| Starting an Online Business with No Investment If you are like many other people I have talked to, you have probably seen, purchased, and regretted every E-Book you have found. I want to start off by telling you this will not be one you regret! If you don’t have an account with Ebay, that’s a must! You can do that by here.
I have spent my own time and money scouring the internet to find what I deem to be the best possible information on getting your internet business up and running fast. Many of the E-books I have purchased could provide me with information on how to sell on Ebay…some even gave me the names of suppliers I could contact. However, many of these so called “wholesale sources” wanted an upfront purchase of $5,000.00 or more. No Thanks! I am a young, mother of two and don’t have a huge sum of money to drop on investing for my Ebay store. That’s when I got to thinking about the concept of drop shipping.
In one month, I went from selling only occasionally on Ebay to owning my own lingerie business! I have to be honest, it was probably one of the most hectic months of my life…but very much worth the work. I started my business with NO INVESTMENT!! The key to this is drop shipping. In a nutshell, you receive payments before you ever place an order eliminating any up front out-of-pocket expenses and resulting in immediate profit in your pocket (or PayPal account).
The following information will take you step by step through the process from applying for a Tax ID number to taking care of your customers and making them life long clients. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to email me at tiffany@clothingpartners.com. I am here to help you succeed.
Beginning the Process:
Deciding What to Sell
The most obvious first step is to decide what type of products you want to sell. I want to stress (and this probably won’t be the last time) that you won’t become successful selling something you care nothing about! When you pick a product or products it needs to be something that you can talk about confidently; maybe even something you have wanted to purchase online. I will elaborate more on this in the coming chapters. I have discovered that my customers really appreciate a personal touch to the customer service I provide. When I can talk to them about my experiences purchasing lingerie and my personal favorites it gives them the feeling that a.) there is no need to be embarrassed to ask questions b.) I care! and c.) I am someone they would like to deal with again. There is so much to be said for good customer service.
If you are stuck on deciding what to sell, go to Ebay. This is one aspect that has truly been revolutionized since I started 4 years ago. Using the search function, search for something you might be interested in selling (or purchasing). In your primary search screen, enter your search term (i.e.: lingerie). When your results appear, scroll down to "Search Options," select the check box next to "Completed Listings". This will show you very clearly which items have been selling successfully, at what price, etc. If you are one who likes to analyze data (like I am) you can also download an excellent tool to help you pinpoint what is selling, for how much, and by who. It is really an amazing tool. You can use it by clicking this link:
http://www.hammertap.com/deepanalysis/
Once you have decided what you want to sell, you will need to decide on a name so you can start applying for Tax ID numbers and bank accounts. Now this is one I could have probably taken a few tips on but I have learned a lot from my mistakes!
In deciding what to name your business the are a few things to keep in mind. First of all, what is your long term goal? Is it to strictly be an online store or is it to make enough profit from home that you can open a retail store? If you are eventually wanting to open a retail store, a good rule of thumb is to pick a name who’s Starting letter isn’t in the last ½ of the alphabet. Keep in mind that a main source of business is likely going to be from the yellow pages and the farther down the list your name appears, the more likely your customer is to have found someone selling what they want at the top of the list!
If you are strictly wanting an online business it is important to make your company name something that people can remember. This is not like a retail store that all you have to know is that it’s next to that little Mexican restaurant you love. You want people who visit you site once to be able to remember your company name the next time they are looking to purchase. Another good idea is to pick an obvious web address for the people you are targeting. I use directNIC for searching for available domain names as well as registering them.
Five reasons I use directNIC.com for my domain registrations:
Low registration price. Only US$15 a domain per year. Plus, you can have discount rates if you are registering multiple domains.
Flexible management. You can modify your account and your domain by yourself at any time. You don't need somebody's approval
and there is no charge for any modification. In addition, you can always ask directNIC.com for help with your domain management.
Free features. If your domain is registered with directNIC.com, you
can enjoy their free services, such as URL forwarding, email forwarding, Web hosting, for sale pages, and free domain parking.
Nice customer support. They answer your email and your phone calls almost immediately. I was with another company and I
could never get hold of their customer support.
Easy transfer. You can also transfer your domain to directNIC.com and they don't
charge for the transfer process. All you need to do is fill out the online transfer forms and then respond to the confirmation email. The US$15 dollar transfer fee is actually the first year's registration fee. And, you don't have to register for more than one year. Not only that, but the time you have left with your current registrar will roll over to
your new account.
Applying for your TAX ID Numbers:
First you will want to apply for your Federal Tax ID number. I was made to believe that this was a far more difficult process than it was. Don’t let people tell you about the 6 week wait it takes to get your EIN# because it simply isn’t true! You can print the form you need (SS-4) at this link:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fss4.pdf
Fill it out completely and call 1-866-816-2065 to file by phone. If the operator asks you why you wish to file by phone, tell them you need to get you EIN number in order to open a bank account. They will then process all of your information in a 10 minute phone call and you will be given your ID number right over the phone!
