Category Archives: Home Business Idea

5 Tips To Starting An Online Store

November 30, 2009   TRoberts   6 Comments

Hi, I’m Kate Wilber “The Marketing Momma” and I am visiting here at the work at home success blog this week as part of my month long Blog Tour and I am really excited to be here.  My goal for this week is to give you some great tips on building a business while working from home.

I am a mom of 4 children under the age of 8 and a serial entrepreneur. (It is somewhat of a circus at my house on a daily basis if you can imagine—but I wouldn’t have it any other way) I love to be able to help other mom’s follow their dreams of staying home with their kids and still building a thriving business.  Who ever said that you can’t change diapers and build an online empire at the same time?  It is possible and I am living proof.

So all that being said the theme for this week is

“5 Tips To Starting An Online Store.”

Why you might ask did I choose this topic?  Well that’s easy—I own an online store myself called Barefoot Bella.  I have been in business for 3 years now and I have learned a lot over those 3 years that I want to now share with you.  I have met so many other moms that had the same aspirations as me when I first started out—and the same challenges I faced.  It is so frustrating to hear the same story over and over from people that start an online store, get their store all set up, launch it out into the internet, and then wait, and wait, and wait, for those customers to show up.  There is so much misconception out there when people are first starting out online and sometimes it is hard to find the right direction to get their online store to success.

So this week I wanted to touch on some of the basics that I have learned over the past few years to building a successful online store.  Hopefully some of these tips will be helpful to you if you are just starting out online.  If you want more in depth teaching –go check out my report “Top 10 Things to know about Starting An Online Store” and that will give you some information on a course I am offering that gives you step by step guidance on starting an online store and building it into an online empire. (all while changing diapers if you need to)

There is a lot to learn when starting an online store and so much information and advice out there on what you should and shouldn’t do that sometimes it is hard not to get swallowed up by information overload.  That’s why I love the WorkAtHomeSuccess blog so much.  Leslie has combined everything you could ever need to get headed in the right direction with your work at home goals.

I can really appreciate this because I have spent hours upon hours researching and learning and would have loved to have someone say to me …..WAIT…… I can show you the direct path to success online—saving you money and time….  I would have jumped at that chance.(But then again I have always loved to do things the hard way)

So that’s why it is my great privilege to share a little about what I have learned over the past few years with you this week.  Thanks Leslie for the opportunity to share in your space!!

Today is Tip #1 (Check back all week for all 5 tips!!)

Tip #1 Build a Relationship

How many times have you visited an online store and you couldn’t find out any information about who owned the store or even have a way to contact the business if there was a problem or concern.  How did that make you feel about that store—did you buy from them?  Probably not—at least I hope not !!  It’s a scary thing to put your credit card information in on a website and never know who you are giving your money to—or even if they are a legitimate business.

That’s why it is so important to let your customers get to know you and what your business stands for.

Credibility is important in any business but it is a key element in an online business’s success. Customers want to know that the company they are doing business with is legit and has their best interests in mind. Credibility online is extremely important because you aren’t meeting your customer face to face so your credibility is all they have to go by.

One way to let your customer get to know you is by having an “About Us” page. This allows your customers to come to the page and see exactly what your company is all about.  One great tip is to have photos that show you and anyone who works with you. Photos establish trust and put a face to a name.  Take a look at my About Us page at my online store –I have a picture of me and my kids –this is a great way for my customers to get to know a little bit about me and feel more comfortable doing business with me because they can relate to me in a personal way.

Another great way of establishing credibility with customers is to write a blog. Blogs are extremely popular and are great ways to not only show your customers what you offer, but to get new customers as well. You can highlight sales, new products and special offers to users throughout your blog, I update my customers with current sales and new products by using my blog at Barefoot Bella.

