Sell Online The Secrets of Ecommerce Revealed
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So you want to sell online and make money. Whatever your goal you can achieve the financial freedom you
are looking for by selling online. But where do you start? How to avoid scams and what are the pitfalls?
Ecommerce is the pinnacle of online marketing. The success stories are always told and the failures are
swept under the carpet. More people fail selling online than those that are successful.
Successful Steps for selling online.
The first and often most difficult is finding products to sell. How competitive is the field? If you select
something like jewelry there are thousands of online stores selling jewelry but don’t let that stop you. You
must have the mentality that there is no competition. How do I find jewelers who will sell to me or drop ship for
me? Search extensively for manufactures and distributors who will drop ship for you. There are always
manufacturers looking for more distribution. Whether you want to sell jewelry or Viagra you can find a
supplier. Many people have success making and selling their own jewelry on line as well.
Once you have found products to sell, its time to get a name. Finding a domain name that is left is frustrating
but those who are creative will succeed. It is helpful to both the search engines and the consumer to have a
domain name with the type of products you sell. It is not necessarily and all out end if you can’t find a domain
with the field in it but something like widgetsandjewelry.com is available at the time this article was written. You
still have all the other extensions like .net .us etc that you can use. After you have found a domain name
before you purchase it check with government for any trademark or word marks. If it is available purchase the
domain then go for your own trademark on the domain. As I stated before it is not necessarily a kiss of death
if your domain name does not reflect the products you sell. Your success depends on how you market your
products and site.
I know how to sell products but I can’t write web pages or don’t know anything about it. Search the net for
online store and there will be a multitude of companies offering ecommerce websites. Look through the
packages and compare the ready made templates. You will notice how simple it is. Select the colors of your
website enter your company name or a sentence of what your site is about. If you were not able to get the
domain you wanted you can enter a title that will appear as the name you wanted like Widgets Jewelry Store.
write a short paragraph about your site. Divide your products into sections, if you are selling jewelry you might
divide it into earrings, necklaces, etc or into gold jewelry, silver jewelry and precious gemstones etc. Just
remember to keep it simple and categorize the site the way you would look for items. When creating the
sections you will write a short paragraph on the types of jewelry you will be selling in that section. Make sure
you mention keywords no more than 3 times. Search engines pick up on keywords and phrases but if you use
it more than three times they will think you are spamming and will disallow the page. Write the paragraph for
the consumer as well. Example: category is Gold Jewelry. Unique collection of gold jewelry, necklaces, gold
rings and earrings from the world’s foremost jewelers. White gold jewelry with diamonds and emeralds with
matching earrings and necklaces. Note the keywords jewelry, gold, earrings, necklaces, diamonds and
emeralds are all listed in the beginning sentences yet they are not repeated more than 3 times.
Now you are ready to add products. The ready made forms will simply tell you to add an item or product to the
category you just created. The forms are made into fill in spaces just like when you place an order online and
fill in the info for your name and shipping address etc. The first line on your item form will ask for the name of
your product. Next enter a description of the product. Never use the same wording from the manufacturer or
from another website, always put it into your own words. Remember to add keywords for the product into the
first 2 lines. Keep the description simple yet informative while “selling the sizzle” using exciting words like
“unique” and “stunning” sparks the buyer’s attention. Use powerful words and convince the customer that this
is what they want. Example: “You will look stunning wearing this unique diamond studded necklace”. Notice
how the word “You” is used to give the customer a feeling of owning it, convincing the buyer that she will look
not only better but “stunning” with her new “Unique” necklace. Always tell the truth about the product and
never be misleading. If a product is gold plated do not state that it is solid gold. Next you should enter the
weight and dimensions of the product.
Usually the next lines to fill in will be the product # and the price. The product # can be the sku assigned by
the manufacturer or any number used to order it. The price most manufacturers have a MSRP
“Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price” you can list this price then a discounted sale price that you wish to
sell it at. When pricing your products be aware that many manufacturers have MAP prices, “Minimum
Advertised Price” which you are not allowed to sell below. Shop around as to what other websites are selling
the products for and price yours accordingly. Don’t be afraid to sell your products higher than the other
websites. Most of the time if you sell your products too cheap the customer thinks they are cheap. If you sell
them higher and use good descriptive words, offer excellent customer service, and a great return policy you
can demand the higher prices. Most sites offer you a choice of words on the purchase buttons, Buy Now,
Purchase, Order, Add to Cart etc. I like Add To Cart, we are all trained that when we enter a store we get a
shopping cart, we walk up and down the isles and we add items to our cart. Notice I said “items” to the cart; it
is not that often that we put one item in the cart and go to the check out. We keep shopping because we have
a cart to fill up. Shoppers already have this mindset and when you say buy now or order it sounds final and
they are done shopping.
Next determine the shipping. All carriers such as the USPS, UPS, FedEx etc go by weight, box size and where
it is going. You can ship a 50lb item across the country for around $18 to $22. The average would be $20. If
the item is less than 1lb you are around $7 on the average. You could just add this to the price and offer free
shipping. Yes it’s not really free but since you are discounting the product from its retail price you can add
the average cost of the shipping back in. This makes it easier for you and the customer. Everyone hates to
decide to purchase an item then get hit with shipping charges. Most customers want to know what the cost is
before they make the decision to make the purchase.
Next you are asked to enter your keywords. This is the part on the fill in form where you tell the search
engines which words or phrases to match with your site. Now just add a picture of the product to the website
and move on to the next product. It is that simple. Once you have entered a few products you can go live and
publish your site to the web. Your door is open and you are in business!
Next is advertising your website so that your customers know you are open. There are many places to
advertise your site. You can choose the search engines such as google, yahoo, or MSN which are the top 3.
There are many shopping sites such as yahoo shopping, dealtime and nextag. Determine a monthly budget
and select which ones you prefer.
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