I enjoy learning about people’s interests, and what makes them tick. A couple years ago I became a “expert” in the ecommerce category of allexperts. At first I was going to do the category in import/export, but even still I am not an expert in international trade - my passion still is the MIX of internet, marketing, and business - which I would consider ecommerce.

It is great to hear about someone wanting to start their own online biz, and while I get a lot, this specific question posted asked me to outline the basic steps of starting an online business, which I then answered:

Answer
Hi Howard,
thanks for your question - well your question is rather open ended, and books are written about this, but i think you want a simple step by step process, here is my best shot:

1) pick a product line
normally, you want to do keyword research (http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com) and competitive analysis on this industry. But also keep in mind if its a product you want to deal with EVERY DAY, so you should have an interest in it. And even if its highly competitive, doesnt mean you can’t find a niche. Maybe you can take sneakers and target working class women who want to have a commuter style shoe.

2) wholesale / drop ship / affiliate -

will you buy your products up front (wholesale)? That may require a lot of upfront cash.  Plus you’ll have to warehouse the goods, and you or someone you gotta convince / pay to do it for you!

Drop ship is where a wholesalers allows you to resell their inventory on your own website / sales channel. Only when you get a online order, then you buy it directly from the wholesaler and they ship direct to your customer, as if it were your own shipment.

affiliate - this isn’t really ecommerce as the customers are sent to other peoples websites to buy, and you are paid a sales commission.

all of these are balanced by risk/reward in their margins. if you are wholesaling, normally you see the max profit margin but the highest risk of upfront capital outlay.

3) choose your sales channels & choose website / brand
i assume you will sell it online, via your own webshop website. But also consider multi sales channels, such as amazon and ebay. For your own webshop, choose a website domain that is catchy, but also contains keywords in the industry you’re targetting.

4) install / setup your webshop
This can be easy, or difficult. Its like anything, you can by a stock car and not customize it, or you can build your own hot rod. Depending on your budget, or your technical interest/ ability these are some choices:

prostores.com - connected to ebay, this is a scalable model as it allows you to start at $10usd/mo and work up as you grow. But I have some friends who take this website to really high levels and then have issues with customizing it

yahoo stores - another big one, i know a lot of people using it, but haven’t yet.

oscommerce / zen-cart - this is a bit on the “do it yourself” or “pay high price for technical people to do it” level. I would recommend this only if you are very advanced in ecommerce or have a big budget to pay someone to do it for you.

5) how will you collect customers money? (merchant account)
probably to start, you will just want to use paypal.com - as there aren’t any setup or monthly fees. But if you want to process a credit card, you will need a merchant account. Paypal does have one, but I would recommend a traditional one. I personally use merchantsolutionsllc.com and they have good staff and help you with questions.

6) promoting your website
this is obviously KEY - and should be in mind from the beginning. How will you tell people about your site? Internet, offline? How will you get people to buy? Online , there is advertising

(paying for it) - google.com/adwords - pay per click (doesnt mean they will buy) can be tricky, and can cost a lot of money quickly. watch closely.

organic - hit the pavement, get links to your site. get bloggers and other websites telling people to go to your site. Normally its done by daily work and passion - that is why you should be interested in your product, as this requires you promoting it daily.

social media (friends) - not as established, but getting more popular, as people recommend products/services to others.

7) warehousing / shipping - if you are stocking your products (wholesale), will you put it in your garage? rent your own warehouse? There are also businesses called “ecommerce order fulfillment” or 3rd party shipping centers that will warehouse and ship your products on your behalf, so you can focus on sales / marketing.

I hope these help, like i said at the beginning of this post, books are written about each of these points!

good luck!
Mike

Well, there was that answer. Hope my friends / blog readers get something out of this. I do have a passion for this ….but unfortunately I don’t have time to do it for everyone I know. I can give some direction / advice. And if you want to pay me enough, I can even do it for ya! Always looking to do some cross promotions or cooperations too. Love making business happen.

As the lunar calendar draws to a close, so many more unfortunate Chinese people are desparate to return to their hometowns. They did not earn enough money the previous year, or save enough, to make it home to see their family and loved ones…..

So, some push too hard, they do whatever it takes to make that bit of cash to pay for the train to their hometown. The police and management offices of buildings warn people to take extra care of locking their doors and securing their valuables. I hear stories of people who get their homes robbed these weeks before the new years, desperate thieves trying to make that money to get where they need to go…..

