E-commerce: Is It Right for You?

The birth of the Internet and the mass availability of personal Computers in the late 80's changed peoples life forever, Everyone now has had the potential to be their own boss whether you are mother at home looking after your children or a manual laborer there are opportunities in abundance . Just a search on Google for business opportunities will bring up more offers than your parents would have had in their whole life. So it must be easy to make a living from the internet right? No it's not, you need a firm business plan and you need to work hard at it.

Setting up and running an online business does have several advantages over setting up a "normal" business. You can usually run it in conjunction with your current job, your potential market is bigger your initial overheads are usually smaller and you can operate it from the comfort of your own home. Once you decided that you want to enter into the world of E-commerce you then need to take a lesson from main stream business and create a business plan.

The very first thing you need to decide is what type of business is right for you and then research the market. Possible businesses open to you are.

An Affiliate Program
An Adsense Program
Selling Products

With an Affiliate Program you are paid a commission for selling a companies products. You have no contact with the customer, all you do is provide sales leads to the company of whom you are an affiliate. An Adsense program is where you take an existing website of yours about a particular subject and add contextual Adverts from Google's Adsense program. When a person clicks on an advert you then receive a few cents. There are 2 approaches to Adsense programs, build a well respected Niche site with lots of traffic the more traffic you get the higher the Click Through Rate (CTR) and thus the higher the income. The second method is sometimes referred to as the shotgun method, build lots of sites with less traffic but earning a smaller amount from each site. A $1 a day income from each of 50 sites is better than $40 from 1 site. It is worth pointing out here that it against Google's TOS to build site specifically to target Adsense revenue.

The final E-commerce method we will look at is the most similar to mainstream business, selling a product. You build a web site with a shopping cart and give as many details about the products as possible. The products can be something you make yourself, or a product you buy in bulk or a product from a drop shipper. With drop shipping you sell products which are then dispatched from a location elsewhere by a 3rd party.

If all this sounds too easy it's not. Setting up the business is just the start of it, the hard work needs to start now. You need to get traffic, the more traffic you get the higher your sales will be. In addition you need to look at the performance of your site and tweak the layout so you make more sales. You need to get your site onto the first page of Google and other search engines. You may need to write adverts and operate an pay Per Click program. In short you need to become an expert in many new subjects. If you have the drive and dedication then it is possible to make a good income from E-commerce but don't expect to spend an hour a day at the computer and the rest of your time on your Yacht.

Mark Thompson ran an IT consultancy in London for many years . He now live in Spain and runs an number of websites including BleX Tech

---

How Measuring Key Performance Indicators Can Improve E-Commerce Strategy - Part Three

The first article of this series discussed page views per... Read More

10 Reasons Why People Wont Buy A Second Product From You

1. You didn't follow up after the first sale. After... Read More

Google to Compete with PayPal?

PayPal is secure in its domination over the electronic payment... Read More

Credit Card Processing - 7 Things You Need to Know Before Opening an Online Merchant Account

When considering opening an online merchant account to accept credit... Read More

Writing Web Pages: Get To The Meat Faster

Much of my consulting work comprises writing 'Outside Opinion' reports... Read More

Why Suppliers Should Use B2B Exchanges

Business to business e-commerce is on the rise! Worldwide B2B... Read More

Accepting Credit Card Payments Online

Being able to accept credit cards and other online payments... Read More

Choosing An Internet Merchant Account

Surf to Google and perform a search on "Internet Merchant... Read More

Prompt Delivery Rules ? Internet Product Sales

The Internet is the fastest growing source of mail order... Read More

Cost Effective Ecommerce Solutions

Ecommerce use to be about spending thousands of dollars on... Read More

7 Must Have Scripts to Look for When Shopping for E-commerce Hosting

When shopping for e-commerce hosting there are a lot of... Read More

10 Reasons To Survey Your Visitors, Subscribers And Customers

1. To find out what type of content visitors want... Read More

Web Users Crave Familiarity

The sad truth is, general Web users would love it... Read More

Conducting Business through B2B E-marketplaces

Businesses, which are still sitting on sidelines and not doing... Read More

How To Eliminate Credit Card Refunds From Digital Thieves

Can you encounter the number of times where a Credit... Read More

Choosing an Ecommerce Shopping Cart

Choosing an online shopping cart is a big decision. Unlike... Read More

Shopping Carts and the E-Aisles

Have you ever gone to the store and thought you... Read More

Choosing on Order Fulfillment Service

When your eCommerce business grows to the point where you... Read More

10 Compelling Benefits of Having A 3rd Party Merchant Account

If you have been wrestling with the idea of applying... Read More

Make That 3 Billion

My previous article I wrote called "One Point Two Billion"... Read More

Is Your Website Credit Card Friendly?

In my last column I discussed the process of credit... Read More

Online Lead Generation: Can it Work for My Business?

Business-to-business service providers have a wide range of tactics they... Read More

Pitfalls of Doing Big International Brokerage Business Online

Nothing has helped international brokerage business more than the internet:... Read More

3 Powerful Concepts That Climb Marketing Mountains

You have probably heard many times how you should offer... Read More

Complementary-Relational Linking and How It Could Save Your Internet Business

The concept of linking is that sites with common interests... Read More

Developing a Winning e-Commerce Strategy

One bright spot on the economic horizons around the world... Read More

Shopping from Your Cell Phone with Froogle Wireless

Many surfers already know about Froogle, Google's shopping portal that... Read More

The Ecommerce Business Plan

Simply put, business plans can make or break your business.... Read More

Selling Globally Through a B2B Exchange

Participation in B2B Exchanges is increasingly becoming one of the... Read More

Cheap Cigarettes, Discount Tobacco and Cigars Online - Is It Legal?

Many people online today still believe that buying tobacco products... Read More

Using Credit Cards Securely Online

Nowadays, shopping online is a very common thing. Making your... Read More

Getting Started in ECommerce - Part One

In 2004, Enquiro.com conducted a study of the search behaviors... Read More

Starting An E-Commerce Business

The development and expansion of the Internet has made business... Read More