Successful Online Business Is this for you?

Posted by By Cam Marcus on: 2005-07-12 00:22:56

If you are planning to take your business online (or starting a new online business), learn from someone who is there. This story will take you from the initial idea to implementation. Read about the lessons learned and the pit falls to avoid.

This is a story that begins fairly recently - back in the summer of 2004 – when two friends transformed an idea into a successful online business. This is the story of how two people working in unrelated jobs, in different parts of the country, pooled their talents and resources to bring to life a successful web site in a matter of one year.

Before you can understand the geniuses of this online business, I need to give you a little background:

In 1992 I started a business that trained people who had lost their jobs new skills (primarily computer) in order to re-enter the workforce. The results were rewarding and the job was fulfilling. Over the years we re-trained over 2,000 people and placed over 70% of them in new – and usually better jobs then they had.

Our re-training contracts were through the government’s work force development program. Over the years the business grew……But alas, the government, in all of its wisdom has deemed these re-training programs an excess. As a result, funds for helping people achieve new job skills has been severely reduced, and in some cases eliminated entirely.

I was faced with a dilemma…..what to do with my business. I have never had a boss, and wasn’t very eager to find out what it would be like to have one now! I started my self employed career by accident when in 1980 I dropped out of the University of Vermont to market a board game that I invented. Over the years, a dozen or so other ventures followed.

The job retraining issue and my personal biography are not the points of this story…..I am only mentioning it to put you in my shoes back in the summer of 2004.

During that spring I was looking for a way to transition my business into a new and hopefully more stable direction. Online businesses had fascinated me for years. I have created and hosted several web sites for my business, and helped others with theirs. None of the web sites were really complicated or involved ecommerce; they were more of an “informational” type of structure.

At this same time, a friend of mine, whom I had lost track of was also facing a very similar question about his own future. A mutual friend of ours who had kept track of both of us knew our situations. He encouraged me to call Michael.

The last that I had heard of Michael, he had moved to California. He went help a woman that he had made contact with in the marketing of her online hypnosis business. Michael (who unlike me finished college, and went on to get his Masters) had always been interested in psychology, human behavior, and how to motivate people. This had in turn lead him to studying hypnosis. At the time I wrote it off. Hypnosis? Wasn’t that the stuff of stage performers? How can hypnosis really work?

As mentioned, I had lost track of Michael, and decided to give him a call. He explained to me what he was doing, and had a devised a plan to start an online business. I was very much interested and listened to his idea. It went something like this:

The woman that Michael had been working for (he had just quit) had developed an online business selling hypnosis CD’s that she had recorded herself. I was skeptical about hypnosis, but did respect Michael’s judgment, so I listened on….Michael went on to explain to me that hypnosis CD’s are in fact very effective for many things from weight loss, to smoking cessation, to eliminating procrastination – among many others. The key to having effective recorded hypnosis sessions, however is to have well qualified individuals develop and record the material.

While working in California, the online company Michael worked for sold approximately one hundred hypnosis titles – all developed by one person. This one person had absolutely no formal training whatsoever in psychology. Michael came to realize that there was no way that a single individual can be an “expert” in some many areas – this was the primary reason that he quit. Michael joked that she actually did complete a CHT (Certified Hypnotherapist) course. I thought that sounded respectable, until Michael explained to me that to get a CHT, you have to complete 40 hours of hypnosis training…..and that could even be done online! As a matter of fact there is an article about a psychologist who got his cat certified as a CHT! Read about it here. How would you feel about paying for a hypnosis session with a cat???

This I have come to learn is a big problem with hypnosis: There are so many unqualified people (and even a cat!) using it, with very mixed results.

In order for hypnosis to work and work well, we needed to seriously look at the credentials of who was going to develop and present the material for us…..And that was the basis for our new online business:

Recruit the absolute top people in their field.
In order to differentiate ourselves, we would hold all of the therapists to the absolute highest standards.
At an absolute minimum every one that records for us will have a Ph.D. in a mental health related field.
Preferably they would have also published research and/or authored books.

We would develop a web site – The Hypnosis Network - and then produce, package, and sell the programs online.

I studied what Michael had presented. What really interested me was that the idea was unique. There were absolutely no web sites that had anything close to what we were going to offer. Sure there were lots of hypnosis web sites that had obviously been created by one person (usually a CHT), but absolutely nothing like we were planning.

I also liked the idea that hypnosis was not quite in the main stream yet. The more I studied hypnosis, the more confidence I had – I found numerous research articles from very respected institutions that demonstrated the benefits of hypnosis.

In a matter of a couple weeks we had a company formed. Recruitment of therapists, product production, and web site development followed. Finally we went live in February of 2005.

We had great expectations and were disappointed the first few weeks….All the internet experts told us it would not happen overnight….they were right. By June we were finally approaching our breakeven point, and a little better.

If you want to start your own online business, I highly encourage you – unless, of course, you plan to compete against us! The lessons learned -

Find an idea that you like and will enjoy.
Maintain the highest level of integrity – it will pay off in the long run.
Be persistent – as in any new business there are going to be ups and downs.
If you have a partner, make sure it is some one that is easy going – there will be rough patches.
And here’s a big one that we struggle with: PATIENCE. Remember that ad that was on TV, where the web site got out of control with orders?....Well it’s not like that….Building the sales will take some time, prepare yourself for that.
Beware of vendors. From affiliate managers to publicity coaches, and writers. They all have great stories, but can they really perform. In our experience the answer is usually no. Get references, but even then be alert!
And finally HAVE FUN! If you are not having fun with it, you might as well keep doing what you’re doing now. I wish you the best of luck with your new venture!

If you get a chance (or get stressed out and just need some hypnosis!), stop by our web site, The Hypnosis Network and let us know what you think. It is a work in progress and visitor input is always welcome.

Cam Marcus is the co-founder of The Hypnosis Network. He has started and run over a dozen different businesses. Recently he and a friend decided to tempt their fate with an online buisness. He now shares his story with you.