Where and how to begin?

[C3PO]

If you were starting out at ecommerce how would you do it?

How would you decide what products to sell, what pitfalls would you avoid?

Would you focus all your attention an one product or divide it among a selection of them?

Would you make your own product (such as e-book) or be content with only selling?

The idea of making a living from ecommerce apeals greatly to me but I am having a difficult time deciding where and how to start. All pointers much appreciated.

[C3PO]

Common you guys, haven´t you any tips for a newbie. How did you start out, how are you doing, what would you do different?

[walker]

It's pretty hard to answer such an open-ended question.

Plus you're putting the cart before the horse. You should figure out what you want to do first, then figure out if using e-commerce is a good way to implement it.

[brian.mark]

The best way to start is by deciding what you're not going to do.

Do you have the budget to start in a high volume area with lots of competition?
Yes: Pick a product that seems fun and sell.
No: Find a less competitive or specialty product.

Do you have the budget to have any sort of inventory in the first place?
Yes: Try getting a few products in and see how they sell.
No: Look for a no-cost option (drop-shipping, e-books, etc.)

Are you looking for a no-risk solution?
Yes: Good luck. There aren't any of those that make real money.
No: At least you answered this one right.

Do you have any special knowledge in a specific area?
Yes: Go with that area. Content drives traffic, so anything you can write about is a great place to start.
No: Find someone that can write some content.

Do you have any specific hobbies?
Yes: Figure out a niche or drop-ship line within that hobby.
No: Why not?

Do you have any friends who own a business selling something?
Yes: See if they are looking to venture into e-commerce. You may be able to help eachother out a lot.
No: Make new friends (just kidding).

There are a million reasons why you would choose one item over another for e-commerce. The best sites all are going to have multiple products, do cross-selling, and maximize each customer. Single product sites rarely do well, although some of them find a real niche (Viagra, etc.) and can make a killing. If you at least start with something you're interested in, then you could do pretty well because you'll have more interest in working on it. I enjoy power tools (not necessarily the repairs of them, but that's where the margins are at) so that's what I'm doing. It helped that I walked into a situation where a business owner was looking to do e-commerce and wanted me to write it for him, but that's the opportunities that exist around every corner.

Best of luck, as e-commerce is getting to be a tougher and tougher area to make a living.

Brian.

[Chief Blogster]

You need to read my book on the dos and don'ts of ecommerce, its called, "I know everything there is to know about ecommerce but am too lazy to sit down and write about it".

1. Pick a product and think about certain things: If you sell computer products everyone online "can" use your product. If you sell clothes, everyone "can" use your product, if you sell womans clothes only half the people can use your product. If you sell womans summer clothes only have the people can use your product half the time ... and remember this last point ... the more targeted you get the more costly advertising becomes.

2. Find something where there is a TON of competition. Now you know you have a viable product line and now have to begin taking customers with better marketing, better service and even a better product.

3. Be cheap ... like any other business, keep your overhead low. No office, no network, no fulltime tech ... low overhead and build a base.

Okay, I will think some more stuff shortly.

[C3PO]

Walker, Brian and Blogster, thanks for your replies. They are greatly appreciated.

My interests are travel and the main reason I am interested in making a living online is that I hope/daydream about being able to spend more time traveling if not tied to a physical workplace. To be able to live for a while in f.eks. India or S-America and work the net from there.

The online travel industry is very competitive but yet one could say that it should be possible to create a niche around a single country/place.

Thanks again.

[TheWebDoctor(tm)]

There is one site out there that does a fantastic job at promoting their niche travel business. They offer African safari trips in a few countries.

So, there is a possibility that you could start your own business selling guided trips to various countries. You would need to build a relationship with several reputable guides. Then you'd need to get really advanced in your online promotion strategies.