You can do online sales the easy way, or the hard way.
You can do it manually, or automatically.
You can spend hours every day doing follow-up and follow-through, or you can have it all done for you.
(The following is a fabricated conversation: any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental — I swear.)
Client: “I want to sell stuff online. I need you to set up a shopping cart for me.”
Me: “Sure thing. Which shopping cart are you thinking of?”
Client: “Uh…Whadda’ ya’ mean? I just need something that connects to my bank account.”
Me: “Welllll, shopping carts don’t connect to your bank account. Merchant accounts do. Are you sure you need a cart?”
Client: “Yes, I think so. My friend has one. And so does my Mom. And this girl in my BNI group – not her, but her cousin. She has one, so I’m pretty sure I need one.”
Me: “Okay, I think I need to explain some things to you…”
The world of online sales is a daunting one for many. Unfortunately, having a great product, or many great products, (or ideas for products) is just the beginning. Getting your stuff into the customer’s hands, and getting paid for it – that’s the hard part. Plus, there is so much information out there, and there are so many products to “Help” you do it, trying to figure it out on your own can make your eyes bleed. Well, here’s a little help.
Automation = Happiness (and Successful Online Sales)
The best approach to online sales is to get it right at the beginning, without wasting time or money on a system that isn’t right for you, and without getting frustrated and giving up. If your products are really as good as you think they are, you owe it to your customers to put it in their hands, in the most efficient, cost-effective manner possible. Automation of your sales process is the best way to get it done.
Let me break it down – and make it as simple as possible. There are really only three basic components you need to wrap your head around:
- Email marketing (communicate)
- Shopping carts (store front)
- Merchant accounts / PayPal (get paid!)
Of course, these days, there are about 300 variations and 1000s of options for you to choose from out there, but don’t you worry your pretty little head about all that. We’ll tell you where to go from here (in our next article…).
We’re just at the beginning of the online sales process here, as well as being at the beginning of trying to help you understand it. We will follow up on this post with more great info on how to manage your online sales in our next few posts. Stay tuned…