It sure sounded simple, "Have your own On Line Store" Sure, why not, everyone else is doing it, and after all I pretty much designed a WEB site, created a "Back Office" and populated a reasonably large Shopping Cart.
How hard could it be? What I didn't realize is the WEB page is the easy part, the challenge is getting recognized in the midst of millions of other web sites all fighting for the same top rankings.
Yep, up until lately I didn't have a clue how search engines worked, why links are beneficial, what Blogging is all about, finding the strongest "Key Words" and placing them strategically on you Home Page.
My only hope is that the majority of people doing e-commerce aren't as determined as I am and would have simply given up after seeing the word "Blog" Thank goodness Internet junkies weren't responsible for creating the works of Shakespeare.
But I transgress.
Recently I was introduced to a company that, to me, represented everything I was looking for in an e-commerce business.
They provided a large and varied product line, their retail prices were excellent, and as a "Team Member" I could save up to an additional 20%.
The initial sign up fee was under $600 with a monthly maintenance of $99.
After being involved with putting together an entire web site with costs well over $10,000 not including the monthly hosting fee, this looked like a real deal, so I joined up.
So far I am only a little disappointed, but not in the products, prices or support.
I have saved enough on things I have personally purchased to make up for any cost.
My challenge is finding the best way to get other people to my site.
I have purchased programs, sat through training sessions, read articles, most of which use terms like "Blog".
The one thing I have found in common with the training is they tell you how to use all of these resources to improve your ranking on search engines even though the "Terms and Conditions" at most of these resources warn against using their services to promote a WEB site for financial gain.
WHAT?I have yet to click on any site, in one way or another, isn't selling something, directly or indirectly.
Give me a break! There is a whole industry out there that teaches you how to get around the rules, because if you follow the rules, you will most likely be ranked on the bottom of page 10.
I certainly understand why we need rules.
Without rules, eventually someone else would come up with the name MountainHiMall, and steel away all my e-commerce traffic, if I can ever figure out how to get it flowing in the first place.