Im sick of being afraid

[canweoffshoreit]

I have decide to start an online business. For years i have been too scared to take the risk so I have taken up Branson's motto of 'Screw it - Let's do it!' I'm about lay some serious cash (not to mention my time) on the line. I figure that even if i fail, I will have learned way more than any College degree can teach you (for about the same price). I have lots of sales experience and a good business mind and I'm trying to figure out the eCommerce scene - FAST! I need to work out where to get some off the shelf eCommerce solutions that are easily customizable. Can anyone give me some good links?
I also want to pay a consultant who knows what they are doing to guide me and tell me what i need to learn.

Any advice?

 

[Pertinax]

I have the exact same problem.Fear of failure can be a huge obstacle to success.

 

[LostConnection]

Don't go paying a consultant for something you can find proper information about from right here on BHW.

And ecommerce solution wise, Wordpress + Woocommerce is easy to use and highly customisable. Other options include Prestashop, Shopify etc. There's a million options really.

 

[FutureProofSeo]

I've used opencart on all of the e-commerce stores I've worked on and I think it's great, especially customisable when combined with the theme called "Journal 2".

 

[SkyrocketSEO]

You do know, whatever theme for your shop you choose, at the end it all comes down to SEO (ranking site on page one)?

 

[lord1027]

Congrats on taking this big step buddy, I know it's risky and takes a lot of courage to do it. However this works out, don't back out.

 

[nanavlad]

Learn keyword research
Find some rare but little sought after items, that have not much competition

Then build your store
Do it yourself,
It shouldn't take you too long to see some results

You will learn more from this than any consultant can teach you.
There's plenty of information here on BHW.
Be careful buying services, til you understand exactly how they work
Make a plan, and do the link building yourself yourself

This way you wil see what works, Later on you can outsource it

It wont cost much. and then as you feel more confident
you can build larger and more competitive stores

 

[Technetik]

Big step buddy.

Rule #1: If you ever get in troubles just don't let it disappoint you and continue do whatever you were doing + scaling up.

 

[Vrill]

Have a look at xtcommerce if you wanna do it really professional .Do not look for consultants.They are charging horrible amounts for knowledge which is worth peanuts.
You need also to prepare which way you want to focus as this statement

You do know, whatever theme for your shop you choose, at the end it all comes down to SEO (ranking site on page one)?

is wrong.
You also the option affiliate marketing or paid traffic .
You need to choose which ones you wanna use (seo,affiliate,ppc) and making a plan how to reach your goal.
Seo is always risky thats why i would recommend starting with affiliates and after that ppc

 

[SkyrocketSEO]

Seo is always risky thats why i would recommend starting with affiliates and after that ppc

PPC is like SEO is like everything else. If you don't know how to setup proper PPC campaign you end up losing money.
Not sure why someone wants to invest college money into something they don't know anything about.

 

[IamNRE]

I say, hire a consultant that knows his shit... minimize your risk of failing.

Just make sure its someone credible with tangible results he can show you (i.e make sure he walks the walk).

 

[somedevil]

This forum has all you need to know. Some posts are pure gold. Don't be afraid to hustle and don't be afraid to fuck things up. Be relentless and don't give up. Good luck mate !

 

[Vrill]

PPC is like SEO is like everything else. If you don't know how to setup proper PPC campaign you end up losing money.

PPC like SEO ?I dont think that PPC can be hit in a single day where you loose everything.Doing PPC you instantly see if you make profit or not so you can work on it.On SEO you never know how the results will be and if you get punished or attacked by competition so the risk using SEO is WAY higher than PPC will ever be

 

[marycarlos]

same story in my life..

 

[JournoNick]

My advice to you:

Don't rush anything when it comes to online marketing, get a professional consultant you can sit and have coffee with. Don't you dare turn to cheap "offshore" SEO's that watched the latest GSA video.

Look into automation marketing and have someone setup all your analytics for ecommerce with remarketing cookies.

I suggest setting up a Magento platform on a dedicated server with an SSL signed by a trusted source.

Don't duplicate any content and DONT use your suppliers images.

The rest your consultant can tell you about, but that should point you in the right direction.

 

[bartosimpsonio]

You may fail more than you succeed at first. But screw it, just do it

Welcome to BHW!

 

[canweoffshoreit]

Thanks what i was thinking but how do you go about finding an affordable consultant that isn't a scammer?

 

[canweoffshoreit]

You will learn more from this than any consultant can teach you.
There's plenty of information here on BHW.
Be careful buying services, til you understand exactly how they work
Make a plan, and do the link building yourself yourself

This way you wil see what works, Later on you can outsource it

This is what i am thinking but i still think i need a mentor to prioritise my needs and suggest solutions. Then i will do all the legwork.