I wish I could pay for everyone to go to see their family and loved ones. I feel I am too kind, too soft.

But, unfortunately for them (and for me) I am not rich. I cannot take care of everyone around me. I first have to earn a strong enough business and cashflow, that I can then budget this “extra” cash to throw around and save others around me.

Its rather sad, do people have to change to survive, to thrive? Can I remain the kind, gentle, take care of everyone person I try to be, or throw it out the window to make it to the next level.

Changes….changes…..how to move forward. New Years do this, milestones in business, in life.

If it how a boss has to be? Separate friends and business. change your “hat” As well as in different cultures. But that means to me, that you’re changing who you are in different places. Do I have to have some sort of split personality? Put on an act. Tell someone, hey, this is business.

Anyway, I wish everyone here in China can go to see their family during this special holiday. I wish I could be someone to help them get there. Maybe not this year, but one year….

Is it good to be passionate and emotional in the workplace? Many may say passion is ok, but emotion may be an issue. But how to separate them?

Looking at one’s own personal pro and con - I am sure my passion and emotion gets the best of me. I have to be more level headed. I have to separate friends and business.

Watching a bunch of DVDs last night, one was called “taken” - its a great movie, I would definitely recommend watching it.

The basis of the movie is a retired secret agent is extra-paranoid about his daughter going on a trip to Europe. Everyone thinks he’s over-reacting, but actually she gets kidnapped SAME DAY she arrives in France.

anyway, so he goes to France and talks to some of his old colleagues there. They help him, to a point, but actually they are in on the crime (indirectly)….. so he has to make things personal, attacking their wives and using that to get information.

Then when he finds the area his daughter is held captive, he asks for her back. The “bad guys” say its not possible, until he shoots up the place. the mob-boss begs for his life to the father, saying - you have to understand, “it was not personal, it was business”….

The father doesn’t think so, and executes him coldly on the elevator floor.

If that a mix of personal and business?

Sure, its a movie. And extreme…..But there are other cases, weekends seeing staff, do you talk about work? Do you forget work and just be friends? Seeing your friends you are buying from, or selling to, at a party - how not to talk about business?

Especially with the explosion of social media in today’s internet environment. We see the facebook profiles of our friends. they are talking business. at the same time they are talking a bout getting drunk at a house party.

Then, when you have a dispute in business- do you delete them from your “social friends” profile? So strange.

I just keep going on, but would like some ideas here. Also, today is the first day I integrated my blog into my facebook account - hope to get some more activity / readers.

Its been since christmas since blogging….no i haven’t forgotten about you guys….its more because ive been working day and night - and that is pretty boring to blog about.
But i am getting more confident, more focused. I am sure 2010 will be a great year….all the time, years, invested both in time and in money, now is the time to shine. Now more then ever.

I am consolidating all my various businesses into 1 main idea - ecommerce in usa from china ) asia. Merging newyorkbarstore into the shadstone group has really cemented the idea….as well as doing ecommerce projects for many factories and trading companies in china - all begging to get more direct access to the western world
As the globe continues to flatten, factories will need to market themselves more as a brand, meaning….the chinese factories need western marketing experts to bring them there

Who would that be???

You guessed it…the Shadstone group will provide the skills, people, and tools to market directly in the usa market. Mainly through the internet, but also with traditional marketing allies.
Building a great team of organized and focused staff….that care about what they do and want the company to succeed…
Im just a bit worried about chinese new years slowing things down.
But nothing will slow me down, have come too far, its now or never. There is no such thing as failure, just keep going.

If you’ve been following my blog, you will see posts about my difficult experiences dealing with Bank of America as I’ve been overseas in China and Asia.  Two of specific note include:

More Bank of America Fights - International  Travel Issues

Thank You For Calling Bank of America

*Image, credit,  found from PPC for Hire blog

Now, originally when I posted about my issues, I didn’t expect to get such a strong effect in google.  but I am ranking for many terms, such as Bank of America international travel, bank america international travel, bank of america online banking issues, and international phone number, the list goes on and on as I check my server log and traffic stats.

Here’s a specific example, out of 37 million pages, this blog is #4 for Bank of America international travel.

And the blog post that is there in Google is talking about ………..PROBLEMS I AM HAVING WITH BANK OF AMERICA………

Now, why doesn’t an internet marketing person at Bank of America contact me???  Its been there for a year at least now…Reputation management must be address by these large companies.

