Starting an Online Business All–in–One For Dummies

Shannon Belew currently leads the digital marketing strategy for Digium, a global, open source communications company, and is a frequent guest speaker and freelance writer. Joel Elad is the head of Real Method Consulting, where he provides consulting and advice for e-commerce companies and entrepreneurs.

Introduction 1


About This Book 1


Foolish Assumptions 3


Icons Used in This Book 3


Beyond the Book 4


Where to Go from Here 4


Book 1: Start-Up Essentials 5


Chapter 1: Starting from Scratch 7


What Are You Waiting For? Start Your Business Now! 8


Choosing Just the Right Business 10


Getting Started 14


Chapter 2: Turning Ideas into a Viable Internet Business 17


Thinking Like an Online Entrepreneur 17


Putting Your Business Idea Under the Microscope 19


Identifying Your Market and Target Customer 26


Competing to Win: Analyzing Your Competition 28


Chapter 3: Getting Real: Creating a Usable Business Plan 31


Understanding the Value of a Plan 31


Recognizing That the Parts of the Plan Make a Whole 33


Getting Help to Write the Plan 35


Using a Business Plan Today, Tomorrow, and Always 38


Chapter 4: Funding Your Online Business 41


Bootstrapping the Low-Cost, No-Cost Site 42


Finding the Perfect Investor 46


Checking Out Alternative Financing 51


Taking a Shortcut: Purchasing an Existing Site 54


Chapter 5: Creating Policies to Protect Your Website and Customers 59


Taking Care of Customers 59


Putting Policies in Place 61


Delivering On Your Promises 66


Chapter 6: Setting Up Shop: What You Need for Online Efficiency 67


A Floor Plan for Success 68


Must-Have Equipment 70


Tools for Your Desktop 76


Your Essential Software Toolkit 80


Connectivity: Today’s Internet Options and More 81


Book 2: Legal and Accounting 83


Chapter 1: Minding the Law 85


Keeping Your Business Legal 85


Zoning for Business (at Home) 91


Obtaining Business Licenses 93


Chapter 2: Choosing the Right Foundation: From Partnerships to Corporations 95


Strategizing for the Best Organization 96


Operating Alone as a Sole Proprietor 96


Sharing the Load with a Partnership 98


Limited Liability Company 99


Making It Official with Incorporation 100


Changing Your Organization as It Grows 102


Chapter 3: The Trademark-and-Copyright Two-Step 103


Understanding Why Trademarks and Copyrights Matter 103


Making Your (Trade)Mark 104


Protecting Your Investment with Copyrights 105


Establishing Registration Yourself 107


Retaining Professional Assistance 109


Chapter 4: Accounting for Taxes (and Then Some) 111


The Tax Man Cometh — Again and Again 112


By the Numbers: Accounting Basics 116


Choosing Software to Make Your Tasks Easy 122


Hiring a Professional 124


Following the Rules of Recordkeeping 130


Book 3: Website Functionality and Aesthetics 135


Chapter 1: What’s in a (Domain) Name? 137


Choosing Your Online Identity 138


Registering the Perfect Name 141


Finding Out What to Do When Somebody Gets There First 144


All the Good Ones Are (Not) Taken 145


Chapter 2: Designing for User Experience 151


Understanding the Customer Experience 151


Maximizing Performance for Profitability 156


Guiding Website Traffic Flow 158


Looking Your Best 160


Choosing Substance Over Style 166


Chapter 3: Building a Site without Spending a Fortune 169


Mapping Your Route to a Successful Site 170


You Can Do It! Making a Build-It-Yourself Site 175


Creating Your Site with the Pros 184


Chapter 4: Finding the Host with the Most 193


Differentiating between an ISP and a Host 193


Determining What Makes the Difference for High-Performance Hosting 194


Sorting Out Your Website Host Options 197


Putting the Long-Term Contract in the Past 198


Serving Yourself: Don’t Overlook Other Server Options 199


Chapter 5: Developing Content That Satisfies Visitors and Search Engines 201


Words Are Words — Right? Wrong! 202


Getting Ready to Write for the Web 205


Moved to Purchase: Turning Words into Action 212


Chapter 6: Going Beyond Beta and Launching Your Site 215


Some Things to Know Before You Start Uploading 215


Taking the Compatibility Test: Testing Screen Resolutions, Browsers, and Platforms 217


