Online sales are changing at breakneck (extremely fast) speed.
And we know how we are living our lives in this pandemic phase; there is no choice except move to the digital world and find ways to sell online.
Many companies are transforming themselves digitally to survive, and many entrepreneurs are directly betting on a 100% virtual business. Seriously, There is no doubt that selling online is an excellent job opportunity and earn money online. But don’t be fooled.
Selling online may seem simple if you want to upload an ebook to the cloud, but it goes beyond and requires planning, work, and time.
In addition, it is a trend that is increasing, and more and more people are betting on this business model. Standing out from the crowd is another main challenge you encounter when you want to sell online.
However, there is nothing like a good strategy and a specific and detailed online sales plan that allows you to succeed in your sales.
Here we go!
What can you sell online
It is normal to think that you have to offer something very concrete and specific to sell online, but nothing is further from the truth. We will tell you that you can sell absolutely everything you want.
One of the advantages of the internet is that you can reach all corners of the world. Virtual borders do not exist (at least for now), and awakening the interest of anyone a hundred or thousands of kilometers from you is possible.
What can you sell then online?
Regardless of your niche or sector, you can classify what you will offer within these main blocks.
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1. Consulting
It is one of the options for those who know a lot about a specific topic and have positioned themselves as an expert.
You may have been trained in it or have experience working for someone else: personal finance, physical training, graphic design, coaching, etc.
When you sell a consultancy, you are exchanging your knowledge and time so that another person learns from you in a specific sector.
2. Physical products
They are focused on offline projects that already have a store and want to take their business to the digital world.
To sell physical products online, you need a good e-commerce virtual store with a full list of your products, descriptions, photos, and prices. And when you start selling, request feedback from your customers.
However, this is not the only way.
Consider dropshipping. It is a great way to start without actually having your own products because you will only be the intermediary.
In this method, you do not have to have your own store or inventory because you sell products from others. When you receive a sale, all you have to do is notify the manufacturer. After a successful delivery, you will receive some commission.
3. Infoproducts or digital products
The sales of digital products is the best option in terms of investment and logistics.
Unlike physical products, info products have no shipping or distribution cost and are much faster to consume.
What perhaps is not so fast is the creation of the info-product itself, because depending on the type of info-product it may take you more or less time to develop it:
- Online course
- Ebook
- Audios
- Videos
- Memberships
To cite the most popular ones, but there are many more!
Whatever the format, a digital product, in the end, is nothing more than the packaging with which you are going to pack your knowledge, with a comfortable and exciting structure that attracts and helps your customers.
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The 3 initial steps to start online sales
We tell you the 3 initial steps you must consider if you want to sell online and be successful.
1. Find your passion, sell what you like
It is the first thing you should ask yourself: what am I going to sell?
From a business point of view, we could also call it how to define your business.
That which you are passionate about and you are going to enjoy selling. That is, transform your purpose into a monetizable service.
People don’t just buy features and quality (which too), but feelings.
The trigger that starts the buying process is a sensation, an emotion, the longing for an experience. It is essential that you sell to give the worth quality and know-how to transmit the benefits.
2. Analyze who is going to buy it from you
Or in other words, create your avatar in detail.
We have already commented on many occasions on the importance of defining your ideal client in detail. What is his name? How old is he? What are his main problems?
The better you know the needs of your potential customers, the better you can help them with your products or services.
3. Think about how you are going to sell it
Now, you know what you are going to sell and who is going to buy it, it is time to find how you are going to sell it.
To do this, think about how you will deliver the solution. It depends on the product type you want to sell; it is physical or digital.
You may have to learn how to create a website or create your own eCommerce virtual store.
And of course, think about the logistics and distribution part:
- Sales platform
- Payment gateway
- Guarantee
- Medium
- Customer Support
It is important to convey at all times what are the advantages of buying from you so that they keep it in mind.
Consider training in copywriting to know:
- How to expose those benefits of choosing you.
- Get ahead of your potential client’s objections and resolve them.
- Write with sales-focused objectives.
Knowing this writing technique is key to your business. Copywriting is writing specifically to sell.
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5 online sales strategies that give results
The most important secret to increase your Internet sales is, without a doubt, to build trust and win over your future customers.
The disadvantage? Which is usually a slow process. Promoting yourself and gaining authority doesn’t happen overnight.
One way to do this is through good content marketing and an editorial calendar. Create quality content, either on your blog or through social networks, with tips and advice that help the ideal client.
But as we mentioned, it requires a lot of time, and in many cases, the results can take up to years to arrive.
