Shopster's Dropshippers, eCommerce, and Selling Online Blog

Hobbies make a great business

Many retirees find a new source of livelihood because of their hobbies. However, you do not have to wait to retire to turn your own hobby or special interest into products or services to sell on your online store.

You may be an accountant whose spare time is spent collecting records and cassette tapes (in the past) to CDs not so long ago. Or you may be a mailman who just happens to collect vintage magazines or toy robots. Or you may be a teacher whose hobby is collecting coins or stamps.

You are therefore likely to have a huge collection worth a small fortune, and many people out there would pay good money to buy your treasures. Presuming that you are willing to turn these goodies into cash, you now have products that you can sell on your online store.

Don’t worry about running out of things to sell. You can also turn your online store into a trading post, where like-minded individuals who do not have their own online business can sell their stuff. For your troubles, you get a small commission, of course.

If your special interest is not a product but a service, you can still sell your services online. Is yoga, dance, or martial arts your passion? You can offer to teach, to lecture, or to host get-togethers, not unlike the Tupperware parties that were popular decades ago. Again, all for a small fee.

Everyone has something to offer everyone else, be it a product or a service. An online store has become the best way to go. All you have to do is set up that store. So what are you waiting for? 

 

Spotting a Trend

There are products that rarely change, and there are products that have to change in order to sell. Under the former, you have such standardized products as McDonalds’ Big Macs, Coke, and Swiss Army Knives. They may tweak their looks every so often, but the global market has come to expect the core products to stay the same, year in and year out.

Under the latter, you have such products as cars, women’s clothes, and consumer electronics. Their markets demand new models practically every year.

The products you have in your online store are likely to fall under either category. If you happen to be selling products that change in appearance fairly regularly, you have to be able to spot the trends and adapt to them ahead of the pack, as much as possible.

Say your main product lines are sunglasses. There are new pairs of shades introduced all the time, but there are also shades that are considered classic and hardly ever alter their appearance such as the RayBan aviator sunglasses. If your online store sells plenty of classics, then you have to tweak the look of your site now and then so that it does not appear stagnant. However, if you sell the fashionable shades made by the well-known designers, then the new products are the focal point of your site. You may not have to change the overall look of your online store, but you do have to be sure that you are pushing this year’s models. Spot the trends as they take place. Then be first off the starting line in selling the latest models. Consumers will appreciate your keeping up with the constantly changing product landscape.

 

Early failures pave the way for eventual success

For new and inexperienced entrepreneurs, selling online can seem like a daunting line of work. When business does not do as well as they had expected in the first few weeks and months, giving up are an easy option. They will tell themselves, this is not for me.

There are countless success stories of ordinary men and women raking in big bucks through online selling. Almost all of them would have stumbled a few times before they found the right formula for their success. Sure, a desire to succeed is necessary, but so is a commitment to the new business.

It will not be easy, but selling online should not be impossibly hard either. All it takes is a little luck and a lot of hard work. There are bound to be some early failures, but this is true for most businesses that eventually made it big. Some marketing gurus say there is no such thing as luck in business. One popular saying goes thus: “Luck? I make my luck!”

In other words, working hard while working online will bring together all the resources your way that will result in your considering yourself “lucky.”

Make your luck. Do not be afraid to fail. Each failure is a valuable lesson that you can avoid next time. If you learn your lessons from your past failures, you will no longer repeat them in the future. All these sound like the slogans in the inspirational posters you can buy in any bookstore or gift shop. They also happen to be true. 

 

Create Your Own Holiday Sales

Every owner of every online store knows that he or she is in a daily fight for market share and customer loyalty.

They resort to conventional marketing gimmicks such as holiday sales, which may not always work. Not when everyone else is doing the same thing. Thus, Christmas, Valentine’s, Mother’s Day and all similar holidays see practically all online stores having special sales.

But what if you had your own special day/days when you give discounts and freebies to new and old customers?

One of the old, classic comic strips of the past – Li’l Abner – had its Sadie Hawkins Day, when women were allowed to publicly run after men. It seems like a quaint idea now, which is why the comic strip has faded into history, but the idea is not bad. Even a non-holiday like Ground Hog’s Day is celebrated in some rural areas, and was even made into a movie.

What sort of holidays can you create?

