The Easiest Way to Sell Online

In my last article I began a process of introducing you to the questions you needed to ask before you started selling online. In this article we get down and dirty and actually begin creating something that will allow you to have your first products up for sale in a matter of just a few days.

Don't worry, we aren't doing any too complicated or difficult, in fact this is going to be one of the easiest ways to sell online that you will ever find. There are two ways to run your own shop online, you can either buy software like Actinic and have it hosted on your own piece of virtual real-estate (your web address in other words) or, you can use a fully hosted service. Having tried many different methods over the years, I have come to the conclusion that most small businesses are better off using a fully hosted service.

Of course, there are monthly fees associated with this method, but when you take out the hassle factor plus up-front costs it is very cost effective and is normally a much quicker route to market than building something from scratch. So, we are going to look at just one of the UK based online shopping carts - Shop Creator - and you don't need to worry about it being good enough, as it is used by companies and organisations like BHS, the Science Museum and the RSPB. Even better, is the fact that they have various levels of service and the most basic means that you only have to pay them when you have made a sale and as your site grows there is the ability to change the package you use.

So, let's get started by popping along to ShopCreator.com. When you get there click on the red button in the top right portion of the site that says 'Sign Up For A Free Shop Now'. Fill in your details and when you have clicked on the 'Create Online Store' button, you will be sent an email asking you to click on a link that confirms your email address is genuine. Once you have done this, you'll receive your username and password for your new online store.

When you login to your new shop, you will be presented with the home page and if you scroll down, you will see that there are a number of actions you need to complete, as you do each one you can tick to show that it has been completed. Next to each one is a handy little video link which will show you exactly how to do what you are required to do for that action.

Before you get started adding products though, it would be wise to have your product images available. Product images need to be saved in a jpeg format and should be smaller than about 25KB. Try to save them as a consistent size as this will help the final layout to look more professional when you come to publish your new shop, a good size to use is between 300 and 400 pixels wide for the main image, and 100 pixels wide or high for the thumbnails (the smaller pictures that are used in the categories).

One of the things I really like about Shop Creator is that it is so easy to use, you can go back and amend things until they are right and you don't have to pay for anything until you are ready to start trading online. Just one suggestion though, don't worry too much about the final look and feel of the site, as it will be work just fine until you feel ready to start creating it's own unique personality.

In my next article, I'll be taking a look at how you can allow your customers to pay for your products and services online, with freely available and easy to use services that work seamlessly with the Shop Creator system.