This is part 3 of the series “How to Build an Online Business” – if you have not read this series from the start, click here to go to the first part.
In Part 2, we discussed how to find a product to sell online. In this part, we need to look at potential online selling platforms.
You have three choices when deciding on potential online selling platforms:
1 – Creating your own online platform: This is not as hard as you might think, you don’t have to be tech savvy to create your own website (with that professional look).
Top web entrepreneurs use a free software called “WordPress” to create their websites. The technical details on how to do this, can be found on the tutorial “How to Create a WordPress Website” – it will show you how to setup a website (fastest and utmost professional looking + free), create your own graphics and even how to customize it perfectly for selling products online.
2 – Using a ready-made online selling platform: This method may not apply to every market, but I have chosen to mention it as it can serve as a powerful tool in many cases.
Using online selling platforms like eBay or Amazon to sell your products is a powerful way to get sales straight away. This is simply because all you have to do is upload your product details to the site, and the web traffic is already there looking to make a purchase.
3 – Using both of the above: Using both methods above is highly recommended if your products can be sold on an online platform. This is because you can use your own website as the base, and eBay or Amazon as a method to get customers at a much faster and cheaper rate compared to spending money on advertising.
For example, when making sales on eBay, you can direct customers to your website for a better deal, or a bonus product; although you have to be careful with using the right words, as eBay does not like sellers who try to get customers to buy from outside of eBay.
Once customers have purchased, you also have their email – you can use this to ask customers how they enjoyed the service (and possible improvements), and direct them to your website for more discounts. Do not to abuse this – most customers do not mind a message like this, but do not make your email sound spammy, or desperate.
Note: Emailing clients without their prior permission is illegal, however a genuine follow up email is okay as long as you do not make it sound like your only emailing them to make another sale!
Bonus Tip: Under no circumstances use the words “Check this out” when referring to your site/product – it makes you look cheap. Its an over-used marketing phrase. People just don’t react to this anymore.
