So how do you break into this market? What steps should you take to build an eBusiness and start selling online? And most importantly, how do you do so in a manner that sets you up for success.

1. Plan your dream
Before you start thinking about all the tactical stuff you’re going to need to accomplish over the next little while (getting a website, finding products, getting your name out there etc.). Slow down and think strategy for a moment or two. What do you want to sell – you literally have millions of options, and you can’t sell all of them, so narrow your field and look for your own little niche.  A good starting point: think about your interests and brainstorm if there’s a target market that can spin out of that.

2. Create a Business Plan
Next, sit down a write a serious business plan for yourself.  Set a few realistic goals and take a good hard look at what you’re trying to accomplish.  Is it feasible and is it a viable money-making opportunity? Consider your target market – is it too much for a small start up to tackle?  If so, focus your efforts on a smaller and more manageable niche and then work on growing it out once you’ve reached profitability.  Is it too small to reach and sustain adequate levels of profitability over time?  If the answer is yes, look to expand your product offering so it meets the needs of a larger market.  Or look to sell something else. Then create a road map of all the tasks you need to accomplish and the due dates and milestones you’re going to attach to each one.

3. Find Suppliers
Most online sellers, don’t create their own products from scratch, they locate a wholesale dropshipper and resell those products for a profit. A significant advantage to selling on line? You can locate a wholesale supplier who rather than shipping inventory to you, will ship straight to your end customer once an order is placed. This is called a dropshipper or dropship supplier.

The right dropship supplier is a huge asset to your business, so do your research and make sure you build a business relationship with a reputable company.

4. Look for an online storefront provider
As an entrepreneur, you have many skills, you’re resourceful, you’re creative, you’ve got a good business sense, and a whole lot of other strengths and abilities that will help you succeed. Website design however, might not make this list, and frankly, it doesn’t need to. There are a number of reputable online storebuilder solutions out there. Depending on your particular needs, you can use do anything from using their simple tools to set up your own website to hiring one of their professional designers to build a custom site for you.  A good professionally designed premium template can cost as little as $1000.

Often these services also offer integrated shopping carts and order management systems so you’re not just getting a website, you’re getting a full business solution, which is a huge time and money saver (especially if you don’t have a lot of spare start-up capital).  A select number of online storefronts will have even built relationships with a host of dropshippers so you can use them to source products too.

5. Market your New Store
Once you’ve got your inventory built out and have your eCommerce website up and running, you’ll need to spread the word, and get your name out there. This can include submitting your site to search engines, sending out press releases, pay-per-click advertising campaigns, and a number of other options.

Whatever strategies you tackle ensure you can track the performance of each one. This allows you to assess which strategies resonate with your target market and which are a drain on your precious capital.

6. Provide Amazing Customer Service
I acknowledge that this step isn’t technically a part of getting your eBusiness set up, however, its still mission critical if you want your fledgling business to survive, so it’s worth mentioning.  Providing great customer support will set you apart from the competition and encourage repeat business, which in turn will make you money and keep you in business. Enough Said.

7. Keep it Fresh
Last but not least, you’ve gone to all this trouble to create a plan, find dropshippers, build an online storefront, market your new ecommerce store, provide fantastic customer service, so what’s next? Don’t let all your hard work fall down the wayside by walking away from your business and letting it manage itself. Keep updating your product lines, your website, stay in contact with your customer base so they keep coming back and you keep making sales.

References:
Melissa Campanelli , Entrepreneur, How to Set Up an E-Commerce Site

Erick Schonfeld, Tech Crunch, Forrester Forecast: Online Retail Sales Will Grow To $250 Billion By 2014

My Own Business, Internet Business & Search Engine Marketing

Armando Roggio, Practical ECommerce, Ecommerce Know-How: Seven Steps to Starting Your eBusiness in a Recession

24 Essential Pages to include on your website

Here is a list of pages and important information that should be included on your website.  The most common pages on successful websites include:

1. Home Page (First Page)

This is your “sales” page and should provide information about what you can do for your customers. It should also give your visitors a brief overview of what they can find on your site.

2. Products / Services

It is useful to have a separate page for each product/service and write as much detail as possible. Start each page with a brief summary of the product/service, then provide whatever information you can. When people are searching for information on the internet, they want to know it NOW.

3. Contact Us

Place contact details in as many places as possible. Make it easy for your customers to contact you. Create a special “Contact Us” page and include your details in the “About Us” page and also at the bottom of each page. Information to include: business name, physical address, mailing address, telephone, fax, email, emergency number, website address.

4. Pricing

Whenever possible include the price of your products/services. Even if you can’t be specific. It is helpful to put at least a range of prices, eg. Carpet cleaning ranges between $40 – $60 per room.

