posted on December 29, 2001 07:08:52 PM new
I am looking at moving outside the realm of eBay in 2002 by establishing a website for my business. Does anyone have any ideas for initial website startups that are easy to manage and cost-effective? Any help or links would be greatly appreciated. Also, any success stories would be great as well!
Thanks!
posted on December 29, 2001 07:51:45 PM new
I hope you don't mind if I give myself a shameless plug. I am a web host. I'm a reseller for Communitech. My costs are lower than Communitech because I signed up with them ages ago when their prices were lower, so I can pass the savings on to my clients.
I would not recommend my hosting services to a really small business, you can find lots of places for a minimal amount of costs for a small amount of space.
But if you have a lot of inventory and need alot of room, I think I have a lot to offer.
I give you 350 MB webspace, 100 pop e-mail accounts, a personal control panel and lots of other features. All for only 19.95 per month.
Feel free to check it out at
http://www.gotweb.org
or you can contact me via e-mail listed on the site if you have any questions.
Oh yea, I specialize in t-shirt printing and vinyl signage and decals
[ edited by SunnyStudios on Dec 29, 2001 07:54 PM ]
posted on December 31, 2001 07:35:44 AM new
Hello
I like this tread. I think we ALL need a web page, if we don't have one already. It seems to be the only way to wean from eBay. I have a lot of stock that would be nice to park there until I send it to ebay for another try on auction. I worry about a web site that will be there and not fold and I don't understand the details of setting it up. Then there is the problem of getting people to look at it. I think that is the blocks that stop a lot of us. It is time, at least for me, to try something different.
Dave [email protected]
posted on December 31, 2001 09:37:40 AM new
If your Thinking about setting up a website online store I recommend you spend more time on you design and marketing before you even worry about hosting..
Haveing your own site that genorates enough visits just to pay for its self forget profit is the more dificult part there is so many website and online stores and small auctions out there now that search engines just isn't enough anymore to get you hits.
You will need a site design thats easy to look at and work with that gets all your visitors see what you want them to see as quickly and easily as posable.
A checkout system that runs seamlessly even if you get a paypal business account and use there shopping cart.
That is the frist thing but not the hardest but it is a never ending part because inorder to get people to return your store and site need to be alway updated and changeing.
once you have that developed you need to work on marketing This is not like selling on ebay Where you pay a listing fee to use there name and they do the marketing for the name and targeting of your market.
You will not only need local marketing for your website local trade paper want ad digests placeing ads on buletin boards around town but you will need a global maketing plan and the website its self is only a small part of that.
There is placeing ads in new papers around the country and magazines There is online banner advertizeing this method don't work so well no more these days but with out it its hard to gain recognition on the internet the more website that will add a link to you for freee on there site the better off you are but also paying for just a few thousand banners on a larger sites will garner more results.
In order to do this the right way you will need more then just your self if you take on the website work and still list on ebay you will be so busy you wont have much time for packing shipping and customer services.
any how after you have your site design and Ideas togeather keep in mind you can build a whole website on your computer and test it with out haveing a host makeing sure even thing is just so before its lauched.
If you are a little more interested in the technical side you could even choose to save hosting fees and put the webserver right on your own computer even if you only run win 95 or 98 if you have a broadband connection to the net..
The Programs out there for your own server are out there priceing from free up to $200 depending on your needs..
The average computer with win98 win 2000 or NT can handle up to 9000 hits an hour with no slow down to your system you can still use the computer for all your other daily needs no problem computer should be 300MHZ and have 32 megs or more memory if your on cable or dsl your server will be faster then if you had your own t3 connection.
In any case if you plan and hope to put a sucessfull webstore and site plan on giveing this project alone your undivided attention nearly everyday and then if the marketing is not right or the product your selling isn't right.
one sure way to get people comeing to your webpage is to always be working on things you can give away free sites that offer things for free generate the highest visits on the web.
work on devlopeing information booklets you can give away free down loads of maybe if you know how small useful programs most anything if its free people will come to get it.
