Grow Your Business Online with Webplus Shop!

This article is part of our series on wholesale and dropship services.

If you’re ready to invest in your online busienss and access a large volume of inventory, keep reading. We’ll examine the pros and cons of using a drop shipper that charges a recurring fee. What is a dropshipper?

Some dropshippers charge recurring fees, often on a monthly basis, to ensure that they primarily work merchants who are motivated individuals and companies. We maintain lists of dropshippers here at Webplus Shop. Call us toll-free at 1-866-338-8883 (international: +1-605-229-0307) to talk about specific wholesale companies.

Pros of Recurring/Monthly Fee Dropshippers

• Dropshippers and wholesalers that operate monthly memberships often have the largest and most diverse inventory.
• Products are typically of better quality at a lower price. This means you can have a greater profit margin.
• A recurring/monthly drop shipper also may offer name-brand products your customers will recognize.

Cons of Recurring/Monthly Fee Dropshippers

• The big disadvantage is that your recurring payment is due regardless of your sales level.
• If monthly wholesaler fees sound like too much, consider a One-Time-Fee Dropshipper

Leverage a Recurring/Monthly Fee Dropshipper Relationship

The recurring/monthly fee wholesalers are the real deal of online sales. Commit to good marketing to ensure to reach your target sales volume each month and keep current with your wholesaler membership. Good marketing and clever pricing can eventually result in a positive return on investment.

This article is part of our series on wholesale and dropship services.

If you have a small amount of start-up cash to invest in your online business or just want to expand your inventory, keep reading. We’ll examine the pros and cons of using a drop shipper that requires a one-time fee. What is a dropshipper?

Dropshippers that require a one-time entry fee simply ask that you pay once for the continued use of their services. The fee helps ensure that the dropshipper primarily works with motivated individuals and companies. We maintain lists of dropshippers here at Webplus Shop. Call us toll-free at 1-866-338-8883 (international: +1-605-229-0307) to talk about specific wholesale companies.

Pros of One-Time Fee Dropshippers

• One-time fee dropshippers tend to have decent wholesale prices made possible by larger, more frequent orders from their well-funded and motivated merchants.
• Larger merchant orders also mean better selection and better availability of inventory.
• The initial fee usually accompanies capable support when you’re getting started and help with any issues later on.
• Some products may even be from trusted, name-brand manufacturers.

Cons of One-Time Fee Dropshippers

• The initial fee is usually several hundred dollars or sometimes more. If this seems like too much, consider a Per-Order or No-Fee Dropshipper.
• It may be hard to predict the value of your up-front investment to the dropshipper.

Leverage a One-Time Fee Dropshipper Relationship

Do extensive research on the dropshipper. Ask their sales staff direct questions about anything not fully covered on their website. You’re going to want to find a dropshipper that is suitable for the long-term. The longer you’re selling, the greater your return-on-investment will be.

For more information about wholesale dropshippers or starting your own online store, call us toll-free at 1-866-338-8883 (international: +1-605-229-0307) or send us an email.

This article is part of our series on wholesale and dropship services.

[photo by Allison Felus is shared]

This article is part of our series on wholesale and dropship services.

If you’re looking to open and online store with no up-front investment or want to cheaply supplement your existing online store’s inventory, keep reading. This article will help explain some of the pros and cons in regards to the no-fee and per-order drop shippers. What is a dropshipper?

No-fee dropshippers simply require that you sign-up with them to use their services. Per-order dropshippers charge a small fee each time you place an order for products. We maintain lists of dropshippers here at Webplus Shop. Call us toll-free at 1-866-338-8883 (international: +1-605-229-0307) to talk about specific wholesale companies.

Pros of Per-Order & No-Fee Dropshippers

• You have very little or no overhead on your inventory. You don’t have to keep any stock on hand and you don’t have to worry about packaging and shipping from home.
• “No Sales, No Fees.” This means that if you experience a slow month, you won’t be paying a monthly wholesaler fee that eats into your profits.

Cons of Per-Order & No-Fee Dropshippers

• Often the products will be at a higher wholesale cost and you won’t have as high of a markup.
• Sometimes the products are not name-brand which can, but doesn’t always, indicate questionable product quality.

Leverage a Per-Order or No-Fee Dropshipper Relationship

You can easily use a no-fee or per-order drop shipper to your advantage. Not only does it have zero or very low overhead cost, it also allows you to widen your catalog with no initial fee. A larger catalog can quickly widen your customer base.

