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The media is delighting in the dot-com fall-out. Be it the radio, TV or even on the Web, the news is the same - yet another dot com has gone under. "The era of profitable e-business has ended" has become the doomsayer's favorite chant.

Don't believe it !

The opportunity for a smart e-business has never been more attractive. But to make the best of the situation, you need to learn. You must try and figure out what the dot-bombs did wrong. You need to answer the question:

How can I benefit from the mistakes the overfunded, over-hyped, clueless dot-com businesses made, and create a profitable online business?

You don't have to reinvent the wheel. By following some commonsense guidelines, you can avoid the traps that destroyed many dot-com businesses. If you look closely at what they did wrong, three glaring mistakes stand out:

       1.They tried to be too big, too fast. Instead of focussing on a well-defined market, they tried to be everything to everyone.

       2.They didn't develop viable business models. In the mad rush for market share, basic tenets of business were thrown to the winds.

       3.They wasted money on ineffective advertising. Literally millions were spent on useless ad campaigns that created a splash but did nothing to improve business profitability.

So what can you do differently today?

Here are my five rules to explosive e-business success:

RULE #1: Define a narrow niche market and focus your efforts on it.

Don't try to attract a huge, wide general market like pet owners or hobbyists or collectors. Instead define a narrow sub-group of this vast population. Like a laser beam, focus your attention on a small group - cat owners or stamp collectors or cross-stitch hobbyists.

The truth is, creating two or three small e-businesses each targeting a specific niche market is the easiest way to make money on the Internet. Too many people are in search of the "big one", the single hugely successful business that will make their fortune. This leaves many niches overlooked and ignored - niches that you can exploit with great results.

This is how most savvy online marketers have made their e-fortunes !

They first identify a niche market. Next, they find out what that market wants. Then they develop (or locate) a product or service that fills that need, and offer it to them. And when they - not surprisingly - explode their profits, they automate the entire process so that it runs on autopilot. And start again on another business idea.

That's the secret of online success - Start small, grow to dominate a small niche, automate the business, and move onto the next one.

I know it sounds too obvious to be missed. But many people do. And there is a lot of money to be made by applying this strategy.

RULE #2: Keep In Touch With Your Market

You need to set your business apart from the crowd, make it stand out from your competitors. You need to be unique.

You may achieve this by bringing something to the table that no one else does.

• You may offer a lower priced service or product
• You may offer higher quality
• Your after-sales customer support may be exceptional
• Your expertise and knowledge may be the best
• Your targeting may be more precise and focussed

Whatever you are better at, tell your customers about it. And do it again and again. Expert direct marketers teach that it takes up to seven contacts with a potential customer to get them excited about your product.

The easiest and most effective way to do this on the Internet is to keep in touch with your customers by email. You must first capture their email address and obtain their permission to contact them over time.

Publishing an ezine that will be of interest to your target market is one of the best ways to achieve this end. Because you are offering them something of value, your customer will be more likely to give you his/her email address - which you then use to build up a relationship, and convert over time into repeated sales which will skyrocket your profits.

RULE #3: Use Your Advertising Budget Wisely

Once your market is clearly defined, targeting your promotion efforts towards this audience becomes easier. You can now place your ads where they'll generate the most interest.

No longer will you be throwing money at ad campaigns that are hit-or-miss. Instead you can concentrate all your efforts on performance-based advertising that pulls in new buyers like honey attracts bees.

By publishing your own ezine, you can get the ultimate benefit of advertising only to your most qualified targets - and spend very little doing so. In fact, you will now be able to pay for customers - not overpriced, unproven advertising !

RULE #4: Model Yourself On A Successful Business

Building an e-business is not a piece of cake. There are many elements to it.

• Your product or service will have to be of high quality and appeal to the needs of your target market.
  
• You will need a well-planned and nicely designed website to showcase it.
  
• Then you need killer sales copy, a flawless sales process
  
• A marketing campaign to blow your competition right out of the water !
  
  And most important of all ....
  
  
• You need to build an opt-in e-mail list and send them your email newsletter or ezine. This will help boost your profits from back end sales to your existing customers.

One sure-fire way to jump-start your e-business success and get a lead over your competition is to take the time to educate yourself.

If you're in a hurry to get started learning, I strongly recommend the "Insider Secrets to Internet Marketing" by Corey Rudl. It is an excellent course on every single aspect of online marketing written by an expert. Corey's several e-businesses earn a total of 5.2 million dollars every year.

And in the Insider Secrets to Internet Marketing, he explains each and every one of his winning strategies to skyrocket your sales and explode your e-business profits. Click here to check out this fantastic course. I strongly recommend it.

And we can help you too.

By exploring The Ezine Marketing Center and the extensive resources on ezine marketing that we offer on this site, you can learn from experts - experienced Internet marketers who have personally tried out different methods, tricks, tactics and strategies. You don't have to reinvent the wheel - just learn from someone who has done the hard work, broken new ground, spent time and money doing so, people who have tried, and failed - before becoming a wild success!.

It is from these people, these proven experts, that you must learn to win. Keep visiting The Ezine Marketing Center, explore the various sections, and soon you'll be growing your business profits to undreamed heights.

RULE #5: Plan Your E-business To Be Profitable

It's glaringly obvious. Businesses ought to make money.

Strangely enough, people often get caught up in a plan, or idea, or scheme and plunge right in - without pausing to think how they are going to profit from it.

An idea - even a great idea - is not a business plan. It can become a plan when it is backed by research. When you have defined a target market, determined how you are going to stay in touch with it, and figured how you are going to turn a profit from it - then, you have a business plan.

And a good business plan must decide to profit within a set period of time.

So how can you come up with a great plan for your e-business, and get it off to a roaring start without spending a fortune on marketing? Read on...

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Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian is author of the bestselling ezine creating course, EZINE LAUNCH at http://www.EzineLaunch.com In just 14 days you can create a 'killer' ezine guaranteed to explode your profits.

Get more surefire ezine creating secrets for FREE from Mani's EZINE LAUNCH MONTHLY newsletter. Visit http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com/ezl-monthly/ or email freezine@ezinemarketingcenter.com

Also get a FREE bonus 7-day e-biz primer - send email to EzineMarketingCourse@freeautobot.com