By Many of us dream of starting our own business. Years ago, to start selling your own products, you needed to either go big, invest in production and warehouse space and pitch to big businesses straight away, or start small. Selling products, you made on eBay or Etsy, perhaps even at a local market. While all the time hoping that your big break would come.
The development of blogs and e-commerce stores means that there is now a middle ground. You no longer need a degree in web design or business to get started. Nor do you need a huge cash injection. You can spend your time developing your products and selling them through your own e-commerce store. Which you can set up relatively easily with just a little bit of web knowledge. Here’s a helpful guide to help you to get started.
Create a Shop with a BLOG
To start with, you need a name. Think about the products you are selling, and if you want to use your own name. Write a list of words you associate with the product and play around with how they go together. Remember, this name could end up being your brand name, which will stick with you for a long time. So, take your time to get it right and try it out on people before committing.
Then, register your domain name and get a Magento web hosting account. Magento is the most popular eCommerce platform among WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Prestashop and more others. You can also create your blog. WordPress is very popular and easy to use, but there are other options.
You can install Magento(on the root domain) and WordPress(on a subdomain) for better navigation of your website.
Once you’ve got a basic blog set up, and you’ve added some content such as an about me page, you’ll want to create a WooCommerce store. This becomes part of your blog and allows you to sell to the public. Install the WooCommerce plugin and follow the installation wizard to get started.
Have a play with your blog’s theme until you get it looking how you want it and then start adding products to your store by pressing the “Add new product” button on the WooCommerce menu. Simple.
Start Separate Social Media Accounts
One of the best ways to promote your blog and store is on social media. Set up new accounts using your blog name and start following other people. To grow your social media following it’s important that you are an active and engaged user, so consider a social media scheduler to help.
Think About Payment Options
It’s best to offer your users a range of payment options to make the user experience as easy as possible. Some of the most popular today include credit and debit card payments, PayPal and Apple pay.
Create a Brand
To make sure your store is successful, it’s important to create a brand. There’s a little more to this than simply naming your store. You should also think about designing a logo and coming up with a color scheme. Then, make sure you are using the same colors, logo, and fonts across all of your platforms so that your content and products are instantly recognizable.
Think About Security
If you are selling to the public and taking sensitive details from them, it’s vital that your website is secure, for their protection as well as your own. You’ll need an SSL certificate from your web host, to ensure that your data is encrypted and safe, technology makes identity verification easier than ever, so it’s easier for you to make sure your customers are real and not bots or hackers. Then, make sure you regularly update your systems to ensure that they stay safe.
Take Great Photographs
If you want to sell products, you’ll need to take fantastic photographs. While your descriptions are important and should be both informative and enticing, it’s the photographs that will really sell your products and get noticed. Spend some time practicing your photography and finding the best areas to photograph your products.
While it’s best to invest in a DSLR camera as soon as you can, to start with your phone camera will do as long as you use it right.
Utilize Video
A video is another incredibly powerful tool when it comes to selling online. Many people are still reluctant to buy products without being able to touch them or see how they work or look. Photos are great, but nothing beats video when it comes to giving viewers a good look at a product. Upload videos to your social media accounts and embed them in your store to show off your products.
Setting up an eCommerce store is quick and easy. Then you just need to spend some time learning how to get the most out of it.
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