Blogs

6. Choosing a Web Host

Selecting which company you want to use to host your web site can be confusing to those new to the web.

5. Choosing E-commerce Software

In the last few weeks we have picked a product to sell (ties) and selected a name for the site (tiehq.com). This week we will be looking at e-commerce software and selecting a package to use for this project.

4. Think of a Name

This weeks it is the relatively simple task of picking a name.

This is where the Search Engine Optimisation begins.

Half your marketing budget with a good company name

The idea is that if your company name says what you do or sell you half the amount you have to spend on marketing telling people what you do

Last week ties were selected as the product to sell. So I wanted to include the word 'tie' or 'ties' in the company name and, because it is an e-commerce business, the domain name.

3. Picking a Product to Sell

Not feeling too well and had two ill children to look after, so this could be a bit short.

The first two items on my schedule are to pick a product and a supplier. I have taken these two at the same time because they are difficult to separate. You can have the best product, but if you cannot get the supply - no sales.

There are 2 basic choices

2. The Schedule

Before starting I thought it would be handy to set out a list of tasks that will need to be worked over the next 52 weeks. This is a very rough list of tasks (I am sure I have missed something), but it does help clarify the order the tasks will need to be worked on.

Some of the tasks may take more then one week. I will look to add more detail to the schedule in later weeks.

1. Introduction

This blog aims to test of the old adage:

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."

I have been teaching and advising people on how to run an e-commerce business for many years and now is the time to put all this advice into practice – on my own store. Can I do it myself, or should I stick to telling other people what to do?