E-commerce: Business Plan.

E-Commerce Business Plan

I have had lots of people messaging me about e-commerce, and how I operate in a more detailed manor.
So here is a step-by-step plan, in a nutshell!


Step 1
Keyword Research.

For this example I am going to jump over to amazon, for some ideas. After looking through some stuff, I came across Transformers. After typing in 'transformers' in google keyword tool, which is free, I came across the keyword 'Transformers poster'. It has a decent global search volume, and is not completely full of advertiser competition.

If at this stage, you have paid tools, you can run further tests, and analyse the keyword. I would use more tools at this stage, but if you don't have the tools then don't worry.

Remember, that e-commerce is about physical products, and about what people are actively searching for and wanting to buy! So, don't be put off by the nature of the product...

Remember, this is a more niche-targeted approach, so we won't be building a whole store with generic products, just products around the keyword. So in this example, our online store will only stock Transformer's Posters.

We now have something we can go after.


Step 2
Domain & Hosting, & SSL.

I tend to set up a different hosting account with each e-commerce site, because if I decide to flip the site, I can just hand over the account details, which makes things just a little easier.

In terms of domain, I would just go to godaddy and find a domain name around my keyword. For hosting account I use hostgator, which is just the easiest for me.

Once you have domain & hosting set-up, you need to install a SSL Certificate, which can be bought/provided by your domain or hosting company. This ensures all information is encrypted at your store, for the customers.

You will now need to install your e-commerce platform on your domain, to get your shopping cart live.

{For more about e-commerce shopping-cart software, just pm me and I will be happy to talk about it}



Step 3
Suppliers.

Ok so the next step is where most people feel uncomfortable I believe, I know I did in the beginning..! Now we have to find a dropship supplier, that stocks transformers posters, and are willing to dropship to the customer. This is how the cycle works:

Customer > Your E-commerce Site > Dropshipper > Customer

Your customer orders a transformers poster off your e-commerce site, and pays for it, via paypal or merchant account. You then contact the supplier, and order that item. You pay the supplier, and keep the difference, which is your margin. The supplier then drops the item off to your customer.

Using a dropship service, means you do not have to stock the actual item yourself, which is brilliant.

Ok so how would I find a supplier for transformers poster? Well after typing in 'transformers poster dropship' and different combinations etc etc, I found the site movieposterusa[dot]com that have dropshipping services. I would next sign up to this place with an account, and retrieve all my login details etc.

Now we have a dropship company, who provides what we need.

We are now ready for the next stage.


Step 4
Product Catalogue.

Our next step is to add transformers posters, to our e-commerce site. I would now go over to the dropship site, save all the images & descriptions, and add them as products on the e-commerce site.

The next thing I would do, is search for other transformers products and see what prices they are etc, and set the pricing up.

I would also check to make sure my paypal details are in the admin area, so payments can be made!

Now we have products, our next step is traffic generation, for our keyword 'transformers poster'. The research I did, showed this word received 500-800 searches a day.


Step 5
Traffic.

Now we need to bring in as much traffic as we can! This is done via article distribution, which contains the keyword, in this case, 'transformers poster' and a link-building plan. I would look to build 40-50 links daily.

I personally use software to accomplish this task, but it can be done manually or outsourced! I believe there are many warriors on this forum that offer such services!

I would look to get around 4 unique articles, and distribute one each week, to as many directories as I could. If you are really eager, then there is nothing wrong with distributing more!


Summary.

That is really it in a nutshell. There are many different ways to expand on each component, especially the traffic generation! Once it's established, you will see the site take care of itself more, as it ages!

It is not easy in the beginning so don't be put off. But I can assure, it is worth it in the long-run! It does take time & effort, but that's all good!