Use your imagination. Are you a Trekkie perhaps? Then you can have a Captain Kirk or Spock Day.  You like old movies? How about a Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart or John Wayne Day? You can have it on their actual birthdays, or when they passed away.

This week saw a Christian cult insisting that May 21 is when the world ends. You can have a World Will Not End on (choose your date) Day.

The important thing is for your invented holiday to be done in the spirit of fun, with tongue firmly in cheek.. It also gives you a good reason to have a special sale on your online store, with the goal of bringing in more customers.

 

Create Your Own Holiday Sales

Every owner of every online store knows that he or she is in a daily fight for market share and customer loyalty.

They resort to conventional marketing gimmicks such as holiday sales, which may not always work. Not when everyone else is doing the same thing. Thus, Christmas, Valentine’s, Mother’s Day and all similar holidays see practically all online stores having special sales.

But what if you had your own special day/days when you give discounts and freebies to new and old customers?

One of the old, classic comic strips of the past – Li’l Abner – had its Sadie Hawkins Day, when women were allowed to publicly run after men. It seems like a quaint idea now, which is why the comic strip has faded into history, but the idea is not bad. Even a non-holiday like Ground Hog’s Day is celebrated in some rural areas, and was even made into a movie.

What sort of holidays can you create?

Use your imagination. Are you a Trekkie perhaps? Then you can have a Captain Kirk or Spock Day.  You like old movies? How about a Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart or John Wayne Day? You can have it on their actual birthdays, or when they passed away.

This week saw a Christian cult insisting that May 21 is when the world ends. You can have a World Will Not End on (choose your date) Day.

The important thing is for your invented holiday to be done in the spirit of fun, with tongue firmly in cheek.. It also gives you a good reason to have a special sale on your online store, with the goal of bringing in more customers.

 

Online Marketing Moves that Can Save Your Business

The thing with online marketing strategies is that it changes quickly and regularly depending on factors such as social media trends. In order to keep your business profiting well, you should be up-to-date regarding the online marketing tips that will move you ahead of your competitors. You should have online store or connectivity. If you are looking for new strategies to improve your performance in the middle of 2011, here are some of them:

Take advantage of the Like button on Facebook

If you don’t have the Like button on your website yet, then you are seriously not keeping up with the game. If you think that social media is only for teens who don’t have anything to do, then better change your thinking. The more likes you get, the more visibility you will have to the millions of people logging on Facebook everyday. While you are at it, better use the other applications that Facebook has been cooking up while you were still living under the rock until recently.

Use videos to the hilt

Videos are great marketing tools in which you have total control on how you want to present your products and services. You need not worry about your video getting lost in the multitude. Google search results now include lots of videos and they often show up higher than paid and organic results.

Your website should be tech friendly

Given the number of people using iPhones, iPads, and Android devices, it’s foolish to own a website that does not support these gadgets. Most people access the web through their mobile devices so just imagine the opportunity and exposure wasted if your website can’t be accessed through hand-held devices.

 

 

 

Selling on Facebook: Realistic Expectations

Much has been said on how Facebook is a must for online merchants that a lot of sellers forget to question the actual effectiveness of the social media giant for e-commerce merchants. According to smaller merchants and some vendors, here are some of the realities that you should expect to encounter if you plan to sell products and services via Facebook:

Sales through Facebook can be lower compared to other selling mediums

It is true that there are many ways to sell on Facebook, but the actual sales generated may not be as high compared to sales generated through eBay and other selling platforms. Product exposure is great, yes, but actual sales may not be so impressive. This being the case, it is wise to use other selling channels along with your Facebook store. A reason behind this is that a lot of people are not that accustomed to buying and selling stuff on Facebook and rely mostly on Amazon or eBay.

Merchandising can be limited

Merchandising within the social network can be quite tricky even though traditional types of online merchandising such as affiliate marketing and promo codes can work here. Merchants depend on analytics tools to monitor their sales effectively, and such tools are not that numerous on Facebook just yet. Most probably, you will have to use them along with more prominent analytics tools such as Google’s.

Having Facebook as a gatekeeper between you and your customers can reap lots of benefits

While some may have their reservations regarding the middle-man capabilities of Facebook, it can’t be denied that having Facebook as the gatekeer does have lots of primary benefits. These include traffic generated to your website and the ability to deal with customers in real-time.

