How to sell online in 5 steps if you have no experience
If
you have dreams of making a living (and maybe making a fortune) as an
online entrepreneur, but aren't sure how to sell your products or
services online , we've created this guide to teach you how online sales
work.
Learning how to sell online is essential if you want to start making money online, regardless of whether you have a business idea, a small business, or a large company.
Most likely, you feel a bit confused and overwhelmed with so many tools, programs, guides, and courses that seek to explain how to make sales online.
So the objective of this article is to make it as simple as possible, to explain to you what are the steps you must take to have your online Store, and start selling your products or services online.
In addition to mentioning these concepts, we want to add the key points that you should keep in mind when knowing how to sell online and you can be successful with your online store .
Learning how to sell online is essential if you want to start making money online, regardless of whether you have a business idea, a small business, or a large company.
Most likely, you feel a bit confused and overwhelmed with so many tools, programs, guides, and courses that seek to explain how to make sales online.
So the objective of this article is to make it as simple as possible, to explain to you what are the steps you must take to have your online Store, and start selling your products or services online.
Steps to learn how to sell online:
Although there are certain characteristics and unique elements when it comes to making sales over the Internet, you should keep in mind that the web is nothing more than a tool that is at your disposal, and that the basic concepts of how to sell a product also apply . in the online world.In addition to mentioning these concepts, we want to add the key points that you should keep in mind when knowing how to sell online and you can be successful with your online store .
1. Find a product that catches the attention of consumers
There
are stories of people who discovered how to be millionaires thanks to
the approach they gave to their Marketing strategy, which led them to
sell millions of dollars worth of products.
This means, as obvious as it may seem, that to be successful selling online, it will be much easier if you have a great product, or better yet, a wide variety of great products.
Finding products that attract a lot of consumer attention will easily provide you with customers, helping you get the boost you need to know how to sell and make money online .
A great way to find products is to buy them in bulk from wholesalers. Platforms like Alibaba allow you to find a wide range of incredibly affordable products. However, there is a better alternative:
Remember that the more defined your market is and the better you know your customer, the better products and services you can offer. This implies that although your market may be "reduced", their willingness to buy quality products or services is greater, which substantially increases your level of Internet sales.
Among the benefits of knowing how to sell these digital products online is that you don't have to worry about shipping costs, managing inventories, receiving returns for defective products, much less dealing with tracking or losing your products
Digital products are an excellent alternative when looking for jobs on the Internet , since they only need to be created once, and although the greatest effort is concentrated on promoting and advertising it, the costs of these are variable and not fixed due to to the nature of the product.
This means, as obvious as it may seem, that to be successful selling online, it will be much easier if you have a great product, or better yet, a wide variety of great products.
Finding products that attract a lot of consumer attention will easily provide you with customers, helping you get the boost you need to know how to sell and make money online .
A great way to find products is to buy them in bulk from wholesalers. Platforms like Alibaba allow you to find a wide range of incredibly affordable products. However, there is a better alternative:
Remember that the more defined your market is and the better you know your customer, the better products and services you can offer. This implies that although your market may be "reduced", their willingness to buy quality products or services is greater, which substantially increases your level of Internet sales.
Digital products:
Among the many business opportunities offered by the web, digital products such as ebooks, games, applications and online courses represent a very interesting alternative.Among the benefits of knowing how to sell these digital products online is that you don't have to worry about shipping costs, managing inventories, receiving returns for defective products, much less dealing with tracking or losing your products
Digital products are an excellent alternative when looking for jobs on the Internet , since they only need to be created once, and although the greatest effort is concentrated on promoting and advertising it, the costs of these are variable and not fixed due to to the nature of the product.
2. Put together a marketing plan
Learning
how to sell online is strongly related to marketing. What is this
about? Long ago you learned how to create a blog in minutes, launch it
and sit back and watch the traffic come in.
Now, to achieve this, you must apply various marketing strategies .
PPC Advertising: Its acronym means Pay Per Click, and it basically consists of advertising your site through advertising platforms such as Google Adwords , both in its search engine and in Display, which are the sites or blogs that have their advertising system. .
Social media marketing: Social media has been gaining momentum due to the amount of time people spend browsing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, among others.
Learning how to sell online means knowing where your customers or potential customers are, and getting there by offering a great deal of value.
Social media is where your customers are, so you need to be there generating content, talking about your products, and making recommendations. Even today there are very interesting ways to earn money with Facebook .
Content marketing: It basically consists of generating valuable content for your clients, either through your own blog or content for other sites.
Therein lies the importance of learning how to create a blog; If you are looking for a way to do it as fast as possible, with just a few clicks, you can try Hostinger , which gives you a free domain for the first year.
