Having an online business is great. You get to sell without needing to get permits and renting a physical store, you get to sell to a wider array of people, and you get the word out about your store much quicker. All you have to do is worry about the physical products and how you’re supposed to get it to them. Now that poses an issue for someone working from their home and wanting to expand their reach. Luckily, that issue really isn’t an issue anymore because there are many platforms that allow you to have a store and sell your products from there. Even better, fulfillment services have become a popular and successful option. This means that a business will store, prepare, and deliver your products to your customers for you. It’s a smart way to still run the type of business that you want to run without worrying about storage space or shipment issues. Many companies are found to outsource fulfillment which is why there are many that provide this service. It all boils down to your scale, needs, and preferences.
What You Need
Setup Steps
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Figure out what business needs you have that will need fulfilling.
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Sign up for an e-commerce site. It’s recommended that you choose a popular one like Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify. Amazon.com, in particular, offers Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA).
Follow these steps if you feel like FBA meets your needs.
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Sign up for a seller account and provide your charge method, seller information, and identity verification.
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List your items on Amazon. Go to Inventory and click Add Product.
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Enter the information on your item: price, condition, shipping.
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For shipping, choose Amazon and it will redirect you to a registration page.
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Click Inventory > Manage Inventory and click the drop down on Actions.
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Click Change to Fulfilled by Amazon.
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Select Convert & Send Inventory and create a shipping plan.
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Add your products to your finished shipping plan.
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Go to Inventory > Manage FBA Shipments and click Continue with shipping plan.
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Select preferences for your items: number of items, weight, etc.
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Mail items to Amazon. Details will be provided by them.
Marketing Setup
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Write a thorough description with your keywords included.
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Contact acquaintances and get them to buy and leave reviews.
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Get an email service provider and send sequences of emails for each sale. Build up your email list.
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Create social media accounts or a website to promote your products.
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Have a promo: experiment with discounted prices and giveaways.
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Create and publish YouTube videos promoting your products and linking to your website.
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Write blogs promoting your website and your products.
Timeframe
Time to do: 4 weeks
Time to see results: 2 months
Additional Tips
Upsell your products. Have a prominent and enticing email- sign up bar on your site. Send emails to encourage customers to purchase items on their wishlist. Have exit offers. Encourage and ask for product reviews. Have great product shots.
Potential Results
Your income will vary depending on your product and the marketing you intend on doing. It will be slow the first month, with you earning potentially $100- $250. In a few more months, you could earn a profit of $1,000- $5,000.
