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Diversifying your online business presence

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Why you should work on diversifying your online business presence?

"Don't keep all of your eggs in one basket." It's an old adage we've heard many times before. If you keep all of your eggs in one basket, and drop the basket, breaking your eggs, you have no eggs left. This axiom also applies to your online business in two different ways.

First of all, just as you would lose all of your eggs if you dropped your basket, your business would disappear if something happened to your only online sales venue. For example, if you sell only on eBay and your eBay account is suspended, your entire business comes to a screeching halt. If 100% of your online sales comes from eBay - you're left with nothing to sustain you until the situation is resolved.

Second of all, by keeping your eggs in multiple baskets, it gives you multiple opportunities for buyers to find your eggs. By using a mixture of multiple sales venues for listing your products or services, you are creating multiple pages on the web for search engines to pick up upon, and multiple ways for buyers looking for your items to find you.

I have been a long time believer in diversification of venue, but I have come to understand that not only is diversifcation of venue important, but so is diversification in your overall online presence. Squidoo has been a key tool in showing me how that can work. My Squidoo lenses have been excellent traffic generating resources to several of the venues where I list my products.

Some sellers find the prospect of diversification intimidating - but it doesn't need to be. All you need to do is create a plan of action for how to handle your product listings across multiple venues. Additionally, you should explore non-sales oriented venues that can be useful tools for creating and building your online brand presence. These are the areas I will discuss in my lens.

I am a proud member of the OSI Rock Stars! OSI Rock Stars is an educational gold mine for online entrepreneurs who "Choose Success", as RockStar Founder Janelle Elms would say. Through OSI Rock Stars, we have the opportunity to participate in podcasts and webinars covering a broad range of topics that all online sellers would learn from: accounting, taxes, product procurement, search engine optimization, even Squidoo! We can learn more about how to diversify our businesses, as well as how to make the most out of the components we already have in place using the great information available at OSI Rock Stars. Janelle puts out a daily newsletter filled with kudos for the success that we have built, sharing questions she has received and gathering input from the newsletter subscribers to help answer the question. The OSI Rock Stars brings together a broad range of people, whose group knowledge is available to all to learn from. If you would like to get more information, click on the logo below.

Contents at a Glance

Potential obstacles to diversification
What is the easiest way to get started?
Other areas of diversification to explor...
Expanding your Online Presence beyond Sa...
Online Sales Venues for you to look into
Once you've diversified, how do you driv...

and workarounds to handle them

As I said, some people find the thought of diversification away from their core selling venue to be too intimidating. Below are some of the reasons I've heard used to defend their decision not to do so, and some workarounds to help you get over the fear so you can gain the benefits.

I sell OOAK (one of a kind) products, and don't want to have the same item listed at multiple venues. This is a very legitimate concern, because you never want to find yourself in the position of selling one item twice. One solution is to rotate these one of a kind items between multiple venues - if it doesn't sell at Venue A, list it at Venue B, if it doesn't sell there, move it to Venue C, and if it doesn't sell there, try it again back on Venue A.
It's too confusing to keep track of sales across multiple venues. Depending on what kind of accounting system you have created, you don't need to track your sales by venue if you don't choose to do so. A sale is a sale regardless of where it occurs. I do like to be able to track my sales by venue, and I do this in two ways. First, I have a spreadsheet that I use for auction management, and I have one sheet tab for each sales venue I use. Second, within my accounting system I have Accounts Receivable, Sales, S/H Fees, Sales Fees Expense, and COGS set up for each venue.
I don't have time to list items at other venues. Some venues have bulk listers which you can use existing tools at eBay to export your listings and prepare them for importation into the other venues. The venues that don't charge to list or sell do cost you in one way : time. But many of them function as a list it and leave it venue - once you have the item up, it will stay up until sold. If you sell stock items where you have a number in stock, having them listed at every available venue you can find will increase the possibility of a potential buyer finding it.