In your blog you must generate relevant content for your client, so that when someone is looking for the product you sell, your content positions you as an expert on the subject or service.
For this, we have a special invitation for you:
Additionally, you must build backlinks to your site. What does this mean? It all starts from the fact that the higher you appear in the Google results sheet, the more likely you are to generate sales.
So how to achieve it? Within many of the search engine optimization (SEO) techniques , the backlink consists of other sites mentioning you through links, which makes Google understand that you are a recognized site.
In simple words, backlinking is the word of mouth of websites.
Among other strategies to attract your customers, you have Email Marketing, which is extremely valuable when you do it correctly, and Affiliate Marketing , which consists of offering commissions to those who recommend your product (we will talk about this later).
Finally, you should learn as much as you can about Digital Marketing strategies and put together a personalized marketing plan that fits your product.
It's important to do this before you actually build a website or start selling online through marketplaces, as the marketing plan you put in place can totally influence how sales are handled and the branding you develop.
Now, to achieve this, you must apply various marketing strategies .
How to bring people to your online store?
There are a wide variety of marketing techniques that you can use to drive people to your online store. Some of them are:PPC Advertising: Its acronym means Pay Per Click, and it basically consists of advertising your site through advertising platforms such as Google Adwords , both in its search engine and in Display, which are the sites or blogs that have their advertising system. .
Social media marketing: Social media has been gaining momentum due to the amount of time people spend browsing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, among others.
Learning how to sell online means knowing where your customers or potential customers are, and getting there by offering a great deal of value.
Social media is where your customers are, so you need to be there generating content, talking about your products, and making recommendations. Even today there are very interesting ways to earn money with Facebook .
Content marketing: It basically consists of generating valuable content for your clients, either through your own blog or content for other sites.
Therein lies the importance of learning how to create a blog; If you are looking for a way to do it as fast as possible, with just a few clicks, you can try Hostinger , which gives you a free domain for the first year.
In your blog you must generate relevant content for your client, so that when someone is looking for the product you sell, your content positions you as an expert on the subject or service.
For this, we have a special invitation for you:
Additionally, you must build backlinks to your site. What does this mean? It all starts from the fact that the higher you appear in the Google results sheet, the more likely you are to generate sales.
So how to achieve it? Within many of the search engine optimization (SEO) techniques , the backlink consists of other sites mentioning you through links, which makes Google understand that you are a recognized site.
In simple words, backlinking is the word of mouth of websites.
Among other strategies to attract your customers, you have Email Marketing, which is extremely valuable when you do it correctly, and Affiliate Marketing , which consists of offering commissions to those who recommend your product (we will talk about this later).
Finally, you should learn as much as you can about Digital Marketing strategies and put together a personalized marketing plan that fits your product.
It's important to do this before you actually build a website or start selling online through marketplaces, as the marketing plan you put in place can totally influence how sales are handled and the branding you develop.
3. Choose an eCommerce platform
The right ecommerce platform can make or break your online store. It is necessary to study which platform we want to take.
It should include excellent customer service, attractive aesthetics, useful tools and features, good user interface, top-notch security, and affordable rates and prices.
If you don't know much about programming, you can use tools like Shopify ; which gives you a custom domain for your store, you can choose a design template that fits your brand, and you can try it free for 14 days.
With over a million active users and 600,000 businesses running on Shopify , they give you peace of mind so you can sell online.
If you have another option, just make sure you choose one that provides everything you need to make your online store a success; that allows you to automate processes such as invoices, delivery of digital products, returns, concerns, and other business processes as such.
On the other hand, you should consider the possibility of having your product in world-renowned web stores such as Amazon, Ebay and Mercado Libre .
Learning how to sell online implies that your product has the greatest possible exposure, and although these platforms may charge you a commission, they open the doors to hundreds of thousands of clients that you previously did not have access to.
It should include excellent customer service, attractive aesthetics, useful tools and features, good user interface, top-notch security, and affordable rates and prices.
If you don't know much about programming, you can use tools like Shopify ; which gives you a custom domain for your store, you can choose a design template that fits your brand, and you can try it free for 14 days.
With over a million active users and 600,000 businesses running on Shopify , they give you peace of mind so you can sell online.
If you have another option, just make sure you choose one that provides everything you need to make your online store a success; that allows you to automate processes such as invoices, delivery of digital products, returns, concerns, and other business processes as such.
On the other hand, you should consider the possibility of having your product in world-renowned web stores such as Amazon, Ebay and Mercado Libre .
