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Are You Afraid to Sell Tangible Products Online?

By Lisa Paredes

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Published: 23Sep2008
Word count: 731
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Maybe you want to start your very first business online, and you really want to sell tangible products, but you are a bit hesitant about setting up shop. I'll bet your hesitation has something to do with this word: fear. Well, fear no more because the process is not that scary. Toss out that feeling of fear, and let's make a plan that will help you achieve your goal of selling tangible products.

Choose a Niche

If you currently own a business online and sell downloadable products, think about staying in that niche instead of entering a new one. If you haven't entered a niche online, open up a note pad and start writing in names of niches that interest you. Select at least five possible niches to enter online.

Market Research

This is very important. You need to research the niches you are considering. Skip this step, and you will end up in trouble later, guaranteed! Search for the answers to the following questions:

- Who are your competitors? How big are your competitors' companies? How long have they been in business? Do they own a network of similar sites? Find out about all the products they sell and the prices they charge. (Note: do not copy your competitors to a "T," or you will set yourself up for failure.)

- Investigate ALL realms of that niche.

- Find players in the market who have content-based sites. (This information may be useful when you are ready to recruit affiliates, and you might want to advertise on those sites).

- Estimate what it would cost to advertise in your market. If the niche you want to enter online is a highly competitive one, it could take a substantial amount of resources to get your business going. If you don't have money to advertise, then you are in BIG trouble.

When you've found a niche you want to enter online, don't think that you have to defeat everyone in your niche. Instead, think of sites in your niche as potential affiliates for your business and plan to network with these businesses online, or consider the possibility of promoting their products once you are established.

Locate Drop Shippers

Before you commit to a niche online, you need to locate drop shippers, which can be a confusing process. If you don't want to hunt down drop shippers yourself, you might want to find a service that has established relationships with drop shippers. Some examples of companies that offer this service are World Wide Brands and Doba.

Online Shopping Carts

If you already have an established business and want to expand it, I recommend hosting your own shopping cart. However, if that is not the case, it is easy to find a shopping cart service specifically designed for selling tangible products, which makes it simple to add products to your storefront. You can add 20 products to your store in a matter of minutes. However, if you use a shopping cart service that requires manually uploading a button to your site for each product, it can take you a long time to add 20 products to your Web site. Think simplicity and automation when selecting the right online shopping cart service.

Have a One-Track Mind

One day you might be upset because things haven't turned out the way you planned and feel like leaving the online game. If that happens, you need to review what's going wrong. Why aren't you reaching your goals? It could be conversions. It could be you need more targeted traffic. Your job is to find out what the problems are and fix them.

After you identify the problem and take action to fix it, these are the things you should focus on:

Increasing sales

Increasing traffic

Increasing conversions

Improving your business

You should set short-term, attainable goals that lead to your ultimate goal. There is no such thing as overnight success. You are growing a business that thrives and stays alive. You can't plant a small tree one night and expect it to grow into a Redwood the next day. Expect your business to go through many stages. Keep repeating this simple formula:

Increase + Improve + Repeat = Hit New Goal

Conclusion

If you want something badly but fear trying to attain it, GO FOR IT ANYWAY! Otherwise, you'll always be dreaming and hoping for things to come to you. Now start selling!

For inspiration, tips and home business advice, visit: http://www.mommyempire.com/ for work at home moms .

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