What is reputation management?  Basically its MONITORING YOUR BRAND.  With the internet being so open, and so many people going to Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other web destinations - bloggers and people are there. Talking, discussing their customer experiences with businesses.

A good company MONITORS this.  They RESPOND to what people are complaining about,  or at the very least , address it and say its something that has to be this way for a certain reason - legal, policy, blah blah.

But, imagine for a minute - that on my blog, I receive a comment from a Bank of America marketing representatitive.   They would address the issue I have been having, explain why it is the way it is, maybe even FIX IT.  Or note it for their management meetings.

That is what is support to happen.  And the companies that are most active on SOCIAL MEDIA and responding to the blog posts, twitter messages, and facebook chats - as well as  ton of other websites - they will gain valuable connection to their customers and differentiate themselves from their competition.

I know….. BANKS, INSURANCE COMPANIES, they don’t care about their customer, the customer has to put their money somewhere, has to get insurance.  But I hope one day there is a disruptive new bank or insurance company that is more “online aware” and I see many internet people, bloggers, and younger generations will sign up

Lets see - maybe this latest post will get some attention at Bank of America.  I want to test them, I have no problem putting a note at the end of those earlier blog entries saying I am impressed Bank of America contacted me about my issue and at least explained why its the way it is (government, security, legal, policy, etc)  That would make my day.

Reading this article has given me even more confidence that i am doing busines in the correct country in the world.  India Times reports already by population there are more people in china speaking english than in india.

The study estimates less than five per cent of the Indian population speaks English, which would mean that only about 55 million people in India will be fluent English speakers by 2010.

In comparison China adds 20 million English speakers each year as a result of new education policies that require English to be a compulsory subject in primary schools. According to an earlier British Council study, China had 200 million English users in 1995.

this makes me feel good for many reasons -

1 - often i am questioned / challenged why i do english websites in china - and that more people are having their english website work in india.  that india has better english speakers, blah blah  - now i will just refer to this article when i have those critics

2 - china still seems to me to be the economic powerhouse of this century.  i have said many times how its almost frightening to think - if china makes everything, sells everything, and now speaks just like the western world….what is the requirement to need the west anymore…..domestic growth in china is still on the rise, and china is quickly learning from the mistakes of western businesses to its advantage.

3- i am a valuable part of the growth in china - again, i feel warm welcome in china overall.  chinese people want to learn, to grow, and to embetter themselves.  reading this article again - that schools in china are requiring more english classes, they are not just forced.  i see so many young chinese that are yearning to learn english, and how the western culture thinks and operates.  so many questions, so many note taking.

just imagine in 10 or 20 years from now, when the new generation of chinese are in the working world, building up businesses, that how much china will be different then it is today.

amazing…..but also (for usa, and the western worlds) scary and intimidating.

Bet that headline caught your attention, right? well, in some way, i would have to say google…..or more appropriately the internet itself, may have destroyed the service based industry….
Why would i say something crazy like this, and secondly, is what i say really all that bad?
But if you think about things before there was internet….i remember as a little kid doing research reports for school….man those sucked! I would go to the local library and look up books. Luckily though, there was a machine you could use that categorized the books in that library and others in the city….but i usually asked for help from the librarian. She would search by topic and make a list of books. Depending on what you were searching for, the published date mattered, so only look for books a couple years old…

And then, most of the good books were checked out, on backorder, or in another location. I could have the librarian call my home when the book was delivered back, or i could go to another branch and get those books there.
This would normally take an afternoon…even a whole day….
Then, scanning the physical printed books for the information you needed, bookmarking, maybe photocopy (for a fee, of course), and take notes…..
I dont know how this worked in the corporate world, but who in the company would research a new business development, or legal matters, or any maybe new or non-core essentials for a conpany. What i remember at machine shop, barridon aircraft, is hiring a consultant to train and educate the workers…
But…today….i think this has drastically reduced……why? Because we dont need to go to the library for days, carrying books and compiling research studies, we can just “google it”. And so many times we get the research report and summary right there…..google has all those library books, as well as book reports, right there.
So in the service based industry, who sells expertise and knowledge, i am sure there are less inquiries….because everyone and every company feels they can learn it themselves, or get it done online quick, cheap and easy
Now, this is both good, and dangerous…..
Good because it allows small companies with limited funds access information quickly and compete with bigger companies who could afford the consultant expense…..
Dangerous because it makes people feel they dont need to consult with an expert in that industry….and i think most of us can admit that we have been in that situation, do-it-yourself ( DIY) before….
And then realize we made more costly mistakes then just paying a professional to do it. BUT would we have paid in the first place, or could we AFFORD to pay….so the DIY is better then ot doing it at all, right?
Some examples of more common diy with the internet and google:
* Legal - trademark, patent,
* international trade - buy from china
* fixing your house
* real estate - buying, renting
* financial services - retirement planning

