Building Your Own Online Store For Beginners

If your reading this article you are probably interested in building your very own Online Store. Here are a few simple tips when building your Online Store. To begin, creating the store is not all that hard as it used to be. These days it's way more simple. There are thousands of web hosts now that offer a free, built-in shopping cart when you pay them to host your site. The real challenge to making an online store successful is getting enough traffic to your site to make a profit. After all, what's the point in spending your time and money into building a store if you can't direct traffic from the Internet. It's not as easy as just submitting to MSN, Google and Yahoo and then wait for your site to show up on the first page of results. Many people spend lots of time into building their Online Store only to fail because there is no traffic flowing to their site. If your site is not properly promoted, search engine will never rank your site high enough on the scale for people to find you. Your site needs to be promote in such a way that when people search for a specific product to buy, the keywords they use and enter into the search engines, will give your site a fighting chance and show up in the top results of the search results. That is why the keywords you use for your site's search engine optimization need to be as relevant to your site and products as possible. You would also have to take care of your choice of the keywords you use to optimize your site to the search engines. Search words like "shop online", "online store" "shopping" would not bring you to much traffic, unless, of course, you're prepared to fork out millions of dollars in advertising every month like Yahoo, Amazon and some of the others did way back when. The competition is just to much and they will never drive traffic to your site. Most people shop online by going directly to their favourite retailer websites. They don't type in keywords unless they are looking for a very specific type of product that can't be found at popular retail stores. You see how difficult it can be for your store to compete with many of the popular brand name stores? So what should you do? The answer is to build a niche store. Before you even build your store you need to determine your niche. Instead of trying to build a shopping site that sells everything you can imagine, start out small and capitalize on a niche you are familiar with. Let's say you paint as a hobby. It would be much easier to drive traffic to a store that sells a specific type of paint or brush than to try to open a store that sells everything like Amazon.com. That way you can capitalize on people searching for very specific keywords about paints and brushes. Sure, "online shopping" is a much more popular searched term, but you'd have a hard time getting traffic because you're competing with so many other webmasters who want their sites to be #1 The other and most effective of all is the content of your web site. Google loves site with relevant content. Google as a matter of fact does not give much emphasis on keywords as it does for content. If you build your site on a hobby you can write pages and pages of content on this subject to help funnel in more traffic. The more pages you have on your site, the greater chance the search engines will find your site, thus bringing you more visitors. More traffic will hopefully mean more sales for you in the long-run. So if you want to sell your paintings online, you would first create a content-rich site on Painting. Offer tons of tips and guidelines on this subject to help draw in search engine traffic. Then from those search-engine-friendly pages you would link to your online store. This is more effective than just trying to promote a stand-alone store. I can't emphasize enough how taking this approach to creating a store is much better than trying to start off by competing with Amazon and other popular retailers. Finding a niche is the most important step, so it's crucial that you take the time to do this first. All this is also just the tip of the Iceberg. There is so much more to building a successful Online Store. When starting out we all need help and guide lines. The reason is that much of this can be overwhelming for those just starting out. So rather than spending loads of money on setting up your site only to fail at the end, it is better to have the tools you need to have a successful online store. I will recommend a site that offers beginners and experienced online marketers the tools that they need to get their on line store up in less time than it would take starting from scratch and save money on things they don't need. Remember that your success is important not only to you, but also to your advertisers of the products you promote. They make money only if you do. Remember that! Another and important thing is "Patients". Don't run in all direction only to end up stumbling. Walk before you run. Start small and build up slowly. You can have a look and decided if this is right for you. They have everything you need to start your online store and help you succeed. To your success Constantine Kara . By: Constantine Kara
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How To Control Shrink At Your Store

