Start a Free Online Store

A lot of people are unaware that you can start a free online store. Don't get bamboozled by hucksters trying to charge upfront costs or monthly fees in order to get started with your first online store. Free services are a great way to learn what its like to start an online store. Perhaps more importantly, why shouldn't everyone, every family, have their own online store? Since its free, why not circle the wagons and setup an online store for yourself, family, friends, or just people that share your passion? Since mid-2006, there has been a large, growing armada of quality technologies and services that allow folks to create an online store for free.

One good way to get started is with a Zlio store. Zlio offers a free service for starting an online store that can sell products from Buy.com, ice.com, Gap, and other brand name web merchants. You get to customize the store to your liking with user-friendly templates or HTML if you prefer, based upon your skill level. Each user gets to start up to 20 different stores - so far I've started The Robot Collector and The Hot Sauce Collector. Zlio is a respectable service, run by a professional team, and funded by well-known venture capitalists that invested in Skype.

Zlio pays out cash earnings into your PayPal account in the form of a commission based upon the sales that your store generates from the products that you select and add to the store. Commissions vary from merchant to merchant but seem to be in the range of 3-10% of overall sales. There are a wide range of merchants and products to choose from - in my experience, the selection has struck me as surprisingly large. New products are added all the time, like this remote control lawn mower that I just added to the store.

Additionally, the service gives users 'pay per click' payouts on some of the links on your product pages, which increases the probably of generating some income in any given day. Zlio creates a product page automatically for each product that you add to the store. Each of these product pages attempts to offer your visitors a comparison shopping list of all the merchants offering that product at various prices. So, this comparison shopping engine helps your visitors find the best price and merchant. If visitors purchase the product through the "buy" button at the top of the page, you'll earn a commission. But If visitors click on one of the paid links within your comparison shopping engine, you'll earn a pay-per-click (it's pretty neat, you should check it out for yourself). Finally, users get about half the advertising revenue that their stores generate through a payout into your Google Adsense Account (yes, AdSense accounts are free).

One of the neat things about this experience is getting to check your progress throughout the day, monitoring Google AdSense earnings, checking Zlio earnings, and observing traffic trends to your websites with Google Analytics. With Google Analytics, you can see how many folks went to your store in a given day, and which specific search engine keywords sent visitors to your store(s).

I originally created a Zlio store on a lark in Spring 2007 since it was free, and have now made about $140 in Zlio earnings and $50 in AdSense earnings. As an avid hot sauce collector, I thought it would be fun to start a hot sauce store - even if it didn't sell any hot sauce, it would be a great way to (1) keep track of the hot sauce I already had and (2) contribute to the community by writing about hot sauce and reviewing various hot sauces. Much to my surprise, the store actually began selling hot sauce and generating both commissions and pay per clicks. Users email me from time to time asking questions about hot sauce and which hot sauces to recommend. Additinoally, prospective Zlio users email me to get my take on whether or not they should sign up for Zlio.

Based upon my experience, I am convinced that there is no reason why everyone should not have their own Zlio store. Its free, it works, its fun, and there is no lasting obligation on your part to contribute anything beyond the time you choose to put into it. Don't think of Zlio as something that's going to replace your current income; think of Zlio as something that is fun to do, and that provides an additional passive income stream. There are several stores that appear quite successful selling jewelry and computer electronics to the general public, but there are other folks that are quite content with more niche focused stores that focus on a product category few other stores focus upon. I'm sure some folks are considering adding a Zlio store to their blog, family homepage, or social networking user profile. All things considered, I think that quite a few people could benefit from having their own free online store. Feel free to contact me with questions.

Links in this Article:

- Zlio

- The Robot Collector

- The Hot Sauce Collector

Now In The Future The Past Has Occurred

By The Hot Sauce Collector

When starting an online store, heed these words of wisdom, generously bestowed upon us by the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past From the Future:

"Now in the future, the past has occurred."

