Startups

4 Critical Steps For Creating A Profitable Online Business

Published

11 years ago

Jun 28, 2015

4 Critical Steps For A Profitable Online Business To Work

If you had asked me about making money online four years ago, I would have called you a liar. I was a blue-collar worker who never touched computers.

I woke up every day at midnight to deliver bread to grocery stores. I hated my job; I hated my life, but I didn’t know how to escape.

In 2011, I started listening to podcasts. I found Pat Flynn and got excited about the idea of creating a location-independent online business. I studied any information I could get my hands on. What I found got me far, but I decided that investing in a course from a well-known marketer would help me reach the next level.

I was sadly disappointed. The course was $697, which was a HUGE investment for me at the time. We were living paycheck-to-paycheck. There were a few good tidbits, but overall the course was designed to up sell students on the marketers “elite” program.

That experience taught me a valuable lesson and forced me to learn these four steps to creating a profitable online business. Use these strategies to create freedom in your “work” and give you the flexibility to spend your time on the things that are important to you.

Here are the 4 steps to creating a profitable online business:

1. Build a sizable and engaged following

You are probably familiar with the theory of 1,000 true fans. The reality is that you don’t need a thousand fans to start making serious money. If your fans are engaged, they will spend money with you and tell others about your business. So, how do you build a following? There are a few ways:

Social media. This is my least favorite way because the organic reach of social media is pretty small these days. More times than not, you will have to pay to reach your audience. Even though the engagement is low, there’s still an opportunity to reach the billions of users on social media.
Get interviewed on Podcasts. Podcasting is huge and only getting bigger. These days, people listen to podcasts more than traditional radio. You can sign up for a service like Radio Guest List and have shows emailed to you every morning that are looking for a guest like you. Get interviewed on as many shows as possible, and some of those listeners will come back to your website. In 2012, I was interviewed on 80 podcasts and brought 100,000 visitors back to my website from the shows.
Write for large authority sites. You can write for some of the biggest websites in the world. Websites, such as the Huffington Post and Entrepreneur Magazine —among others—are always looking for good content. Since these websites publish so much content, they’re always looking. You can get a free guide that walks you through how to get into these sites on my website.

These are a few ways to build a following fast. Just using these strategies, I’ve been able to build my email list from 3,000 people to over 24,000 in one year.

“Social media will help you build up loyalty of your current customers to the point that they will willingly, and for free, tell others about you.” – Bonnie Sainsbury

2. Stop chasing influencers

When you’re building an online business, the common advice is to connect with an influencer in hopes of them giving your business a shout out. This is bad advice because so many other people are trying to do the same thing. Influencers such as Pat Flynn get hundreds of emails every day from people looking to “connect.” The time you spend chasing could be spent building your business using the strategies I mentioned above. Once you build your business without chasing, you can connect with an influencer as a colleague.

3. Focus on what will help your business

A lot of times, the frustration in building a business comes from information overload. We see someone talk about making six-figures using Instagram, and we’re focused on Instagram marketing for the next month with no results. Just because something worked for someone else doesn’t mean it will work for you. You have to focus on what will help you where you are in your building journey.

4. Don’t be afraid to sell

You may have the sincere desire to help people, but that doesn’t mean you can’t charge a fair price for your products/services. The goal is to create freedom and that comes from your business making money. Don’t be afraid to sell. If someone opts out of your email list because you made an offer, so be it. As long as you’re not spamming your list, you only want those who are interested—not the tire kickers.

“If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.” – David Ogilvy

It took two years, but I was able to quit a job I hated. I now write, speak, coach, and consult from my home in Maui, Hawaii. The business grew so much it funded our move from Wisconsin to Hawaii. The business is online so I could operate it from anywhere in the world. That is what freedom means to me.

You can build a profitable online business. Don’t believe the hype and don’t follow commonly accepted advice. Test what works and believe in yourself.

Don’t let self-limiting beliefs keep you from the kind of life you want to live.

Related Topics:authority Business Entrepreneur Freedom influencers money Online Business Self-limiting beliefs Success work

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Kimanzi Constable

Kimanzi Constable is an author of four books and a writer whose articles have been published in Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Insider, SUCCESS Magazine, NBC, CBS, FOX, and 80 other publications and magazines. He is the co-founder of Results Global Impact Consulting and Senior Editor at The Good Men Project. Learn more and get a free guide at kconstable.com.

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Startups

How an LLC Can Help Shield Your Personal Assets

Published

2 weeks ago

Aug 1, 2026

Addicted2Success Editor

Image Credit: Addicted2success

You are a freelance designer, and your client sued you over a trademark mistake. If you believe that your personal savings are safe, then you may be wrong. You are operating as a default sole proprietor. You and your business are the exact same person. As a result, your personal bank account, your car, and even your home are legally up for grabs.

However, if you start an LLC, you can build a legal shield between your business liabilities and your personal life. These days, you can easily form an LLC online.

How Does This Legal Shield Work

When you start an LLC, your business gets a distinct legal identity. Now, your LLC can open its own bank accounts, sign contracts, take out loans, buy equipment, and be held responsible for its own actions. You are not liable. This boundary between you and your business is called the “corporate veil.”

Visualizing the Separation

Inside the Shield (Business Assets)

Everything your company owns is included in this shield. If your business faces a debt collector or a lawsuit, only your business assets are at risk, such as:

Money in the business bank account
Inventory and raw materials
Office equipment, computers, and company vehicles
Business intellectual property

Outside the Shield (Your Personal Assets)

You don’t have to worry about your personal assets, such as:

Your personal checking and savings accounts
Your home and personal real estate
Your family vehicles
Your retirement funds (401k, IRA) and personal investments

What LLC Protection Covers

Business Debts and Contracts

When your LLC signs a commercial lease, hires a contractor, or buys inventory on credit, these are the obligations of the LLC. Your creditors will come after the assets of the LLC if your business can’t pay.

