As ecommerce continues to grow and platforms make it easier than ever to start selling online, we think it’s essential to get folks who have already had great success selling online to share some of those insights with the community.  Check out some of the wisdom below.

Rola Jabri | CEO & Founder of MAOC Studio – Marketer

Yes, we sell our marketing services/digital products online. Working and selling online is a fantastic way to build a profitable business and succeed globally. You’ll get to work with customers all over the world and sell your products everywhere. There is no limitation!

However, even though the concept of selling online is easy and accessible, in reality, numbers, facts, and strategies must come before deciding to start online retail. Based on statistics, there are 7.1 million online retail stores, and 1.8 million of them are in the United States. The question is, why people will choose to shop with you, while the same products or services are available everywhere online?

The answer, you need to have your business stand out in the crowd. Running special offers and promotions will get you by, but will not have your online store excel and stand out. Meaning, it will not be as profitable and worthy of your time as you think. To have it stand out, you need to figure out your field, competitors, customers, prices, social media presence, and online demographics.

Once you get those researched, you need to turn the data into short and long-term profitable strategies that set your online store apart, build an online presence, and convert your connections to sales, When I decided to open an online marketing store, MAOC Studio, where small and micro business owners can buy a complete marketing process, I analyzed competitors, customers, prices, and online demographics. I found that the available marketing services are sold separately, details of services and pricing are not listed in advance, expensive, overpromising, and not available to buy online in one process. As well, I found that business owners need the opposite of what is available. They need to know what they are getting and paying for in advance. They need to work one on one with a marketing expert who understands their specific needs and goals, creates for them effective strategies and solutions, and takes the responsibility of getting the job done in one process at a flat rate without adding more fees for every little thing they have to do. They need an easy way to simplify the complexity of digital marketing and make it accessible to buy easily without rules and policies. I turned these needs into solutions and structured an online marketing store that offers complete marketing processes at lower flat rates, listing the included services and pricing in advance. Made it super easy to buy online anywhere, anytime, giving access to business owners to work one on one with a marketing expert. The quality of our marketing services, the way we sell them, and the structuring of services that simplified the complexity of digital marketing had us stand out and set us apart in a very competitive field.

My advice, assess reality and have the experts do the work for you! What looks so easy online can be so distracting, frustrating, and challenging! Work with a marketing expert, don’t cut corners, get it done right!

About me: I own a marketing agency in Plano, providing the best marketing for small and micro businesses, offering our services online at lower flat rates.

Sarah McNamee | CEO/Founder

Yes, we do sell our products online. We currently sell online through our own website with plans in the works to branch out to other platforms as well. In my experience, I’ve found that in order to be successful online, you need to show up consistently where your customers are. Also, it’s simply not enough to just sell all the time, you have to be willing to provide value and serve them in a way that makes you stand out in a sea of competition. Online retailers and brands that show up for their customers consistently in a valuable way are the ones that are crushing it right now.

About me: I own an ecommerce shop and we offer modern and boho inspired nursery items for infants and toddlers.

Vanessa Woods-White | Self Care Enthusiast

Yes, 90% of our sales come from our online boutique. What has worked well for us in understanding who our target customer is and leveraging our marketing efforts to them. The consumer that purchases from us want products with great ingredients that offer an amazing experience, so we make sure we deliver that! My advice to anyone that wants to sell online is to stay within your niche, set goals, and leverage social media to target the right customer for your brand.

About me: I own Divine Perfection Body Care and we offer some of the best self care products on the market. We love everything self care and make it easy for men & women to make it a lifestyle!