After you get your Federal Tax ID, you will then want to follow suit by getting your State Sales and Use License. Luckily, I live only an hour from the capital so I was able to walk in and get that done in 10 minutes as well. In most cases, you can search www.google.com for your state’s Department of Revenue homepage. Generally you can download the form online and mail, fax, or take it in to be processed. Rules vary from state to state so make sure to check with your local Department of Revenue for more information.
That’s it for your tax ID numbers. These numbers will enable you to purchase wholesale through an unlimited number of suppliers. Author’s Note: Don’t fall for the sites selling you what they claim to be Wholesale merchandise if they don’t require an EIN#. Any respectable and legitimate manufacturer or distributor will require these numbers to ensure not any one can buy at cost.
How to Sell with No Investment
Drop Shipping:
Let me start by saying this: Drop Shipping is a PHENOMINAL way of starting a business! I purchased this drop ship directory:
The Drop Ship Source Directory
This was the main source from which my suppliers have come. I also found a couple of others after going through hundreds of scam sites. If you choose to look for drop shippers, be very certain to read all terms and conditions and check them out with the Better Business Bureau.
http://www.bbb.org
Through this list, you can find suppliers of almost anything! All of them do require that you have a State Sales & Use Certificate and will probably ask that you fax a copy. If you do not have a fax machine, you can sign up for a fax program that forwards all faxes to your email at:
http://www.efax.com
All of the suppliers I have encountered will provide pictures of all the merchandise, provide me with a catalog or password to an online catalog as well as wholesale pricing, manage my inventory (which I never even see), and ship my product. The best part is that I already have my customer’s cleared funds before I ever pay for my purchase! Straight profit!!!!!
Creating a Web Page:
This is one aspect that you can do as little or as much with as you want. There are many great free web page sites such as http://www.angelfire.lycos.com/, http://www.geocities.com/, & www.tripod.lycos.com/
These sites will allow you to build your own homepage, typically with their advertising appearing on it. You are fairly limited as far as the end appearance without the knowledge of html, but it is enough to open an online store. If you want to learn a bit about html, you can use this site http://www.htmlgoodies.com/ to help you start out. You can find picture hosting at http://villagephotos.com
If you want to take it a step farther, you can contact web development experts http://www.mediatrends.net or email the owner, Brent Buchanan, at solutions@mediatrends.net for an estimate on building a custom site.
Having a website will easily beat the profits you can make on Ebay. Considering that Ebay customers are typically looking for the best deal possible, you don’t stand to make much on each sale forcing you to have to move massive quantities to really make an income. A web site is more of a retail store. Granted, you will still have to be more competitive than a store they would find in the mall because the customer also incurs the expense of shipping & handling.
Typically you can easily charge 40-100% profit on items you sell on your web site. Not to mention you don’t pay a listing fee or a sale fee for anything!
Getting Traffic to your Site:
A very effective way of getting people to your website is through your “About Me” page on Ebay. According to Ebay rules, you cannot link your auctions to your website, but you can advertise your business and link to your website on your about me page. Once you have your about me page up and running, you will want to start adding text such as “Make sure to visit my about me page” or “Visit my about me page for important ordering information” to your auctions.
Be sure to check eBay Safe Harbor Rules and regulations as they change all the time and are very important. Do not fool yourself into thinking eBay won’t catch you because they WILL!
Using Business Cards to Market your Web Site:
Most people see business cards as something you only give out once approached about your business. I have found that giving business cards out to anyone who might be a potential customer can pay off. Let me give this example:
My husband and I go out to a local night club. We sit at a table that is going to be an area many people pass through. We watch the people walking by and hand our cards to couples, club employees, and those that are wearing similar styles to what I have available.
Last weekend, we handed out 30 cards. Of the 30 we handed out, 17 visited our website. That’s 56.6%!!!! This is another fine example of how it pays off to give your business a personal touch. In case you are one that is asking how I know that I’ve had 17 visitors from my business cards, you’ll want to visit http://www.deepmatrix.com for one of the most comprehensive visitor tracking programs available.
Depending on the product you are selling, you might find that a might club isn’t a good option, but maybe a mall. Target those coming from stores that carry items like yours. Also, may convenience stores, grocery stores, etc have places where you can just set your cards or a flyer out for everyone to see. You might find that passing out cards at concerts is a good plan as well. There is simply no limit to how much you can do here.
In Closing:
I have tried to provide you with some of the most important tools in starting your business online. The links I have provided are the actual tools I have used in getting my business started. If you have any questions or comments please let me know. I can be contacted at: tiffany@clothingpartners.com.
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