putting up your own small business Archives

Tips + Tricks: 7 Things You Should Do When Starting An Online Store

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Research shows that up to 80% of internet users make at least one online purchase in their lifetime. This statistic explains the trend by most businesses to launch online stores. They are simple and cheap to set-up compared to the brick and mortar methods, and retailers can reach more customers within a short period. In fact, marketers predict a surge in e-commerce sales by up to $523 billion in the next few years. These are some pretty great facts for any retailer who wants to set-up an online store, but research also shows many e-commerce businesses do not make profits. Some cite ineffective marketing campaigns while others have poor business operations. Savvy entrepreneurs share their insights on how to improve the chances of success of their online stores by doing these 7 things when starting an online store.

Choose your System Carefully

Naturally, retailers will follow what other retailers are doing. However, some companies use specialized custom solutions developed on old systems that may not support your business. As such, any online startup business should choose a popular system that is well-supported. It should also produce attractive shops and have a good community. Retailers who don’t want to use codes can choose hosted platforms like Shopify.

Pay Special Attention to SEO

A while ago, developing SEO optimized content for an online store was pretty easy. However, with the unpredictable changes in Google algorithms, it has become difficult to create unique content for the stores without duplication. It does not render SEO impractical; in fact, it is the most important tool for stores that want to improve their ranking and visibility.

tap local marketing for your newly-established home business

I bet most local marketing experts will advise mums like me to tap local marketing to support their budding small-scale businesses. I will also bet that it has crossed your mind one too many times to put up that small business at home so you can have other avenues to explore + exploit your creativity, + more importantly, have an alternative means to help augment the family income while you stay at home to care for your children. Like most of us, I have thought of putting up my own online shop until I got busy + found it hard to maintain. I have been doing direct selling pre-pregnancy days + I must say I am making good money selling pillows, bags, apparels for children and affordable fashion staples for women. I was also in quite a roll selling affordable undergarments to my teammates + workmates just before I decided to say goodbye to my work for good + take on my stay-at-home-mum post.

Tapping local marketing is the most sure-fire way to go about it. After all, while you are just starting your business + trying to build your reputation, it is best to concentrate on a small group of potential buyers + clients + focus on what possible items + products are most likely to sell to them. In the same manner, shipping + handling will cost less + promotions within a limited scale of people would prove to be more effective rather than broadcasting to all your Facebook friends or Twitter followers, for example, who would turn out to have other interests + demands compared to what you are selling or will be discouraged to order due to fees courier services will incur.

All these talk about local marketing is actually making me reconsider reviving my direct-selling days. I can probably offer my products to some of my mum friends or to some of my friends online, too. Plus, I can also add those Human Heart Nature products, + some amazing toy finds I discover online, too, to my catalog! I bet other green mums would be really interested. 😉

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