by Tim Whiston

Created on: May 13, 2008

Starting a fun, profitable online business can be simple, inexpensive, and exciting. A digital enterprise has many advantages over brick and mortar ventures, including fewer start-up costs and no heavy lifting.

This article will provide you with a simplified overview of everything involved with creating a new Internet business from the ground up. Further, in-depth study is recommended hereafter.

- Your Idea -

The first thing you'll need is a great idea. The most successful businesses are run with passion so I urge you to build on a hobby or area of expertise. Make a list of 10 things you enjoy or know a lot about, then ask yourself which listed items relate to products and services people might be willing to pay for.

For instance, if one of your items is "hiking", you know people buy equipment, and might even be willing to pay for a downloadable, illustrated guide to some of your favorite trails.

Once you have a list of possible themes for your new business, go to Google and do a few searches to see if other Websites are selling products and services related to your favorite themes. If you find some existing businesses like the ones you are thinking about building, congratulations!

Competing sites are a good sign. This means a market already exists and can possibly be further exploited.

If nobody online seems to be selling things related to your idea, it may mean there is no market. But don't give up yet because you'll find out for sure if an idea has legs by doing a little basic research.

- Basic Research -

Your next step is to locate a good keyword research tool and find out if people are looking for stuff related to your list of brilliant business ideas. There are lots of great research tools online, like Word Tracker and Keyword Discovery, that actually show you what searches people are doing on Google and Yahoo!

This is the perfect way to see if there is an interest in your business theme. If you can verify that lots of people are doing searches each month for things related to your idea(s) it means there is a pool of prospects for your future business.

Going back to the hiking example above, you might find that lots of searches are being performed on phrases like "best waterproof hiking boots" or "hiking trails in Virginia".

- Commit To A Plan -

Once you are satisfied with your research and believe that a market exists for your idea, it's time to create your business plan. You can write a highly detailed, formal plan using the guidelines found on sba.gov (small business

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