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Quick Guide to Setting Up a Website
 

So you want to build a website? Maybe you want an e-Commerce website, sales page or even a simple blog?

Building a website is hard right? Not really, it's actually quite easy. I can have a brand new website up in running in just minutes; from purchasing the domain name to installing WordPress. What's WordPress? It's a blogging platform first but it can easily be turned into a shopping cart or sales page with the right theme or plugins. Themes change the way your website looks, plugins add capabilities such as a membership area, affiliate’s area and more. A large percentage of the web is powered by WordPress. The reason for that is it's flexibility. You can create any type of website with WordPress with the right plugin or theme. And there are millions of free plugins and themes to try.

So let's say you want a Shopping Cart, a place to put your products online away from eBay and Amazon's reach. I would suggest WordPress (WordPress › Blog Tool, Publishing Platform, and CMS), and a simple shopping cart plugin like: WooCommerce or WP Easy Cart. And you're pretty much in business.

Website Setup:

Step 1: Purchase a domain name. I recommend NameCheap for domain names. I use these guys myself for their ease of use.
Step 2: Purchase web hosting. I recommend HostGator, it's where I host a good majority of my websites. They're the best.
Step 3: Install WordPress. HostGator shows you how to do that here: How to Install WordPress « HostGator.com Support Portal

And you're set! You're ready to create your shopping cart, sales page, blog or whatever you want to create. You can sell pretty much anything from physical products, virtual products or services.

Have a product that does well on eBay? Open up an online shop and start ranking your site in the search engines. Get that free traffic and don't stress about eBay suspensions or banned Amazon accounts as much anymore.

Re: Quick Guide to Setting Up a Website
 

Thank you aspkin!

Re: Quick Guide to Setting Up a Website
 

Can we display our website in our ebay listings without worry of policy violations? I see other ebayers do this, yet I know that doesn't mean I CAN ...

Re: Quick Guide to Setting Up a Website
 

It IS against eBay's rules. How strict they are on this, I don't know.

I enclose a flyer with a coupon from every one of my eBay and Amazon orders, redeemable on my website. It is a great way to build traffic. It costs nothing for me to put it in with each item I send and I already KNOW these people are interested in what I have to offer.

I started my site a few years ago and have about $6,000 per month in sales through it. Note that is SALES, not PROFIT. But the profit IS good. And it is something that eBay CANNOT take away from me.

I use a little more than Wordpress, but Wordpress will certainly work for a limited number of items. The other shopping carts are not bad either. Volusion is a good one, with lots of features to make your site look VERY professional. And Chrislands is EXCELLENT for books - it is cheap and it works well, with very little downtime. There are others too.

I have always recommended websites. They are not INSTANT money, but if you build them over time, they are quite profitable! Of course, not everybody will go there, but advertising to your current customers is very cheap and effective. You could also use adwords or start an affiliate program - the possibilities are endless. You just have to keep looking at what you are doing, advertising wise, to make sure that it is working for you.

And if you ever talk to someone trying to SELL advertising, and they constantly talk about "branding" RUN LIKE HELL! That is how they attempt to explain why you spent $2,500 with no results. Branding is fine for McDonald's and Ford, but I don't need "branding" - I need sales!

Aspkin has some pretty solid advice in his Six Figure Boss book.