Top 5 secrets to selling online

Selling products online can be an extremely profitable venture - here are the top 5 secrets so you too can get a piece of the internet pie!

1. Look at the product or service you are selling

Clearly identify what your point of difference is and why people should purchase a product online from you.   Users will only buy something online if it:

• Is Cheaper
• Is More convenient
• Has some unique benefit

So if a user can buy a product from an online store for $10 less than purchasing it in person, you''ve answered the first two requirements (cheaper, more convenient).  Throw in some kind of bonus (i.e. free gift, loyalty system, 10% off next order) and you've got the golden trifecta!

2.   Hard work

A lot of people have this dream of running an online store, working 1 hour a week and earning millions!  If you approached a brick and mortar operation (say you bought a franchise), and you spent 1 hour a week in your busines would you expect to see success?  As with any business you need to dedicate time and resources to it.

3.  Gain trust

Buying online can be daunting for some people so you need to convince customers that buying online is a safe process through you.  You can do this in a number of ways:

• Have a professional looking website
• Make sure your shopping cart and payment page work and are easy to understand (nothing turns a user off more than trying to order online and finding your cart doesn't work)
• Confirm that you received their order by saying "Thank you Joe Bloggs your order has been received".  Email them a receipt straight away and give them a tracking number to use
• Identify clearly how to get in contact with you. (i.e. having problems shopping online? Call us on 1800 180 000)
• Have a good range of products (and information about your products) online to show you are serious about selling online

4   Identify how you are going to market this site

You need to have a strategy on how you are going to attract people to your site.  Online marketing is an excellent tool, but there are other options such as offline media (print / broadcast) or letter drop / mailout.  Remember also that it's a lot easier to sell something to an existing customer then it is to get a new customer, so regularly marketing to your past customers will also pay off.

5.  Update, update, update!

Retail stores are always running promotions and highlighting new stock.  You can keep things interesting on your online store as well!  If a customer purchases a product off you and returns 3 months later to find your site has changed, this encourages them to return to your site more often.  Also update to content is a "good signal" to search engines such as Google when it comes to SEO.