Tips for Effective Facebook E-Commerce

There is no denying the influence of Facebook when it comes to developing one’s brand awareness. This is why businesses are doing whatever they can to satisfy the demands and needs of users and convert them to loyal customers. There are several ways to market one’s brand using Facebook. Here are some of them, which can help generate revenue through the use of the social media giant.

Make use of applications such as reviews, likes, and share

Effective e-commerce on Facebook is not possible if you don’t take advantage of the various APIs at your disposal. These applications enhance user experience and propagate more awareness for your brand. These applications result to domino effect, in which users comment on items and posts then share the knowledge to their friends. This is peer-to-peer influence at its best, which can result to favorable reviews and more purchases.

Make shopping easier for customers

Given the fact that users can easily do their shopping from traditional websites, businesses should work doubly hard to provide a better shopping experience to their customers through Facebook. It will help if customers can do their shopping via Facebook without being redirected to other websites. Customers should be able to experience online window shopping in Facebook pages alone and complete their purchases there if possible. Businesses should also make an effort to put security features on their Facebook pages and integrate a preferred payment system such as PayPal.

Use tools to track performance

There are two solutions on Facebook that businesses can use to monitor e-commerce performance. They can also optimize tools such as Webtrends and Google Analytics on their Facebook store to monitor user traffic and revenue. The information will help businesses make smarter decisions when it comes to development and investment. They can also use Facebook Insight, the site’s internal tracking system which monitors all types of social data.

Hobbies Make a Great Business

A lot of retirees find a new source of livelihood because of their hobbies. But you don’t have to wait to retire to turn your own hobby or special interest into products or services to sell on your online store.

You may be an accountant whose spare time is spent collecting records and cassette tapes (in the past) to CDs not so long ago. Or you may be a mailman who just happens to collect vintage magazines or toy robots. Or you may be a teacher whose hobby is collecting coins or stamps.

You are therefore likely to have a huge collection worth a small fortune, and a lot of people out there would pay good money to buy your treasures. Presuming that you are willing to turn these goodies into cash, you now have products that you can sell on your online store.

Don’t worry about running out of things to sell. You can also turn your online store into a trading post, where like-minded individuals who do not have their own online business can sell their stuff. For your troubles, you get a small commission, of course.

If your special interest is not a product but a service, you can still sell your services online. Is yoga, or dance, or martial arts your passion? You can offer to teach or to lecture or to host get-togethers, not unlike the Tupperware parties which were popular decades ago. Again, all for a small fee.

Everyone has something to offer everyone else, be it a product or a service. An online store has become the best way to go. All you have to do is set up that store. So what are you waiting for?

Influential Social Media Trends for 2012

The merits and achievements of social media has been a hot topic for discussion in relation to investment returns for organizations. Some say that the relevance of social media will fizzle out eventually, sooner even. But according to some experts, social media will still be hot in 2012 and will be dominated by the following trends:

Companies will use social media sites for contests

Facebook is just one channel that companies use to launch contests for their businesses. As time goes on, these companies are getting more creative with the competitions they use to entice more customers. Competitions allow you to broadcast message about your business and brand and reach out to more customers than ever.

Companies will put more ratings and user reviews on their websites

The importance of online customer reviews is obvious enough, given the fact that more people now are relying on them when deciding whether to patronize a product or brand.

Social media will be utilized as a tool for customer service

Twitter and Facebook allow businesses to interact with their customers faster and more effectively. Because of this, expect businesses to come up with more creative and enticing ways to reach out to its customers with the help of social media.

Search engine results will be prominently affected by social media

Search engine results will generate results from LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, among others. Right now we can see some social media networks putting more relevant content to their pages so it will be included among the top of search results. Google has already challenged Facebook with its +1 button. They also challenged Bing with their use of results from Flickr, Twitter and other social networks to encourage users to decide regarding content, with the recommendations of their friends as basis.

Effective Strategies to Establish Your Brand Online

By now, all businesses are aware of the importance of online branding. With the amount of day-to-day business conducted online, a brand’s online presence can probably make or break the enterprise. To those in the know, establishing a brand online does not just mean investing money on the brand. It is all about building a solid entity that your customers can remember and relate to and will generate repeat business. This reason alone is enough for businesses to make online branding one of the top priorities in solidifying their products and services.

