How To Start An Online Business? It is not as difficult as you think if you are using the right approach and the right tool.

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2. If you are thinking of how to start an online business or if you are already
an online retailer who is looking to supercharge your business, then you
have come to the right place! A few years ago, eBay was the very best
place to sell your items for big profits. The fees were a fraction of what
they cost now and there was less competition and life was sweet for the
average eBay retailer.
Nowadays, the landscape of eBay has changed dramatically. Every day,
thousands of auctions end with no sales, or end with a valuable item being
sold for 1 cent. Millions of buyers clog the site, fighting for the attention of
a smaller number of buyers. Worse still, eBay and PayPal’s swing towards
buyer protection leaves good honest sellers with unexplained account
closures or fund freezing. So if you are thinking of starting an online
business, you have to seriously think of alternatives to eBay.
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3. Outside of eBay, however, eCommerce and online sales continues to boom.
As everyday folks become more and more comfortable buying online, the
number of goods bought and sold on the internet rises each day.
The “buy online” frenzy is still in full swing, but instead of it occurring on
eBay and other online marketplaces, it now takes place on privately owned
websites. Websites that are owned by people who are just like you but who
are making more money than you!
Ready to join them? Find how to start an online business by checking out
my quick-start guide to getting your very own website up and running and
building your own profit-generating empire.
Here’s what this guide covers
Section 1: Why you need your own website… NOW!
Section 2: Your 3 options for owning and selling on your own website
Section 3: Case Study: SaleHoo Stores
Section 4: Search engine optimization – Get your website ranking in Google
(and found by thousands of buyers!)
Section 1: Why you need your own website when you are
starting an online business… now!
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4. You are probably already aware of some of the advantages of owning and
selling on your own website when you go about starting your online
business, but just in case you need a refresher, here are some of the top
benefits:
You can wave goodbye to marketplace fees.
Most marketplaces charge you fees to list items on their site, but they also
take a cut of the sale price of the item as well. Amazon takes as much as
25% of the final sale price of items you sell on their marketplace.
When you sell on your own website, all your profits are yours to keep!
There is no sharing your profits with the fat cats in the plush eBay/Amazon
offices.
You can increase your prices and earn bigger profits.
When you sell on marketplaces like eBay and Amazon, you are selling on
the most competitive marketplaces in the world. You are also competing
with some of the most well equipped sellers who have huge budgets and an
abundance of resources behind them.
This makes it really difficult for smaller-scale sellers to make sales.
However, when you sell on your own website, you aren’t exposed to that
level of competition. This provides you with an opportunity to bump up
your prices by a few dollars on every listing without losing sales like you
would on a marketplace. Ka-ching!
Earn trust from your buyers.
Anyone, even scammers, can join eBay and start selling items. This makes
buyers sceptical about purchasing from there. When you start your own
online business and sell on your own website, you establish yourself as a
reputable and trustworthy seller who takes their business seriously. This
instils a lot of trust in buyers and makes the decision to purchase from you
a lot easier!
Section 2: Your 3 options for owning and selling on your own
website
As we have covered, by knowing how to start an online business and
selling on your own website means you can break free from your
competitors; quit paying marketplace fees and really market yourself and
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5. your business. There are a few options for setting a website, and some are
much easier than others.
Let’s take a look at some of the options you have (I’ll also reveal my
favorite option for setting up an easy-to-use website that is getting online
retailers some VERY promising results):
Doing it yourself
Unless you are familiar with HTML and CSS, I don't recommend the DIY
option especially when you are just starting an online business. Whilst it
gives you complete control; the flip side is that if you are not well versed in
web coding and graphic design, then you are unlikely to be able to make a
half decent site. eCommerce websites (that you can sell products on) are
among the more complicated types of websites. So make sure you know
what you are getting yourself into before you dive right in!
Hiring a web designer
If you insist on a 100% customized site, your best option is to pay an expert
to make a site for you. However this is by far the most expensive option,
and you should be prepared to pay anywhere from US$2,000 for a fully
functional site. This is not a very feasible option for many whom I spoke to
who are finding out how to start an online business.
If you go down this track, contact a web design agency in your local area.
Being able to speak to someone face to face will make a huge difference in
getting what you want, and getting it developed in a timely manner.
Doing it the easy way
Your best option is using some of the easy-to-use store building sites out
there such as my favorite, SaleHoo Stores. These store-builders and “online
shop in the box” option s are great for everyone because they are cheap to
run and no programming is required.
Most of these options offer some technical support in case you run into
problems, so you won't be left in the lurch if you have a technical glitch.
Meanwhile, others do not offer technical support (such as the really cut
price options).
The drawbacks of selling on your own website
So what are the drawbacks of owning your own store? There aren’t many,
but this guide would be a little bias if I didn’t cover the down-sides to
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6. choosing to sell on your own website over selling on a marketplace so here
is the low-down:
The main down side is the initial lack of web “traffic”, or buyers coming to
your store. Listing your products on your own website is pointless if there
are no buyers coming to the site. Getting regular traffic to the site is an
ongoing task of any website owner. This is more so especially when you
are new and is just finding out how to start an online business. However,
the good news is that’s it’s not difficult to get a consistent and steady flow
of buyers to your site.