Don't be confused by this seemingly contradictory statement - its actually quite straight forward. The past has occurred. Amazon.com has already happened. Buy.com has already happened. And we're not going to make any money by trying to imitate what has already been done. As entrepreneurs, we need to be focused on getting ahead of the curve, anticipating what the market will need in the future and then positioning ourselves to benefit from the cascading series of events leading to said outcome. Don't be confused about where you are in space and time. Take a lesson from Napoleon Dynamite's Uncle Rico - you can't go back. We can only go forward.

Here's a forward-thinking idea: a store focused exclusively on selling robots - like The Robot Collector. Ten years ago, robots were a figment of the imagination relegated solely to exist in movies and minds. Now in the future, significant technological advancements have created a new generation of robots with sophisticated characteristics. There are dancing robots from WowWee Robotics like the second generation Robosapien. There are robots that can do acrobatics like the Robonova. There are robots that can clean your friggin' house and then return to their base station to recharge, like the Roomba Discovery SE from I-Robot. There is even a flying remote-controlled robot dragonfly called the WowWee FlyTech Robotic Dragonfly that can dart around your house. Just imagine what robots will come next.

New ideas for starting an online store are all around us every day. All you have to do is focus on your passions and be aware of the world around you. How about an online store that focuses exclusively on selling Guitar Hero? That's an idea with legs. How about an online store selling Crocs and other footwear of that style rapidly gaining in popularity? Or even start an online store selling solar power products. Did you know that there is a company that makes a solar powered backpack that can charge your i-pod? The future is now. And the underlying technology for starting an online store is free. Just let me know if you have any questions.

Links:

- start a free online store with Zlio

- learn how to start an online store with WikiHow

- get focused on the future with The Robot Collector

Coffee Is For Closers

Blake [Alec Baldwin]: PUT THAT COFFEE DOWN! Coffee is for closers.

This is arguably the most memorable line from the critically acclaimed yet broadly underappreciated film, Glengarry Glen Ross. Allow me to quote IMDB user Adam Malik in order to create some context:

Glengarry Glen Ross contains the greatest performance ever caught on film. Baldwin's role is about six minutes long and you wish it lasted for an hour. He plays Blake, a job motivator who is asked to motivate the rest of the cast to encourage them to sell real-estate, and his motivations and handling of the dialogue just rip the screen apart cause it's just too small for him. The rest of the cast is great and David Mamet writes one of his smartest scripts, but besides how great the cast is Alec Baldwin's performance just blows them all away.

If you want to be successful starting an online store, you should strongly consider watching this movie and paying very close attention to the above mentioned scene. The first important take away from this film is that Coffee is For Closers. In other words, profits are for the people that close the deal. This means that somehow, some way, we need to find a way to get folks to purchase products from our online store. In other words, Get Your Sh*t Together. Get a jacket. Get your website cleaned up so that it looks professional. If your website looks amateur hour, guess what, your sales will follow suit. Having a clean, professional looking website is very important.

The second point is that we want happy customers because happy customers are referenceable and come back for more. In Glengarry Glenn Ross, salesmen have to overcome far more adversity than we do in online sales. They have to convince people to buy things that customers don't really want. We, on the other hand, have the opportunity to give people a great experience by providing products that people crave. By providing valuable information about things that people care about we do a good service for the community and all of its stakeholders. So, rejoice in the fact that you're not a real estate salesperson and take advantage of the unique opportunity in front you to create something that people want.

Here's a link to buy the movie GlenGarry Glen Ross from Barnes & Noble.

Here's a link to start a free a Zlio Store.

And here's a link to our original article, How To Start An Online Store.

How To Get Relevant - Let's Get Searchable

Being relevant on the internet means being searchable for keywords associated with your store's theme and then coming up in those search results. Being relevant requires more than just submitting your site to Google to be indexed. A relevant site is focused and on-topic. A relevant site has useful information about your subject matter that goes well beyond product recommendations and links. A relevant site is interesting and attractive, and a site that has these qualities will naturally attract visitors. In the game of search, success is concentrated in the hands of only a few sites that will garner the abundance of traffic for particular terms. To the victor go the spoils.