In any case before worring about webhosting work on the site development you can do this without a host or domain name on your own computer get youself a good Html editor and after 30 or 40 hours of work you will know if a webstore and the work required is even for you or not ..
posted on December 31, 2001 02:05:16 PM new
I like your suggestion we implement a "global marketing plan" then you suggest we run a web store from our home dsl/cable connection.
posted on January 2, 2002 08:39:02 AM new
gary66navy, I searched for several months for the best solution for me, and think I've done pretty well. You're welcome to have a look at what I've come up with, here's a link to my "Links" page on my website http://newenglandcoinco.com/links_page.html the first link on the list is the the service I used to make my site. Take a look around the site and see what can be done with no knowledge of html whatsoever. I think my site looks great, but I do know that it can be done better using this same service, and the options for format, templates, colors, etc, are fairly extensive. All I have to do is select the template, enter the text, and the service can scale up to an unlimited number of items, or down to a simple one page listing of a few items. They're fairly inexpensive too, and you really should use your own domain name (approx. $15/year now if you don't use netsol).
Last year this time I had a simple site created on Frontpage, and sold almost nothing from the site and a lot from ebay. My ebay sales were outnumbering website sales 1000-1. Now, this is reversed. In the fall, September - October, my website started to take off and caught up to my ebay sales. Now, I've significantly decreased what I'm selling on ebay, and my website sales have more than taken up the slack. My website is outseling my ebay sales 100-1. I haven't abandoned ebay yet, but I'm expecting to see that email telling me I'm no longer a powerseller sometime soon
posted on January 3, 2002 06:25:30 PM new
Did you know your site is not working correctly? That's my point with bizhosting. They're hosting does not seem reliable. The layout is nice, but it makes buying more difficult if the shopping cart doesn't work consistently.
posted on January 3, 2002 06:59:05 PM new
Hello again
I thought this thread was dead but as is not here is some more input.
Lets see, I need a domain name (At least $8.00) an annual fee for a middle of the road service (About $175.00 up front a year) I also need a real merchant account. I don’t know about you but here (Florida) a mail order merchant account is near impossible for a beginner. I also need to devout about 20 hours of my time learning how to run this Edsel (So I am not so bright!). Then, just then, I get to see if I can sell anything at all.
I want a web site that will give me 30 days free, no money up front, to see if I can sell anything with my effort, (I’ll work at it) or though their customer location service.
I spend 200-400 a month on eBay and AW but I could run a trial for $3.00 if I chose. Ebay and AW have given me no grief but then I am rather careful. I guess I need to be happy were I am and stop wanting all the grief that is associated with “Internet sales improving”. Dave
posted on January 4, 2002 11:05:09 AM new
sun818, could you elaborate on this? I've gotten several orders this week, with no complaints. What are you seeing?
posted on January 4, 2002 02:22:34 PM new
If you really want to succeed, open a Yahoo! store. It's where the eyes are located and is also integrated into the Yahoo! search engine so you can be found by anxious buyers. Yahoo! web building is a snap and there's state-of-the-art shopping cart software provided for your use. Credit card processing is also available, for a fee, and is automatically integrated into your website, when established. Cost is under $100.00 per month and you can be up and running in a few days. The fact that you are set up on Yahoo! will give your company credibility and you'll be able to benefit from Yahoo's strong marketing and online presence.
Sure, there are plenty of placed you can build and park your free website that noone, but yourself, will ever see, but it simply is not the right move to make if you are genuinely trying to build a growing business.
If you are going to make the move, do it right. Start off in the right place and save yourself alot of work and dissapointment by avoiding the many free and ineffective options that are available.
The above recommendation is being provided by someone who learned the above on his own. By trial and error, I tested many placed to build my online businesses and Yahoo! shopping IS the way to go. Leave the FREE locations to those who want to sell as a hobby or just want to play around.
posted on January 4, 2002 08:12:49 PM new
computerboy, the biggest thing going against Yahoo stores is how they limit the number of products. Might work for some businesses, but doesn't make a bit of sense for others.
posted on January 4, 2002 08:54:47 PM new
The problem seems to have fixed itself. The Add to Cart function wasn't working but it seems to be working fine now.
posted on January 5, 2002 03:23:43 AM new
I've owned a successful web design company for the last 3 years, seen a lot of clients all thrilled and gung ho to have their own site up and running--- then slowly lose interest as they realize that operating a successful E-Commerce operation is in fact a lot of *work* on their part.