There are lots of strategies involved in establishing your brand online, but here are the top ones to get you started:

Know your audience

This first step is very crucial to the success of your online presence. Before you launch all your other efforts, you should know your target audience. You need to establish this before you come up with content strategies and marketing/communication plans. There are lots of tools available online for this task, which include Nielsen and Google. Through these tools, you can get important information about your audience, such as age, gender, income, and marital status.

Establish the voice for your brand

Using the outcome of your research, you can now find out what the audience prefers to hear or see, which will help you create the message that you want to send out to them. When doing this task, remember to keep an open mind and go through all ideas. Your content should speak with your audience and should be consistent. This will build credibility for your brand.

Establish your online reputation

This task is by no means a walk in the park and will take considerable time to accomplish, but this is something that you should not disregard. Your reputation online can make or break your brand. You need to identify the strategy and tactics that you will use.

Ways to Sell on Facebook

If you are thinking of creating your own business, you couldn’t have picked a more perfect time than the present. Gone are the days that merchants are limited to selling their products and services through physical stores. Now you can actually sell stuff without an actual brick and mortar store. Online selling has allowed those with limited capital to hawk their wares without spending so much for overhead, which is a major budget-eater for conventional stores.

There are lots of channels available for online sellers. Facebook, with its millions of members, has become a juggernaut when it comes to promoting and selling products and services online. Within Facebook, there are several avenues you can use for selling. Here are some of them:

Ads

Those small ads on the side of your Facebook page are more than just an annoyance; they actually make money from targeted markets. That ads that appear on the sidebar depend on the user’s interest and searches. Using these ads, you can target anyone you choose, but you can’t convince users to click on the ads whenever you wish.

Fan Pages

Your business can’t survive the selling competition on Facebook if you don’t have a fan page. You can use your page to raise awareness for your product or service by communicating directly with your fans. You will be able to get fast and honest feedback from the community. You need to update your page constantly in order to make this work.

Virtual Store Apps

These handy and easy-to-use applications integrate your products and services into your Facebook page. In order for this to work, your customers have to permit the apps to access their personal pages and allow Facebook to transact for their purchase. Keep in mind that some customers may get turned off with this feature and will not allow you access to their pages.

Great SEO Copywriting Tips for Link Building

There are many techniques that link builders use to garner more links, but not all of them use copywriting for regulating content. Don’t know how to do it? Consider the following tips:

Make content memorable for those who skim

Author Steve Krug got it right when he said, “We don’t read pages. We scan them” when it comes to website usability. You should use layout, images, and language that will stand out and get noticed by power skimmers. We’re not saying that you should you abandon all efforts in making your content pretty and detailed, but content should not look like it belongs to an encyclopedia. In short, do not write Wikipedia-style content.

Take advantage of headline formulas

Take your cue from newspapers and magazines when it comes writing headlines. Catchy headlines grab readers’ attention. This should work for your website as well. The classic “who, what, and why” formula never fails.

Use numbers

Numbers make content look more relevant. Headlines with numbers grab the attention of readers. It makes users want to click on your link and it also makes your copy more organized and attractive.

Do not use halfway words

Using words like perhaps, maybe, possibly, might, or try won’t do wonders for your content. Users are more attracted to power words such as free, guarantee, simple, and quick. Weak and tentative terms should not be included in your vocabulary list.

Use sub-headlines

Users want their content organized and easy to read, and this is why you should use sub-headlines. This is imperative especially if your content is longer than 400 words.

Make Your Small Business Benefit from PPC

It’s true that competing with the big boys and their mega marketing budgets can be very difficult for a small business. A fledgling business does not have the same means that big businesses have. But there are still ways that a small business can put up a good fight by making use of great pay-per-click campaigns.

Use negative keywords

This is a must if you want to ward off unwanted traffic in your website. This strategy allows you to go for higher volume keywords without having to expose your website to searches unrelated to your business.

Use available match types

If you are one of those who still add keywords for broader matches, then stop it right now. Hoping for returns from these broad keywords will not really help your site in the long run. Aside from denting your budget, you might end up attracting unwanted traffic to your site. Use exact matches and available match types to bring down your costs.