Shrink is a part of the business no one likes to talk about. However, shrink plays a huge part in every retailer's business. Shrink can take many forms, but here are the four most common. They are employee theft, shoplifting, vendor theft and paperwork errors. Many small retailers only worry about shoplifting, but the other three accounts for about 2/3 of all shrink. We will discuss steps to help reduce your shrink. Employee theft accounts for almost half of all shrink. Many business owners refuse to consider their employees could be stealing from them. Employee theft can take many forms such as taking cash/ merchandise, passing merchandise, and giving unauthorized discounts to name a few. The key to controlling employee theft is to reduce the opportunity to steal. You should explain clearly to your employees if they are dishonest what the consequences will be. Here are a few suggestions. 1.You must keep the back door controlled. If it is unlocked, it is easy for employees to put merchandise outside. They could have friends or family pick it up. Also, the employee could hide the merchandise in the trash to recover after work. 2.You need to do regular inventories of high theft items. 3.You need to show up unannounced. This is especially true if you have many younger employees. They are much more likely to be involved with theft. 4.You should have your store be mystery shopped. This can see how your service is plus spot potential employee theft issues. It could be done by someone you know or through a company that specializes in mystery shops. 5.Make sure all employees give receipts. You could offer the customer something free such as $5, if the employee does not give a receipt. This makes it harder for an employee just to pocket the money. If your register keeps track of no sales, this could be a clue of a problem. Excessive no sales are either an education issue or a theft issue. 6.You should do unannounced cash counts. Vary the times and check the register total against what you are supposed to have. Also, see if you noticed anything unusual near the register area or inside the till. This could include employees have a paper with a bunch of numbers, coins or some other object in an unusual place, or part of the money unorganized. 7.You need to explain your policies to all employees' especially new hires. You should mention that you trust all of your employees, but you have safeguards in place to protect the store assets. It would be a good suggestion to mention just a couple to let the employees know you are serious about protecting the store assets. 8.Employee's bags and purses should be checked when leaving. Management should show their bags or purse to another employee. 9.You must have policies in place for ringing up of family or friends. Also, your discount policy needs to be clear to all employees. The most common theft is passing merchandise to family or friends or giving unauthorized discounts. For example, your $20 item may be sold for a $1. If you have a way employees can change the price of an item, you must have someway to at least spot check for potential problems. 10.You could have a tips hot line for employees to report potential shrink. Yes, on many occasions it would be used to report bogus claims about other employees. However, if work correctly, the valid claims could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. 11.Keep an eye on customers who are just hanging around employees. Also, if certain customers only seek certain employees could be a sign also. 12.You need to track your employee purchases. Very few purchases or excessive could be potential trouble spots with employee theft. If they never buy, it could be they are just taking merchandise. If they are buying a lot, where is the money coming from? Shoplifting 1.You should greet every customer. It is great for customer service. Also, shoplifters do not want to be noticed. 2.Put high theft items where they are easier to watch. 3.Look for customers splitting up and one trying to keep you busy. 4.Keep your store neat and organized. Shoplifters like to leave empty packages in unorganized areas. 5.If the customer is watching the employees more than shopping. 6.Shoplifters like to go to blind spots. You may want to install some mirrors to make it easier to see the entire store. 7.Have signs made that shoplifters will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. If you have the reputation of being soft on shoplifting, you will always have a major problem. 8.Look for nervous shoppers. 9.If shoppers come in your store often and seldom buy anything. Most shoplifters do buy a few items and just help themselves to others. Vendor Theft 1.Check all orders for shortages. It is best a good employee or management be responsible for this. 2.Make vendors break down boxes before leaving the store. 3.Don't hand a signed invoice to the vendor until they are done. This will help with the previous two suggestions. Excessive shrink can cause your business to fail. Shrink cannot be eliminated, but it can be reduced. Following our suggestions is a good way to ensure that you take more money to the bank than your employees, shoppers or vendors. By: Jerry Robertson
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10 Creative Store Signage Options When Opening A Dollar Store

In today's retail marketplace it is critically important to take advantage of every advertising and promotional opportunity available. While some options cost a great deal of money, others require only a small upfront investment. Store signage is one of those options that require a little upfront investment. Yet much of your signage contributes to sales for months and years. Be sure to check about local rules and regulation associated with business signage before you start making your plans. In this article I present the first 5 of 10 store signage options when opening a dollar store. 1) Designated Sign Locations. Store signage locations are often noted in your lease or rental agreement. These can range from signage at all access entrances to signage in all building locator and map locations. Be sure you negotiate for as much exposure as possible prior to signing your lease and actually opening a dollar store. This type of exposure comes in contact with almost everyone who enters the parking area, or who looks at the building locator or maps when seeking out other businesses. There is potential for huge amounts of traffic at little cost to you. 2) Building Front and Sides. Key signage locations are the front, sides and rear of your store. While in some cases these may be called out as acceptable or unacceptable locations in you lease agreement, don't fail to work at obtaining permission to add signs if possible. These are prime locations to draw attention and shoppers to your business. 