“Destroying” is a bit harsh….i think the mba school class room would call it “distruptive technology”, but saying destroying is more attention grabbing.
So…..what is a service company to do? One good example is a law firm who created low cost packages of legal documents, some even free! And then if you needed serious help, the firm offered its full service…..
This reacts nicely to the disruptive technology of the internet - it says, if you cant beat em,, join em. And it gets the small biz guys startup help and outlines, and the big guys who need serious help have the full service as well
Anyway, i so many times get people asking for help, but with the internet so many of the questions can be answered quick and easy

When i first signed up for twitter, it was around summer 2008, i cant remember how i heard about it, i remember it was during a spyble all night development day. I signed up and it then said “what are you doing now?” i said, doing finances. Logged off, and never looked at it for a few months….
Kept hearing about it, also from gillian from seomoz at the seo event in xiamen, so i tried again…..but none of my friends were using it, so…i didnt know how to get more followers.
This back and forth went on, and then i heard enough about it in early 2009 that i read into it. I was then asked to make a presentation on it to an internet marketing group in shenzhen, so i had to really figure it out!
But after i got all the 3rd party tools (i rarely even go to twitter.com, normally log into third party tools like socialoomph.com and dabr.co.uk , plus the fact that twitter.com is blocked in china!) then i could truly find the value of twitter, and here is the list:

• Quick to the point
• All my friends can see what im up to
• Promote new ideas
• Ask questions and share information
• Network and find like minded people fast
• Internet marketing

Quick and to the point - i have ranted about emails being too long, so with twitter you are limited to ____ characters, so there isnt much room for fluff and other bullshit in your message
All my friends can see what i’m up to - i guess the internet has put my life in the public eye and i dont mind, like this blog, my twitter account shows anyone who goes to it see what i am upto. Maybe that scares some people, but when you really think about it, what is so secretive about what you are doing.? By publiclly showing what you are doing, you cab save time telling each person in your life the same story. Plus you can get input and ideas from what you are doing. For example, i was looking for a new cell phone, so i posted (on facebook and twitter) that i was looking for a new phone and needed to get input. My friends replied with their suggestions, and one friend, guilhem from intouch quality, told me he had a used one he could sell me! Haha, that is the phone i am using today! Plus when i travel, people can see what im doing, real time, and almost feel like they are with me. Especially being so far from home and family….i just wish more friends and family used it, but i speculate more and more will over time

Promote ideas - being a businessman,,,,selling and pushing my latest ideas is crucial. On twitter, i can blast a message that im promoting something new, and my friends, who know and trust me, can choose to get involved or not.

Ask questions and share information - this is a bit overlapping with above points, but basically i can ask a question and get real time, human being answers! The idea is the new internet is real time search. Seeing what is hot now! And when you search, you search what real people are saying, and what they are thinking right now…..crazy, and we will see how this develops.

Network with like minded people - twitter is all about building a following, and many people (i have to admit, myself included) get wrapped up with getting a high quantity of followers….but reallly we should focus on good quality. If we build a good following of people who like “basketball”, then when we check our twitter account, we will only get information on basketball….and we can talk to people who are experts. Since actively using twitter, i have found cooperations, friend, and customers from it. The networking is amazing.

Internet marketing - being an internet marketing guy, I see the value in twitter in promoting keywords and products I am selling - not just on twitter.com -  but on google and other search engines and social media platforms. Because  twitter is such a popular site, and so easy for search engines to see, it ranks high for keywords the users place on it.

