How to Sell Online

Step 1: Find what you want to sell

The first thing you want to do is find out what you will be selling. Until you do this, you probably can not do anything else. As well, this may seem like a small step to some, but this is probably the biggest decision you can make when getting into ecommerce business. There are a wide variety of products that will not sell online for various reasons. Perhaps the market is too crowded, perhaps it would be too expensive to ship to online customers so they can get far better pricing at local retailers, or maybe it is not a product that people are going to look for. This is just a few things that could keep a product for selling. You need to be realistic with yourself and determine whether your product that you have in mind is a product that you would consider buying.

Step 2: Become a legal entity
This could really be something you do before step one or simultaneously, but I placed it here because most people will drop the idea of selling online before they ever complete their product research. So to save you money, I would encourage you to take your time with the research and really evaluate whether you want to sell online or not before making the leap to invest in becoming a legal entity. Generally, this can be done by simply retrieving a DBA from your state. If you are unsure of exactly where to go or how to do it, you might use a service such as legalzoom.com to obtain a sales tax ID. This sales tax ID is what allows you to work with real wholesalers for wholesale pricing. If they are not asking for a sales tax ID, then they probably are not truly a wholesaler. This is a good way to sort the bad ones from the good ones.

Step 3: Begin the development of your website

There are numerous ways to go about this, but below I have some smaller individual steps that might help you if you are unsure the route to go.

1. Obtain a domain name (example: something.com)

2. Evaluate other websites you like so you know what direction you want to go

3. Either find shopping cart software that you like, or find a developer to develop what you have in mind.

4. Ensure that your website is easy to manage before you have your website go live.
The presence and clarity of your website is going to be very important. You are a small business, but the great thing about being online is that you certainly do not have to portray yourself as such. Some of the most successful online websites today started out as one or maybe two people and grew, many still are that way. You would not know it because their website looks professional and it is easy to use. I would encourage you to read more about what makes a good website, or rely on a professional to give you advice. A good way to find out what you are looking for is to look at other websites and determine what you do and do not like about them. Make sure the developer(s) are aware of these to ensure you get exactly what you want.

Step 4: Market your website
This is going to be a key on whether you succeed or not. The life of internet websites is not a “build it and they will come” model. When your website is released, no one knows who you are. Even the search engines will be skeptical about sending traffic your way at first. You probably will not be at the top of Google if someone searches for the product you are selling. Marketing is the only way to change this and there are several avenues you can take. You can advertise on other websites that are related to yours. For example, if you are selling telephones for people who are hard of hearing, you might advertise your telephones on a website that deals with a loss of hearing in someway or another.

If you are marketing your website properly, you should be well on your way to several sales online and a successful business. Good luck!

Grow your online business with software web designers love: ecommerce shopping cart software, content management system software, and email marketing software by Interspire.

Online Selling Start-up Guidelines

Thinking about starting an online business? With the rise in e-commerce today, it is but natural for individuals and organizations to go with the flow and start selling online. Some people have always wanted to but never got around to setting up their businesses because of factors such as a lack of e-commerce knowledge while some just got too scared to make the move.

While there are risks involved in starting an online business, it is comparatively lower than that of a “physical” store. With an online business, you will not have to worry about putting up a structure- an office, a store, etc. Inventory can be kept at home. Another thing is, with an online store you will not need hire someone to handle customer service stuff. You can do this all by yourself, unless the business has expanded already. Additionally, with an online business, you will make your products and services available 24/7, all year round. You also get the benefit of work flexibility, meaning you can work from home, from your hotel room, from the bathroom even! The list of advantages is really long but these are the major ones.

To get started, here are the simple things you need to understand.

• Know your niche. It is important to be sure of what products you will be selling and which market to tap. Although the internet is a hub of different kinds of buyers, you may want to make your target clear.

• Get a domain name. When you choose a domain name, make sure it is understandable, short and simple. Make sure it highlights the can of business you are selling and do not make it sound ambiguous.

• Get a website. Make sure the layout looks professional. Your website is a representative of your business so if it looks bad, it will affect customers’ impression and will likely push them away.

• Sign up for a merchant account and payment processor. You want to offer payment flexibility to your customers so you should get a merchant account. It would be such a waste to have many customers driven away because your store does not allow card payments.

• Establish social networking. Go out and tell the world of your business. Talk to people. Join social networks and establish connections. You have to let people know who you are. While having a website will allow people to know you, there is still a big market potential somewhere else. Make sure you do what you can to market your product.

Selling online is really a great way to earn money- with low overhead cost and quick returns on investment. Since more and more people are choosing to buy over the internet instead of having to go the mall or department store, you can be sure that you will reap some profits for your business if you do things right. As long as you follow the simple guidelines and really work hard to improve your business, then nothing could go wrong. Good luck!

Grow your web business with ecommerce shopping cart software, content management system software, and email marketing software by Interspire.