Learning how to sell online implies that your product has the greatest possible exposure, and although these platforms may charge you a commission, they open the doors to hundreds of thousands of clients that you previously did not have access to.
4. Create your website
Once
you know the basics of how to sell online and have chosen a great
eCommerce platform, it's time to build your website and start making
your first online sales.
While choosing a platform with a variety of tools and a user-friendly interface will make building a good website much easier, it still takes time and work to optimize that site.
The first thing will be to choose your domain, the hosting plan and configure WordPress.
Once you have created it, you should give yourself the most professional touch possible; avoid misspellings, use quality images, have complete and clear product descriptions.
The first impression also applies to the digital world, and your website ends up being the visible face of your business.
Design your website with crisp, attractive images and pleasing written content. Take the time to find some nice images and write great content. In addition, you must upload everything to your website in a way that does not overload the view.
Some good pages to obtain professional images for commercial purposes without the need for Copyright are Pexels and Pixabay .
Next, you will need to put your products up for sale. If you choose a good eCommerce platform like Shopify , this step will be simple, and features like payment options will already be in place.
To start selling online, all you have to do is list the products in your inventory, upload your product images and descriptions, and select a few options like pricing and shipping.
Add a few tweaks to your online store, like interlinks, signup forms, testimonials, SEO keywords, and anything else that can increase your chances of making a sale, and you're almost ready to sell online .
If this step is too complicated for you, you can always turn to professionals via the internet who will not charge much for their services. You can use platforms like Fiverr that will connect you with experts on different topics.
While choosing a platform with a variety of tools and a user-friendly interface will make building a good website much easier, it still takes time and work to optimize that site.
The first thing will be to choose your domain, the hosting plan and configure WordPress.
Once you have created it, you should give yourself the most professional touch possible; avoid misspellings, use quality images, have complete and clear product descriptions.
The first impression also applies to the digital world, and your website ends up being the visible face of your business.
Design your website with crisp, attractive images and pleasing written content. Take the time to find some nice images and write great content. In addition, you must upload everything to your website in a way that does not overload the view.
Some good pages to obtain professional images for commercial purposes without the need for Copyright are Pexels and Pixabay .
Next, you will need to put your products up for sale. If you choose a good eCommerce platform like Shopify , this step will be simple, and features like payment options will already be in place.
To start selling online, all you have to do is list the products in your inventory, upload your product images and descriptions, and select a few options like pricing and shipping.
Add a few tweaks to your online store, like interlinks, signup forms, testimonials, SEO keywords, and anything else that can increase your chances of making a sale, and you're almost ready to sell online .
If this step is too complicated for you, you can always turn to professionals via the internet who will not charge much for their services. You can use platforms like Fiverr that will connect you with experts on different topics.
5. Implement your marketing strategy
Now
that your online store is up and running, it's time to start putting
marketing strategies in place to drive people to your new site.
What this step looks like will largely depend on the type of strategies you have chosen. Regardless of what they are, though, it's important to keep one thing in mind: your marketing strategy is going to be constantly changing.
When you start selling online, you need to remember one thing: change is inevitable. You'll find that some things work well and some don't work at all, and you'll need to adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.
Don't worry if the marketing strategy you end up using is completely different than what you originally put in. This trial and error evolution is part of building a successful online store.
2. Make the payment process simple: The fewer steps your client has to take to buy from you, the more Internet sales you will close. This is because the more practical it is, the less chance there is that your client will be distracted or change their mind.
3. Offer excellent customer service: Every decision, activity or thing you do in your virtual store must contribute to your main objective: Add value to the customer.
Ask yourself how you would like to be treated by an e-commerce, what benefits you would have, what you would like to be offered and how you would like the process to be. Then, try to make what you imagine come true in your online business .
4. Constantly promote your store: One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is waiting for their customers to magically arrive.
You must invest time and resources to promote your business; This ranges from campaigns on Facebook, paid advertising on Google to talking about your business to potential clients, friends and even family members.
What this step looks like will largely depend on the type of strategies you have chosen. Regardless of what they are, though, it's important to keep one thing in mind: your marketing strategy is going to be constantly changing.
When you start selling online, you need to remember one thing: change is inevitable. You'll find that some things work well and some don't work at all, and you'll need to adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.
Don't worry if the marketing strategy you end up using is completely different than what you originally put in. This trial and error evolution is part of building a successful online store.
Some tips when implementing your Marketing plan
1. Choose the right approach to your products: Find out what need or problem your product or service is solving, and let your customer know how you will solve it through your products.2. Make the payment process simple: The fewer steps your client has to take to buy from you, the more Internet sales you will close. This is because the more practical it is, the less chance there is that your client will be distracted or change their mind.
