business.
•  Ask the audience what they want to see from your business.
•  Make sure to reply to comments and build relationships with your audience.
•  Create a website that allows people to put in their email. This helps you build your email list, so it’s very important!
•  Once you’re ready to launch, send a coupon code through your email list and announce your launch to your social media audience the day of.

Voila! You now have a successful business that costs you almost no money. The only money you would pay with this technique is buying your domain and web hosting for your website.

Heard it 3 Times or More? Launch Your Business.

This technique runs off the power of trends. If you’ve heard about a topic at random more than 3 times: then it’s highly likely to become a trend soon and extremely profitable. A company that was built off of this philosophy is Lululemon.

Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon, was walking around Vancouver, Canada when he kept hearing one word over and over again, yoga. Immediately, he started taking yoga classes, and just as he suspected the classes were growing each and every day. Chip began creating yoga pants for 22 – 35 year old women prioritizing functionality over style, which was not common in the 80s. After testing his new leggings out on the women in his yoga classes he knew he had a hit. Just like that the star that is Lululemon was born. Interested in hearing more of his story? Check it out here. 

The tactic Chip uses here is called the rules of 3s and you can start using it today by following these steps:

• Go out into the world and see what you can notice 3 times or more. A great example of this is Pilates by the way.
•  Start interacting with that community as soon and as often as possible.
•  Create a product or service that can solve a problem within that community.
•  Try it out on the people you met within that community.
•  Launch your business while using the people you met previously to help you advertise.

This tactic will cost a bit more money than the first one as you have to take classes within the community and test out the product, but I guarantee it’s a lot less than not knowing what you’re doing and experimenting that way.

Networking & Partnerships

Networking, Networking, Networking! I can’t recommend it enough. Networking can easily be the difference between a budding and floundering business. This technique is best if you need to rely on the authority of others to prove your business is legit or if you need money fast.

Scrub Daddy used this tactic to grow their business after their experience on Shark Tank. Now, you don’t have to go on Shark Tank for this tactic to work, but I couldn’t pass talking about these adorable sponges.

The Scrub Daddy sponge is created out of a material that becomes hard in cold water and soft in warm water allowing it to clean a variety of messes, unlike a regular kitchen sponge. During their appearance on Shark Tank, they sold 42,000 units in less than 10 minutes. I wanted to highlight this because it’s the perfect example of relying on someone else’s authority to gain profitability. During this episode, they also gained a partnership with Lori Garner, the queen of Shark Tank, and 200,000 towards their business. Interested in learning more? Click here.

You too can gain life-changing partnerships if you apply these steps:

• Create a LinkedIn account.
•  Connect with businesses in your preferred industry.
•  Ask for partnerships.

I saved the best for last because this is a free strategy! You can also promote your business at industry conferences if you are willing to spend a bit of money.

Key Takeaways

In the long run, you save money and create a profitable online business by using these 3 easy business strategies are:

• Involve your target audience while you create your business following their feedback as you go.
•  Heard about something 3 times or more at random. Do some research and then start a business.
•  Network to gain authority and start your business faster.

If you learned something or liked this article, please leave a comment below.