Retailer:
If you have been working on crafts for years, the great news is that you probably have enough items (inventory) to become an on-line retailer already! If not, you will need to decide what you plan to sell and then raise the money to purchase the items.
If you want to start a Tee Shirt business, like Johnny Cupcakes , then you will have to design the tee shirts and use a reliable company such as Spreadshirt to print them for you. If you want to sell handmade crafts like Mystic-Bazaar you will need to purchase the craft making supplies, and if you want to start a jewelry business like Aquarius Custom Jewelry you will need to purchase jewelry making supplies.
For every product you can think of, there are also many wholesale outlets that will sell you six dozen or more of an item at an incredible price.
Business websites like The Trade Post will allow you to register for free and contact sellers world wide. This is a great resource for all businesses, especially those who want to buy wholesale. Virtually any item that your purchase, you can then sell on your website at a profit.
Choosing Your Business
The first thing you need to do is make a business plan and to do that you must decide on a business. Are you an Advice column or an Entertainment magazine? Are you selling a product or an idea? Are you using the website as a portal to a brick and mortar business or are you using it to promote ideas? Start by making yourself a list of businesses that you think you can manage as an internet business, or check out some of the ideas below:
Concepts and Opportunities
Information/Entertainment Marketer:
You don’t need to know a Hollywood star to write about entertainment news. You only need to write well. Combine a witty story with public domain photos and you have the basis of an ‘on line entertainment magazine’. If your expertise is astrology, write about that and include pictures of your specific tools. If you are an adult with exhibitionist leanings, first 'Protect your Brand' then you can put that talent to work, too. Adult websites make money.
The idea is to identify your areas of expertise and offer them up with a professional looking flair. Give people what they want: insights, entertainments and quips. Incorporate pictures, diagrams and an e-mail forum where you answer your ‘customer’s’ questions. ‘Tweet’ with them, and they will come back hourly. Advertise your primary business, that of a friend, or approach local merchants and offer a business card ad on your website for a pre-agreed amount per year. Create content around products you like and let those advertisers come to you for a per-click deal, or go through an advertising broker, like Commission Junction, Google, or others and create content focused on the advertisers you will find there. Adult sites, especially, make money from well-placed, click thru advertising.
YOU can Start Your Internet Based Business Today
Do you have what it takes to run a successful internet based business from home? You can start one today for under $300.00! Read on for free business advice.
Believe it or not, it is not easy to work from home. But if you are the kind of person who can set up their own office, work for 6 to 12 hours and ignore distractions, then this might be the perfect opportunity for you.
Think about it, there are millions of websites out there and quite a few of them are just unimaginative attempts to sell the same thing that you can pick up within a fifteen minute walk from home. And when you take that walk you know you are going to a store you feel comfortable shopping in. You feel more comfortable with the store than with the website.
How then, do those websites make money? Look around. Click on some ads that interest you. What do they have in common? They all have a well-designed shopping experience that combines classy graphics with eye-riveting product pictures and product information. Graphics; Products; Information. When you add yourself to these three essentials, you have the working structure on which to build your successful internet business.
A personally inspired web based enterprise can be the perfect business for you especially if you have limited investment funds. Your location is on the web so you don’t need to worry about finding office space. You can simply set up a desk with a computer in any corner of any room and be ready to start working. With no employees’ necessary, you can choose to operate as a sole proprietorship which will save you a monthly accounting expense in addition to certain federal taxes. In addition, you can decide how many hours to devote daily to your business. This is especially important if you have decided to use your web enterprise to transition out of your current job without giving up the income. If you currently own a franchise or work in a retail store, a web based business is perfect for your needs.
If you have limited familiarity with the internet, the prospect of opening an internet business may be both attractive and daunting. You need a business idea; a website; products; payment processing; domain name; web hosting and especially advertising. All of these things together can seem like a huge obstacle, but in reality, it is very easy to get started on the road to success. The best thing: You don’t need to pay either a business consultant or an expensive web design consultant to start you on the road to success! Everyone wants a shiny new website with interesting gimmicks, and there are companies that will do it for a fee. But if you follow this advice, you can save yourself thousands of dollars in startup fees and avoid the frustration of falling prey to one of those companies that are only available if you agree to an expensive contract.
