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Newbie question: Wordpress for eCommerce?

by wondering2
16 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
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Hi--I'm a writer who just made his first eBook but I'm new to hosting. This question is probably ridiculously simple for you warriors but trying to get simple advice is taking me forever. I want to build a simple 1-3 page site mostly as a sales letter for my eBook with a buy now link to a Paypal shopping cart. I'm using Hostgator but their Sitebuilder templates don't seem to let you make your own header without distorting it. People are telling me to use Wordpress (.org or .com?) but I'm not sure--is it suitable for making a selling page? I don't know html but I CAN handle a WYSWIG. Any recommendations on a free or nearly free editor that lets me do what I need to do without a brain transplant? Someone else suggested coffeecup.com. Thanks!
#ecommerce #newbie #question #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author Orlando Web Design
    Yes, you can use Wordpress to create a simple sales page. There is a bit of a learning curve and some people have been known to bang their heads against the wall trying to get the design to look the way they want it.

    You could also consider buying a pre-built Worpdress template (google it, there are tlots of sites that sell these) or hiring a designer (lots of them in the Warriors For Hire section here on the Forum).

    There are also software alternatives such as Artisteer and that are useful to beginners.

    Good luck
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    • Profile picture of the author wondering2
      Thank you. Any tips for making a wordpress page with 1 column and a plain rectangular header that I can just load my own jpg of the same size into? That's all I need--hopefully less is easier?
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  • Profile picture of the author proserve
    I would think that would be simple enough to convert the default WP template to what you are looking for. Simply remove the right column area and you are there...
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  • Profile picture of the author wondering2
    Thanks! As long as I'm at it, at some point in the future (!) I'm going to have make a very large website with lots of features that sells dvds and video downloads. Is wordpress where I should invest my time learning to do all that or is it better to learn dreamweaver or something else to do the job (simple I hope--hah)? Can wordpress do (almost) everything?
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    • Profile picture of the author LitFL Website Designer
      I am actually looking into using wordpress together with promotions, however I am not a great marketer and still have a lot to learn in that area.

      If you'd like to maybe talk about project collaborations or if you'd like to outsource any of this to me I would be open to both.

      Get in contact with me if you'd like to discuss this further!

      Tom
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      • Profile picture of the author wondering2
        Thanks for the offer. I'm trying to keep this one page minisite as simple as simple and easy to do as possible without using a designer. I'm thinking of downloading some cheap sales letter templates to get it going.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rane
    I am still a little behiind the learning curve too but I want to tell you that wordpress plug in wp-e-commerce is AMAZING and free! It does almost everything you need to run an online store including deliver the download and integrate with payment processors. I found that wordpress can do pretty much everything.

    Check out this article -http://www.frugallawstudent.com/2007/07/15/how-to-open-an-online-store-with-wordpress-in-less-than-30-minutes/
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrew11
    Yeah I wish this was easier to do, there should be a newb friendly way to set up shopping carts in Wordpress without a lot of coding knowledge..Does anyone know if it's safe to set this up? Any security risks?
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  • Profile picture of the author NickL
    Hey - You can totally set up WordPress as a simple cart - and use PayPal as the payment gateway out of the box (along with a few other gateways)... just install the eShop plugin - its free and you can turn any post or page into a product page that can be placed into a shopping cart. It also lets you set up different shipping zones in the event you want to sell physical products as well... its the easiest way to set up a simple online shop. :-)

    It can be found at WordPress › eShop WordPress Plugins

    For larger stores with many products and categories, try Joomla with VirtueMart - it's pretty complex to set up (takes a while) but you can run a nice store with it.

    I hope this helps you out.
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    • Profile picture of the author wondering2
      Thanks! Do you think that's easier than just linking to Paypal and using their shopping cart?
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  • Profile picture of the author senderbot
    Hi,

    If you are a beginner looking for the easiest way to set up a secure sales website to sell your ebook then there are lots of great threads on the forum already.

    You can find pretty much everything you want, just by using the forum's search function.

    Try these -
    Free HTML Editor Thread
    Beginners Guides To Wordpress
    One Page Wordpress Squeeze Pages
    Easy Web Building Tools
    Free Web Development Tools
    Secure Sales Systems and Secure Downloads

    And that lot is just for starters. There's lots more. Try the search function if those threads dont help you out.

    Cheers

    Max
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  • Profile picture of the author wondering2
    Wow! Thanks for tips!
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  • Profile picture of the author darthdeus
    You can definitely use Wordpress for this, but I'd really recommend using a hosted solution with everything already handled. One example might be ClickBank, but there are tons of ecommerce providers, and many of them are free of charge.
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    • Profile picture of the author wondering2
      I can build a 1-3 page minisite with Clickbank? I thought they only handle order processing and merchant accounts.

      I'm also considering using the minisite templates the guy at 7minuteminisites.com offers... Opinions?

      And while I'm at it, my ebook is about 100 pages and I'd like to secure it and not just put it out there in a pdf where anybody can eventually get it for free. I'm thinking about using DLguard. However, I've read where some recommend it's better in the end to have no security at all because anti-piracy software is off-putting to potential customers...

      And also I really want to thank all the amazing responses I've been getting! This is the best forum I've ever been on.
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      • Profile picture of the author senderbot
        Originally Posted by wondering2 View Post

        I can build a 1-3 page minisite with Clickbank? I thought they only handle order processing and merchant accounts.
        The idea is you would have your own mini-site and the actual payment processing, secure product delivery is done through Clickbank. So yes you are correct you would still need to host your site yourself.

        And while I'm at it, my ebook is about 100 pages and I'd like to secure it and not just put it out there in a pdf where anybody can eventually get it for free. I'm thinking about using DLguard. However, I've read where some recommend it's better in the end to have no security at all because anti-piracy software is off-putting to potential customers...
        I personally think that yes, you may get a few people who share your product but the majority wont so don't put any security on it. The biggest worry used to be people sharing download links so these days most systems like E-Junkie or Plimus have a link that expires after a couple of days or a couple of downloads.

        DLGuard charges money to secure your download page whereas most merchants like E-Junkie have built in secure downloads.

        Also as for actually securing the PDF, I've never tried them but you could look at -

        Complete PDF Protection - DRM security that stops software pirates and PDF hackers cold or
        SoftLocker.net - SoftLocker.net Client

        If anyone has any experience with these 2 products I'd be interested in hearing it.

        Cheers

        Max
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    • Profile picture of the author sahakov
      have you though about affiliate ?
      it might be easier for you ...
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