The world of eCommerce is blowing up with growth. Every year, more and more people are turning away from brick and mortar stores and instead relying on their phones, tablets and laptops to help them find the products they need and want in their lives.
The internet gives us access to products from all over the world, and as long as we are willing to wait a few days, whatever we buy is shipped right to our door.
Lead by eCommerce giants such as Amazon, online shopping is slowly but surely carving out a larger space in the retail sector.
As a savvy individual, you are probably looking at this trend and wondering how you can get in on this action.
After all, eCommerce businesses are run from anywhere there’s an internet connection, so they are great jobs for people looking to find a way to work from home.
However, this is no get rich quick scheme.
The eCommerce space is very competitive, and if you think you can jump in without putting in the necessary time commitment, then you’re likely going to end up being very disappointed.
But just because it will take time to get your eCommerce business up and running, it doesn’t mean it will take a lot of money.
Sure, you will need to make an investment, but if you are looking to get something off the ground without breaking the bank, then keep the following in mind as you get started:
Save on a Domain Name
One of the first things you’ll want to do when starting your business is to choose a domain name.
When researching this, you’ll find lots of people telling you this is the make or break moment for your business. It’s true the domain name is important, but it is not everything.
The reason for saying this is that the domain name you consider to be “perfect” may actually be taken, and to get it, the current owner might be asking for an exorbitant amount of money.
Stay away from this if you are trying to get started on a budget.
It’s easy to convince yourself it’s worth it because the name is perfect, but there are other, equally-marketable domain names out there you can get for a lot less.
If for some reason you cannot find a relevant domain name that isn’t already taken, then make sure you are getting a good deal on the one that you do buy.
Understand what makes a website valuable, and do not overpay. If you can’t get the right price, get back to the drawing board and find a good domain name that fits your budget.
Use SEO
For an eCommerce site to be successful, you need to drive lots of quality traffic to it.
You need people looking to buy the products you are selling coming to your site, and the more people you get to come, the better, as this increases the profits you’ll eventually make.
However, if you are trying to get this business going on a budget, the way you are going to do this is through search engine optimization (SEO).
The reason for this is that it is essentially “free.” It’s not completely free (nothing in this world is free) because you will need to have content created and you will need to spend time building links to your site, but it’s far less expensive than other ways of driving traffic.
Don’t be lured into spending money on expensive paid traffic, at least not in the beginning.
It’s true that it tends to be more effective, largely because it brings people from your target market directly to your site, but it’s also very expensive.
If you focus on SEO, you can drive lots of traffic to your site and save money in the meantime.
Create the Content Yourself
For SEO to be successful, though, you need to have an effective content marketing strategy.
Basically, you create content that people like and are willing to link to from their site.
This link then signifies to Google that your content is well-liked, and it rewards you by boosting your position in its rankings.
In this sense, SEO appears free, but you’ll need to invest something.
Either you need to pay someone to create the content you are going to try and market, or you need to create it yourself. If you are trying to stay within a budget, we recommend you do the content yourself. This way, the only investment you are really making is your time.
And this is also a great way for you to get to know the process.
By working with other bloggers in your space, submitting guest posts, reaching out to influencers, etc., you’re getting a good idea as to how all this works.
Then, down the road, after your business is up and running and doing well, you can farm out some of this content creation to free up some of your time. But in the beginning, do it yourself.
Sell Other People’s Products
Maybe this is obvious, but it’s worth mentioning that to be successful with eCommerce on a budget, you’ll want to focus on just sales.
Set up an affiliate program or work with another company to form an agreement that has you working just in retail.
The moment you need to worry about procurement and other logistics, your budget is going to skyrocket, your margins will thin and you’ll be wondering why you got into this in the first place.
Final Thoughts
Starting an eCommerce business on a budget is not only possible, but it’s probably the preferable method.
It gives you the chance to really understand how this industry works, and it will also provide you with far more attractive margins, giving you the chance to grow without worrying about pouring in your entire life’s savings.
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