5. Testimonials / Product Reviews / Before & After

Include testimonials from your current customers to show your potential clients that you are trustworthy, reliable and that you provide great service and/or products.  If you don’t have any, get them! Just email your customers and ask for their feedback on your business and service.

6. Frequently Asked Questions

Instead of having to answer the same questions over and over again, place them on your website and keep adding to them. The more information you have on your website, the less time you will spend answering questions by email or phone.

7. Response form such as “Subscribe” or “Enquiry” form

Most people don’t like giving out too much information, so ask only the basics, such as Name and Email Address. Then keep in touch with your customers on a regular basis by sending out information that may be of interest to them.

8. On-line Magazine or Newsletter

This is a great marketing tool. Not only does it help you keep in touch with your customers, but provides your website with fresh content. You can set up your Ezine in 2 different ways:

(a) Email subscribers on a regular basis, or
(b) Publish it on your website.

9. Resources/Articles

Add value to your business. Provide information that is complementary to what you do. For example, if you sell wedding dresses include information about reception venues, wedding planners, wedding cakes, etc.

10. About Us

This page tells your customer about who you are and why they should buy your products, services and/or trust your organization. It can also feature your business hours (if you have a bricks and mortar store) or when they can speak to someone on the phone. Many companies also include their mission, details of their staff (photos, biographies, qualifications), recently completed projects and logo.  It is also useful to include details of trade associations you belong to, trade certificates and any awards you may have won.

11. Guarantee

Provide a money back policy.   It could be 30 days, 60 days, 1 year or lifetime.

12. Survey

Find out what customers think about your website, business or product.

13. Events Calendar

This can relate to your business or industry. If you are an artist, you can feature dates where and when your art will be displayed or if you are a singer, where you will be performing.

14. Search My Website Feature

Some visitors to your site may not know exactly what they want, but if you include a search function on your site, they can look for it very easily. Like search engines, this feature will allow your visitors to type in a word or phrase and then search for it on your site.

15. Return/Refund Policy

To make your customers feel more comfortable when making a transaction at your website, you should provide them with your return/refund policy.

16. Privacy Policy

Concerns about how information is going to be used is a major barrier when making a sale. Internet shopping experience is built on trust and privacy is the number one ingredient in trust.

17. Site Map

A site map shows visitors how the site is laid out and which sections are where.

18. Copyright Information

Your website should carry a copyright notice to protect its intellectual property. It is generally in the form of “Copyright (c) 2004, Your Company Name”.

19. Links

Place links to the manufacturers of your products, trade associations or complementary services. When you place links to other businesses, you should request they do the same for you. This will not only bring you more visitors, but may improve your search engine ranking.

20. Media Information

Include any information, articles, photos of your products, staff etc that have appeared in the media – print, TV, radio or internet.

21. News

This can include news about your products/services or about your industry.

22. On-line store

An on-line store allows you sell products directly on the internet 24 hours a day/7 days a week. When building an online store it is important to take in a number of key concepts.

• Make sure that when visitors arrive at your store the navigational mechanisms are simple and effective.
• The actual process of placing the order must be simple.
• Make sure you accept common and convenient methods of payment.
• Continually test your store so you understand your customer’s shopping experience.

23. Blog

Blogs are typically updated daily or weekly using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Blogs are a great tool because they help with:

(a) Communicating with your customers. Blogs provide a way for you to communicate with your customers directly. And it is a two-way communication.

(b) Search Engine Marketing Blogs give you an increased presence on search engines, like Yahoo! and Google.

(c) Stay Ahead of Your Competition Blogs are relatively new and chances are your competition does not yet use them. So you will be seen as an expert in your industry when you post your knowledge and expertise.

(d) Media & Public Relations Blogs are excellent PR tools. You can post your Media Releases and articles and have them picked up by the media.

(e) Free or Low Cost

24. Photo Gallery

You may wish to showcase your goods or services in a special photo gallery – show how your products or services are being used by your customers.

Don’t give your customers a reason to visit your competitor’s website and provide them with all the information they may possibly need or want.

About The Author
Ivana Katz of Websites 4 Small Business makes it easy for you to get your busíness on the internet. If you’re looking for a professional and affordable website designer, visit www.web4business.com.au and download a website plan for free.

What’s in your file cabinet right now? Tax records? Payroll information? And what’s on your computer system? Financial data from your suppliers? Credit card numbers from your customers? To a busy marketer, those documents are an everyday part of doing business. But in the hands of an identity thief, they’re tools for draining bank accounts, opening bogus lines of credit, and going on the shopping spree of a lifetime — at the expense of your company, your employees, and the customers who trust you.

