There seem to be literally hundreds of new business opportunities coming onto the market every week - all of them promise to make the people who take them up vast sums of money with little or no work on the part of the buyer.

We all know that there is no guarantee of success when starting a new business, the statistics on traditional business starts shows that 9 out of every 10 new businesses fail within the first year. My guess is that new internet businesses have an even greater failure rate as the financial entry level is much lower and the take up rate is much higher.

There is no doubt that if you achieve success with an internet business then the level of that success can be dramatic and in some cases fantastic. It is this possible future success that encourages so many people to try their hand at new internet business opportunities.

So the question comes, which internet business should I choose and why? What criteria should we use to identify the best of the new internet business opportunities?

That's a hard question to answer, but there are many pointers to consider when choosing which internet business to select. I will outline the main qualities that make up the most successful internet businesses and which ones that the novice should consider:

Website:

This may seem an obvious point, but in almost all internet businesses you will need a website:

Are you provided with a website or are you required to create one?

Are you provided with the tools to create a website?

Can you change the website that is supplied?

How much will I be charged for website hosting?

Getting a website is only a very small part in making a successful internet business, you must be able to get targeted traffic to your site.

It is no good having the best website in the world if no one knows about it.

Internet Marketing - getting traffic:

This is a huge subject in its own right and there are many experts and companies that have invested millions of dollars into this field. However for our purpose it is necessary to know:

Am I provided with any Internet Marketing training?

Does the company teach me the basics of getting traffic to my site?

Is my site already configured for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?

Does the company make it clear that I may have to pay to get targeted visitors to my site?

Does the company help with getting traffic to the site?

How will I get prospects for my products?

As well as getting targeted traffic to the site, you will also need to know how to 'sell' your products to prospective customers and to convert visitors to your site into paying customers.

Internet Marketing - converting traffic into sales:

The best websites automatically convert targeted visitors into customers, they do this in a number of ways:

How good is the sales copy on your new website?

If you surfed the site, would you buy its products?

What are the products, how much do they cost and what is the profit margin?

What methods of conversion are used (static, audio, video etc)?

Does the site automatically follow up on enquiries?

Do they use autoresponders to automate this process?

Products:

One of the most important aspects of any internet business is what products you are selling and how exclusive they are:

How exclusive are your products and are they sold at competitive prices?

How are they shipped to the customer? How does the customer pay for the goods (credit card, wire transfer etc)?

What is the after sales process?

What is the process for customer complaints?

Is the business Replicable?

This really is one of the key questions, just because the owner or creator of the internet business is very successful it doesn't necessarily follow that you will be too.

One of the key questions is - can this business be replicated by me?

This really gets to the point, because all of the questions above will lead to knowing the answer to this last question:

If I buy this business, then can I make a success of it?

I have been involved in many internet businesses throughout the last 5 years and through sometimes bitter experience and sometimes fantastic success, I have learned how to set up and be successful at new internet businesses I set up and operate.

Hopefully, this article will point you towards asking the questions that will enable you to make a decision on what your thought process should be when considering a new internet business opportunity.

I sincerely wish you all the success in world, because if you choose right, it can really change your life.

Yunis Khan