Utilize time/day parting

If you know when your customers usually log on to your site to look for products and services, then you should utilize the time/day parting options allowed in Google. You decide on when you want your ads to display, on the exact time and day of the week. No need to have your ads appear in random time, which can only balloon your costs.

Invest in other search engines

Google is still top priority given the fact that they own the greatest share of the market but it helps to invest in Bing and other search engines as well. They are not as influential as Google, but they do have lower bid prices.

Who Knew Selling Adult Toys Was a Growth Industry

You might have heard that the world is having a economic recession and stress levels are rising!  Well looks like that is helping the adult toy market, it is suggested that the sex toy market place is around $15 billion industry.  So as the rest of the economy has dipped this industry has been growing and growing no pun intended. In the past sex toys were sold mainly in land based stores that could be a little uncomfortable and seedy in many cases but there has been a major switch to online selling of sex toys.  The big key is selection and discreet shopping.  “ People can shop on our store in the privacy of there own homes and offices and they can do it when they want and how they want, online stores like ours have much larger selections then most brick and mortar stores and better pricing.  Customers want selection and they want the private and discreet shopping site like www.purePASSIONATE.com offers.” Ryan Wuest, the Executive VP of Marketing of purePASSIONATE told me.

So setting up your online store and selling adult toys and product could be and seems to be a great way to beat the recession blues!

I know, it’s still months away before the Christmas season, but given the craziness that comes with the gift-buying period, don’t you think it’s a smart idea to start shopping for presents now? Why not save yourself from the stress of last-minute shopping by putting these beautiful toys in your list? You won’t regret buying these toys and I’m sure your girls will surely thank you to death for giving these pleasure tools at their disposal.

Nexus Vibro

This is the perfect gift for a woman who already has extensive sex toy experience. The Nexus Vibro is clearly not made for the beginner. The size of the toy may prove overwhelming for the neophyte. This works great as a perineum massager as well, which makes this baby a great present for men as well.

Gigi and Liv

You can’t go wrong with LeLo toys, and these babies are no exception. These beautiful toys called Gigi and Liv sports an elegant design totally light years away from the common sex toys. These toys look very sexy and the minimalist design is ideal for the women who want their toys discreet. Gigi is great for g-spot stimulation while Liv is perfect for vaginal and anal penetration.  

Tryst

Wooden toys may not be on the top of your list, but one look at the Tryst can change your mind. This wooden dildo is nature-inspired and multi-functional, which means you can use it for g-spot stimulation and anal penetration. It is perfectly safe for use because of its non-porous and hypoallergenic material.

Having a back up

There may be days when you are unable to attend to your online store. You may be under the weather, or have urgent chores to attend to, or go on that long-planned vacation. Unlike a brick and mortar store, however, your store is theoretically running 24/7.

Even if your site is a one-person operation, you will still need someone to back you up, otherwise you could lose some precious sales.

Think of your online store as something precious that you own. Who will take over in case you are no longer around? That person – it can be a close or a distant relative, or even a good friend – can serve as your back up.

Inform him or her of your site, and ask that person if he or she is willing to temporarily take over every now and then. If you get an affirmative reply, then you have your back up. If, on the other hand, that person is hesitant, then you will have to look elsewhere. It’s his loss anyway, so don’t sweat it.

Since online store operations are relatively simple, you can give your back up a briefing, which shouldn’t take too long. Stick to the basics. Shop him or her how to handle orders. If the person has some extra time, then you can go further. You may even consider compensating your back up whenever he or she processes an order for you.

With a little bit of luck, your online store can be around for a long, long time. All because you prepared yourself for any and all eventualities.

Holding an auction to boost sales

Everyone knows eBay. This online company’s formula for success is as simple as it is effective. Post a product on the site and have people bid on that product. The bidding is for a fixed time frame, so any interested party has up to the deadline to decide if he or she really wants that product and at what price.

The owner of the product can also specify how much he wants so if anyone really wants that item, no bidding is necessary. The buyer agrees to pay the asking price. The deal is sealed, payment is made and delivery is arranged.

There have been attempts to imitate the eBay formula to varying degrees of success.

