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Starting an internet Business, What to do next?

Hi, I am starting my own jewellery website business from home, I started on Ebay but decided I would like to work more professionally. I have a domain and website, I have stock, I have receipts for my stock with VAT etc. I have registered as self employed (to which I haven't received anything to say I my registration was successful- I don't if I am to receive anything?). I haven't made anything via my website yet but I don't know what to do next? I have the forms to register the business but I don't know if this is the next step? I haven't the money for an adviser, I have bought books and have a friend who is a business teacher but no one can seem to tell me what next, in PLAIN ENGLISH! I will be extremely grateful if anyone could give me any idea so I have a sense of direction because I am getting extremely stressed and frustrated, I can work hard and looking forward to just getting on with it, but have no idea what to get on with, I want to start advertising and selling items but I am worried incase I am not prepared to start sales- I obviously know how to except sales pack and post etc as I have been doing it for ages via ebay as a top rated seller but I mean prepared from a professional business point of view. Please someone help me!!!

Public Comments

1. I am not sure what information you want. You have set up your site, you have goods ready to dispatch - surely now you just need orders which you will fulfill and bank the money? Please be more specific about what you want to know.
2. Hello Kirsty For free help and advice on what to do next, contact your local Business Link. Their website is very helpful but speaking to them in person will give you an advisor. They're there for you even once you've been running for a time. As has already been said, it sounds as if you've done everything to get yourself going. The important thing now is to know who you want to sell to and work out the best ways of letting them know that you have what they want. Check that your website has been optimised so that it's picked up by the search engines when people type in a question about the kind of products you provide. If people that you want to sell to attend craft fairs, start researching what's available and where. Oakleigh Fairs is a good starting point. Living Heritage Craft Events is another one. They tend to be more up-market. Is your jewellery the sort that would look good in art galleries? Some like to expand their range beyond pictures. Check them out before you approach them. Good luck! Rosemary
3. 1. You shouldn't have registered aas self-employed yet as your business isn't functioning yet. 2. Read the business link website go through every guide and educate yourself on running a business. It seems frustrating and hard at the beginning but you'll get the hang off it soon. You say it's going to be an online business, work out all the costs, do your research. Do you have a website or planning on doing it through a website? Or are you going to continue it through ebay? Once you've worked all this out. You'll be running a business in no time.
4. Hi Kirsty, I would say stick with trading on and around eBay (for the time being) to build up some sales momentum and income. You might find eBay strategy advice useful: http://www.how-to-build-a-website.co.uk/ebay-business-strategy.html If you are dealing in dozens and dozens of different types of jewelery, I would look at starting your own e-Commerce store with a shopping cart. I haven't personally tried my own e-Commerce store but I've mixed with people who have. ZenCart, CubeCart and OScommerce all provide good, free shopping cart website scripts, but the one which caught my attention is JEM. http://www.jrox.com/ When you set up your own website, the most important thing is getting targeted traffic - as a shop owner one of the easiest ways to go about doing this is using Google Adwords, the search engines advertising network. Have you heard of Perry Marshall? He is "the" guru on Adwords - http://perrymarshall.com/ His book, the Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords sells on Amazon for about a tenner and is worth every single penny. I wouldn't advise starting on Adwords without reading it cover to cover! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-Guide-Google-AdWords-Million/dp/1599180308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261134391&sr=8-1 Hope this helps,
5. To get your site seen by the masses requires a lot of work such as the correct keywords, content and backlinking. There may be internet marketers that will help you at the Warrior Forum, the best place on the net for this kind of thing. You're probably better off posting your questions there. http://www.warriorforum.com I can also show you a way to make decent money online every month which requires not a lot of effort but will provide you with good money while you're trying to get your business off the ground. Check out: http://thefuturesbright.ws