Another great way to build a relationship with your customer is to follow up with them after they have purchased something from you.   You can make customers feel appreciated by simply sending them an e-mail asking how they have liked a product and whether or not there were any problems. You can also show your appreciation to them as a customer by periodically sending them discount coupons through email this is a great way to get repeat customers.  I use This service to follow up with my customers.

It’s all about building a relationship of trust with your customers.  If they feel like they know you and can trust you they are 10 times more likely to buy from you and even become a loyal customer.

If you know anyone who is thinking of starting an online store please forward the link to this post to them.  See you tomorrow for Tip #2.

To Your Success!!

Kate Wilber

The Marketing Momma

P.S. At the end of the week I will be giving out a prize.  I will be choosing the winner from everyone who posts a comment.  So remember you have to comment to win.

Start Your Own Online Store—-Learn How to Here

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WAH Idea – Get Paid to Research and Create Web Content

November 11, 2009   success   No comments

When I first started looking for work online in the late 1990′s there were many jobs that involved researching and writing content.  Websites needed to fill their sites and databases with information and paid people to help them do that. Those jobs, in that fashion, don’t exist much anymore, but a new type of pay-for-content work has evolved.

You may have heard that “Content is King” on the Internet. In most cases people go online to get information. The sites that have the best information (content) tend to also have the most traffic and therefore make the most money. New news aggregators and content portals are vying for a piece of the pie and are paying people to help them develop quality content.

What’s Involved?

The basics are the ability to find information and organize it in a concise easy to read fashion. You don’t need access to the expensive data bases or a degree in journalism, but you do need to know how to find reputable information on the Internet and string words together coherently.

Most sites want 300-500 word articles that can cover topics of your choice or that the site has requested. The articles can be in a variety of formats including ‘how-to’, reviews, lists, ‘best of’, fact sheets, etc.

How much can you make?

This is the tough question. Like in most work-at-home options, some people make good money and others make nearly nothing. It really depends on the site, your topics, and quality of submissions. Some sites will pay you a small flat fee anywhere from $5 to $30 per article. Others pay you in ad revenue, which over time, if there is lots of traffic, can build. Some do a combination of both.

My opinion on this type of work:

If you want to be a full-time freelance writer, these options aren’t for you mostly because most magazines don’t view these sites as “clips” to add to your portfolio. And the pay isn’t as good as writing for magazines.

But if you want to make a few hundred to a thousand dollars a month AND have the time to write and submit frequently, and help the site build traffic to your submissions, then this is a good option. It’s extremely flexible…you write what you want, when you want. But you aren’t going to see that money overnight. Most people who work on it consistently indicate it takes a couple of months to see a steady stream of income.

Where’s the work?

There are many places such as Demand Studio and Associated Content that pay for content. But not all are worth the time and effort.  For example, Examiner is posting lots of work on job boards, but the pay is so low (1 cent per page impression) and not guaranteed. Plus it says it can take and reuse, rewrite, and redistribute your work without additional compensation to. That’s not fair. You’re better off to go with a site that doesn’t pay well but at least you own your work and submit it to more than one place. Or that will pay you more to have exclusive rights to your work.

What should you do next?

If this sounds interesting, take the time to do more research. Like most work-at-home options, a single article can spark an idea, but you need the nitty gritty details to know what do to next. You can start by checking out some of the content sites (all are free to join) and learn what sort of content they want, how they pay, and what’s involved.

I was able to get a hold of Matthew Sherborne’s Cash for Content System. I read a lot of ebooks and most aren’t that helpful, but Matthew’s is very good. It takes you through the steps of finding good profitable topics, how to put together quality content even if you don’t like or aren’t’ sure how to write, and the best ways to maximize profits at many of the best web content sites. He uses screen captures so you can follow along with him and not have to guess what he’s talking about. Plus he’s added toolbox that takes you step-by-step through the process of brainstorming ideas, writing content, and keeping track of the best paying sites. I’ve also thrown in a bonus that lists some additional sites that aren’t in Matthew’s book.

Check out Matthew’s great resource at Cash for Content System.


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