How to Start a Web Based Retail Business: A Must-Read Reverse Approach

Before you spend weeks and a small fortune on website design and company development for your web based retail business, you may want to reconsider your first move. An online business can be very rewarding if you begin in the right direction.
By: Greg Preite
 
April 20, 2010 - PRLog -- So you are tired of the rat race of a traditional job. Or maybe the job market has turned its cruel head and you have found yourself as one of the millions of Americans who are now unemployed. What do you do? Where do you turn? There is confusion, panic, fear, stress, resentment, and more... You have decided, as thousands have done before you, that you will turn to the internet and start a web based retail business. Yep, that's it! That's what you are going to do! You have made the decision and you are ready to go. Full steam ahead... But what direction is that?

Conventional thinking probably has you focusing on a product line- finding a product or a service that you are passionate about and researching it. You spend hours, if not days or weeks, figuring out where you can get the best price and how many suppliers you will need. You contact wholesale companies, review their policies and procedures, find out which ones will dropship and which ones have minimum orders. You make "to do" list after "to do" list, register for a resale permit, design logos, get a dba, possibly even incorporate. Maybe you have a partner and you invest countless hours hashing out the details and the fine print. Then you select a hosting company and this decision alone can require an excruciating amount of research. Once that's done you need to figure out who will design your website. Can you do it yourself or do you need to hire someone? How much will that cost? How do you know if you are getting a good deal? You start to make decisions and it all begins to come together. After months of preparation, research, money, phone calls, emails, and memos, you're finally there! But then you stop and look around and you see that you are once again alone. Emotions creep in like confusion, panic, fear, stress... sound familiar? You accomplished your goal of starting a web based retail business but now the reality hits you that you have no customers coming to your store and you are quickly in trouble.

This may sound far fetched, but unfortunately it is not too far from the truth in many cases. One of my businesses is a wholesale dog clothing business. We sell to retail stores (brick and mortar as well as web based) all over the world. We have been in business for six years now and we have achieved top search engine rankings for numerous key word searches in our niche. Recently, I reviewed our statistics from 2009. This may startle you, but we had nearly two-thousand people register for wholesale accounts with us in 2009 and by April of 2010, nearly 70% of them were out of business! After talking with many of the previous owners, the fact is clear that they began their business with an idea and with good intentions, but they never took the time nor made the investment in themselves to learn how to market their web based retail business. Here's the simple truth- having a fancy web site is nothing more than an expensive brochure unless you have an effective way to drive traffic to your site.

So, my friends, I offer you this advice. As someone who currently owns a successful web based retail business, I can tell you that you should NOT start your venture by first focussing on your product line and web site. Quite to the contrary, the first step in how to start a web based retail business MUST be in the direction of online marketing. You need to learn critical strategies that will help you to get customers to your site. DON'T WAIT UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE TO FIGURE THIS OUT. Trust me on this one folks, I just watched nearly 1400 people/businesses shut down in the past year. Don't become a statistic.

Ok, so now what do you do? My suggestion is to do what I did- find a reputable mentoring program and start learning. You probably won't learn enough by just surfing the net and picking up bits and pieces here and there. If you really want to be profitable and have freedom in your life, then you need a solid educational background. I'm not talking about a weekend seminar or a night course once a week for the next 8 weeks. Rather, you will probably need day-to-day coaching and help from experts in the industry. That's what I needed and that's what I was able to find. Now I'm here to show you how to follow in my footsteps and create a web based retail business that will stand the test of time. I've created links below to my online business as well as to the mentoring program I trust. You can even view a video of me relaying my person story and contact me personally if you have questions. Hey, if you are in to designer dog accessories, we can even help you build your website!

I wish you the best that life has to offer as you begin your journey.

Greg Preite is a successful traditional and online business owner. You can visit his online store at www.DoggieDesigner.net and learn more about his mentoring program and see a personal video message from Greg at www.OnlineProfitStrategy.com. Begin your educational journey today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Preite

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We provide wholesale and dropshipping service for other eCommerce and brick and mortar stores. We also help new entrepreneurs set up eCommerce sites and teach profitable and simple online marketing strategies.
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