Sophisticated hack attacks make the headlines, but many security breaches could be prevented by commonsense measures that cost companies next to nothing. That’s why the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has published Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business, a plain-language handbook with practical tips on securing sensitive data. The specifics depend on the size of your company and the kind of information you have, but the basic principles remain the same. Whether you work for a multinational powerhouse with branches around the world or a start-up based in a home office, a sound information security plan is built on these five key practice

s:

• Take stock. Know what personal information you have in your files and on your computer. Understand how personal information moves into, through, and out of your business and who has access — or could have access to it.
• Scale down. Keep only what you need for your business. That old business practice of holding on to every scrap of paper is “so 20th century.” These days, if you don’t have a legitimate business reason to have sensitive information in your files or on your computer, don’t keepit.

• Lock it. Protect the information you keep. Be cognizant of physical security, electronic security, employee training, and the practices of your contractors and affiliates.
• Pitch it. Properly dispose of what you no longer need. Make sure papers containing personal information are shredded, burned, or pulverized so they can’t be reconstructed by an identity thief.
• Plan ahead. Draft a plan to respond to security incidents. Designate a senior member of your team to create an action plan before a breach happens.

Get your copy of Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business at www.ftc.gov/infosecurity. While you’re there, download copies for your IT manager, your human resources department, your sales staff, and anyone else who comes in contact with customer or employee information.

Lesley Fair is an attorney in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection who specializes in business compliance.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/articles/art01.shtm

I’ve had a lot of email from people who know they want to start an Internet business, but don’t know how to put the nuts & bolts together on the business end.

That’s not surprising. It can be confusing, and there are certain steps to be taken in a certain order. Without help, you can end up running in virtual circles for weeks.

Now, please keep this in mind, folks; I’m not an attorney, and I’d rather not have to hire one after writing this article.  Let me just say that this is how it works where I live.  Your local government may do things a bit differently.   If you need to, consult an attorney or accountant.  You should, though, be able to do this pretty easily on your own if you choose.

There are five things you would need to get started the RIGHT way.  It works pretty similarly around the US.

1.) File your Business Entity

You need a “business entity.” That just means you need an official business name that’s recognized by the government. You can do this one of two ways.

• Corporation: You can file a corporation with your State.  Most States in the US have a websites services.  They also have instructional forms that detail what goes where, and what everything means on the forms.  Once we complete our forms, we submit them online with about a $90 payment, and poof…we’re a corporation!  We get our official copies back in a few days.
• Fictitious Name: This is a simpler way to register your business, but it does not afford you the protections that a corporation does. Same thing… the website has the forms, and we fill them out and submit them online.  This doesn’t cost as much as a corporation. In some States, this is called a DBA (Doing Business As…), and is obtained from your local County Office building for a minimal fee. ($35 would be an average).  If you’re not sure which way you want to go, see an attorney or accountant.  This is an important decision!

2.) Obtain a Business License

In some states, we are required to have a County Occupational License issued by the county our business resides in.   This takes a couple of hours at the local County Office Building, and costs about $30.  We must show our Business Entity papers. In some other States, a County Occupational or Business License may not be required.

3.) Obtain a Resale Certificate

In almost every State you are required to have a Sales Tax Certificate (Tax ID Number).   We must again show our Business Entity papers.  This is done at the local State Tax Office. When you buy from a Wholesale Supplier, you will be asked to supply them with a copy of this certificate. They use it as proof to the IRS that they are not required to charge you tax on the products they sell you at wholesale.

4.) Open a Business Bank Account
If you’re going to do business, you must have a business bank account.  You’ll need your Business Entity papers, your Tax ID and your County Business License, (if required).  Here, we can open a business account for a deposit of $50 to $100.  Almost all banks offer business accounts.

5.) Open a Merchant Account

The last thing you need is a Merchant Account.  You’ll need everything you obtained in the five steps above for this one. (Unless the County Business License is not required in your State).

This is the thing that allows you to accept credit cards from your online customers.  Without this, you’ll get nowhere.  Online buyers are instant gratification junkies.  They want it NOW! If they have to mail you a check, they’ll go somewhere else and buy.  Merchant accounts used to cost a thousand dollars and more to set up.  They’ve come down a LOT.  We just opened a new one for a setup fee of $150.  The Merchant Account will collect funds from your customers’ credit cards, and deposit those funds in your business account.  The Merchant Bank will charge you about 2.2% of the amount you charge your customer’s credit card, plus about 30 cents per transaction.

Your Merchant Banker will help you to incorporate your Merchant Account into your Internet store software.

Well, there it is. That’s the business end of an Internet business. Sound complicated? It isn’t, really.  The hard part is waiting for one thing before you can obtain the next!

For more details on this process, please read my FREE EBook, “Starting Your Internet Business RIGHT!”
As I said above, these are just guidelines. If you have questions, please consult a professional.