Taking a Trial Run 220


Three, Two, One — Take Off! 222


Book 4: Online and Operating 223


Chapter 1: Determining Your Revenue Model 225


Selling Tangible Products 225


Selling Your Professional Services 231


Selling Information 235


Placing Ads for Profit 237


Establishing an Affiliate Advertising Program 245


Putting It All Together: Multiple Revenue Streams 247


Chapter 2: Making Money with Affiliate Programs 249


Looking at How Affiliate Programs Work 250


Signing Up for an Affiliate Network 254


Avoiding Scams and Questionable Content 257


Chapter 3: Turning Information into Profit: From E-Books to Webinars 261


Creating Your Own Information Product 262


Providing E-Books 266


Creating Informational Videos for Profit 270


Putting Together a Webinar 271


Chapter 4: Paying with the Right Payment Options 275


Accepting Credit Card Payments 276


Offering Alternative Payment Options 282


Managing the Payment Process to Protect Your Income 284


Chapter 5: Putting the (Shopping) Cart before the Horse 285


Not All Carts Are Created Equal 286


Shopping Around for the Best Hosted Solution 292


Finding Stand-Alone Shopping Cart Software 297


Designing a Custom Cart 298


Chapter 6: Taking Inventory 301


Finding Out What’s Popular 302


Putting Together All Your Research 304


Pricing Your Products 305


Building Your Inventory 306


Chapter 7: Fulfilling Expectations and Orders 309


Figuring Out the Logistics of Shipping 310


Developing an In-House Fulfillment Model 311


Deciding to Outsource Fulfillment 312


Shaping Up and Shipping Out 319


Maintaining the Back End 327


Book 5: Managing Security Risks 331


Chapter 1: Understanding Security and Your Risks 333


Legal Responsibility: The Merchant and the Customer 334


Defining Your Privacy Policy 338


Keeping Your Website Secure 339


Displaying Seals of Approval 340


Chapter 2: Developing a Plan: Security and Business Continuity 343


Making a Plan 344


Creating a Budget for Your Plan 354


Finding Security Resources 355


Chapter 3: Spotting and Thwarting Hackers and Net-Thieves 357


Fending Off Denial-of-Service Attacks 358


Deterring Hackers 360


Avoiding Viruses and Other Malware 362


Keeping Your Domain Name Safe 364


Staying Away from E-Mail Scams 367


Mobile Security Risks 370


Understanding How a Wireless LAN Works 371


Establishing Barriers 373


Chapter 4: Locking Down Your Site and Your Business 377


Protecting against Personal Data Loss and Credit Card Fraud 377


Backing Up Your Data 382


Adding Firewalls 384


Book 6: Online Marketing Basics 387


Chapter 1: Jump-Starting Traffic and Driving Sales 389


Defining Key Elements for Digital Marketing Success 390


Getting to Know Your Buyers — Really Well 392


Calculating Your Site’s Conversion Rate 394


Figuring Out When You Get the Most Traffic 397


Getting Customers to Notice Your Website 399


Getting Customers to Buy 400


Chapter 2: Your Own Public Relations for the Web 403


Writing Reviews 404


Becoming a Community Leader 409


Writing Articles 412


Chapter 3: Web Marketing at Work 417


Developing a Marketing Strategy 418


Gaining a Following with Social Media 421


Reeling in Customers with Newsletters 426


Automating Routine Tasks 431


Searching for Traffic with Search Engine Advertising 432


Marketing Your Company Offline 440


Chapter 4: Converting Browsers to Buyers 443


Giving Customers a Reason to Stay on Your Site 444


Anticipating Customer Needs 447


Organizing a Buyer-Friendly Site 450


Keeping Your Shopping Cart Simple 454


Avoiding Assumptions about Your Customers 456


Encouraging Viewers to Buy 459


Chapter 5: Analyzing and Monitoring Your Customers 463


Tracking Trends 464


Measuring Website Traffic 465


Analyzing Your Traffic Analysis Software 473


Collecting the Correct Information 476


Getting to Know Your Customer 479


Using Your Data to Understand Your Business 482


Chapter 6: Mastering Search Engines, Optimization, and Rankings 487


Navigating the Ins and Outs of Major Search Engines 488


Getting Your Website Noticed by Search Engines 490


Placing Keywords in Key Spots on Your Website 492


Arranging Your Pages Strategically 498


Submitting Your Site to Search Engines 499


Watching Your Rankings 502


Moving Up in the Rankings 504


Book 7: Retail to E-Tail 509


Chapter 1: Expanding Online to Keep and Grow Customers 511


Making the Decision to Move Your Store Online 512


Finding the Right Time 515


Bridging Your Offline Store with Your Online Store 518


Making a Flawless Transition 520


Building an Inventory 524


Chapter 2: Managing the Differences between In-Store and Online Commerce 529


Comparing Online and Offline Customers 530


What Your Online Customers Expect from You 532


Establishing Patterns 539


Chapter 3: Window Dressing for the Online Display 541


Creating the Right Look for Your Online Store 542