The very best methods do not require you to have to pay for expensive
marketing. I’ll cover some solid tips on search engine optimization and
getting buyers to your website in Section 4.
Section 3: Introducing SaleHoo Stores
I realize that it would be rude of me to tell you all these wonderful things
about selling on your own website if I didn’t take the time to research an
affordable and trusted option for you to get your website up and running
pronto.
So I’ve done just that I have tried and tested a number of options out there
for my own personal use, and for your own benefit, and after digging
through a number of below-average options, I found a winner.
Introducing SaleHoo Stores!
SaleHoo Stores is the perfect option to get your website up and running as
quickly as possible and without the headaches (or the big price tag!).
The 7 crucial reasons
There are 7 crucial reasons why I have concluded that SaleHoo Stores is
the best option for you to set up your own website when starting an online
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7. business. I will share these reasons with you below. Take a look and
discover top seller secrets to a profit-pulling website.
1. Fast, no fuss setup
While some websites take hours of frustration to set up, with SaleHoo
Stores, you can have your website up and running within 20 minutes and
ready for you to add your listings. Worried that you aren’t a techno-whizz?
Don’t! With SaleHoo Stores there is no mucking around with “HTML” or
“CSS”. If you can send an email or update your Facebook status, you have
what it takes to get your Store setup!
I know 20 minutes sounds far-fetched, but that’s actually an over-estimate!
It only takes around 3 minutes to enable your store, get it live on the
internet and ready to add products to it. When you do add products, that
part is fast and easy too. I actually tested listing an item on eBay versus
listing an item on my SaleHoo Store and it took a fraction of the time.
There were no complicated options like there are on eBay either, which
makes for a nice change! This is what many new eCommerce owners are
looking for when they are trying to find out how to start an online business.
2. SaleHoo Stores allow to you to sell your products to a far-reaching
international audience
A great deal of eBay and online retail-related applications and software are
very US-centric, but SaleHoo Stores caters to sellers all over the world and
also makes it really easy for international buyers around the globe to find
and purchase your items.
So whether you are a US seller looking for a way to expand internationally
and increase your sales, or a seller outside of the US looking for a simple
website option, SaleHoo Stores is just what you are looking for!
3. Modern, clean website designs that buyers just love!
With SaleHoo Stores, there is no need to be, or to hire, an expensive website
designer to get striking, up-to-the-minute web design that it easy on the
eye, and easy for your buyers to navigate.
SaleHoo Store designs really make your store a beautiful place to be which
means buyers are never in a hurry to leave!
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9. Want to see what SaleHoo Stores look like? Here’s an insider’s sneak peak
at just some of the designs that you can choose from:
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10. and here is a close up of one of the theme’s homepages:
Each of the themes has a unique look, while adhering to timeless design
principles. Changing up the look of your Store is very easy. With just three
clicks of a mouse, you can completely transform the look and color-scheme
of your Store (without losing any of your product listings or descriptions,
of course!).
4. Import direct from eBay.
If you are an eBay Turbo Lister user, you can easily import your eBay
listings within minutes. This obviously significantly reduces the time it
takes to setup your Store and get it ready for customers which is a big plus
for me.
If you don’t use eBay Turbo Lister, don’t fret! s I mentioned earlier, listing
items on SaleHoo Stores is very easy and takes a lot less time and fuss than
listing items on eBay.
5. A variety of payment options – no more PayPal fees!
Are you tired of PayPal fees? Are you just like other sellers who worry
about having your account frozen by PayPal? If so, SaleHoo Stores will
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11. revolutionize how you accept payments! You can offer Google Checkout,
bank transfer, check or money order, cash on delivery, PayPal or PayPal
Direct Checkout.
I’ve heard a lot of complaints over the past few months about PayPal
payment holds and account freezing. It seems to be getting worse and
PayPal appears to clamp down on anyone even if there is no reasoning
behind it! Therefore, I know that some variety in payment processing
options will be welcomed by a lot of sellers.
6. Superior support – you’re never along with Sal eHoo Stores!
When you get a SaleHoo Store, you will always have help at hand to answer
your questions about how to use your store, or how to make your listings
appealing to buyers. And their support is fast too.
Your questions will be answered within 12 hours (and usually MUCH
sooner). They also offer a toll-free number you can use to get instant
answers for any Stores -related issues.
The support for SaleHoo Stores was far superior to any other store-builders
I sampled. SaleHoo Stores also comes with a library of how-to videos that
make it super-simple to use your website.
7. The low, low cost!
SaleHoo Stores is by far the best value for money option for setting up your
own website to start an online business. The support, the beautifully
designed themes, and most importantly, the potential that SaleHoo Stores
offers you to make BIG profits means that SaleHoo Stores is worth every
cent you pay for it.
