Trying to follow Albert Einstein’s advice, you have to learn the rules of the game. And then play better than anyone else.

Let me share with you these 3 key things I learned during my 2 years of online research. I conducted this research because I was looking for legitimate ways to start my business online. Information about this topic is so overwhelming online that you don’t know what to believe anymore.

After implementing my new gained knowledge, I can tell you with confidence the following information will help you ask the right questions. And, now you’ll know what to look for when trying to find the right answers to these questions as well.

1. Understand online users.

When people surf the net, they are looking for information and for solutions to their problems or concerns. They are not looking for you or your business in particularhome. This is why 95% of online business start ups fail. They start at the end of the process. They build sites without knowing whether people want their products. And second, they do not provide the information people want. As a result, their potential customers cannot find them on their internet searches.

2. Understand the environment.

For starters the internet works as a public library. Everyone surfing the net is looking for information. There are millions of websites on the net. You’ll probably be competing against 33 million. Of course, not all sites related to your business or theme. Still, it is very crowded. So, how are you going to stand out from that crowd? It all starts with providing the information people want, remember first point?

One of the main aspects that make online businesses successful is to be able to reach their potential customers. Potential customers to your future online business should be able to easily find you among the crowd. How will you make your online business easily available to them?

3. Understand what makes it work.

The way businesses work online is different than in the physical world, of course. However, a lot of business fundamentals still apply. One of the aspects that both business models have in common and key to their success, is that every business transaction is conducted on trust-based relationships.

People do business with those they know, like, and trust. Trust and credibility are key elements for every good long term business or personal relationship. This is easy to achieve in the physical world where your customer meets you face to face. But in the virtual world, how do achieve trust and credibility if you can’t even see each other personally?

This part of the process is a very critical one. Many fail at this stage.

If you want to successfully start an online business start by asking the right questions and finding the right answers to those questions. Remember what Einstein said: Learn the rules of the game, and then play better than anyone else.