How to sell online without a website?

Want to sell online? Online shopping is a great way to earn extra money every month. And why not become a full-time online entrepreneur, right?

You will find a bunch of platforms where you can upload and showcase your products or services. Most social networks also offer similar functionalities. In theory, setting up a "store" in one of them should be enough to gain popularity among consumers and sell. Many young entrepreneurs are already doing it.

There are, however, some unknowns.

• Where to start?

• Which platform will offer you the best opportunities for development according to your business?

• Is this decision long-term?

• Carefully research the market niche in which you want to position yourself
• Define your target audience
• Choose the channels in which you will sell
• Other platform = their rules
• Priority - building a brand
• Not just consumers, but fans and ambassadors of the brand
• Carefully research the market niche in which you want to position yourself
• Find out who your competitors are, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of their products or services over yours. Try to analyze the potential of the market.

Only a business that is confident in its success can achieve real success.

Define your target audience

Without knowing exactly who the people you are talking to and who will buy your items are, your efforts would be wasted. You need to create the so-called buyer persona.

Buyer persona is a collective image of your target audience. Is it a man or a woman, are they teenagers or adults? What do they work, what is their lifestyle? It is possible to have more than one buyer person - segment them carefully and describe their qualities as clearly as possible. In this way, you may notice some details that you have missed before, and you will be able to improve the messages and commercial offers you send.

Choose your channels

Once you've found out who your audience is, you have the task of finding out which channels of communication they "thrive on".

Maybe they like to scroll for hours through the Facebook feed - don't forget to show them your products there. And maybe have fun with the endless list of reels on Instagram - get in their tone of communication, use this functionality of the social network. If you offer products or services with a business focus, it is very likely that your target users do not have enough free time, so target them on LinkedIn.

You can also target the shoppaholics, whose days are spent in the major international trading platforms in search of another interesting tool for their home or office. In this case, you certainly know how easy it is to create an account there and start selling on the world market.

Note! Before you start, be sure to check the legal requirements for registration and legal activity of an online merchant. This is the first rule for trouble-free long-term work and gaining the trust of your customers.

Let’s summarize:

Analyzes; Proper targeting; Choose a platform, upload attractive photos of products or descriptions of your services and add an appeal - "For orders and queries, get in touch."

BUT… not if you want to be successful and exceed your initial expectations.

By investing your own time, finances and efforts in a new endeavor, you deserve the best results. Don't forget that! To build up, you have to lay solid foundations. The basis of your online business is… Your website.

Both social networks and shared online trading platforms are someone else's property. Although you create your own account or "store" in them, which you access with your username and password, the space inside is not entirely yours. Let's imagine it this way - if tomorrow the owner of platform X suddenly decides to stop everything, your profile, respectively online store, will disappear without a trace.

Lack of control over your "ownership" also means that a possible change in the rules of use and display on the platform may put you at a disadvantage. The decision to leave it or to adapt can have a negative impact on your overall business concept.

Eliminate these risks by starting your own online store. Through it you will be able to manage all the details, both visually and organizationally. The listing of your products will not wait for approval, and the changes will depend only on you.

Priority - building a brand

If you have decided to develop your business in the long run, it is extremely important not only to generate sales or commitment, but also to build your brand.

The brand is a combination of your business name, its logo, its colors, the way you communicate with customers, the experiences and feelings you offer to your fans, and a bunch of other distinctive features.

In order for it to grow fully, it needs its own space. This space is your website. There, you have the opportunity to present it in the best way and most of all - exclusively. Once you invite users to your own site, the battle for attention with 39283293 other businesses, in which you participate willingly or unwillingly on social networks, has already been won!

The site is the foundation on which we build all other elements. The site is the place from which the brand looks stable, real and working. It doesn't have to be huge, it can only consist of one page, which is a trend lately.

Creating a website can be compared to renting an office for your company. When you register your company, you want to have a special space to do your job, right? It's the same with the site - you have the digital assets of your business in it and choose its name in the form of a domain. Usually, the domain is short and understandable, related to the activities of the company or your products and services. This process is also part of building a brand because it makes you stand out and gives authenticity to your web business.

Interesting fact: According to the Stanford Web Credibility Research, 75% of users admit that they judge how credible and reliable a company is on its website.

We just mentioned email - having your own domain and website, you can also create professional emails for you and your future colleagues or employees. Even if you work with well-known professionals or freelancers, it is advisable to communicate with them by email with the name of your business. You will also be able to use it when communicating with other subcontractors. The benefits of having professional mail are many - once again you show your brand, build credibility, and your content is protected.

Do you already feel how by creating a website you close the imaginary brand circle, which was previously broken? Developing social media accounts is a good start, but to reach the full potential of web marketing tools, you need to have a website and email.

Not just consumers, but fans and ambassadors of the brand

In the art of trading, selling to a consumer once is like passing the first level in a favorite game. Making them come back again and again to shop even more puts you higher in the rankings. However, winning the loyalty of this user and turning them into an ambassador or will win you the Golden Cup.

To move higher and higher in the charts, do not settle for sporadic sales or announcements on various channels. On the contrary, create a strategy!

Use social media and all the external platforms you know, not as a place to sell, but as marketing tools to attract potential customers to your site. Advertise on Facebook and Instagram, create useful content for your LinkedIn partners, appear in various groups and marketing forums. Place and display your site in each of these places. State your position and identity.

Try to keep your site up to date and well maintained. Once you bring users to it, gather as much information about them as possible.

• Connect your site with Facebook Pixel and set up the Conversion API. This way you can easily see which and how many users come from Facebook, and you will be able to show them your ads again, creating remarketing audiences.

• Link your site to Google Analytics and set appropriate goals. Google Analytics is a great tool to see where and what users are viewing on your site. What they, which content pages they view and what they buy. Use it to track the performance of your ads and think about optimizations.

• Create registration forms on the site itself. It is enough to offer, for example, a 5% or 10% discount to everyone who has filled in their email address. This way you will be able to contact the same people again by email and serve them directly with your new offers or products.

The next steps are a matter of careful planning and hard work. Think about how to use the data and statistics you have. How much and what information to provide to your customers, to win them with discounts and gifts or with the "sense of humor of the brand"? What visual elements will you use to hold their attention? What investment will you make in advertising?

According to PR Newswire, retargeting visitors to your site increases the probability of ordering from your products or services by 43%.

Despite the undeniable effectiveness of remarketing, the digital world has prepared challenges for us in this area. You have probably heard that this year we are about to enter the so-called cookieless era. Every online business will have to adapt to cookie-free marketing if it wants to survive.

With a well-maintained website and the right marketing tools and channels, you can not only keep your visitores, but also provoke them to share with their close ones and friends about you.

Your own website makes you independent, authentic and influential.

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