Let’s say you have a business with some products you want to sell online. Some commercials say if you just put them online, you’ll get rich. It isn’t quite that simple. I’ll run through some of the steps involved and I would appreciate your help even if you don’t need an online store. Let’s go through it.
First you have to decide where to build your online store. There are dedicated platforms like Shopify and Big Commerce. They are dedicated to e-commerce and they do simplify some of the steps. Unfortunately if you want to do more with your Web site than just sell, they can be limiting. My focus is building a WordPress site that includes e-commerce as well as whatever else you desire. Once you decide on WordPress, you’ll need to choose a place to host the site.
Building a WordPress site is an involved process. Yes, you could learn how to do it yourself. Should you do that, you have to take time away from your business and the products you want to sell. Businesses often think they save money by doing it themselves, when in fact there is a massive hidden cost in doing this. Hiring a professional does cost money, but it is an investment in your business that can bring big returns.
WordPress doesn’t include native support for e-commerce so the next step is choosing a shopping cart plugin with the features you’ll need. Once again it could be hard to make an informed choice if you aren’t regularly working in WordPress. I’ve worked with a number of the top options as well as some that are a little more unknown. Knowing about the options allows me to give clients the best option for their needs.
Will you need to ship your products or are they downloads? How is the fulfillment process handled? These are tough questions that need to be answered so that people get products after purchase. The choice of an e-commerce plugin can also influence the answers to those questions. This is another area where a professional can help you find the most efficient and inexpensive options.
Do you need to charge tax? How will it be calculated? All of these choices can get a business owner’s head spinning. The best choices have answers and the pro knows how to implement them.
Even after the store is online, it needs to have SEO implemented and a promotional campaign to get potential customers to visit. The right promotional plan varies depending on your business and products. All of these processes are simplified when you are working with a pro who has been there many times before.
Can I Help You? Will You Help Me?
Those are two big questions. If you need an online store and you have a reasonable budget, I’d love to work with you to build a profitable site. When I say reasonable, I’m not saying it has to be expensive. It is an investment that can pay off if done correctly.
Some of you may not need a store, in fact it could only be a small percentage of you. You can still be helpful to me if you can share/save the embedded post/pin below to your accounts. Thanks in advance to all of you who can help me spread the word.
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