Click here to get this post in PDF
If you’re new to the world of e-commerce, it can seem confusing. But if you’re ready to get your hands dirty and learn what makes an online shop tick, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to build yourself a successful business. In this article, we’ll cover all aspects of starting your own online shop, so without further ado, let’s get started!
Decide on your niche
Now that you’ve decided on your target market, the next step is to do some research.
Make a list of the top 20 niches in your area. Then, decide which one will be best for you and your business. You may choose to enter more than one niche market, but only if it makes sense for what you are going to sell or offer other people.
Go through these niches and see how many competitors are already in them. Of course, the fewer competitors there are in any given niche, the better your chance of success! However, sometimes there is such a thing as too small a niche—if there aren’t enough customers available (people who might want what we have), then our efforts will not be profitable enough, even though our costs may be low enough that we still make money without having many customers come through our doors every day during opening hours (or even every week!).
Create Your Brand
- Think about what you want your business to be.
- What is the personality of your brand?
- Create a logo that represents it. Make sure it’s easy to remember and spell so that people can find you easily. Use the same colors and fonts across all branding materials such as business cards, websites, and social media profiles.
Great Photographs
Great photographs are a must for any business. People are more likely to buy from you if they can see what your product looks like, and money talks.
If you’re going to pay someone else to photograph your products, then you should definitely use a professional photographer like this Melbourne business photographer. They will take amazing photos that stand out from the crowd and help people make up their minds about whether or not they want to buy from you. You can also learn how to take good photographs yourself! If you’re keen on saving some cash and learning how photographers do it, check out our blog post on 3 Tips for Taking Better Product Photos with Your Smartphone.
Functional and Good Looking Website
- Easy to Navigate – Your website needs website development to be easy to navigate. People will not take the time or energy to figure out where you are hiding all of your products, services, and contact information. Make sure that everything is easily accessible from the home page. This includes:
- Contact Information – Ideally you want a phone number, email address, and physical address listed on every page of your site so that people can contact you easily. If possible have someone answer calls after hours so that customers can speak directly with a real person instead of leaving a message or sending an email that may not get answered right away.
- FAQs or Frequently Asked Questions Section – Before building your website, think about what types of questions people would ask to determine what information should and should not be included on each page. You want potential customers who come across this section before making a purchase decision!
Phone Systems
If you want to build an established online business in Australia, you must have a phone system.
Phone systems are an essential part of any business, and they are an effective way to communicate with your customers. Phone systems can also allow you to grow your business by allowing you to take calls from customers who are not online or not yet ready to buy from your website.
The cost of a good phone system is high, but it is worth it because it will save you money in the long run by increasing sales and keeping customers loyal.
Add products to your website
Now that you’ve set up your website, it’s time to add products to it. You can use e-commerce platforms like Shopify or Woocommerce or an online payment system like PayPal. When you’re adding products to your website, make sure they’re relevant and related to one another so that customers can easily find what they’re looking for.
Integrate payment gateway
Once you have a website, the next step is to integrate a payment gateway so that visitors can actually make purchases.
There are two ways of doing this: by integrating your payment gateway directly into your website hosting provider (like HostGator or Bluehost) or by using a third-party service like PayPal or Stripe.
The first option will give you more control over how much information is shared with customers, but it also requires technical skills and time. The second option can be easier to set up but requires more trust in the third-party company handling your credit card data.
Set up marketing and promotional channels
Your business will need to establish marketing and promotional channels to reach your target audience. These include:
- Setting up a mailing list is one of the most important things you can do to promote your online business. You can use MailChimp, which is free, or Sendy Pro, which costs $19 per month.
- Using social media – Facebook and Instagram are great platforms on which to build relationships with customers who follow you and engage with your content.
- Pay-per-click advertising – Google AdWords has a variety of options available depending on what it is that you want people searching online for so that they come across your website instead (and hopefully buy something!)
Setting up a successful online business takes work; keep going, and you’ll see results
Building an online business takes hard work, perseverance, and patience. You need to keep going even when it gets tough. There are no shortcuts to success, but there are plenty of tips for success if you’re willing to put in the time and effort.
You need a plan, strategy, and structure for your online business that works for you. Your plan should include:
- How much money do you want to make monthly (target income)? What will it take?
- List what tasks need to be done each day, week, or month so they get done consistently without having to overthink them.
- Who is going to do each task – yourself or someone else?
- How long will each task take?
- Where can I find people who can help out with these tasks?
Conclusion
We hope that you have found this guide useful, and we wish you all the best in your online business endeavors. If you’re still unsure where to start, don’t hesitate to ask for help! Many resources are available online, including our own blog, which contains a lot of information on how others have built successful businesses from scratch too.
You may also like: Things You Wish You Knew Before Running Your Online Business
Image source: Depositphotos.com