The internet is littered with what I call "cobweb" sites---- static sites that never update or change their inventory/information.
The web designer can only work with what he/she is given by the client. If given nothing, then nothing will, or can, change, prospective customers will begin to look elsewhere, the site begins to die.
For someone just starting out, I recommend the first thing you do is register your domain name. This gives you incentive to carry on, it's a good feeling to own your own domain name, in addition to reserving your unique brand name online. Look for domain registrars that offer "URL forwarding"-- what this does in essence is surround your website with an invisible frameset that allows the customer to enter your domain name in the address bar and be taken to your site--no matter where your site is hosted. It's affordable, and "portable" too--if one host doesn't please you, moving the whole operation is simple.
So instead of typing (for example) "http://www.angelfire.com/pw/runaroundsheila/index.html", your prospective customer only needs to type "http://www.runaroundsheila.com" and will be taken to the same site, just a much shorter URL.
Having a customer be able to access your site with a minumum of keystrokes is priceless. Having them able to *remember* the URL is even more so.
(I bet when you wake up tomorrow, you'll still remember "www.runaroundsheila.com"-- the Angelfire one will be gone forever hehe)
Next you need to look at your webspace needs. Someone on this thread offered "350 MB webspace, 100 pop e-mail accounts" etc. for "just" $19.95 monthly. Unless you're planning to stream videos & offer mp3s, at least 90% of that space will go unused every month. If you figure one jpg image is 50KB, you could have, with 350 MB, a website with *7000* images on it. You don't need that much!
What is far more important, is how much *bandwidth allotment* the webhost gives you.
Bandwidth allotment means any data that needs to be sent to visitors at your site. Things like your HTML, images, sounds, music, files you have available for download, all take up bandwidth, and a webhost that doesn't give you much will end up billing you for going over your monthly limit.
If you think your site might be a busy one, look for a host that offers at least 200 Megabytes, or 50,000 hits, per *day*. This works out to around 6 Gigabytes a month, and should be plenty for your needs. In fact, you'll likely need less than one quarter of that to start. Make sure the host offers upgrades, should things happily take off for you and need more bandwidth.
Last but not least in my mini-lecture hehe, commit yourself to spending untold hours in advertising your site, put your URL on *everything*, business cards, flyers, tattoo it across your forehead, (LOL) put it on a T-Shirt-- my car has my URL across the back window in white, people behind me cannot help but see it. I've had baseball caps made with my URL on them, I'm wearing one now lol
Sell something related on eBay while mentioning or linking to your URL, at a loss if you have to, the point is getting people to look at your auction and following the prompt to your site, in the several months that I sold custom Flash banners on eBay, hits to my website increased by *600%*--- at a listing cost of 30 cents or whatever it was per auction, it was an insanely cheap advertising method.
The bottom line is you don't need to spend big bucks to get off the ground on the Internet, and don't let anyone tell you different.
Start small and see if it is indeed for you, many people lose interest--and money--early on.
The beauty of the net is you can *always* expand as things begin to grow )
posted on January 6, 2002 07:36:54 AM new
I am seriously considering a mailorder business idea. But, is this the right time to try and start your own business?
posted on January 6, 2002 10:16:04 AM new
Tfs13 asked "is this the right time to try and start your own business?"
Is there ever a 'wrong' time to start a business? Really, to answer this you'd have to be more specific. What kind of business are you talking about, where will it be located/who are your customers, etc... For example, I'd hardly think a camel feed store would do very well in Seattle, but it might do okay in Yemen. The time is NOT right to build a new factory for producing typewriters. IOW, you've got to know your product and your market, then you'll know the answer to that question.
posted on January 6, 2002 02:04:48 PM new
Was considering a skateboard mailorder website. A quick search at Yahoo yeilded 69 sites listed under retailers. 2 or 3 bignames, several never heard of but had some nice sites and a whole lot of inventory, and a few not so good sites. Probably too much competition without a retail location to help support it.
I don't think 69 sites for skateboards would be too much competition.Try looking up webhosting (one of my businesses) and you'll see the competition I'm up against, yet I do well enough to sustain myself.
You stated a few sites were not so good, so you could probably knock them off the competition list.
