Create a Product That People Want
The most successful online stores are the ones that can create a product that people want. If you can combine a solution to a problem with a thing of beauty, you have a recipe for success. It’s much easier to sell a product that people want than to try to convince them to buy something they don’t need. This is the theory behind affiliate marketing: you promote a product and earn a commission whenever someone clicks a monetized link or buys a product that’s linked to in some way.
There are many pitfalls that you need to avoid if you want to sell your products online. Make sure that you stay away from the following:
- Cutting corners
- Bait and Switch
- Penny Pinchers
- Over-marketing
- Free shipping
- Luxury goods
- Undue Advantage
- Fake reviews and testimonials
- And the list goes on
These all come down to one thing: creating a product that people want but don’t need. It takes a lot of research, some experimentation, and a dose of luck. But above all, you need to have a quality product that solves a real problem for someone.
Use The Right Platform
When it comes to selling your products online, there are many choices: you can launch a website and start selling your products through online marketplaces (like eBay or Amazon), become an affiliate sales person and promote various products (mostly affiliate products) on your site, or you can become a dropshipper and source products from brand name companies and sell them on your website.
When you start out, it’s best to go with the second option. Affiliate marketing is a lot of work, and it requires a lot of upfront investment to set up the necessary platforms. You won’t make any money until you’ve actually sold a product (or received a commission), and that can take some time. Building a customer base and establishing trust are two of the most important things you need to do to succeed as an affiliate marketer.
Create An Online Store That People Want To Visit
Selling your products online doesn’t mean that you have to limit yourself to one website. You can build a brand for yourself and gain credibility by creating multiple online stores that are similar but have a different focus. For example, let’s say you sell women’s clothing. You can create separate stores for accessories (bags, earrings, etc.), swimwear, and dresses. Each of these sub-brands will have its own domain (like “myswimwearstore.com”, “myaccessoriesstore.com”, etc.).
This way, when a customer decides to visit one of your websites, they’ll be able to browse your products easily and make a purchase without feeling lost. Also, having multiple websites helps establish credibility: if one site gets taken down or goes out of business, the customer will still be able to access your other sites.
Keep Things Simple
The more complex your store’s design is, the more difficult it will be for potential customers to navigate. When you have a simple store that is easy to find what you’re looking for, customers will be more engaged and likely to make a purchase, too.
Complex design doesn’t mean that you have to go with a boring white background: you can use your creative freedom to be as creative as possible while still keeping the design simple. You can use a service like Shopify which has a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to build your store without any coding knowledge.
Simplicity is the key to a great user experience on your website. When a customer comes to your site and sees a “simplicity is essential” sign hanging on the wall, or an image of a cluttered desk, they’ll instantly think that your business is sloppy and that your products aren’t of good quality. Keep things simple and you’ll be able to build a sustainable and reputable business.
Build Trust Early On
This tip probably goes without saying, but the sooner you establish trust with your customers, the better. There are many tricks you can use to build trust with your customers, like offering a money-back guarantee or free shipping, giving honest and upfront answers to questions, and so on. When you do these things, your customers will trust you, and that will lead them to purchase products from you.
The key is to do these things consistently. If you are upfront about your policies and guarantee that you’ll do what you say you’ll do, your customers will feel safe buying from you. This is especially important if you’re selling high-ticket items or items that cost a lot in general. Customers will feel that they’re getting a good deal, and that will lead them to trust you even more.
Make Quality Control A Priority
One of the things that will destroy the credibility of your business is if there’s a massive quality control issue. Make sure that when you source products from brands, you do so from reputable companies that have a proven track record and that stand behind their products. Even better, try to buy products that are already vetted by a third party (like an ISO, BBB, or the FDA). This way, you can rest assured that the quality is good and that you won’t get sick from an inferior product.
If you’re unfamiliar, the quality control step in the production process ensures that the product being sold matches the standards set by the company that produced it. In other words, it verifies that the product is of good quality before it even leaves the warehouse. This allows you to have confidence that you’re getting what you paid for, but it also means that if there was a quality issue, it would be revealed at this stage.
Be Brave And Take Risks
If you want to succeed as an online store owner, you’ll have to be brave and put yourself out there. You’ll need to take risks, try new things, and accept that not everything will work out perfectly. It’s important to keep in mind though that all of this will make you that much more capable of succeeding.
Take a risk by offering an in-house warranty for a product that you sell. This could lead to greater sales if people are more comfortable buying a product that is covered by your company. Consider taking a risk and trying an online store that hasn’t been used for a specific purpose before. If you believe that there’s a market for your product, you can bet that other businesses also do. The more risk-taking you are willing to do, the greater the likelihood of being successful.