I'm going to throw out an overused euphemism and just say "let's cut to the chase." You need to start creating content around your online store's theme that people will crave. Eventually, over time, if you are successful, this content will snowball and evolve into an interesting network or web of information (such as the internet was originally designed for) that will attract visitors and generate traffic for your store.

For example. If you were the Hot Sauce Collector, you might write an article called What Is The Hottest Hot Sauce In The World? That's something that people want to know!

Technorati Profile

Finding the Right Niche For Your Store

Starting an online store is easy. Finding the right niche for an online store is hard. These two factors interplay against and compound upon one another. As the barriers to starting an online store continue to fall, more stores are started, meaning that competition for online sales is generally increasing. The good news is that powerful undercurrents are broadly increasing online sales, and thus the size of the overall market or pie for an online store. The bad news is that now we have to figure out how to pry away our piece of the pie amidst a healthy landscape of competition from other would be entrepreneurs. So, as you can see, it becomes increasingly important to find a theme for our store that will give us an advantage and create operating leverage:



How can I differentiate my store?

Be more specific than the next guy. Consider developing a tightly focused theme for your store, like The Robot Collector. By focusing on a specific theme for your store, you'll offer potential customers a "pure play" on information and products pertinent to that specific theme. This pure play should have a competitive advantage over other websites that are broader in nature, exhibited along several different dimensions that matter. Specificity helps build relevance and gives people a great reason to choose one website or online store over another.

How can I come up with an original idea for my store?

Survey the market opportunity and then focus on your passions. Ask yourself, what am I passionate about? What do I think about in my spare time? How do I spend my disposable income? What are my kids passionate about? What are my hobbies or interests? By focusing on something that you are passionate about you'll have a far greater chance of success because you'll approach the opportunity from a point of strength and credibility. Passion breeds success.

Read voraciously. Pick up a copy of the Wall Street Journal, especially the Weekend Journal and look for ideas. There are hundreds of ideas in any one issue.



Is [fill in the blank] a good idea for an online store?



How passionate are you about this theme or niche? Your level passion is a good leading indicator for success.



How tightly focused is the idea for your online store? Make sure that it is not too broad in scope. More specific is generally better.



How much do you know about the products you'll be selling? The more you know about the products, the greater your ability to assist folks with helpful advice and information about these products. Online purchasing decisions can be challenging and stressful - a trusted source of information could be perceived as valuable by potential customers.

Busting Myths About Starting An Online Store - This is Not Field of Dreams

Starting an Online Store requires a great deal of passion, persistence, and patience (one thing it does not require is capital thanks to Zlio stores, CafePress, and others). This is not Field of Dreams - there are real challenges to overcome. However, most of these challenges are addressable and are not the ones that folks anticipate. The purpose of this article is to debunk, clarify, and cut through the quagmire of myths and preconceptions that can cloud our thinking about how to start an online store.


Myth #1 - You Need A Lot of Capital To Start An Online Store

Fact #1 - You don't need to invest any capital at all to start an online store. Anyone can start an online store for free using Zlio or CafePress. Yahoo offers an online service that won't cost an arm and a leg.


Myth #2 - If You Build It, They Will Come (customers)

Fact #2 - This is not Field of Dreams. Noone cares about your new online store but you. This means that as entrepreneurs it is our sole responsibility to find a way to drive interest in our own web site. Now, that being said, we're going to catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, right? Let's offer our customers a great experience by providing something that they want other than just products. How about writing helpful reviews or articles, written from a point of expertise about something that you care about? Providing interesting content around the theme of your store will attract visitors and potential customers alike. This point underscores the importance of anchoring your store around a tightly focused central theme that intersects with your passions.



Myth #3 - You Need Them To Come

Fact #3 - You're already there. Most americans have already purchased something online. Online sales are growing thanks to powerful underlying macrotrends. And chances are that you and your family buy quite a bit of things online in any given year. Why not buy them from yourself, from your own store, and get paid? It just makes good sense. For instance, do you think that someone in your family is going to buy an iPod at some point this year? You could add an iPod to your Zlio store sourced from the Apple Store in 30 seconds or less. These types of savings can add up.