Several venues use .csv or .txt file uploads to get product onto their site. The great thing about this is you can use one data file of product information, and copy/paste what you need into the template for each site, and then launch everything at once. This saves a LOT of time when you get new inventory in that you have enough stock to cross-list at multiple venues, you can do it writing only one description!
I can't afford to list at other venues, if they don't sell enough to pay for themselves. Another valid concern - many of these other, smaller venues are low-cost/no-cost listing options - so any sales they generate are gravy, and except for potential payment processing fees, cost you NOTHING in fees - so everything above your COGS is profit.
I don't know enough about HTML to create an independent website. There are many businesses built up around the website business, you can find website designers selling their services on eBay. Even if you don't have the knowledge to do so, you can outsource it to an expert, and create an independent website that you host yourself. No listing fees, no FVF either - you'd have webhosting fees, and payment processing fees. Again - after that everything else is profit.

What is the easiest way to get started?

Pick one new venue, and put 25 listings up there, then move to the next one.

You don't have to get your entire catalog up at once at every venue out on the web. Be selective about which sites you choose to use, and start small on each one to figure out how much time investment it would take to list more items. You can also use this to test the traffic waters and evaluate the performance of each venue. Scrap the ones that don't work, and build up the ones that do. Several sites automatically upload your listings to Google Base/Froogle - so consider putting different items at different venues, although it can be amusing to see your listings competing with yourself.

Venue Diversification is one of the easier areas you can improve on with a little effort, but its by no means the only way you should diversify your business.

Also look for sites that have bulk loading capabilities available, usually through the uploading of a .txt or .csv file. One option that provides that capability is a Prostore. I've had one since July 2007, and am very happy with the results. Katiyana's Handmade Collectibles is one of my many sales venues. If you'd like more information about Prostores, you can click on the logo below:

Other areas of diversification to explore:

As I stated, venue diversification is only one aspect of your business you should look into. Below are some other areas that you might think about digging in to. Think of diversification as a form of Business Insurance - you are protecting your business from the unknown.

Payment Options: Limiting your buyers to a single payment option will limit the size of your potential buyer pool. Paypal is an obvious choice when you sell on eBay, and it is integrated with a number of other venues as well. Other options you can explore are check and money order, Google Checkout, Bidpay, Propay, or merchant account options from a number of service providers that allows you to process Credit Card payments directly. Compare fee structures and ease of integration with the venues you choose to use. Many of these options can be integrated with multiple venues.
Product Suppliers: Let's say you have a really hot selling widget, and your supplier suddenly tells you they are out of stock. Now you're left scrambling for a new source so you can keep selling the hot widget. Explore other suppliers NOW before it becomes an issue, so you can have them in reserve in case of emergencies. Also, when you find multiple suppliers for the same product, you might be able to negotiate price discounts for yourself by playing one against the other.
Supplies: Similarly to your product suppliers, the source of your supplies should also be an area where you have a backup plan. If you run out of boxes or tape, or paper, do you have an easy way to replace it? What if you use a hard to find ink cartridge in your printer, do you always keep a spare on hand, and remember to reorder? Also, by having multiple suppliers of supplies available, you can often get shipping discounts or take advantage of sales to stock up for your best selling season in advance.
Marketing efforts: When you have a single venue, its easy to direct all of your marketing efforts towards that one venue. When you have many, its hard to decide which ones to push and which ones to let alone. I use Vistaprint to create my marketing materials, and I use them only for my eBay store and my independent websites at this time. Sellers who are shutting down their eBay stores and moving to Blujay or Ecrater stores who previously used Vistaprint can edit their documents and redirect their marketing to their new venues. Slip a business card into every eBay sale directing buyers to shop from you next time from your Ecrater store, for example.

Another marketing opportunity would be to create logo merchandise available for sale through a Cafepress store, or you could create them as giveaways. If you'd like to learn more about Cafepress, just click on the logo below.

