If you are like most people and want to earn some extra money on the side, or you want to build a business that can give you the freedom of working from home or anywhere in the world for that matter, but find the process daunting or it seems complicated, then follow these tips and start building that business!
Choosing your product
Finding the right product/s to sell can sometimes be the most difficult part of the entire process, but you can narrow down the selection by thinking about products that you buy, items that you use day to day, and think about things that you like – because selling a product that you don’t like or wouldn’t use will make it harder for you to stay motivated further down the line.
That, however, is not the end to choosing your product/s, you still need to make sure it’s a viable option to go with. Using sites like ‘Google Trends‘ can show you whether your selection of products is being searched for by comparing keywords associated with those items, this can help you narrow done the selection to a single product, or down to a group of related items (i.e kitchen items, travel items, etc.).
Scope out the competition
There will always be competition, no matter what the market is or how big or small it is. The idea behind checking out your competition is to look at their websites, look at their prices, their ranking on Google searches, as well as their social media following.
From this, you can determine your own ‘Unique Selling Points’ which can help you stand out, whether that be better prices, a different sales strategy, or branding that goes against the norm in that market.
Apart from this, you can also use eBay listing tools which can be of great help if you want to improve your eBay sales.
Social Media is another good place to look because you get to see how much of a following each company has, which can give you an idea of how big you can grow your business to, or conversely if the company doesn’t have a large following you can see that they don’t priorities social media marketing and, therefore, aren’t making the most of the potential market.
Which service platform?
Shopify, Woo-commerce, Amazon FBA, Weebly, Square, and many, many more! The number of platforms is growing year on year, making choosing one slightly more difficult, but there are a few factors to keep in mind when choosing which one to go for.
Being a new business you’ll probably look at monthly costs first, you want to keep expenses low but you don’t want to limit the capabilities of your site, so go through a selection of platforms and compare what you get at each price bracket- looking at the more expensive options on a platform isn’t such a bad idea because it can show you how big you can scale without being restricted, which can affect your choice.
Also, you’d want a platform with very good customer service, again being a new company you are more than likely going to have questions while you’re building the company, so choose a platform with 24/7 support and plenty of resources you can check out like blog articles.
Those two factors are probably the most important to think about, but other factors could include, personal preference, customer reviews, and how many free website themes you can choose from.
Present your website properly
Then when you choose your platform for building your online store try to build with a long plan. First, you need to select which platform you use from woo commerce, Shopify, or customize word press website.
Then upload the product and when uploading the product need to keep in mind some important factors, like trying to highlight all product features, brands’ pros cons. And very importantly use a high-quality image for every single product. Because people buy from an online store they aren’t able to see product physically so it’s very important to show some high-quality images for customers’ better understanding.
If you know Photoshop then it’s your plus point or another hand you need to outsource some photo editing services from different companies. For some products you need to change the background, for some products you need to change color, overall if you take a photography image retouching service then your product image looks good like what you see on Amazon, eBay platform.
Build your brand
So you’ve done all the background stuff, essentially the hard part, but now is the time for you to focus on your brand. The logo, the website, the social media accounts, all have to reflect your business as well as the product you’re selling, the more they interweave the more likely people will remember you, and the more likely they will make a purchase.
Use what you learned when you looked at the competition, what color pallet worked? What type of logos worked? What type of website layout worked? Use websites like ‘Fiverr’ or ‘Up Work’ where you can get logos made to your specifications, choose designers that have a style that matches what you’re looking for.
Get your name out there
Marketing and more specifically social media marketing can be very effective in driving traffic to your website and potentially getting sales.
This can be tough to get right, especially for someone new to starting an online business, this is where sites like ‘Fiverr’ and ‘Up Work’ can come in handy again because you can pay someone who specializes in the area to get it right for you, the potential return on investment can be significant so you have to weigh up your options.
Of course, you have the option to do it yourself, and if you do choose to do so there are a plethora of online resources where you can learn the basics.
Give the people the service they deserve
Some will argue that customer service is the most important part of the business, you can have the nicest website but if your customer service is bad then you will start to lose business- you won’t get repeat customers, and bad reviews can prevent potential customers from shopping with you, to begin with.
Finally, COMMITMENT!
The business will require a lot of time and effort in the early stages, despite it being online you will find yourself updating adverts, posting on your social media, answering customer questions, and resolving any issues.
It will be hard work, but if you are committed and motivated then it will work out. Keep learning, and keep selling!