Selling products and/or services online through a selling venue or your own website has never been easier to do. Anybody can do it these days however many who try eventually fail because they don't use everyday common sense practices when they begin their new business. Of course it would be great if everyone who tries to sell online could be successful but, unfortunately, it isn't likely to be that way. Many people just won't do what is required to be successful. That seem to be human nature.
Before you start building your own website, or choose a selling venue, check around and see what successful sellers are doing. Why are they making the choices they are and what are they doing to make it work for them. A good friend of mine once said, "If you want to be successful take a successful person to lunch and listen!" How right they were. And how few people actually do listen.
Look at those who are being successful. Examine what they are doing and see what is about their operations that is appealing and effective in marketing their products or services to the average Internet user. You can benefit from their previous research by studying what they all do and finding the common design and marketing techniques they all use and then emulating and applying those same techniques to your own business.
I have a cousin who operated a small franchise organization with a couple of dozen stores across the region. The president of his largest competitor once commented that it was easier for my cousin to expand. The competitor's company, a huge operation with hundreds of outlets, spent a lot of money on research before opening a new store. All my cousin's company had to do, the competitor said, was open their new stores across the street from his thereby taking advantage of all his company's expensive research. So why not do what successful real-world business operators do. Take advantage of the expertise of other successful businesses.
One important thing you should notice on most sites operated by successful sellers is that they almost all display at least some of their products right on their home page for immediate purchase. Extensive research has shown that you will sell more, and sell faster, when you can get the product in front of the customer quicker. Obviously, you must temper this with appealing site design and download speeds but a half dozen or so products on the home page would be sufficient to pique any shopper's interest into looking deeper into your site.
Keep your site navigation straight forward and easy for the novice to understand. Text links are better for search engine optimization and may be easier to understand than graphic links. Keep links short. Limit the number of selections. You don't need a category for each item -- that defeats the purpose of categories which group like items together. Having too many sub-categories is often more confusing than it is helpful. Keeping your menu structure readily available on every page is a good idea that is often overlooked.
Flash intro pages, flash menus and other animations often seem attractive and stylish when you are first building your own website but they detract from the main purpose of your site: to sell your items and/or services. They are also detrimental to search engine results, slow down access to your site and will often drive away more business than they will attract. My advice is don't use them.
Having a professional looking site that makes the shopper comfortable is important but there are several subtle, but important, design and marketing concepts that must be considered too. So many site designers -- of both stand alone websites and community selling venues -- overlook, or don't understand, these basics. Be sure the site you choose promotes your business to the best extent. Your site needs to make it easy to transact business with you. Accepting credit cards (Google Checkout, PayPal or a commercial credit card gateway) is important. Around 90% of all online shoppers will purchase if they can use their credit card easily. If you don't use a payment process that allows credit cards you need to re-think this part of your business plan.
Site design is important. Accepting credit cards is too. But the content of your site -- the information you provide on your site along with your items for sale -- is also an important part of the whole. What you say, how you say it, and especially the use of good grammar and correct spelling is a significant element in your ultimate success. If your site reads poorly it will turn customers away quickly. Use a good spell check tool and have others proof-read your site to look for errors.
Don't try to be all things to all people. Success is much easier to attain if you find your niche and serve it well. You don't have to be uniqe. You can even compete in a saturated market if you find the sizzle to sell along with the steak. You can carve out enough of any market with quality product, competitive pricing, and excellent service if you package yourself correctly and promote yourself properly.
Remember, though, to be realistic in the budget you set for yourself. You need enough to get the job done but not so much that you can never get out from under it. Online selling costs significantly less than offline, or "real-world" selling but it does cost. Looking for free sites may seem like a good economic choice but it may turn out to be a financial disaster. The old adage, "you get what you pay for" may need some revisiting. The cost differential between online and offline selling is clear and it is exactly why so many people see online selling as a good choice but if you try to run an e-commerce enterprise without sufficient funding you will not only limit your potential but you may, in the end, fail to achieve your goals.
There are few, if any, real instant online success stories. Real successes are build on a foundation of good choices, hard work, and commitment over at least six months to a year. If you flit from selling venue to selling venue hoping to find the one that will make you successful you don't understand the process at all. Neither a selling site, nor your own website, will make you successful. Only YOU will make you successful. You need to budget for advertising and promotion. You need to participate in online promotion vehicles like community and social networks, participate in forums and blogs, and optimize your site for search engines. Getting exposure for your online business can be much cheaper than offline advertising but you will have to spend some money and do lots of work.
One of the key things you can do is research. Check out other successful sellers. See what they are doing. Chat with them on forums. Separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff and be prepared to take on a little -- or a lot -- of hard work over several months. This will make the difference between a wasted effort and your ultimate online success.