Nowadays, when you have something to sell, you think of opening up a digital store instead of leasing out a physical one. It’s just easier that way. You don’t have to worry about finding a space that people in your market would visit often, building permits, renovations, hiring staff, passing inspections, and so much more. That doesn’t mean digital stores don’t have their own challenges, but they’re nowhere near as taxing as the alternative.
However, why settle for creating an online store when you can create the platform for people to do that? Launching your own e-commerce platform requires a great deal of knowledge in terms of coding, web design, and more. While it can be difficult, you can make use of applications that can make this an easy task. There are powerful online services focused on online store building and let you host your customers’ stores on your server. It’s a challenge. But an incredibly rewarding and profitable one.
What You Need
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Ecommerce software
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Domain name
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CentOS or Redhat Linux with cPanel with reseller WHM access
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DNS for main domain name handled by the cPanel server where the product is installed
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Apache as web server
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PHP 5.2x or 5.3x
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MySQL 4.1.12 or greater
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SSL for credit card processor
Setup Steps
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After purchasing and downloading the software, install it or contact iScripts to install for an additional $50 for 1-2 business days.
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Log in to the Admin Panel > Click Settings on the left panel > Setup your site name, site secure URL, admin email, site logo, Google Analytics, Streamsend, company details, and license key.
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Click the Payment tab > Customize your options as to which gateways you’d like to allow or enable.
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Provide domain registration on your site with a platform like GoDaddy. Click the Domain Registrar tab on the Settings menu > Choose the correct registrar type, price for your customers, and reseller account information.
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Setup pricing plans. Othe main menu, go to General > Plans. You can add a plan by clicking Add Record and enter a title, description, and amount. Click Manage Plan Features > Add specific features for each plan.
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Choose a color scheme for your site. Click Themes > Setup. Just click the Active/Inactive button on the preloaded templates.
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If you want to add banners to your homepage and subpages, click Add Record. On the same menu, upload your own paid templates by clicking Paid Templates under Setup. Also under Setup is Support where you and your other members can manage the support desk.
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Go to Contents > Meta Tags and enter the page URL, Meta Title, Meta Keywords, and Meta Description > Click Save when you’re done.
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To edit site content, click Edit on the Operations column of your pages on the Contents tab.
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Create a business plan.
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Outline the business structure you want.
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Find a software for you to use. Pick an open software one like iScripts GoStores.
Marketing Setup
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Launch your store with email marketing.
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Create and connect your social networks to your site.
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Perform contextual marketing – creating ads at the right place and time.
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Start a blog with articles related to your niche.
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Look for other similar sites and build connection to link your site to theirs and vice versa.
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Buy Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads.
Timeframe
Time to do: 5 hours
Time to see results: 2 months
Additional Tips
Join an affiliate program.
Work on customer service.
Create original content that is keyword heavy.
Implement a loyalty program.
Maintain your brand.
Sell your own website templates.
Provide demos and free trials.
Upsell.
Setup banner ads and sell ad space.
Potential Results
Starting any business takes a lot of time and effort. You can generate anything from $500 to $10,000 a month in the first couple of months as you try to build your brand and create awareness for your store. That’s alright. Because the average online store earns up to $150,000 a month in monthly revenue. Many successful entrepreneurs earn all the way up to $1M in revenue every month.
