How to Sell Your Digital Goods Online
Starting an online business does not have to be
any different from any other traditional
business. You will need to find vendors for
service and products, target your core audience,
and maintain all of your basic day-to-day
activities without going over your budget.
 Are you advertising a product, a service, or
simply just introducing information to your
visitors?
On a website, you will not have the
benefit of a smiling greeter at the door or a
live customer service employee. It is important
to make it clear who you are and what you can do
for people online. After you decide this, you
can start to narrow down how you want to reach
your potential consumers, and what you want your
web designers
to do.
According to a
survey
conducted by the
Ponemon Institute
and
Truste, eBay is
the most trusted site on the internet. Out of
the top 10 websites that were ranked, five were
product brands, two were search engines (WebMD
and Yahoo), and the last one was the popular
social media site, Facebook. In terms of
success, trust translated across the board as
having something in popular demand that could be
accessed quickly, easily, and safely.
If your business is eCommerce, then you will
need to maintain your website like a virtual
store, where everything from the domain name to
your description page clearly says what you can
offer. Here are some good things to start with
that can help build your website’s reputation
among your visitors.
Choosing a Domain Name
Picking the right domain name is equally as
important as picking the name of a store. Having
the right name is a great way to ensure that
people will remember you, as well as keep you in
mind when they are talking to their peers. Try
consulting with any
website designers
to come up with a list of search engine friendly
names.
Your website name will also be important in
protecting your brand. If you have a copyrighted
product, using the product name (or a variation
of it) can help claim your share of the
industry. While a domain name cannot be legally
considered as a copyright, having the best web
address in terms of your business is a great way
to advertise for free.
Many multibillion dollar companies invest in
multiple domain names to prevent other companies
from capitalizing on their success. For example,
if your official domain name is
NationalPlumbingCorp.com, you can also look into
purchasing variations (like PlumbingCorp,
NationalPlumbing, and PlumbingNational). Since
domain name costs are nominal compared to other
business needs, you can essentially have
multiple web addresses pointing to one website
as well.
If your business is relatively new, it can
also benefit you to begin purchasing domains
early on, since smaller companies have begun
buying unused addresses to sell to bigger
businesses for profit. In 2002, the Hasbro toy
company
resorted to suing
a small Florida domain firm for trying to sell
Monopoly.biz to them for $4,900 even though the
web address was not being used for any business
purposes.
Choosing a Shopping Cart
Ecommerce web design sites typically all have
the same format – product descriptions, product
search engines, and an easy to use encrypted
shopping cart. The general rule of thumb here is
that everyone wants a good deal – focusing on
this (either by offering free shipping or
discounted first sales to newcomers) can help
create trust and build your customer base.
If you are selling something that has an
established market (like screen-printed Tshirts
or cell phone accessories) that can generate
plenty of leads by preexisting product interest,
then a simple shopping cart from a free online
source would do just fine. osCommerce offers
roughly 5,700 different free shopping cart
options. If you want to stay away from the
technical aspects of customizing your own
shopping cart, then consider using companies
like
MivaMerchant,
that have their own design teams you can hire,
or
Agoracart,
which has preset templates that are easier to
install.
If your business operates in smaller markets,
like wholesale products, then using a larger
more trusted shopping cart host like
PayPal or
eJunkie may be
the best option.
David Liu is a writer and comedian based
in San Diego, California. He writes extensively
for an online resources that provides expert
advice on purchasing and outsourcing for small
business owners and entrepreneurs on topics such
as phone systems and web design. You can
find him at
Resource Nation.
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