Costa Rica Business – Can you live in Costa Rica by building an Internet business? Part One
The real question might be: How well do you know yourself?
Starting and running any business is not a picnic – and an Internet based business can be just as much of a challenge as any ‘brick and mortar’ business.
Do you have the ‘sticktoitiveness’, the ‘go-get-um’ and just plain ‘never say die’ attitude it requires to build a business of your own? Of course you do! So let’s get started.
The first thing you must determine before deciding what type of an Internet business to open is: What are your own skills and talents? What do you mean you don’t have any? We’ll get to that later…
It also pays to know your personality type. If you are an outgoing person who likes to chat with people this will lend itself to certain types of online businesses.
If you live in a closet and never even talk to your own relatives, you may have to look for a psychiatrist (just kidding – I like shy people) and an Internet business where you simply redirect traffic to other online sellers and make a percentage of the sale, keeping human interaction to a minimum.
Idea Number One – Be an Expert
Let’s examine what you are good at: what have you spent the last decade of your life doing (and don’t tell me nothing). Not just “what type of job did you do?”
Were you an avid reader of books about whales? Did you travel a lot to France? Do you like to cook? Can you build a bicycle with your eyes closed? Do you love art? There must be something, some particular subject you love to talk about, write about or search the Internet for information about.
Whatever your passion is, consider building an information site about this subject. You can become the world’s expert on Caribbean cooking or fish species of the Amazon. Maybe you know more about Japanese Koi fish than anyone else and can offer a monthly newsletter to enthusiasts for a modest annual subscription fee. All things are possible. The main thing is to open your mind to what your life experiences and interests can make happen.
Once you have determined what your specific field of interest is, start considering how you would like to present this information to your audience. Obviously a web site would be the beginning; but what about an email newsletter? Will the website be a free subscription site? Will you charge a subscription for the newsletter? Will you make money simply off advertising on your site after web traffic grows or from selling accessories and other gadgets? More about this later…
Idea No. 2 – Sell Products
“Are you out of your mind Dave? I’m not going to set up a warehouse and sell inventory!” I hear you say. And you are right. In today’s unstable world investing in inventory can be a huge risk. That is why many are selling millions in wholesale products without ever having to stock or ship a single item.
Yup! – very low risk and high returns are possible by using on line wholesale suppliers who will actually drop ship the products on your behalf to your clients. Many drop-shippers agree to ship even single orders. All that is required is an attractive on line store properly promoted with the products, pricing and description.
You must do your homework on exactly which wholesaler to use, which products to sell based on competition in the Internet marketplace and whether the prices they offer are competitive. These are issues a good Internet consultant can help you with.
Idea No. 3 – Sell Services
Here is where we discover your real genius. Are you a great writer? Be a freelance writer. Are you a programmer? Be a freelance programmer. Art you an artist? Promote your works internationally. Are you a graphic designer? Tell the world.
You don’t necessarily need a huge website to promote yourself but it helps to have at least a brief biography and samples of your work. The site should be professional looking and have the essential information required for potential clients to make a decision about using your services.
There are a number of web sites where professionals can promote themselves and gain freelance work while living in Costa Rica. Before attempting this however, I recommend you have at least a simple web site up to show off who you are and what you have done.
How to Make Money on the Internet
This is the million dollar question: how can you make money on the Internet? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had clients come to my office with a few bucks in their pocket ready to build the web site of their dreams and when I ask them “so how do you plan to promote this site” I get the same look – kind of an “uh-oh, I didn’t think about that” look.
When you visit Google or Yahoo and type in the phrase: “Mongolian Goulash”, a list of sites appears. How do you think the first 10 sites get to be in the Top 10? I’ve had some people tell me “that’s all paid for”. No, it’s not. To be in the Top 10 in Google, Yahoo or MSN (or as we like to call them “The Big Three”) requires a lot of work.
One must perform what is known as “search engine optimization” (SEO). SEO is the art and science of building good content, links and improving the code in your pages so the search engines will recognize exactly what your pages are all about and (hopefully) rank them highly for the terms that are important to you. It can take years for a new web site to achieve a good ranking in the Big Three.
Another way to attain instant traffic is via Pay Per Click (PPC), little ads which appear in Google, Yahoo and MSN search results and within some web sites. Other methods include banner ads, email, print ads etc.
How a site is promoted depends largely on the market you are trying to reach. Once traffic begins an analysis of which advertising sources are most efficient and how long it will take to reach a break even can be calculated for the client.
The important factor to keep in mind is a web site without promotion is like a printed brochure in a desk drawer. No one is going to see it. Once you have promotion your web site will begin bringing revenues and refinements can be made until it is performing in the manner you want it to.
This is part one of two. You can see Costa Rica Business – Can you live in Costa Rica by building an Internet business? Part two here.
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Written by David McKenzie who is the General Manager of Ticode SRL,
a web development and design group located in Heredia, Costa Rica. David is an expert on Internet Marketing and has consulted for clients throughout the world on how to improve their search engine ranking and attract more traffic to their web sites. His company has designed and built web sites for companies in Europe, North America, Central America, Asia and Australia.
For a limited time only and as a special offer to VIP Members of WeLoveCostaRica.com Dave has agreed to offer a free fifteen minute email consultation with you if you have an internet business idea that you would like to discuss. To contact Dave McKenzie, please use the simple form below and don’t forget to answer those three little questions which will help him to help you.
Personal note from Scott Oliver – Founder of WeLoveCostaRica.com: I have known Dave McKenzie and his lovely wife for over five years now and can vouch for their honesty and professionalism.
Andrew Makarik
to@welovecostarica.comAndrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.
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