Lawsuits

If your business is sued over a contract dispute, faulty service, or an operational issue, lawsuits will be filed against your business. All your personal assets are safe.

What LLC Protection Does Not Cover

Personal Torts

The term “tort” refers to an act that causes harm or injury to someone else. The LLC shields you from the mistakes of your employees and general business liabilities. However, it never protects you from your own personal actions. For example, if you personally commit fraud, you can be sued personally.

Personal Guarantees

Vendors often hesitate to lend money to new, growing businesses. Such businesses don’t have long credit histories. Lenders often require you to sign a personal guarantee.

How Owners Accidentally Destroy Their Protection

The legal shield provided by forming an LLC only works when you run your business properly. The corporate veil can be pierced when a court decides that your LLC is not legitimate and strips away your protection in a lawsuit. This usually happens when you make one of the following three mistakes.

Commingling Funds

Many small business owners often mix their personal money with their business money. You are commingling funds when you use your business debit card to buy your personal groceries or you deposit a client’s payment directly into your personal checking account. The legal wall crumbles when you don’t treat your business and personal finances as completely separate.

Missing an Operating Agreement

An operating agreement is the legal document that outlines:

How your LLC is run
Who owns what percentage
How profits are handled

If the creditor’s lawyer finds out that an operating agreement is missing, they may argue that your LLC is just a shell.

Falling Out of “Good Standing”

When you start an LLC, you must file annual reports and pay franchise taxes to keep it active. The state will place your business in “Administrative Dissolution” or bad standing if you miss any of these deadlines. You could lose your limited liability protection if you operate a business under an inactive or dissolved LLC.

Startups

Move Fast without Breaking People: Product Safety Lessons for Ambitious Startups

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 15, 2026

Addicted2Success Editor

Image Credit: Addicted2success

Fast growth can hide product risks until customers get hurt, especially when safety comes late in development. A software bug can be patched, but a chair, charger, or smart device can cause a burn, fall, cut, or crash.

For founders moving from a prototype to mass sales, the cases handled by Michael Kelly Injury Lawyers in Boston show why launch goals should not push testing, warnings, and foreseeable risks aside. A product claim can involve the design, how a unit was made, user instructions, or several firms in the supply chain.

Why Minimum Viable Should Never Mean Minimally Safe

A minimum viable product should test whether people want an idea, not how much danger they will accept. Teams can delay colors or premium finishes, but not guards, safe heat limits, sound wiring, or clear instructions.

Set Safety Rules Before the Build

The product brief should define who will use the item, where, and what could happen during setup, cleaning, storage, wear, or mistakes. It should also consider what a child, guest, tired worker, or first-time buyer might do.

Shared rules help teams move faster. Designers know which guards must remain. Engineers know which parts cannot fail. Suppliers know what cannot change without review.

Test How People Really Use It

A neat demo is not the real world. Users place products on wet counters, soft rugs, or rough ground. They skip a guide, use the wrong cable, or handle an item in unexpected ways.

Testing should cover misuse without predicting every extreme act. When a risk can be reduced through a guard, lock, stop switch, or clear signal, that design change is often greater than a warning alone.

How Design and Manufacturing Risks Differ

Some risks are built into the design. Others arise when production fails to match the approved plan. Teams need to identify the source before choosing a correction.

Design Problems Start with the Plan

A design problem can affect every unit. A base may tip, a blade may sit too close to a hand, a control may activate too easily, or a battery space may trap heat.

Final inspection cannot repair a flawed plan. The team may need a new shape, shield, limit, material, or control, followed by testing before more units ship.

Manufacturing Problems Break the Plan

A manufacturing problem occurs when a unit or batch does not match the approved design. A fastener may be missing, a weld may be weak, a wire may be damaged, or the wrong component may enter production.

Good records help define the scope. The team should know who made each part, which batch used it, what checks occurred, and where units went. Fast trace work can keep one fault from becoming a wider crisis.

When Customer Feedback Signals More Than Dissatisfaction

Support teams hear about delays, difficult setups, strange sounds, and refunds. Most reports are routine. Yet heat, smoke, sparks, breakage, sharp edges, sudden movement, falls, or failed guards require review.

Treat Complaints as Safety Data

One report may lack key facts, but similar reports can reveal a pattern. Staff should record the model, batch, date, use, photographs, and outcome, then alert someone who can pause sales or order testing.

Teams should not blame unusual use before asking whether another reasonable buyer could make the same choice. A support ticket can be the first sign of a hazard that lab testing missed.

Preserve the Product and the Record

After an injury, the product can help explain what failed. A repair, disposal, or undocumented test can remove evidence. The same applies to old labels, manuals, test files, customer messages, and design notes.

Startups should keep relevant items safely, record who examines them, and preserve earlier versions of instructions and warnings. This history can show what changed and why.

Why Warnings Must Reflect Real Use

A warning works only when a user notices it at the right time. Dense text at the back of a manual may not help during setup. The message should name the hazard, explain the harm, and state what reduces the risk.

Placement matters too. A charging risk belongs near the port. A weight limit belongs where weight is added. Even so, warnings should not replace a safer design when the hazard can reasonably be removed.

How Founders Can Preserve Speed without Cutting Safeguards

A delayed launch, redesign, or recall can feel like defeat. In practice, early action can prevent harm, protect trust, and give the team better facts for the next version. The strongest startups move quickly because their systems protect people.

When a product injures someone, legal guidance can help preserve the item, collect design and manufacturing records, identify responsible companies, and examine whether a defect or unsafe choice caused the harm.