But really, using twitter on a daily basis has made life more interesting, killed dead time waiting for elevators (I have it on my mobile phone), and allowed me to meet new and interesting people all over the world!  Check me out on twitter today - (@michelini  - twitter.com/michelini )

The past few weeks i have been pretty busy flying to various cities, and many people have been asking me to give some stories and explain what the heck i am up to! So, while those who follow me on twitter (follow me - @michelini ) should have a better understanding, let me use this post to go in more detail:

Nanjing city - a few weeks ago, i took a few days to make a first time visit to nanjing, a very old and historical city in china, which at one time was the capital of china. My main purpose there was to attend the SMX (search engine marketing expo), where i was presenting on website analysis and review of user interfaces. I also started announcing my new project, loadpipe.com , that will be an online order fulfillment and distribution platform.
I was able to meet some new faces in the china internet world, and found out how to fix my google adsense verification account problem with my hong kong company (good to have a contact who used to work in google adsense!!)

I also did some touring of the Confucius temple - an amazing part was the sheer size of it. I entered an examination hall, this had halls and halls of individual testing rooms for those who wanted to work under the government and emperor. The test was said to be many days long, and these small rooms only had room for a desk and chair, so test takers actually slept at their desk during the multiple day test. maybe this is a reminder of how hard the chinese student needs to study. many parents take their children to this museum to give them good luck in their studies, and there is a stone to jump over that says you will do good grades on your tests. Also, the fact that they have to sleep in their testing rooms, maybe thats why i notice chinese people are able to sleep in any conditions!!

Also in nanjing saw some nice parks, also have many boating trips, but didnt get a chance to rent a boat.  A pretty cool historic army park too, where I played with tanks, guns, and planes!

Ningbo City - Last week i went to ningbo and other cities in zhejiang province. 2 main purposes, first is i have manufacturing there to check on, discussions for new products to develop. But the 2nd, bigger idea, is the possibility of establishing a distribution point in this province for the loadpipe venture.
Talking business means lots of eating and drinking, while this is the case in most cultures i know, its especially highlighted in china! I remember being in a ningbo nightclub bottoms up multiple BUDWEISER beers (funny to drink american beers in china, but its exotic…)
I was also invited to be a guest teacher at a local village grade school. I thought it would be fun, so what the heck, i agreed. Later the next day, they canceled because the “swine flu” h1n1 outbreak, and the foreigner must have some disease!! Kind of upset me, but hey, their loss…i was gonna do a free class teaching ABC to 13 year old chinese….anyway
Earlier this week i paid a visit to a local Shenzhen university where i cooperate with hiring interns there. I am invited to be a guest speaker there about business in the usa, focusing around ecommerce and internet! Looking forward to that for sure!
Xiamen City - And just this week i was in xiamen city. Here i took tons of photos - they say this is like the san diego of china, and i agree. I had been here once before, but didnt get as much exposure as i did this time. The city skyline is full of LED strips along the buildings, and the island city is bordered by a lake on one side and the ocean on another.
In xiamen i worked out a plan and alliance for loadpipe, where they will assist me with sourcing and logistics while i focus on technology and marketing. Seems like both sides have a lot to offer, and are strong in their abilities, have to draft up some agreements, but i am excited!!

Also did some touring of xiamen, seeing the university, monk temple, and some garden parks. Did a lot of walking!! Later in the evening found the foreign bars such as londonner, jj (texas ya’ll)’ nd me and you 2 bar. Xiamen has a nice, laid back environment, ocean breeze, and internet wi-fi all over….but maybe too slow paced for my hyperactive peronality….but seems ill be coming to xiamen more often.
So that sums up my past few weeks of traveling, been rather intense, now i have my buddy from usa, jon conte, spending a couple weeks in china, his first time here, should be wild for him!

So I have been pushing my twitter, facebook, and all other social media tools like no other over the weekend. I start to really realize connecting to friends online now is big business, and its not really friends anymore, its the new link trading and public relations. I have been saying how facebook is copying twitter, and that facebook will probably win over time - as it has a bigger and more loyal userbase.

The main difference being that twitter is public profiles and information for the world to see, while facebook users are a bit more private and have to be friends before seeing their status updates.

Well, this Monday morning I head to my computer to check my twitter - and it was SUSPENDED!

I check into my API tools, maybe its tweetlater, as a few of my accounts have been suspended - so I check their blog - twitter account suspensions then I start to wonder, is it this tweetlater tool that is behind my account being suspended?

Then, just twitter posted an update about the situation and specifically said it is not tweetlater’s fault.

Its just amazing how this has become a part of my life, and so many others. And how people like to point fingers so quickly. Hope it all works out ok.