However, there are various marketing strategies to speed up this process and change the temperature of your audience.
That is to say, passing a cold audience that does not know you at all to hot traffic willing to consume your services in less time.
1. Challenge
It is a marketing strategy that works very-very well to sell online.
With this technique, what is intended is to work the first stage of the sale, the recruitment.
Call the attention of your ideal client by providing a solution to a specific problem during a series of days through a particular medium: WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram…
All completely free of charge and taking into account the following:
- The duration of the challenge varies according to the nature of the challenge, the purpose, the sector, etc. The most common is to do it for 5 or 7 days.
- Study and prepare what you are going to contribute each day. It provides them with a solution and a practical exercise to help them achieve what they signed up for.
- One of the benefits is direct contact with your client. Take care of them and accompany them at all times.
It will keep you an expert when you are able to showcase your experience in this field.
Do you remember what the best-kept secret of selling online is? Exactly! The trust.
If you do it right, these people will never leave you behind because you are now a trust mark as you have shown it.
2. Webinars
An excellent way to end the challenge is with a Webinar.
A goodbye party that will help you transmit your expert knowledge live with all those people who have been following you for days.
A webinar is the litmus test to continue proving why they should continue to trust you and continue with you.
Ideally, in the end, you prepare a closing with a sale. If people have liked your free content, they will most likely want to access your paid service or training.
Obviously, you can also use the technique of selling through a webinar without first having a challenge or training. It is a bit more complicated, although it will depend on your audience and how you are already positioned in the market.
If you are starting, we recommend Challenge + Webinar.
At the end of the Webinar, it is very common to feel insecure and think that they will reject us.
But don’t let this get heavy on you; It is essential to overcome the fear of the sale to convey confidence and that everything goes smoothly.
Also, you have the option to organize automated webinars; It does not require your time or presence. Although, they may be less natural.
3. Product Suite
It consists of having a catalog of products or services from lower to higher cost according to your client’s needs.
A portfolio of products where the client will be the one to choose which is the one that interests them the most depending on the phase they are in and how much they are willing to invest.
The ideal is to create and work on a product that we can classify in each of the following ranges:
- Tripwire: Or low-cost products. They do not usually exceed Rs. 1000.
- Core: The main product of our business, with a cost between Rs. 1000 and Rs. 3000.
- High-tail Product: Products with a higher selling price, that is, in the middle between Core and Premium.
- Premium Product: Your most top and most expensive products in your suite. It will help you position yourself in the market.
The logical thing is to think that we must first start with a low-cost product, try, and then work up to the premium product.
It will help you validate the market, and you can use your customer feedback to improve that low-cost product. And it’s excellent!
The only disadvantage is that, in reality, the high financial return will be given by the highest-cost products and not the least. If you start at the bottom, it will take a long time to get to the top.
What would happen then if we turned it around? Offer your Premium product first and then move down the rank.
We tell you about it in the following technique.
4. The inverted pyramid
It is the system that we recommend to all our readers:
- Work the avatar as we have told you.
- Create a suite of products that starts with 1 premium product, one medium, and one less expensive.
- Lauch the premium product with well-targeted advertising.
We explain why we recommend this system in the END.
You can start by selling products for 10 rupees, then 1000 and then 10,000. And it can work.
But working with our clients, we realized that if you sell directly at Rs. 10, you will not always scale at Rs 10,000. However, if your sale starts at 10,000, I’m sure you will be able to sell at 10.
Also, if the premium product does not work for someone, you can always go down.
It is how we created the inverted pyramid system for the product suite.
It is not magic; it is logic.
5. Social Selling
Social networks have revolutionized the world, the way we communicate, and the way we sell.
Through Social Selling, we manage to capture the attention of our potential clients, get leads, and later convert them into sales.
It is necessary to implement a good branding and content marketing strategy; add value for free to consumers through social media.
In reality, you can do it on any network. The best thing is that you decide to use the one in which your potential customers are.
This sales technique allows us to connect with potential customers and explain why they should trust us.
When the time comes, they will choose us themselves.
Conclusion: Start selling online with a defined strategic plan
Selling online is something that, until recently, seemed to be available to very few.
But times have changed, and the technological boom that we are experiencing allows us to have these tools more accessible than ever and even sell online for free.
As we told you at the beginning of the post, selling online is not a breeze. It requires perseverance and follows a well-defined strategic plan that brings you rewards.
Sometimes it happens more immediately, and sometimes in the long term.
And you, do you already sell online? What technique has worked best for you?
Let us know in the comments. We will love to read your comments!