Creating the Perfect Shopping Experience 543


Beyond Window Shopping: Designs That Lure Traffic 546


Chapter 4: Making In-Store Customers Loyal Online Shoppers 549


Benefiting Customers (and Your Business) with In-Store and Online Synergy 550


Enticing Customers to Your Online Offering 551


Providing a Positive Shopping Experience 555


Making Your Customer the Star 557


Chapter 5: Revving Up with Mobile Marketing, Social Media, and More 559


Distinguishing between Different Types of Mobile Commerce 561


Localizing with Ads 566


Social Media Ads 569


Alternative Ways to Boost Localized Spending 574


Chapter 6: Troubleshooting the Transition to Online Retail 577


Handling Returns in the Store from Online Sales 577


Merging Existing Back-End Systems with Online Requirements 579


Deciding How to Handle Integration 584


Extending Payment Options to Virtual Customers 585


Book 8: E-Commerce Fundamentals 589


Chapter 1: Starting Up with E-Commerce Functionality 591


Knowing What You Want: Features 592


Realizing What You Can Have: Cost 597


Shopping for E-Commerce Solutions 599


Chapter 2: Mastering the Amazon 601


Joining the Marketplace 601


Achieving Professional Seller Status 609


Taking Advantage of Other Selling Opportunities with Amazon aStore 610


Chapter 3: Web-ify Your Store with Shopify 613


Why Open a Shopify Store? 614


Setting Up Shop 615


Managing Your Shopify Store 618


Selecting a Plan 624


Breaking Down the Fees 625


Growing with Your New Business Partner 626


Chapter 4: Making eBay THE Way 629


Understanding How eBay Works 630


Getting Started on eBay 630


Setting Up an Item for Sale 634


Opening an eBay Store 641


Book 9: E-Business for the Nonprofit 647


Chapter 1: Raining Donations: Fundamentals for Online Giving 649


Determining How Your Organization Can Benefit 650


Convincing Your Board of Directors 652


Chapter 2: Adding Online Moneymakers to an Existing Site 659


Determining Which Features Your Site Can Support 660


Adding an Auction to Your Site 666


Soliciting Donations on Your Site 669


Chapter 3: Growing an Active Donor Base: Your Virtual Community 677


Building an Online Donor Base from Scratch 678


Putting Together a Plan to Reach Donors 682


Converting the Faithful 683


Reaching Out to People Surfing for Charities 686


Chapter 4: Identifying Online Marketing Strategies That Fit the Cause 689


Asking for Donations 689


Making Donating Easy 697


Chapter 5: Legal Considerations for Nonprofit Organizations 699


Designating Responsibility 700


Creating Online Policies 701


Registering Your Charity 703


Gaining Seals of Approval 704


Book 10: E-Commerce Trends and Market Opportunities 707


Chapter 1: Discovering Niche Markets 709


Deciding to Sell a Niche Product 709


Finding Your Niche 713


Chapter 2: Building Business via Social Commerce 717


Setting the Virtual Stage for Success 717


Using Online Socializing to Build Social Commerce 720


Creating Your Own Video Channel 726


Gathering, Networking, and Promoting: Online Communities 732


Chapter 3: Evaluating the SaaS Model: Selling Software and Apps 737


Deciding to Deliver Online Services 738


Putting the Software in the SaaS 739


Understanding the SaaS Model for Making Money 740


Creating Apps for the Mobile Customer 743


Chapter 4: Generating Opportunities through the Generations: Millennials, Boomers, and Beyond 747


Understanding the Baby Boomer Market 748


Figuring Out What Millennials Want and Delivering It 754


Getting Online with the Digital Kids: Generation Z 756


Book 11: E-Commerce Advanced 763


Chapter 1: Mapping the Digital Buyer’s Journey 765


Deconstructing the Path of an Online Buyer 766


Monitoring the Flipped and Fluid Digital Sales Funnel 768


Putting It All Together: The Buyer, the Conversion, the Channel 770


Chapter 2: Getting Personal with Content Marketing 775


Delivering the Goods with the Right Content Approach 776


Developing Buyer Personas 777


Creating Content for Storytelling and Consumption 780


Launching the Personalization Effort Online 786


Chapter 3: Listening to the Voice of the Customer 793


Using VOC to Determine the Customer Experience 794


Listening and Taking Action: Time to Redesign 798


Increasing Appeal 800


Making Your Website Functional 805


Chapter 4: Overhauling an Aging Online Business 809


Paying Attention to the Signs 810


Qualifying for a Makeover from Lagging Sales 813


Reengaging Customers to Spend with You, Again 819


Knowing Where to Start 821


Chapter 5: Expanding Products to Increase Stagnant Sales 823


Figuring Out When to Expand Your Product Line 824


Replacement or Expansion: The Art of Culling Your Inventory 829


Finding New Products 831


Chapter 6: Transitioning a Small Site into Big Business 833


Seeking Out the Next Level of Your Business 833


Dealing with Accidental Success 843


Purposefully Making the Next Move 845


Index 847