Your Own Online Store

Perhaps one of the funnest way to make money through the use of the internet is by setting up your very own online store. You may be thinking, "But how do I do that?", well I can tell you.

1. I would recommend Webs.com because I use it personally for several of my sites but if you want to find one on your own then use a search engine to find a good host for your site that you will use as your store (you may use Google.com, or Yahoo.com, or Bing.com, for instance.). Then try clicking some of the links that appear and read what they have to offer. If you like it it then create an account with them. But what should you look for when doing this? Well most people, look for nice looking domains because they entail a feeling of more trust (I mean would you feel better clicking something like verycoolideas.blogspot.com or jkfdhkhfdsbcyu.kdfgfy.943949.djdidi.com/sjisi9s9wj/sosidj_oedj, yeah I think you see what I mean), people also look for the amount of free space they have before they have to pay. Space? What the beep is space? Well space is basically how much you have to fill up with information, in this case the information of products, pictures, shipping information, and stuff like that. So the bigger the number the better, however do know that 25 mb is not the same as 25 kb, mb are BIGGER than kb. But if space becomes a problem you can create multiple sites and link them all together so the shopper does not even notice. You might also want to look at the templates they have to make your site look attractive and how easy it is to work with, you don't want to spend toooooooo much time on your site, remember your selling not site-building, so nice and easy to work with templates should be a big part of which site hosting service you decide to choose.
2. After you have chosen your site-hosting service, create your account and begin building your site by adding pages such as Home, Shipping, Products, Comments, Checkout, etc. and try to keep the same template and theme going throughout the site, because this suggests organization and skill on your part.
3. After creating the pages carefully put information on them. I say carefully because you want to be sure that what you put is true, something you can actually do or fulfill, and you want to include everything. For example, on your "Shipping" you will probably want to provide a detailed but also friendly-sounding explanation of how you ship things, estimated arrival date, prices for shipping, etc., you should not leave anything out so that your clients no everything they need to know.
4. Once you put the names of the things you are selling and their prices you might want to also post a description of that item and a picture or two, so your customers will know what they are buying.
5. For your "Checkout" page you may want to try using PayPal as a method of payment as it is safer, fast, and easy for you and your customers to use. Also that way you need not worry about getting money orders or invalid checks, cashing them, etc. for every single order, but instead with PayPal you can be paid whenever you want (check PayPal.com for up-to-date methods of payment), but if you choose to just keep the money in PayPal that can also be good because many stores these days accept PayPal as a method of payment. To learn how to create a PayPal account please read a post or two below this one.)
6. Now that you have created your site and have a method of receiving payments you want to get an e-mail address, though you probably have one at this point since most website services ask for one, but you may want to create one specifically for use with your new store. To do this please refer to number 2 on the post titled "How to Open a PayPal".
7. Post your e-mail on your site somewhere that is easily seen and perhaps try making a "Contact Me" page, it might be a good idea to state something that says"No spamming please." or something to that extent.
8. Now that your site is finished, your method of receiving payments is set, and your form of communicating with your customers is set, you now want to market your site. In other words, you want to let people know your site exists. To do this try adding tags to your site , sending e-mails that your new online store is now open to friends and family, posting flyers about your site, blogging and then mentioning your site in relevant blogs or forums, marking it as a favorite in things like Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, Delicious, and other social networking and ,marketing sites. You might also want to register your site on public online directories. And you might try going to Google to find other ideas that I at this moment am not thinking of. It will take a few days, weeks, or perhaps months for your site to get some heavy traffic but once it does it is easier to just keep it up, just keep making and selling great products.
9. Congratulate yourself on a job well done. :D

Things to Keep In Mind

• Try setting limits at first until you know how much you are capable of producing. For instance you do not want 100 customers expecting 5 hard-to-make chairs in a few days. No, after you get a few sells, take that item or all items off the site and tell them you are sold out for the moment, and then make the items, and then if you think you have time to make more then you can "re-stock" on you online store. You do not want to sell and then not deliver, or not deliver on time. So with this in mind you might try making things before you actually put them up for sale that way you already have some in-stock and you are not as pressured to make more of those items so fast.
• Do not overprice! As tempting as it is to want to put a high value on one's own creations we should not because we are very biased. Try asking people how much they would pay for your product(s) and then ask yourself how much you would pay, and then set the price. Remember to include any other applicable fees besides the cost, such as taxes, shipping and handling, etc.
• It is very important to remain legal, so inform yourself with a qualified professional what requirements or guidelines you must follow to sell things online, and if you have to pay taxes, fees, have some sort of documentation, or whatever else might be needed by your local, state, and federal government to operate an online store.
• Try to always respond to your customers' questions because this shows them you care about and by doing this you will instill in them a feeling of trust and a connection so they might buy from you on a regular basis.
• Do not sell high-quality items and then sell low-quality items as this will probably make many customers stop buying from you.
• Update your site often so your customers can see you are constantly caring for your store. So instead of sweeping the entrance of a physical store you are updating the online store.
• Ship things out as soon as you can. Shipping things out on by the date in which it will get to your customers' desired location on time is essential to establishing legitimacy to your store because it shows organization and a feeling of duty to satisfy the customer, if they get it early well then that just makes them that much more joyful.
• You might want to include a small business card with your store information on it as well as any information you want on it.
• You may also want to occasionally send out small free gifts, sort of as a "thank you for shopping at (insert store name)", this will most likely put a smile on your customers' face and this will make them trust you and increase the chance they will return to your store. Just make sure the free gift is inexpensive for you to make but a nice thing for them to receive as well.

Good luck with your new store! And please feel free to let me know how you store is doing or to post your store's site on here to let people who read this blog know about it.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

*Please know that this is just a post describing how to set-up an online store, and in now way guarantees that any method or tip given will work for you and make your online store successful.

**Also know that there may be certain restrictions or fees or other government-imposed requirements before you are allowed to start or operate an online store. So please check with a qualified professional to ensure you are following all local, state, and federal laws.