I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. This week and because I haven't covered this topic before on the blog, I will be publishing three articles on e-commerce.
Today's article by our guest author, Wayne Barker will provide vital information on setting up your very own e-commerce business. On Wednesday, there will be an article explaining the benefits of incorporating SEO within the design of an e-commerce website and finally on Friday, there will be a second article by our guest author, Wayne Barker which will provide information on marketing your e-commerce business.
I hope you enjoy reading these three articles and as with all my blog posts, don't forget to share and leave me and our guest authors your valued comments within the comments section. Remember, your feedback is very important which not only shows that you found these posts helpful, but also helps to determine future blog posts on Derek's Home and Business Blog.
Thank you and without further ado, here's the first of the three articles on e-commerce...
A Guide To Setting Up Your Own Ecommerce Business
Setting up an e-commerce business is easier than it's ever been, well, at least on the surface. These days, you don't need to be a tech expert to get an online store front working. However, attracting people to that store, getting them to hand over some money, and then having internet fulfilment services in place to make sure they get their product is a little more complicated. If you want to make sure that your store is a success, then make sure you know the answer to these questions:
1. Is Your Idea Actually Good?
If you're setting up a store, it's because you want to sell something. Before you go through the process of building a site, accepting payments, and sorting out efulfilment, do some market research. Are you sure your product is good? Would people want to buy it? If you're planning on dropshipping, selling handmade goods, or selling ebooks, you might want to use an existing store (eBay, Etsy, or Amazon respectively), instead of investing in tech yourself. Yes, existing store fronts charge fees, but in return for those fees your product will be put in front of far more people than you could ever hope to attract to your own website.
2. Who Are You Selling To?
If you're sure you want your own store, the next thing to figure out is who you want to sell to. This will affect the domain name you buy, and the payment options you take. If you're aiming at a specific country, then a local top level domain (such as .co.uk for the UK, or .de for Germany) is a good idea. If you're aiming internationally, you'll want a .com.
For payment options, most people would instantly think of Paypal and Google Checkout, but that doesn't mean they're the only options out there. If you're aiming your product at young people, you might want to accept UKash or other currencies that are designed for people who are too young to have a credit card.
3. How Will You Ship Your Product?
The issue of internet fulfilment services can make or break a company. If your website takes off and you get a lot of orders, will you be able to fill them in a timely fashion? Storing your product in your spare room and boxing up orders every evening before bed will work while your company is young, but it's not something that you can sustain in the long term.
Outsourcing your internet fulfilment is a good way to protect your business from the teething troubles that are all too common as a company starts to attract more attention. Outsourcing can be a scary proposition at first - especially if your business is a labour of love, but it is a good thing for your business. Specialist packing, shipping, and even customer service companies can usually provide better service than you can in house, and for less money too. This means that you, and your customers, gain from it.
About The Author: Wayne Barker writes for Hallmark who are internet fulfilment services experts.
Did you find this article helpful? Please let Wayne and myself know by leaving us your valued comments below.
If you found this or any of my other posts helpful, don't forget to +1 or share the posts to your favourite networks using the toolbar below or by using the "+1" and "Share" buttons located at the bottom of each post.
As ever, if you want to stay up to date with the latest blog posts, don't forget to follow via Google Friend Connect (button on sidebar), on NetworkedBlogs, via Email (maximum of one email per day), on Facebook and Google+ or by subscribing to our blog feed at:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/DereksHomeAndBusinessBlog
You can also follow me on Twitter @djones1509, Google+ and on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/djones1509
https://plus.google.com/104849975941505117776
Until the next article on Wednesday, have a fabulous week!
Today's article by our guest author, Wayne Barker will provide vital information on setting up your very own e-commerce business. On Wednesday, there will be an article explaining the benefits of incorporating SEO within the design of an e-commerce website and finally on Friday, there will be a second article by our guest author, Wayne Barker which will provide information on marketing your e-commerce business.
I hope you enjoy reading these three articles and as with all my blog posts, don't forget to share and leave me and our guest authors your valued comments within the comments section. Remember, your feedback is very important which not only shows that you found these posts helpful, but also helps to determine future blog posts on Derek's Home and Business Blog.
Thank you and without further ado, here's the first of the three articles on e-commerce...
A Guide To Setting Up Your Own Ecommerce Business
Setting up an e-commerce business is easier than it's ever been, well, at least on the surface. These days, you don't need to be a tech expert to get an online store front working. However, attracting people to that store, getting them to hand over some money, and then having internet fulfilment services in place to make sure they get their product is a little more complicated. If you want to make sure that your store is a success, then make sure you know the answer to these questions:
1. Is Your Idea Actually Good?
If you're setting up a store, it's because you want to sell something. Before you go through the process of building a site, accepting payments, and sorting out efulfilment, do some market research. Are you sure your product is good? Would people want to buy it? If you're planning on dropshipping, selling handmade goods, or selling ebooks, you might want to use an existing store (eBay, Etsy, or Amazon respectively), instead of investing in tech yourself. Yes, existing store fronts charge fees, but in return for those fees your product will be put in front of far more people than you could ever hope to attract to your own website.
2. Who Are You Selling To?
If you're sure you want your own store, the next thing to figure out is who you want to sell to. This will affect the domain name you buy, and the payment options you take. If you're aiming at a specific country, then a local top level domain (such as .co.uk for the UK, or .de for Germany) is a good idea. If you're aiming internationally, you'll want a .com.
For payment options, most people would instantly think of Paypal and Google Checkout, but that doesn't mean they're the only options out there. If you're aiming your product at young people, you might want to accept UKash or other currencies that are designed for people who are too young to have a credit card.
3. How Will You Ship Your Product?
The issue of internet fulfilment services can make or break a company. If your website takes off and you get a lot of orders, will you be able to fill them in a timely fashion? Storing your product in your spare room and boxing up orders every evening before bed will work while your company is young, but it's not something that you can sustain in the long term.
Outsourcing your internet fulfilment is a good way to protect your business from the teething troubles that are all too common as a company starts to attract more attention. Outsourcing can be a scary proposition at first - especially if your business is a labour of love, but it is a good thing for your business. Specialist packing, shipping, and even customer service companies can usually provide better service than you can in house, and for less money too. This means that you, and your customers, gain from it.
About The Author: Wayne Barker writes for Hallmark who are internet fulfilment services experts.
Did you find this article helpful? Please let Wayne and myself know by leaving us your valued comments below.
If you found this or any of my other posts helpful, don't forget to +1 or share the posts to your favourite networks using the toolbar below or by using the "+1" and "Share" buttons located at the bottom of each post.
As ever, if you want to stay up to date with the latest blog posts, don't forget to follow via Google Friend Connect (button on sidebar), on NetworkedBlogs, via Email (maximum of one email per day), on Facebook and Google+ or by subscribing to our blog feed at:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/DereksHomeAndBusinessBlog
You can also follow me on Twitter @djones1509, Google+ and on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/djones1509
https://plus.google.com/104849975941505117776
Until the next article on Wednesday, have a fabulous week!
Shipping your own products is one of the greatest challenges. It is pretty ok when you start but as the business grows, outsourcing is the best option to handle it.
ReplyDeleteHi Annetta!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. You are absolutely correct, you need to make sure that your company is able to grow and that the model that you create for yourself will be sustainable if you become successful. A lot of people try and factor this in later and it can cause a major headache!!