With one of my fashion blogs generating significant traffic, I wanted to explore other channels to monetize my blog. Adsense was still the main income generator for the site, but frankly, the revenue per click wasn’t really top dollar. I kept asking myself, “How to sell online?”

Obviously, I needed to sell more products on my site. I could think of Party dresses, accessories, hair styling products and shoes off the top of my head. The problem was, it would cost significant investment to purchase inventory to start my store.

Read the rest of this entry »

Selling online begun with the idea of selling used items and antiques online. Today, an overwhelming volume of products of various types are traded over the internet. The question is: How do you start selling products online? What products should you sell? Where can you source your products from? 

What products should you sell?

There are two ways you can approach this - sell products with high demand and high competition (commodity products), or sell unique products with lesser demand but higher margins.

Selling products with high demand and stiff competition means that you need to be able to source products at the lowest prices. In order to break into the market, you may sometimes need to sell your product at cost, or even below cost. If you can pull this off however, you have the potential to sell a high volume of a fast moving product.

Unique products such as collectibles or antiques are usually more expensive and do not get sold as quickly. However, the higher profits also mean that you get better value out of your time spent to market your product. You would still need to determine if there is significant demand for your product though. Products with too few potential buyers would not be worth your efforts.  

Read the rest of this entry »

Whilst working on optimizing our website content and incoming links, the importance of outbound links is often overlooked. However, I’ve reason to believe that the quantity and quality outbound links are one of the factors used in search engine ranking algorithm. Let me illustrate this with my own experience.

My own experience with outbound links

Having conquered search engine optimization for several niche keywords (with low traffic volume), I turned to something more challenging. I wanted to search engine optimize one of my blogs for a keyword that had greater competition and a higher traffic volume.

As this blog was initially created out of personal interest, no SEO techniques were used on the existing content. Thus, the first thing I did was to optimize the content using the techniques highlighted in Building a Niche Blog for Top Search Engine rankings, with the exception of incorporating outgoing links.

Read the rest of this entry »

(Putting the 30-day challenge into practical use – Part 2)

On my previous post, I highlighted some of the methods I used to get top search engine rankings for What Sells Online! In How to Generate Ideas on What To Sell Online, I revealed some of the ways to get ideas for potential niche keywords. Finally, in Putting the 30 day challenge into practical use – Part 1, I discussed some ways anyone can use to nail down several niche keywords they could work on.

Now that you have your list of niche keywords, here’s what you need to do next:

• Use niche keywords to write good content
• Post your content on a Web 2.0 site or blog
• Search for relevant affiliate products to promote
• Get your niche blog listed on top of search engine results
• Other methods to draw traffic to your niche blog

a. Using niche keywords to write content

Read the rest of this entry »

There is no doubt about it: The ability to draw traffic is the key to online success, no matter what you are selling online. With top search engine rankings, you are able to capture potential buyers who are specifically searching for your product or service.

Ever since launching What-Sells-Online.com, I’ve been trying for top search engine ranking for the search results of “what sells online”. A bulk of my traffic came from my articles posted on Ezinearticles.com, many of which were listed on the first 2 pages of Google’s search results.

Eventually, I was able to get top search engine rankings with these strategies:

1. Post articles linking to your site on Ezinearticles.com

It seems that Google has an affinity for high PR websites such as ezinearticles.com. Thus, new articles on this site optimizing specific keywords will easily get a first page ranking. If you have just started a new
website, it helps to have an article (not duplicated on your blog or website), posted on Ezinearticles.com (or other popular article submission sites).

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been busy over the past 3 weeks with several things:

1) Developing a website for a restaurant

2) Listening and analyzing all the pod casts and presentations from the Thirty Day Challenge

3) Putting into practice the keyword-finding tactics explained in my previous post

Fortunately, I’ve managed to complete all of the above, and with time left for Christmas shopping and preparations!

Today, I’m going to share my findings for the 3^rd item – identifying potential keywords that COULD be used to sell affiliate products online. You’d want to find keywords that aren’t already too competitive to optimize. In a nutshell, these keywords should fulfill the following criteria:

Read the rest of this entry »

While looking for a guide to nail down what to sell online, I came across the Thirty Day Challenge training from Caroline Middlebrook’s website. With a sign-up, I gained an invitation to pod casts and audio recordings of the tutorials which were delivered each work day over a period of 30 days.

Days One through Three of this online training course were primarily focused on places to get ideas on what to sell online. While the trainers do not specify which products specifically would make money online, they make a good attempt in providing tips and tools for users to figure this out on their own. Holistically, the coverage of the entire 30-day program encompasses:

• Market Research
• Build Traffic
• Conversion Strategies
• Creating a Product

Read the rest of this entry »

In part 1 of Discovering What Sells Online, we explored the two major areas:

1) The need to generate online traffic no matter what product you are selling and

2) Researching on product demand over the internet.

In this article, we explore other elements that help in discovering that ideal product you can sell to make money online.

• Sell what sells, not what you like

Amateurs are usually advised to start with selling what they know and like. While doing this would make it easier to get started, this may not necessarily be the right thing to do.

Selling a product that you are familiar with does not necessarily mean that there is a market for it. Although you may be an expert in your product, you won’t make any money if no one is interested, or if no one is willing to pay you for it.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is a popular question, asked especially by those who are just starting out in their online business. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a fixed answer to this. Google this phrase and you’ll get a list of search results that seem to be answers. Read on, and you’ll likely discover that there aren’t ANY definite answers. You’ll probably get ideas and suggestions on what you CAN sell online, but no one shows you solid proof on the returns you can expect to get.

Of course, if you are considering information products, you’ll find loads of them from affiliate networks such as Clickbank.com or Paydotcom.com. Your point of evaluation would probably be the one-page pitch page, which more often than not, is filled with overzealous copywriting vying for your attention. In fact, each product is positioned to be money-making solutions that are close to being miraculous and instant. Everyone seems to be making a fortune online easily, except you! Also, while Clickbank.com provides data such as % gravity, % affiliates to help you select a product, it’s still a challenge to pick out a product that truly works.

In the end, you take the plunge and start promoting some these products anyway. It’s tough as you change from one product to another, draining some of your exuberance (and capital) away each time. Finally, you wonder if it’s ACTUALLY possible to make a living online.

Does that sound close to an experience you’ve had? Perhaps you have been selling tangible products on ebay.com, but to the same effect?

Read the rest of this entry »