3) Store Interior Walls. When opening a dollar store, the interior walls of your store are perfect for creating a warm, inviting feeling. Usually this is accomplished by color choices and the designs chosen. However the interior of your store is also the perfect place to send your messages to shoppers. Standard signage such as information about pricing, or your appreciation of your shoppers are both appropriate. Don't forget to add signage noting sale items, special purchases, or upcoming holidays. 4) Windows and Front Walkways. Window and walkway signage serves two important purposes. First, you can capture the attention of passers-by and get them to take action and actually enter your store. Second, you can inform everyone about the products you generally carry, any special new arrivals, and events being held. Windows are perfect for listing items carried in the store. If you are fortunate enough to have windows running along the front of your store, use 4-inch to 6-inch tall lettering running close to the top to note the most popular items and product categories in your store. If allowed, sandwich board signs placed in-front of your store are also effective attention-getters. Banners and flags running the length of your store will certainly draw attention. If you cannot place signage directly in front of your store, look for other options to make customers and prospective customers aware of your existence. 5) Entry Doors and Aisle ways. Use your entry doors carefully. Be sure there is clear vision for those coming and going. This will avoid accidents. Doors are great for posting operating hours, whether the store is open or closed, and methods of payment. Entry aisle ways provide a great opportunity to add signage regarding specials and any upcoming changes or events. Take the time to plan how signs will be used when opening a dollar store. Be sure to establish a set color scheme and logo to be used on all signage. It's also worth the time to establish rules regarding the usage of certain sign sizes. You'll be happy with the results proper signage achieves for your store. To your dollar store business success! By: Bob Hamilton
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Retail Store Financing/leasing And Business Loans

For this update, retail store financing can come in the form of financing/leasing and businesses seeking working capital in the structure of a cash merchant advance and/or merchant cash loan. Todays financing market is very illiquid in presenting retail businesses leasing/financing. Most bank monies are better off served in different industries from a risk/reward factor. However, there are niche banks out there that will entertain retail store financing but usually need the applicant to have at least a minimum of one to two years time in business. For the most part startups don't have a chance unless their personal credit score are over 700 and are ready to pledge additional collateral to the arrangement with added clear and free assets. The banks that finance retail store financing will properly offer up to $50,000 application only and over that amount full financial and tax disclosure would be mandatory Accepted leases can run between 24-60 months with various buyout clauses The following is the type of retail stores under consideration: Book stores, sporting goods stores, clothing stores, pizza shops, men and womens apparel stores, discount stores, pharmacies and drug stores, fast food restaurants, music stores, video stores, franchise restaurants, mail centers, pet grooming stores, dry cleaners, tanning salons, etc The most unique part of this article is the merchant cash advance/loan programs. Generally people aren't even responsive of these programs. The first question a lot of people are asking is what is a merchant cash advance? An established business in existence for one year or more with visa and mastercard sales can qualfiy for a loan or a merchant cash advance on their previous activity up to $150,000 from a financial institution and $750,000 or more per location from a true merchant cash advance company. The monthly average of their visa and mastercard sales x 1.5 will be a qualifying amount that the bank will finance up to. Some cash merchant advance companies will finance up to $750,000 per location. This is a skillful way for a business to get hold of working capital. Most conventional financial institutions shy away from the retail industry. These cash merchant advances/loans are great for businesses that have seasonal cash flow needs, that aren't capitalized properly and call for more time to achieve their sales base, have credit issues that can't be overcome at the bank, businesses that want instant cash now, and apparently lots of other factors tailored to specific businesses. These banks aren't FICO driven and are attracted in you past Visa/ Mastercard Sales for the prior six months. Usually the company's bank statements, the merchant processing statements and a signed application are required to start the lending process. Once the financial institutionhas received these requirements, a decision can be made fairly quickly, usually within 24-48 hours. Beyond an acceptance, the money is usually funded within seven business days. The next obvious question, is how does the client repay back the loan or cash merchant advance? It is from the impending card sales, a small piece is paid back each day to pay back the financial institution This is important because there are no balloon payments or monthly payments to consider. The financial institutioncalculates a little repayment per day that can last up to one year. Locating available capital whether through leasing and working capital can be very complicated in todays times. The cash merchant advances/loans can offer the seasoned business an unique opportunity to obtain funds without all the red tape conventional lending institutions demand Happy hunting for your financing.. By: J.M Casa
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