Wondering how much it costs to get your own website with SaleHoo
Stores? You’ll be pleasantly surprised! First of all, here’s what you DON’T
have to pay for:
 Hidden costs
 Extra hosting fees (sometimes these are $50-$100 per MONTH!)
 Fancy web consultants or designers fees
 An “SSL certificate” to make your checkout secure (it’s already
included)
Instead, you just pay a small monthly fee to keep your SaleHoo Store up
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12. and running. Plans start from just US$27 per month for the Basic plan that
allows up to 200 products to be listed. That’s a lot of products especially if
you are just starting an online business.
But do you want to know the best part…?
Best of all, SaleHoo Stores are fully back by their 60 day money back
guarantee. Sign up today and take 60 days (that’s an entire two months) to
try out your SaleHoo Store. In this way, you don’t have to worry about
wasting your hard earned money especially when you are just starting an
online business.
If you decide that you are not 100% thrilled with how easy it is or you are
not fully convinced that SaleHoo Stores isn’t going to help you boost your
sales, you can get a full refund.
That’s how confident they are that you will love your SaleHoo Store. It’s
also why I’m so confident to recommend this product to you.
Want to learn more about SaleHoo Stores and get your own website the
easy way? Click here for more information.
Section 4: Essential SEO tips that every new web store owner
should know
We have already talked about the fact that when you sell on your own
store, you need to work hard to attract buyers to it and it shouldn’t come as
news that one of the most effective way to attract buyers is by capturing
them in search engines.
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13. Achieving good search engine rankings can take time, but it’s not difficult
or costly. To help you get ranking ASAP and pull thousands of keen buyers
to your website, here are my top tips:
Write content-rich product descriptions
Did you know that Google and other search engines determine which sites
to rank by looking at the text content on the site? Therefore, it’s crucial that
your product descriptions include keywords that your customers will type
into Google when they search for products you sell. Therefore, it pays to
have a think about the keywords you would search for if you were buying
the item you are listing.
Make sure your item descriptions are at least 250 words long. You should
also include the keywords that are relevant to the product. However, I will
caution here that you should NOT stuff your description with too many
keywords. If you do this, search engines might consider your website as
“spammy” which won’t help your rankings at all!
If you struggle with which keywords to use, try the Google Keyword Tool.
It’s free to use and it makes it simple for you to spot precisely which
keywords your prospective customers are searching for.
Here’s an example If you are selling power tools, enter ‘power tools’ into
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14. the keyword tool to see a list of related keywords that people are searching
for. This will give you some ideas on keywords to use (it can also give you
some solid ideas on what products to sell!).
Write a killer meta description
Your meta description is the text that displays in search results.
In the image above you can see an example of a meta-description. The
meta description is the black text below the green and blue text.
This company, Bosch Power Tools, appears on the first page of Google for
the keywords “power tools” Their meta-description contains these
keywords but, more importantly, it provides information to the person
searching which encourages them to click-through and visit the website.
With this in mind, meta-descriptions serve an important purpose:
They give you a chance to lure buyers into the store. Make use of your
meta-description by stating, as Bosch has, what makes your products
different from other options.
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15. How you can alter your meta-description depends on how your store was
built or which store builder you use but, if you know HTML code, the meta
description appears in the header code of your website.
Add new content often!
Search engines love when you add new content to your website. This is
because when you freshen up your website, the search engines know that it
is not just a static website that is never updated. This is something that
Google likes in a website so it helps you improve your rankings.
There are several ways that you can quickly and simply update your web
content to keep it fresh. One is by simply re-writing your listing
descriptions every couple of weeks. You can still say the same things about
the products; just freshen up the order of the wording.
You can also write quick and informal blog posts about your products or to
broadcast sales or promotions that you run on your website.
SaleHoo Stores, which as you know is my pick of the bunch when it comes
to website-builder options, makes light work of search engine optimization.
SaleHoo Stores were built by developers who understand how important it
is to rank in Google and other search engines and that’s why when they
built SaleHoo Stores, they built it with search engines in mind: Every
single page is optimized for the search engines so the hard part has been
done for you!
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16. For the SEO that you need to do yourself, they have made that easy too
There are no complicated codes and no programming knowledge required.
All you have to do is write some text that tells Google what you want to
rank for.
It’s that easy!
Have I got you convinced that owning and selling on your own website is
your best move? I thought so!
As I mentioned, SaleHoo Stores really is the best option for you if you are
planning on how to start an online business. Here’s a quick recap of just
some of the benefits that SaleHoo Stores offers:
 Fast, fuss-free setup. No HTML, CSS or programming knowledge
required
 Build a real business and earn buyer trust instantly!
 Earn bigger profits than when you sell on eBay/other marketplaces
 Turn every visitor into a buyer with buyer-enhanced website designs
 Save on marketplace fees – keep all the profits to yourself!
Are you ready to get your own SaleHoo Store and take your business to the
next level? Joining is easy and risk-free with their 60 day money back
guarantee.
Check out SaleHoo Stores now.
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