Some will by-pass the big name companies thinking the prices will be too high.
If you have a pleasing look , fast loading, and easy to shop site, you would be surprised at how well you would do.
Just rememeber K.I.S.S
Keep It Simple Stupid (not referring to you at all, it's just an acronym)
The simplier it is, the easier it is for someone to buy something.
Some sites have so many bells and whistles, a person gets lost quick and they click away from your site.
posted on January 6, 2002 05:41:28 PM new
tfs13, it's great to look at the competition, but don't let it discourage you. I know nothing about the market so can't comment on whether it's a good time to start this type of business. OTOH, try thinking of it from another direction, can you make your business in a way to have a competitive advantage? A certain specialty in the field that isn't covered by other companies? Undercut their prices? Provide a service along with selling the product that nobody else can offer? Repackage the product in a value-added way nobody else has thought of before?
posted on January 8, 2002 05:29:29 AM new
I am convinced I need to build my antique sales business by fine tuning my auctionwatch storefront with set priced items, buying my domain name, \\\linking the domain name's url to my Storefront. ... can you experts please give me a reference to a good yet economical host, who could set up the link? ... that is the part that I *don't* know how to do, [of this first big step in building our business] ... thank you for input ... Marcia in Ohio
posted on January 8, 2002 06:38:11 AM new
Having a simple easy to navigate site is one thing.
Getting the people there is another.
The best search engines only reach about 15% of the web. So getting your name & URL out there is very very important. Having a name that your customers will remember & come back to also is a big issue.
If your business consists of 80% return customers you better make sure they remember your site. Easiest way to do that is register your domain name.
If you do not have a B&M storefront & just sell on the internet you better make sure you can respond to each & every email or phone call. This is your only chance to actually be able to prove your customer service. Ignoring email & phone calls is another way to make sure you do not succeed.
If you have not already look at the competition. See what they do right & wrong.
LEARN from their mistakes to avoid making your own.
Make use of USENET groups & or similar message boards related to your business. These are some of the places where your customers are likely to let others know about you. Word of mouth is still a very powerful thing. Even more powerful when it is written for many others to view.
Last but definitly not least....
Talk to your past & current customers.
Ask them what they like or dislike about your site & business & how it compares to others. Ask them what they want. If you are in a niche market this is almost a requirement.
In 3+ years I have made many site improvements & developments to make it easier for my customers to buy from me.
I have experienced explosive growth this past year (2001). Sales were up 240+% & I was on pace for over 300% prior to 9/11.
I officially got an online Merchant Account in late November 2001. (actual up front costs $270)
posted on January 8, 2002 07:02:37 AM new
Actually, the big guys number more like 7-10. I went back and looked. Problem for me is money, it would take a major investment for just a small business. Since there are probably 20 major board companys all making 10+ different styles, purchasing even a small amount of a selection would be really expensive. And thats is not counting the 10 wheel companies, 10 truck companies, clothing, etc etc etc.
posted on January 8, 2002 08:38:56 AM new
relayerone mentions:
<<Sell something related on eBay while mentioning or linking to your URL,>>
Please, DO NOT LINK to an outside URL from an eBay listing! Exception: clarification of item. If you link to a site that sells similar merchandise, watch out!
It is against the eBay ToS. If it is found, or someone reports it, eBay will kill your listing(s).
If it is repeated at a later time and discovered, you are likely to be NARU.
posted on January 8, 2002 09:04:22 AM new
tfs13, who says you have to carry ten lines from twenty different manufacturers? Specialize! Start small! What is it about the boards that you like best, or know best?
How about starting with one manufacturer, and you can buy more of the product from them, and perhaps offer lower prices and have a higher margin. Talk to each manufacturer to see which one might be most motivated to work with you.
Is there a specific demographic within this market you might want to focus on marketing to? What type of value added products might this specific market be interested in? Can tbey buy product X from you along with a board, with product X being something not easily found elsewhere or something you can offer cheaper or they can save by not having to order from two different companies? Is there a product X that could be packaged with your main line of products?
My point is, don't try to go head on against the already established large companies, try to find an angle, something they have overlooked or cannot provide because of their size. Seems to me that this is an eclectic enough of a market to allow you to be creative.