Your online store can copy the formula without having to be a poor man’s version of eBay. You simply select one or two products of the week or month, and open the door to bidders. If, for example, you sell men’s clothes, you can have bids for the extra large leather jackets you have in your inventory for one month, then move to pastel colored golf shirts the next, then on to silk neckties the following month.

If your online store sells women’s shoes and handbags, you can have bids on single items only such as that last small pair of red pumps. If you have single items up for bids, your turnover could be faster than if you offered several similar items.

Also, adding an interesting detail can make an ordinary product more attractive. If the basketball shoes you sell are the same kind that President Barack Obama or Tom Hanks uses when he plays, then say so. Such details can be enough to clinch a sale sometimes.

Contradictory advice

There are some nuggets of wisdom for business which seem to contradict each other. One says that success is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. In other words, the key to success is nothing more than good, old fashioned hard work.

Yet another oft used statement commands “don’t work hard, work smart.” Meaning hard work is not as important as doing the right things, following formulas that work although they may not be based on working your butt off.

So, which is which? Is it better to work really, really hard? Or is it better to have an ingenious plan and follow it strictly, even if it does not require you to work to the bone?

Oddly enough, both contradictory bits of advice are right. If you want your online store to succeed, meaning you want it to earn you more than enough to just get by, then you have to devote a lot of man hours to the task of making it work.

But working hard while following a wrong plan won’t cut it either. You have to have a sound business plan for your online store to generate decent to excellent income.

There are a lot of business gurus out there who can show you the road map to your promised land, whether you are a casual investor or a committed entrepreneur. Warren Buffet quickly comes to mind. Some of them have written books which detail their no nonsense approach to making it. The great thing is that their books, or at least the best parts, are available online for free.

Take the time to read what the sages have to say. Sometimes, all you need is just one little tidbit of knowledge to get off the ground.

Judging the economy and the market

When market weakens, another one strengthens. Remember this when you review the products or services carried by your online store.

The global economic meltdown of a few years ago is a case in point. Real estate sales sank like a rock. But smart realtors knew that if sales of new houses would be tough, and with foreclosures being so widespread, then countless homeowners would be forced to downgrade their standards of living.

This meant that owners whose homes were foreclosed would have little choice but to look for affordable rentals. Or those with large houses would have to settle for simpler ones.

The fall of the housing market is an extreme example of one market segment weakening, while another segment’s fortunes rose. The same is true for cars. Whenever the price of gasoline rises, sales of fuel efficient cars rise, while during good times when pump prices are low, gas guzzlers have an eager market. Some years ago, it seemed that everyone wanted to own a Hummer. Now, even the used ones are hard to dispose of.

A cursory review of the economy, paying closer attention to your immediate vicinity, will tell you what products are likely to sell well, and which ones are likely to suffer. So if your online store sells jewellery, focus on the high end ones when the economy is relatively strong, and offer more of the low end ones during hard times. Whatever happens, there will still be couples getting engaged and married. There will still be anniversaries to be celebrated. Thus, there will always be a need for your jewellery, or your baked goods, or your pet supplies, or your sex toys, or whatever it is that you market.

Remember: In good times and in bad, the global, national and local economies will simply keep moving, no matter what.

What everyone wants

Everybody enjoys getting bargains which we define as paying less for a product or service than what others normally pay for. Bargains can be offered to the general public, or to special clients.

With this in mind, you can create bargain sections in your online store. The lower-priced-than-usual items can be offered to anyone who visits your store, or you can be more selective on whom the products are offered.

As an alternative to lowering the prices of the goods you sell, you can give freebies for every order. If you sell shoes, for example, you can throw in a couple of free socks. If you sell cakes, add a few cookies. If you sell watches, include a free strap.

Consumers love getting something for nothing, or next to nothing. This is why big department stores can include free gift wrapping for select items during holidays.

The gimmick also works for the service sector. If your site offers a swimming pool cleaning and maintenance service, think of giving away a beach towel or umbrella (with your company’s logo, of course) during a specific period when business traditionally goes down. Like to colder months.

You may notice that when stores advertise their specials in newspapers or any other media, they call attention to the freebies, even when the value of the giveaway is not all that high. They know that consumers are drawn to giveaways like ants to picnics.

Think of a simple but inexpensive freebie that you can offer anyone who buys anything from your online store. If it’s attractive enough, you will probably see a noticeable increase in your sales.