Allow me to put another spin on the experience of starting an online store that will perhaps allow us to look at things through a somewhat broader lens. The first sale we need to earn is our own. If you buy from your own store, its a great validation for what you're selling. Perhaps more importantly, the reward in starting an online store is not limited to just making money (although that would be nice). If you're passionate about something, starting an online store represents another axis or dimension for exploring that passion. For instance, a hot sauce collector might enjoy building an online hot sauce collection that doubles as a store.

More to come.

How To Start An Online Store

By The Hot Sauce Collector

How do you start an online store without getting side tracked by online hustlers and pyramid marketing schemes? This article is a step by step guide on how to start an online store that builds upon an earlier article I wrote for WikiHow. The barriers to starting an online store have fallen significantly over the last couple of years. With persistence, determination, a little bit of 'sweat equity', and a few helpful tips, we'll open an online store together and perhaps even make some money.


(1) Develop a tight, focused theme or product niche for your store around something fairly specific that intersects with your passions. Having passion and enthusiasm for the products you sell will give you an edge over larger online stores that are forced to be more general in their nature. By choosing a theme that you are passionate about, you will have a better chance of enjoying the experience of creating and managing an online store - which will require patience, determination, and the ability to overcome adversity. Additionally, opening an online store around one of your hobbies or interests allows you to profitably reallocate time that you would have spent on your hobby anyways.

(2) Choose a service to provide the underlying infrastructure for your online store. One free way to start an online store quickly is to open a Zlio store. A Zlio store enables you to sell products carried by Buy.com and other merchants in exchange for a commission on each sale and a percentage of the advertising revenue that you generate. Sales are driven by recommending products that people might like, writing reviews of products, focusing on a theme that is underserviced by others and/or buying things from your own store (why not buy from yourself and get a commission?). Zlio stores allow you to get started fast, but do not allow you to carry your own physical inventory. Amazon.com has started a service that is somewhat similar to Zlio -- the Amazon.com aStore program enables users to build their own free online store front that sells Amazon products in exchange for a commission, but the look and feel of the store is ugly and disappointing - I don't think Amazon takes this project seriously and is conflicted in its approach. For folks that want to sell customized t-shirts or other novelty products, CafePress could be a good choice. Another way to get started quickly is to pay Yahoo a monthly fee and open a Yahoo store front. A Yahoo store allows you to build and sell your own physical inventory of products, which will take much more work and has upfront costs but is potentially more profitable down the road if you work it hard.


(3) Build-out your product inventory by adding products to your web store. Try to be thoughtful about your product categories, and in particular, product placement. Studies have shown that consumers are drawn to products featured at the top of the page, so be careful to put the most likely sellers at the top. Put yourself in the customer's shoes with a relentless passion. Remember, people can buy from anyone; why should they buy from you? You need to make their life easier or provide some other kind of value.


(4) Promote your store - this is a very important step. Do you remember Field of Dreams? "if you build it they will come" will not apply to your new store! You must drive interest in your own site; no one cares about your online store except you. The first way to promote your store is to get relevant; submit your site to Google to be indexed. Consider adding content to your site like product reviews, subject matter articles, humor, anything to give people a reason to come to your site other than just to buy products. Content will increase your probability of becoming relevant.


(5) Manage and track your web store. Now that you've got your online store up and running, don't you want to see how much traffic you are generating and where it is coming from? Sign up for free Google analytics

Links Included In This Post:

- Zlio.com

- Google Analytics

- Google Submission

- WikiHow - How To Start An Online Store

Starting An Online Store - The How To Blog - The First Post

Have you ever wondered how to start an online store? How much will it cost? How long will it take? How hard will it be? Can it be done? This is the first post in a new blog about how to start an online store. The purpose of this blog is principally to teach and inform about how to open an online store. At the same time, it will serve as a recording of my own experience for future reference.

After years of waiting, the time has come to tear down the myths and build up a base of open and honest information about starting an online store based upon experience. Starting an online store requires a great deal of persistence and dedication, but it can certainly be done. In fact, almost anyone can start an online store if they are willing to commit time and energy. Stay tuned. The next post in this series will be a straight forward step by step guide on how to start an online store.