Tips for Getting Ready to Set Up an Online Store

If you're thinking about becoming an online entrepreneur and aren't sure what sort of business you want to get into, a bit of homework is in order. If you want to consider owning an online store as your business, there are many potential benefits of owning an online store:

You're Not Bound By Borders

If you open an online store and set up the ability to ship products out, you can find customers from just about anywhere. Optimizing and advertising could bring you clients from far and wide.

You're Not Bound By Specific Store Hours

Selling online means you can sell at any hour of the day or night. The right setup could make it simple for you to earn money from your website even while you're asleep or on vacation.

Dropshipping

Some online store owners warehouse the goods they sell and some simply set up dropshipping relationships. In a dropshipping relationship, you facilitate the order and gather a commission rate but you never have to touch the physical product as you have a relationship with a wholesaler or distributor who does the order fulfillment services on your behalf.

Tips for Researching Your E-Commerce Options

If you like the sounds of starting an online store, you'll want to do a lot of homework to get ready to launch your store. Areas to investigate will include:

· Setting up your online store. You can find web designers who will do it for you but you can also find website store memberships that will let you create your own store even with limited technical knowledge.

· Sourcing wholesale products. There may be local wholesalers you can deal with but you might opt to look a bit wider to see if you can find products at deep discounts. You might opt to look at China wholesalers, for instance.

· Setting up a merchant account. How will you get paid for goods? There are various service providers that can help you get money from customers.

· Shipping. What sort of methods will you use for shipping?

· Customer service. Will you handle inquiries? How will you do that? There are services you can use to be a virtual support desk. Or, you might opt to do this yourself until volumes grow enough to justify paying for a customer service desk.

· Website traffic acquisition. How will you attract people to your store? Will you do a paid advertising campaign or an organic SEO (search engine optimization) strategy? Learning about getting your new site found is going to be a big part of your homework. Traffic won't necessarily show up just because you create an online store so be prepared to learn about e-commerce marketing.

E-commerce ventures can be very profitable but you'll need to do some serious prep work to get things moving and even once your store is live, the work will continue. There are great free and paid resources that can help you prepare and a bit of homework and due diligence will go a long way.

Matthew is the developer of TheWebReviewer. Matt has researched many home business ideas including setting up your own store. Get more advice about wholesale sourcing and check out this AliExpress review, which can help you see the potential pros and cons of using a B2B marketplace to source wholesale products from China.

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Getting the Best From Your Reward Chart

Reward charts are a tried and tested, economic and very successful way to help motivate and reward children for lots of different tasks. From doing homework, tidying up, cleaning teeth and helping with the washing up, they are fantastic for children of all ages to encourage positive behaviour and achievement.
Below are a few ideas about how you can get the best out of your reward chart which will help children stay positive, focussed, and encourage them to keep up the good work:
- Use reward charts for clear goals.
Make it very clear what is expected of the child for them to be rewarded with a sticker, stamp or tick on the chart. Make sure that all adults who are responsible for giving a sticker know exactly when it can be given so there is no confusion for them or the child.
- Use reward charts for new activities.
Reward charts are a great way to help introduce new routines and activities to children, such as putting away their things, potty training and going to playgroup or starting school. The feeling of achievement for being rewarded with a sticker on their chart will help show that the new activity is positive, helping them to naturally adopt it and ease into something new.
- Use reward charts to encourage good behaviour.
Reward charts can be a very effective way to help encourage good behaviour. When writing what the chart is for, keep the focus positive. For example, the chart could be for "sharing and playing nicely" rather than "not fighting over toys". A sticker on the reward chart will give a really clear visual representation of how good they've been and motivate them to keep up the good behaviour.
- Give the sticker as soon as possible.
When a child has earned a sticker for their chart make sure it goes on as soon as possible. If it's given too late they might not associate it with better behaviour. If you can't give it immediately, when you do make sure you go over why it's being given to reinforce the positive action.
- Find your reward.
Before you start using the chart agree a little reward or treat to be awarded when the reward chart has been completed. This could be something like a trip to the park, watching a film with you, or choosing a favourite meal to have. Try to avoid too many material rewards such as toys, as this might lead to manipulative behaviour if done too often.
Remember, the best reward for good behaviour is positive attention and time spent with you.
Ruth Laws writes for http://www.thestickerfactory.co.uk/, who design and supply stickers and other motivation products that have been helping teachers, schools and parents and guardians successfully motivate and reward children for over 10 years.

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