3. Offer excellent customer service: Every decision, activity or thing you do in your virtual store must contribute to your main objective: Add value to the customer.
Ask yourself how you would like to be treated by an e-commerce, what benefits you would have, what you would like to be offered and how you would like the process to be. Then, try to make what you imagine come true in your online business .
4. Constantly promote your store: One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is waiting for their customers to magically arrive.
You must invest time and resources to promote your business; This ranges from campaigns on Facebook, paid advertising on Google to talking about your business to potential clients, friends and even family members.
How to sell online with affiliate programs
Affiliate
programs are a type of marketing that consists of a partnership between
a publisher that produces content and a retailer that has an affiliate
program hosted on an affiliate tracking platform.
Upon approval of the affiliate program, the publisher can log into the retailer's affiliate platform and earn unique product tracking links, commonly known as affiliate links.
There are quite a few ways to earn money with affiliate links; such as placing them in written content, using them to create product listings, verbally mentioning them in podcasts, or embedding them in banner ads.
Every time a visitor clicks on one of those affiliate links and makes a purchase on the retailer's site, the publisher is entitled to receive a commission from the retailer for helping them generate a sale.
Tracking of affiliate links is handled automatically in the retailer's affiliate platform. Each time a visitor clicks on a link, a tracking cookie is stored in the visitor's web browser that tells the retailer which publisher sent the visitor to their site.
Those cookies are valid for a period of time determined by the retailer, which means that the publisher only gets paid if the visitor makes the purchase within that time period, although that window can be reset if the same visitor makes the purchase again. click on the affiliate link.
In addition to affiliate links, publishers can get access to tracking reports (clicks, sales, impressions), additional promotional materials (banners, email templates, links) within the retailer's affiliate platform.
These platforms also handle commission payments, so publishers can expect to get paid around the same time each month, usually via Paypal or direct deposit.
Some of these platforms are ClickBank, Cj, ShareASale, Amazon Affiliate Program , among others.
Instead of listing your own products, you list other retailers' products and redirect visitors to your sites using your affiliate links.
When visitors complete their purchase, the retailer pays you a commission and handles product fulfillment directly with that visitor.
This is not bad at all, every time a customer visits the retailer's store or buys from the retailer thanks to you, you receive a commission. In this way you can manage an Online store saving you thousands of marketing problems.
This is another interesting alternative to learn how to sell online, once you master the platform, you know what your consumers like and you have developed an effective marketing strategy, you can start creating your own products and services.
Upon approval of the affiliate program, the publisher can log into the retailer's affiliate platform and earn unique product tracking links, commonly known as affiliate links.
There are quite a few ways to earn money with affiliate links; such as placing them in written content, using them to create product listings, verbally mentioning them in podcasts, or embedding them in banner ads.
Every time a visitor clicks on one of those affiliate links and makes a purchase on the retailer's site, the publisher is entitled to receive a commission from the retailer for helping them generate a sale.
Tracking of affiliate links is handled automatically in the retailer's affiliate platform. Each time a visitor clicks on a link, a tracking cookie is stored in the visitor's web browser that tells the retailer which publisher sent the visitor to their site.
Those cookies are valid for a period of time determined by the retailer, which means that the publisher only gets paid if the visitor makes the purchase within that time period, although that window can be reset if the same visitor makes the purchase again. click on the affiliate link.
In addition to affiliate links, publishers can get access to tracking reports (clicks, sales, impressions), additional promotional materials (banners, email templates, links) within the retailer's affiliate platform.
These platforms also handle commission payments, so publishers can expect to get paid around the same time each month, usually via Paypal or direct deposit.
Some of these platforms are ClickBank, Cj, ShareASale, Amazon Affiliate Program , among others.
Internet sales with affiliate products:
When we talk about an affiliate store, the publisher content is a list of products in an online store that looks like a real e-commerce store.Instead of listing your own products, you list other retailers' products and redirect visitors to your sites using your affiliate links.
When visitors complete their purchase, the retailer pays you a commission and handles product fulfillment directly with that visitor.
How can this influence my online store?
With an affiliate program you save yourself having to handle shipping, inventory, storage costs and more. Your website only serves as a means to make sales over the Internet of the products of other retailers.This is not bad at all, every time a customer visits the retailer's store or buys from the retailer thanks to you, you receive a commission. In this way you can manage an Online store saving you thousands of marketing problems.
This is another interesting alternative to learn how to sell online, once you master the platform, you know what your consumers like and you have developed an effective marketing strategy, you can start creating your own products and services.
