If you are to think about being an online business owner, the first questions they begin to ask themselves is “What kind of career or occupation should I concentrate in my role as an Internet entrepreneurial?” or “How do I make money as an online business owner?”
They’re great questions; however, the job you’re considering currently may not be relevant in five or ten years or be as relevant in five or ten years from now as it is today. When you put in all the effort and work to build the online enterprise you want to run, it’d be good to be confident that the company that you start will be functional for as long as you wish it to be sustainable.
Instead of taking a look at particular careers being successful online, I decided to examine the skills that keep online businesses going strong in the face of major economic change (like the economic shifts we’re currently experiencing and are likely to go through the next couple of years).
The five essential skills any successful online entrepreneur must possess are:
1.) Communications Skills
excellent communication skills for entrepreneurs who work online include writing and visual communication abilities (using images to convey stories, and creating and using videos), teaching, coaching or mentorship, interpreting, public speaking (both in-person and through technology like phones and teleconferencing systems, Skype, Google Hangout). The majority of these abilities can be utilized for online career opportunities on their own, e.g., photography, writing, and coaching. However, writing or a coach does offer you an online, viable career. Coaches who are highly successful (6 and seven-figure annual earnings) combine coaching and other skills in communication (writing and public speaking, visual communication) along with their own personal experiences (business relations, entrepreneurship) and their personal interests to build highly successful online companies.
2.) Creativity Skills
When I say creative skills, I’m not talking about artistic creativity, even though they are incredibly valuable skills to possess. I’m referring to the imaginative abilities of inventors and change agents. They are the individuals Richard Florida refers to as part of the Creative Class. They are those who look for patterns in the world and connect with connections that haven’t been created before, resulting in new concepts, new ways to do things, and new solutions to old problems. Jonathan Fields, in his Good Life Project, interviews a variety of these innovative individuals. These creatives are connecting and developing businesses that are creative, flexible, responsive, and profitable.
3.) Tech Skills
All online entrepreneurs must possess basic technical abilities being online. Online entrepreneurs who intend to be successful in the next decade will require more technical knowledge than the fundamental skills required to set up an easy WordPress blog or connect with customers through Skype. To begin, basic HTML programming skills are becoming more essential. Knowing how to share and create audio and video files increases as the Internet is becoming more compatible with audio and video.
However, this is only the beginning. Virtual reality, Second Life, has more than 38 million users, and real-world companies are beginning to pay attention. Companies such as Adidas Reebok, American Apparel, Cisco, Dell, Harvard Law School, Imperial College London, MTV, Reuters, Sky News, Telus Mobility, and hundreds of others can be found within Second Life. It appears to be one of the technological trends in which early adopters of virtual technologies will greatly benefit over the next ten years.
4.) Organizational Skills:
Being organized is quite simple when you follow an established schedule – you must be at work at a particular time; adhere to deadlines of your company or corporate timelines or University schedules; concentrate on the specific task at hand or projects. When you’re a solo entrepreneur or a freelancer, you’re either doing the complete opposite of everyone else, or you’re the manager who manages the deadlines and timelines of your team (either at home or remotely and/or both). Suppose you’re a professional who travels and needs to organize travel plans and accommodations. Organizational abilities become one of the fundamental skills that can be the difference between success or failure for an online company.
5.) The Personal Skill:
Let’s admit it, not everybody has the personality or personal skills to become an online businessperson. My personal skill set, I’m referring to abilities such as flexibility, resilience, and perseverance to get over the obstacles and bumps that will eventually be thrown your way. There is also self-knowledge and intuition skills and trusting your intuition being self-confident enough to stand on the edge and explore new ideas in a state of awareness of your true self and your core values to ensure that the venture you are creating is in line with who you truly are and what you would like to achieve in your life.
The best and most profitable online companies are those that are founded on lifestyle careers. They are so genuinely linked to your personality that they are more like playing than working. They are jobs that are both fascinating and thrilling to you because you’re a part of that place and study the surroundings, and you love researching the most recent trends and developments in the area and are eager to change and incorporate these developments and trends into your business to suit your personal and professional needs.
As I am sure that you are aware, these abilities can be and have been utilized as the foundation for successful online businesses. However, starting with a combination of these fundamental abilities, and then you add your own personal experiences and true passions, the kinds of long-term, sustainable business models you can develop can be unlimited.