Many people will have no trouble starting an internet business with an investment of under $300.00. Any person willing to use their head, and put in some time can be successful. The tools are all, right there on-line for anyone to use. It all starts with a website. Even if you can’t think of what to do immediately with your website, it is easy to broker your website as a ‘parking spot’ for advertising. That can help you to generate income while you decide on what to do with it. Also, if you name your website well you will give it resale value. With careful planning, you will make your website valuable for the name alone.
Planning Your Business:
Once you decide on the kind of business you want, you will need a plan. The plan does not need to start with a complex document generated by an MBA or a CPA. You can hire a business specialist after your company is making money. Right now you need a pen and a piece of paper. Go get these important tools because it is time to get to work.
Write the type of internet business you are planning to start; Resale, Information or Retail across the top. Next, write your first choice for a name for your business. Now underneath, write several alternatives to use in case your business name is already being used.
Write the type of product you have decided to market for income. If it is information, what type of information? Once you decide write it down. The same holds true if you are reselling a product or retailing a product. When you begin, try to limit yourself to one product line: Clothing, Electronics; Crafts; Food Items; Auto Parts or any item you feel you have enough experience with to sell to others.
Research the places you will use to get your product. If you are selling information, and you are not an expert, do you know someone who is? Can you do the research yourself to become an expert? Are you experienced enough to provide the information plus references to experts? Find this out and write it down. Similarly, if you are selling a product, do you have three reliable suppliers of that product? Do the product research, find the suppliers and write them down.
Planning Your Website:
Now that you have your business plan outlined on paper, you have to plan your website. This is not complicated and does not require tools beyond the pen and paper you used earlier. Now, again, it is time to get to work.
On a new piece of paper, write the type of internet business you are planning to start; Resale, Information or Retail across the top. Next, write your first choice for a name for your business. Now underneath, write several alternatives to use in case your business name is already being used.
For your Main or ‘Home’ Page, draw a rectangle across the top 3 inches of an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper. Write the name of your business in that rectangle. Divide the rest of the page into four equal sized spaces.
Decide what you will use to fill each space. If you have products, you may want to devote one space to information about your product line to let people know why your merchandise is better. If you are providing information, you may want to devote two spaces to pictures and two spaces to information. Write down what you want to put in each area so you can reference it later.
For each additional web page you intend to use, eliminate the website name then divide the sheet into sections and assign each section to either a product or information. You can have as many or as few pages on your website as you like, but for optimum exposure, you should have multiple pages
Putting Your Website Together:
Now that you have your website planned on paper, you have to put it together.
If you are creating an information website, you will need to assemble the information you plan to make public. You either need to write articles and stories, pay people to write them for you, or locate a company that will sell you pre-written articles for a fee. You will need pictures, and videos, so you will either need to create them, pay people to create them for you, or find public domain art that you can re-publish for a fee. Once you have your articles and pictures you need to decide which page of your website will be best for them.
If you are a retailer or reseller, your job is a lot easier. You just need pictures of your product and a description. Your supplier will usually be happy to provide you with jpeg files of the products you buy along with written catalog descriptions. You only need to decide where to put them on your website. If you are selling your own products, you will need to take a clear picture of each item you are selling, and write a catchy description yourself.
Launching Your Website:
This is the easy part of what you plan to do. If you have recently made an electronics purchase, you may have been lucky enough to get free website software with your purchase. If you have it, you are ready to use that free software to get your business started. If you don’t have easy to use, free software, or you find what you own is confusing, you do not have to worry. There are several domain registration and Web hosting companies that makes the entire set up easy with their products .
They not only provide free customer support for most of their products, but, if you want it, they will do your complete web design and set up for a reasonable fee.
Install your software .
Select one of the pre-formatted templates provided in your website package.
Cut and paste your text into the spaces on your website designer
Upload and position your pictures and/or videos into your website designer.
Publish/launch your website.