and whatever plug-ins thereafter.
With something like £300, our
website was up and running.
At this point, you’ll need product
images and descriptions.
Set up your payment gateway from
your website. You’ll need a:
•
Card payment processing
provider (eg. WorldPay,
Ogone, Sage Pay)
•
Merchant Account to receive
funds (this is different from
your current account but
check with your bank or shop
around to see what rates are
for debit cards, credit cards
and how many transactions
can be processed for free)
You can also integrate PayPal as a
payment mechanism relatively easily.
6. Search Engine Optimisation
There isn’t an overnight solution but
rather a consistent effort to improve
your search ranking.
Please read up on SEO. We aren’t
experts but here’s what we do:
•
Create fresh content on our
site regularly
•
Keyword our products and tag
our images with Google search
terms.
•
Create backlinks by listing our
business on third party
websites. Blogging.
•
Social media presence
•
Commenting on forums
•
Writing articles
You can pay a SEO company to this
for you for a monthly fee or you can
plod through yourself!
7. Marketing
This will require more time and effort
than you think. You have to
consistently market your business.
This is what we’ve done:
•
Google Adwords
•
AdSense
•
Social Media
•
Email marketing
•
Print leaflets
•
Magazine advertising
•
Memberships of the Chamber
of Commerce and local
networks
•
Attending networking events
•
Prizes/Competitions
•
Corporate sponsorship
•
Attendance at fairs/markets
•
Word of mouth referrals
The list is endless but you’ve got to
do it.
8. Processing Orders & Postage
Now you’ve done all the behind the
scenes work and your website is up
and running, look forward to some
sales!
When orders come through, you will
need to process them from bookkeeping, generating sales receipts,
packaging your product safely (to
withstand bashing around) and then
dispatching it to your customer,
JASMINE'S PLACE
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