Steve Mills - Online Entrepreuership with the SPOKE system

Online Business is more than just blogs

Just a quick post today to make sure that everyone knows that I am still around and kicking. I have had a busy last month, consolidating a couple of exciting new opportunities that have presented themselves, and getting my teeth into some challenging new internet marketing campaigns.

I just wanted to put the idea out there today to all of the bloggers out there that are wondering how to make money online with their blogs. The short answer is that you have a very small chance of making a decent income with just your blog alone. A blog that just has posts, a few adsense ads and some affiliate programs (like this one is at the moment) may turn some dollars, but not enough to get the bank manager excited every time you walk in.

You should not be considering yourself just a blogger, but taking the next step, treating this area seriously and start thinking about starting an online BUSINESS. Sure, a blog may be an integral part to it, but at the end of the day you need to know how to attract peoples attention and move some kind of product. The internet is full of bad information about “How To Make Money Online”, in fact there seems to be more of this around today then ever before. But in-between all of this there are some sound strategies of people that have gone before and made Sustainable Online Enterprises.

Like the byline of this site says, I am all about helping people become Sustainable Personal (as in personally branded) Online Connected Entrepreneurs. Its a simple phrase, a small acronym that can be easily remembered and applied to everything you do online. It is a system that outlines how to gain traffic, and then monetize that traffic so that your audience becomes your customers, and yes, even your fans in the year to come.

By utilizing the wide variety of ways to promote your business, develop content and target customers the SPOKE system deals with social media, google adwords, SEO strategy, blog optimization, marketing and advertising theory, personal branding and sound business knowledge to provide a comprehensive system to at the very least give a good online business idea a head start.

SPOKE - A New Model For Online Business

Been a bit quiet on here of late, but I assure you it is not without good reason.

I have been working on a new model of business, one that I am sure you can benefit from. It is a model that some people have been following with great success for decades, but is only coming into mainstream view now as everyone becomes super connected, has instant access to unimaginable resources of knowledge and skill for creating websites and knowledge products online become easier to learn and more widespread.

Hey, and it even has an acronym. SPOKE

The SPOKE system is going to present people with a way of developing sustainable online businesses, that provide long
lasting income (some of it passive) and creating meaningful work. It is about utilizing the skills that you currently have to start to
break the cycle of trading dollars for hours, and which skills that you should be developing to be successful in an ever changing world.
It is about  making the most of this connected, fast paced world that we live in, and using it  to support rather then overwhelm you.

A NEW VIEWPOINT

Over the last few years I have studied and worked closely with many bloggers, entrepreneurs, business managers and internet marketers. I have also lately been doing a lot of work with social media marketing and consulting, as well as studying a lot of material about social networks, the future of the internet and business, entrepreneurship and work.

While doing a review of my business plan last month a number of these pieces started to click together, and a picture began to form out of the confusing puzzle that we call our modern working life. I saw how it was possible to have meaningful work, escape the 9-5 office based - always the same drudgery and also make a decent living. It is like freelancing, contracting or even “making money online” but more then that. I will develop and share the SPOKE system with you over the next few months

REDESIGN TIME

Also I think I need to modernise this blog (once again) and develop it into a world class resource of information. Design for this site is a continual process with me, but inspiration has come in short bursts. While design isn’t everything, it is important that you quickly convey what the site is about and your level of professionalism as soon as people hit the page.