Starting an Online Store
I found this post about starting an online store. If you have a web site or blog (here is a shopping cart plugin) you can easily add products that complement what your site or blog is about. Since I teach people how to build and market their own online stores, I have some opinions to add.
My first dropshipping site is www.cot-tents.com. I actually prefer content sites but they can take longer to build and this is my focus right now. Creating an online store is a good place to start.
First, there are directories of dropshippers on sites like WorldWideBrands or TheShipper. I’m not a fan of Doba unless you need products and a site built before other companies will work with you. That’s because your relationship with a dropshipper is important and if you can never access them you have cut out a very important part of your business. You can always negotiate better prices or terms once you start making sales. Also, the more middlemen the less the margin you will get.
If you want to spend a lot of time, go straight to the manufacturer – look them up on ThomasNet.com. Call and see if they will let you sell their items on your web site and if they will ship the item directly to the customer for you.
Another way to find a business willing to drop ship product for you is to think of people you already know or work for who have access to products at wholesale prices. Most people overlook this important part of business – networking. Just by letting people know about my online store they suggest products I could sell. Also, think about relatives or friends who may have access to products you could sell.
Whatever you do on your store, make sure you don’t just copy exactly what your product supplier has written about the item. Often the text is stilted and isn’t well written. Also, search engines won’t index or rank your page highly if it is a copy of the same information found on another site. Look at what others have written about the products to get ideas. Research each item on your own and put things in your own words. Make it yours. Be creative too. That wedding favor could actually be a party favor or a gift that goes along with the theme of your site.
I’ve made a goal to add at least one product to my web site each day. I started today. I’ve decided to stay with Shopify. They charge 3% of each order but you don’t have a monthly fee. I’ll let you know how it goes. I’d like to see more documentation or tutorials – especially videos to explain how to customize the shop and how to use the site.
A lot of this is review of what I’ve gone over before. I will write about ways to market your online store. I also like to talk about ways to build trust (testimonials, seals, a toll free phone number, etc). I’d like to get your opinion: how do you build a web site? what tools or sites are invaluable to you in the process? How do you find product to sell? Any tips or insights welcome.
One of my favorite stores is MyWeddingFavors and this video that goes along with it by the owner of this site Brad Fallon.
6 Responses to “Starting an Online Store”
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July 17th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Hi Janet,
I really liked this blog post alot and the others recently leading to it. I’d like to know the URL of your online store. I wish you would post the URLs of your sites as you share with us information about them. You are just Full of IT! Information that is! LOL !
July 18th, 2007 at 11:23 am
great site full of quality information… Thanks for linking to my article , i noticed that you listed a few resources that i forgot to mention. ThomasNet.com is a great resource.
What is this Shopify? I’m in the process of launching another online shop and considering testing Shopify out. Are you the owner or co-owner of Shopify? What are your experiences?
July 18th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Thanks for your comments blog money.
Shopify is an ajax-based ecommerce site builder tool. I don’t own it and I don’t know who does. I’m building my site in it. I would show it to you but it’s not live until you turn on the shopping cart. I’m still stocking the store. So far it’s pretty easy to use.
I’ll keep you posted on how it goes. My coworker told me about it. Being a sucker for things like this I had to try it out.
- Janet
August 1st, 2007 at 8:58 am
Janet,
If you’re open to it, I’d like a chance to explain Doba and what we do to you. From this post and another one about dropship access, I think you’re not 100% clear on how our business model works and what our value proposition is for our customers. And since we’re in both in Utah and both bloggers, it would be a great phone call/meeting. Let me know if you’re interested.
Jeremy Hanks
CEO, Doba
August 1st, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Jeremy,
Thank you for your comments. I actually have 3 friends who work at Doba. I’ve tried to get more info from one of them – in sales. We never got a chance.
I’d love to arrange a meeting. I prefer meeting in real life since so much of my work is online or on the phone. I know we’re both busy but let’s try.
I’ll email you off blog.
Best
Janet
January 22nd, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Has anyone tried SITE BUILD IT! (SBI!) from sitesell.com ?? Just wondering.