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Setting Up a Web-Commuting, Internet Business for Sailing Money: Step 1

By on October 6, 2014

Taking the first step is always the toughest. You’re worried about if you’re doing the right thing. You’re not sure that it will work.

Well, I’m here to tell you that this first step to setting up your Web-Commuting, Internet Business is easier than you think. All you have to do is pick your business idea, your niche, your topic. I mean, you didn’t have to quit your day job to take that step did you?

However, if you mess it up, you will certainly fail. Not that failing is a bad thing. After all, there aren’t many success stories out there about people who didn’t initially fail and learn from their mistakes. I’ve done it, and we’ll get into that in a minute.

Okay, so lets talk about how to make sure that you pick a great niche for your business.

There is one, most important, most pivotal, make or break thing that you must make sure of when you choose your niche…You must LOVE it.

There are people, and some of them “experts”, that would disagree. They might say, “As long as you can solve a problem, and you can sell the solution, then you don’t have to love it to be successful.”

So, I disagree with them. You need to love your business niche because there are things about running a business that you won’t enjoy doing. But they must be done, and you had better love your niche and/or the people who’s problem you are solving or you won’t do those necessary business tasks, and you will fail.

How I Failed

It’s time for me to tell you a little story about how I failed. I started a website about starting and taking care of aquariums. I started a YouTube page, a Facebook page, a Twitter profile, an Email list, and a blog to go along with it. I created 15 podcast episodes and added content to the blog for a full year. Do you want to know why I stopped? Because I didn’t LOVE starting and taking care of my own aquarium.

Sure, I love to SCUBA dive. I love being a volunteer SCUBA diver at the Georgia Aquarium. I love learning about the underwater ecosystem. I didn’t love starting and taking care of my own aquarium. I did it because I thought it would be fun, but I didn’t love taking pictures of every step. I didn’t love trying to record videos. (Granted, the GoPro wasn’t around yet.) I didn’t love sitting down – by myself – and recording a podcast about aquariums.

How I Hope To Succeed

What I do LOVE is sailing. I love the cruising lifestyle. I love the feeling of excitement and freedom every time I raise the sails. I love how excited and happy my wife is when we’re out on the water racing on Wednesday nights. I love the fact that a sailboat can take me to places that some people may never have the chance to visit. A sailboat can take me to dive sites so remote that nobody really even knows they exist.

And I’m obviously going to take pictures and try to record all of my sailing adventures. I WANT to take the time to edit the hours of GoPro video that I record. I WANT to have a place where I can look at all of my pictures, and reminisce about my hikes, dives, bike rides, climbing, repelling, and drinking adventures. I WANT  to have a place where I can share stories about the people that I’ve met along the way and the new places that I visited. I want to meet new people and talk to them about their sailing/cruising/traveling adventures, and I want to share those conversations with the rest of the world.

I also know how to set up an online presence and make a little money from it. I’ve made some money from that aquarium website. I haven’t made a lot of money – it’s not thousands of dollars or anything – but I have gotten checks from Amazon. In fact, I still get some very small checks from Amazon for the links that I have in that website, and I haven’t updated anything on it in almost 2 years! I  still get people subscribing to the email list, YouTube page, and the podcast. I can only imagine what I might’ve been able to do with it if I loved the topic and if I had kept it going for the last 2 years.

I’ve figured out that I LOVE sailing and I LOVE sharing the things I’ve learned about internet business and internet marketing. So, I said to myself, “Why not combine the two?” I’m really hoping that I can help people find a way to follow their dreams. I’m hoping that I can inspire people to get out of their cubicles, or leave the 9 to 5 behind and start their own adventures.

I also believe that if I help people, and focus on inspiring people, that the money will come. I don’t want Sail Loot to be all about money. I know, that’s a strange statement considering the tag line is “The Money to Cruise the World” right? But really, I want to inspire people by showing them that there are ways to make money AND follow their dreams. You don’t have to be stuck in a 9 to 5 job that you hate  in order to make a living and follow your dreams!

Some Examples That Could Work

This website is obviously geared towards sailing and creating an online, web-commuting business. Let’s start with the sailing niche and “niche down” for a few possible examples. These are some brainstorming ideas that I’ve had for some of you sailors.

Sailing Physical Product

Hypothetically speaking, lets say that while you were maintaining your boat you came up with a new type of shackle. Do you LOVE that shackle? In a way, you should. You may not love talking about the actual shackle itself, but you probably love what you’ve found that it can do for you. You probably love what problem it solved and you want more of those shackles. You probably love sailing or boating and you can take pictures of your sailing adventures with your new shackle in use. You probably love meeting the people that your new shackle would help. You probably love helping those cruisers, and what better way than this new shackle that you invented?

Read “The 4-Hour Work Week” by Timothy Ferriss while you’re cruising and setting up your website. There are awesome techniques and tips in there about manufacturing a product, setting up drop shipping, and setting up a business for physical products that is automated and outsourced. There are loads of other lifestyle hacks in there as well. Enjoy.

Sailing Information Product

Hypothetically speaking (again), are you really good at repairing sails? I hear all the time about how people have made money over the years and kept their cruising dreams alive by getting paid to repair sails. There are books available, but what if one of those people decided to create an eBook or tutorials with videos about repairing sails? Even if that eBook is only $5-$10 think about how easy it would be for people to purchase and download. I’d buy it. I may even pay $50 to $100 for the video class.

Do you LOVE repairing sails? Probably not, but if you’re doing it to put some extra cash in the cruising kitty, then why not strap a GoPro to your head and record some videos about how it’s done. You probably love sailing, and you might love sharing about your adventures. Throw in a few things about the tools that you use for repairing sails when you get a chance. You might love sharing about the people that you meet while repairing their sails.

I’m not saying that you should stop repairing sails either. Keep doing it if you want to. All I’m saying is that somebody should create a web-commuting, online business to go along with it. There are potentially millions of sailors who could download your eBook across the world, but only a couple hundred at the marina where you’re repairing sails.

In Conclusion

So first, find a topic, or a solution to a topic that you love. Maybe you love the people that you will meet while starting and running your business. Make sure you start by focusing on helping those people. Then, figure out if that niche, or idea is marketable. That’s a whole different topic, but here’s a tip…if there are others already making money in the niche that you love that may be your “competitors”, then your niche is probably marketable.

Is LOVING what you do the most important factor of “running” a business? No. Making sure you find a way to make a living with your business is the most important part of running it. Doing what you love is the most important factor of “starting” your business and keeping your business going. It is the factor that will help keep you doing all of the necessary tasks to run the business. It is what will keep you motivated to do the things that you don’t enjoy about running a business.

What is your passion? What are some things that you love doing? Leave some comments below and tell us what your ideas for a niche are. Come chat with us on our Facebook page and we’ll help you figure out if your idea is marketable.

TeddyJ

 

 

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About Teddy

I am a 37 year old that just wants to find a way to make a remote income, gather some Sail Loot and cruise the world! I have been sailing for a couple of years now, but mostly on 10 day trips as vacationing crew. I just recently took sailing to the next level by completing my Basic Keelboat, Basic Cruising, and Bareboat Cruising Certifications! I am also Vice President of a Medical Consulting Company, have a Mechanical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech, and have taken several Coding, Computing, and Online Business courses. It's time to share what I have learned!