Expanding your Online Presence beyond Sales Venues

There is a great big wide web out there, and you can create doors anywhere

Your storefronts, regardless of where you host them, are where the sales will occur. But how you get the buyers into the front doors of those venues can be the tricky party, and there are lots of new ways in the Web 2.0 Social Commerce way of thinking to get good content out on the web, that becomes a portal to one or more of your sales venues. The list below is by no means complete, but just a selection of the tools I am using to pull traffic into my sales venues.

Squidoo: I cannot praise Squidoo HQ enough for the terrific product they have created here. I was thrilled to meet Megan Casey at eBay Live 2007 in Boston, and having Squidoo as an exhibitor on the Solutions Floor was a really big step I think in introducing Squidoo to the eBay seller community. Squidoo has become a great traffic generator to my eBay store - now I'm exploring its usefulness in creating portals to my other online sales venues. This is especially true with venues like Ecrater and Blujay, who have RSS feed capabilities that include pictures, and Buy It Now or Add to Cart buttons that come right into your Squidoo lens.

But don't just use Squidoo lenses for self-promotion of your own businesses. Diversify within Squidoo by creating lenses about all sorts of topics that mean something to you. Those lenses will attract the attention of people, who then might find your business-focused lenses, and become buyers - and they wouldn't have found you if not for your other lenses that weren't focused on your business. I've been creating lenses about lots of things about my life that are not necessarily tied directly to my business, but mean something to me. These can be favorite hobbies, books, authors, movies - anything you feel passionate about, make a lens for it, and who knows - it might pay off. Don't forget you can earn part of the revenue share for every lens you have, plus earn affiliate revenues if those lenses generate sales. They can become revenue streams of their own for your overall business!

Soon you'll have to join Squidaholics Anonymous - because once you start building lenses, its kind of hard to stop!
Myspace: This is one of those social networking sites that you can create a page in just a few minutes and then use it to create links back to all of your sales portals. I have used mine to link back to my eBay store, my Etsy store, Squidoo, and will continue to add more in the future. I even discovered Bows-End as a sales venue thanks to my MySpace page!
Stumbleupon: This site was acquired by eBay, which should make those of us not using it take notice and look into it. Its on my to-do list!
Facebook: Similar to a Myspace page from what I've heard, this is another option I have yet to fully explore myself.
Blogs: Blogs can be a GREAT way to create search engine friendly content, that doubles as a sales pitch, and pulls people into your sales venues. You can do blogs in multiple locations - eBay has their own Blog product, there is a Blog included with your MySpace page, you can use Blogspot, etc. One of the keys to make Blogging a successful way to increase your online presence is to keep adding content regularly (I sometimes find it hard to find time to do that).
Message Forums: Many sites include message forums where you can create a signature line that links to your sales venue linked to that forum, or to a venue of your choice. My signature in the SquidU forums links to one of my lenses. My signature in the Bows-End forums links to my Bows-End listings. Interacting with the other users of the venue, can be a way to grow your presence, and draw potential buyers into your store. I've found that active participation in the related forums can be a good way to draw traffic and generate sales.
Gather.com: This is another one that is new to me, that I am just now exploring the potential of for my business.
Cafepress: Create new products using your business logo or catchy sayings to promote your business, or something you believe in, and sell those products through a Cafepress store!

Online Sales Venues for you to look into

This is hardly a complete list - so if you are aware of additional sites, please add them.

Some on the list are household names you'll alraedy be familiar with, and some will be new to you. Either way, explore them and see if they can provide you additional sales venue options to assist you with your business diversification plan.

Some of them charge to list and sell, some are free to list and charge to sell, and some are totally free. Consider carefully your advertising budget when choosing what venues to add to your listing mix.

Diversifying your online business presence

Why you should work on diversifying your online business presence?

Contents at a Glance

Contents at a Glance

Potential obstacles to diversification

and workarounds to handle them

What is the easiest way to get started?

Pick one new venue, and put 25 listings up there, then move to the next one.

Other areas of diversification to explore:

Expanding your Online Presence beyond Sales Venues

There is a great big wide web out there, and you can create doors anywhere

Online Sales Venues for you to look into

This is hardly a complete list - so if you are aware of additional sites, please add them.

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