Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Selling Online: Consider This before You Decide What to Sell

By Alice Seba

Opportunities to make money with an online business seem to multiply daily. There is so much variety available now, that people are beginning to question if there's anything that can't be sold online! As you can imagine, there are some things that sell a lot more easier online than others. This article will mention some of the better techniques that are available in order for you to begin making money online.

Sell Your Own or Wholesale Products

If you manufacture your own product, you can sell it online. Or you can save yourself manufacturing costs and hassle by purchasing ready-made products at wholesale prices. Just take into consideration the extra work and storage space involved with carrying a product line. You can always purchase dropshipped wholesale products (the wholesaler ships only when you make a sale), but that usually carries a low profit margin.

Below, more options are discussed that will not require your own product, or carrying an inventory...

Using "Direct Sales"

Working with a direct sales company will offer you a product that has already proven itself in the marketplace, and will give you a good start to business. A good thing to check for when taking this route is to see if they allow online sales. Some companies do not allow this at all. If they do allow online selling, it's time to set up a website. Time must be spent promoting your website before any sales begin to come in. This may not be as easy as it sounds as you will need a good education with regards to online marketing.

Selling Information Products

Information products come in many guises, including audio, video, reports and e-books. The type of reports that sell best are those that teach others how to do things. Customers purchase these types of reports for the big benefit of being able to download the product is soon as they have purchased. The alternative to downloads is to send the product physically to your customer in traditional hard cover book format, or as a CD/DVD. Offering the product as a download is more popular, as profit margins are larger due to the fact that the item does not need to be shipped.

Selling as an Affiliate

Have you previously created an information blog or website? If this is the case, then it is more than possible to make a few bucks by recommending other popular products. There are many thousands of affiliates programs available, with well-known brands and many products to choose from. Selling items in this manner entitles you to a percentage of the sale of every referred customer. This is very popular, because you do not need to fulfill the order, or come into contact with the customer. You simply need to put your efforts into promotion.

The best method of finding these type of affiliate programs is to type your chosen subject into the search engine along with the phrase "affiliate program".

Selling Your Service

Whether it is administrative services, bookkeeping, web design, copywriting, or some other service you perform, the chances that you can sell it online is a good one. By creating a professional website that explains your services and marketing it to your potential clients, you'll be one step ahead of others who are looking to offer their talents online as well.

Need to Build Your Website?

About the Author:

No comments: