Selling Online Is Easier Than Ever!
Selling Online Is Easier Than Ever!
Many people start an e-commerce site as their primary business. If you have a brick and mortar store where you sell products or simply operate a business from home, starting an e-commerce site can provide an additional sales channel for you.
Creating a Web site for the purpose of selling products or services online entails a large amount of research and planning. When you start an online business, forgetting one simple step can make the difference between success and failure.
Here are 8 steps to help you get started:
1. Create a business and marketing plan. Schedule a time to meet with your business partners or team members. Brainstorm together and lay out all of your plans in one document. This plan should incorporate all startup and recurring costs. Set up an overall expense budget and sales forecast.
2. Choose a good Web site address (domain name) to help customers find you. You will need to select a domain name for the site that accurately represents what you are selling and helps brand your business. However, did you consider that the search engines will also be using your domain name as a symbol of what you sell? Give some thought to an appropriate URL and go shopping for one.
3. Select the right e-commerce software with a shopping cart. In order to sell products on your Web site, you have a few options. You can hire someone to develop custom online storefront functionality. However, most small businesses who are looking for more cost effective solutions purchase e-commerce Web site hosting software. This allows your customers to select products from your Web site, put them into the shopping cart on your site, and then checkout using their choice of various payment methods.
4. Apply for a business account (merchant account) for processing credit cards. It is critical to give your customers multiple payment options on your Web site. Most customers are accustomed to paying for goods and services online using their credit card. In order to accept credit cards as payment for your products, you must apply for what is called a merchant account. If you do not accept credit cards on your Web site, you are doing a great disservice to your site’s potential for success, so make sure you apply.
5. Secure your site to let customers know it is safe to do business with you. As an online merchant, security is a key consideration for you. If you are going to accept consumer financial information such as credit card payments, you are responsible for ensuring that data is protected and secure and that you meet credit card company security requirements.
6. Design your site to be user-friendly. Once you have all of the products uploaded to the Web site and you can accept credit cards it’s time to work on improving the site’s appearance before you go live with your new online storefront.
7. Test the site. You only have one chance to make a first impression with each visitor, so be sure that you test and tweak your site before going live with it. Plan at least a few days or weeks to do this. Make sure everything is working properly or all of your efforts can be for naught.
You might try inviting a few friends to help you test the site. Ask them to visit your Web site while you watch their browsing behavior. Try not to say anything as they click around. Give them fifteen minutes, and then ask them about their experience.
8. Promote your site online. Promoting your site on the Web can be expensive and complex, but taking advantage of search engine behavior to drive targeted traffic to your site can result in a favorable long-term return on your up-front investment, whether that investment is your time or money.
Using these tips, you can quickly and easily start selling products online. It may seem a bit daunting at first, but is actually quite simple. There are many vendors who can help fulfill the needs laid out in each action step. Simply visit Google and search for a place to buy a domain name (eg. GoDaddy.com), an e-commerce platform, and so on. Follow these steps and in no time at all you’ll be up and running.
Selling Online Is Easier Than Ever - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Fleischner's Website.
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According to recent publications, consumers spent more than $100 billion online at U.S. based e-commerce sites last year, which does not include online auction sites, travel spending, or corporate purchases. That’s a significant increase over last year – more than 20%. There has never been a better time to be on the receiving end of that spending pattern, and the market keeps improving.
Many people start an e-commerce site as their primary business. If you have a brick and mortar store where you sell products or simply operate a business from home, starting an e-commerce site can provide an additional sales channel for you.
Creating a Web site for the purpose of selling products or services online entails a large amount of research and planning. When you start an online business, forgetting one simple step can make the difference between success and failure.
Here are 8 steps to help you get started:
1. Create a business and marketing plan. Schedule a time to meet with your business partners or team members. Brainstorm together and lay out all of your plans in one document. This plan should incorporate all startup and recurring costs. Set up an overall expense budget and sales forecast.
2. Choose a good Web site address (domain name) to help customers find you. You will need to select a domain name for the site that accurately represents what you are selling and helps brand your business. However, did you consider that the search engines will also be using your domain name as a symbol of what you sell? Give some thought to an appropriate URL and go shopping for one.
3. Select the right e-commerce software with a shopping cart. In order to sell products on your Web site, you have a few options. You can hire someone to develop custom online storefront functionality. However, most small businesses who are looking for more cost effective solutions purchase e-commerce Web site hosting software. This allows your customers to select products from your Web site, put them into the shopping cart on your site, and then checkout using their choice of various payment methods.
4. Apply for a business account (merchant account) for processing credit cards. It is critical to give your customers multiple payment options on your Web site. Most customers are accustomed to paying for goods and services online using their credit card. In order to accept credit cards as payment for your products, you must apply for what is called a merchant account. If you do not accept credit cards on your Web site, you are doing a great disservice to your site’s potential for success, so make sure you apply.
5. Secure your site to let customers know it is safe to do business with you. As an online merchant, security is a key consideration for you. If you are going to accept consumer financial information such as credit card payments, you are responsible for ensuring that data is protected and secure and that you meet credit card company security requirements.
6. Design your site to be user-friendly. Once you have all of the products uploaded to the Web site and you can accept credit cards it’s time to work on improving the site’s appearance before you go live with your new online storefront.
7. Test the site. You only have one chance to make a first impression with each visitor, so be sure that you test and tweak your site before going live with it. Plan at least a few days or weeks to do this. Make sure everything is working properly or all of your efforts can be for naught.
You might try inviting a few friends to help you test the site. Ask them to visit your Web site while you watch their browsing behavior. Try not to say anything as they click around. Give them fifteen minutes, and then ask them about their experience.
8. Promote your site online. Promoting your site on the Web can be expensive and complex, but taking advantage of search engine behavior to drive targeted traffic to your site can result in a favorable long-term return on your up-front investment, whether that investment is your time or money.
Using these tips, you can quickly and easily start selling products online. It may seem a bit daunting at first, but is actually quite simple. There are many vendors who can help fulfill the needs laid out in each action step. Simply visit Google and search for a place to buy a domain name (eg. GoDaddy.com), an e-commerce platform, and so on. Follow these steps and in no time at all you’ll be up and running.
Selling Online Is Easier Than Ever - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Fleischner's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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For an online Car Loan Calculator and finance for a cheap car loan. Get approved on car loans or car finance in Australia with cheap bank car loans and finding a car finance broker. Commercial car loans including business car finance and car lease. Car Loan Calculator has information on finance companies and getting the right cheap car loan from banks at best car loan rates and a online car loan calculator for all finance in Australia. Get the best car finance with our help at Car Loan Calculator and Finance Ezi. - Visit Richard Jefferies's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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