Lastly, keep an eye out for drop shippers with steep minimum order requirements or consistently low quantity-on-hand (i.e. in stock) amounts. These can result in an inconvenience to both you and your customers.

For more information about wholesale dropshippers or starting your own online store, call us toll-free at 1-866-338-8883 (international: +1-605-229-0307) or send us an email.

This article is part of our series on wholesale and dropship services.

[photo by Alan Turkus is shared]

Times are tough right now. If you’re looking for a job, either by choice or unfortunate circumstance, chances are you have plenty of competition. You NEED to stand out from the rest.

By creating a simple Website Resume, you can direct potential employers to see that little bit extra about who you are and what you offer. An About.com article reflects this idea.

“The rules have changed and you are no longer confined to the boundaries of a sheet of paper. Because it’s a resume and a Web site, you have a little more freedom to express yourself.”

“Make it clean and brief, and grab their attention right off the bat on the first page. Don’t include too many extras on the first page, but rather link to them.”

There’s a number of things you can include on a Resume Webpage that either wouldn’t fit or don’t belong on a typical résumé. Here’s a list of some ideas and recommendations from us and Virginia Tech’s Career Services Department…

• Include a small photo of yourself to match a face with your name
• Have copies of reference letters, certifications, or other relevant docs
• Showcase your professional papers or provide abstracts
• Link to items or businesses referenced in your résumé
• Detail your work experience and/or responsibilities from past jobs

It’s even a good idea to keep a redundant copy of your resume online in case an employer happens to find your page via the web. Also, list the cities or regions where you’re willing to work and if you’re open towards relocation. If an employer is outside of your area then they’ll know to move on.

Having your own professional website also means that when human resources searches your name on Google, your Facebook or MySpace page won’t be the only results with all great pictures you probably keep there.

Why Use Webplus Shop to Manage Your Resume Website?

The Webplus Shop software was built to allow online businesses to easily market and sell products. Although you wouldn’t need to sell products on your resume website you can still use our powerful tools and extensive features to help market your experience to potential employers.

These tools would be especially helpful…

• The Custom Page Editor easily builds web pages, even if you don’t know HTML code
• Our Design Area is easy! Use the Resume graphic set and the Cool Blue Professional colors
• The Webplus Shop Search Engine Tools let employers find you by searching online
• Our staff can advise you on how to leverage the web to improve your résumé

The best part is that our Custom Page Editor has a Paste from Word function that allows you to take your already carefully crafted resume and quickly turn it into a webpage. Give it a try in our Webplus Shop Online Demo.

We’ve made a hosting package Just For Your Online Résumé

Here’s what you do: enter in promocode RESUME when you signup for Webplus Shop Hosting and we’ll give you the following hosting plan to build a website resume.

• $30 for 3 months for hosting, cancel any time – that’s only $10/month!
• Get a free “.info” domain name, like http://YourName.info
• Get a free website email address, like contact@YourName.info
• Use our included email support when you have questions about your site
• Get a one-time, free phone consultation with our Online Business Specialists

Once your website is up and running, make sure to include your http://YourName.info web address on your paper résumé. It can fit well among your other contact info or you can make it bold to ensure it gets noticed by those who are seriously considering your services.

Don’t wait. Sign-up now and use the RESUME promocode.

Please give us a call at 866-338-8883 or send us an email if you have any questions.

Since your webstore will need to collect personal/private info to complete a sale, you should consider writing a Privacy Policy for your business. Having a written policy gives a customer confidence in purchasing from your website. The people over at Trust and Security Online seem to agree.

Having a privacy policy builds a large amount of trust in this area because:

1. The customer will know what is going to happen to their information once they provide it to a company.
2. The customer will learn what they need to do to keep themselves from getting any unnecessary newsletters, emails, or other unwanted material.
3. The customer also knows where their information will be stored once they provide it to you.

Although there are a few Privacy Policy generators available to you, your best bet it is to clearly and simply state what you intend to do with customer information. We here at Webplus Shop indeed follow our own advice and have our own clear, short privacy policy.

Finally, to create a webpage for your Privacy Policy, use the Custom Page tools already built-in to your Webplus Shop store.

Drop shipping is a form of supply chain management where one company, the wholesaler, manages the inventory and shipping while another company, the merchant (You!), promotes the products and takes orders from customers.

When a product is purchased, the merchant sends the customer’s order info and shipping details to the wholesaler. The wholesaler then ships the goods directly to the customer. Merchants earn profit by selling the products at a higher price than the low wholesale cost of the items.

Signing-up with a wholesaler usually done through one of the following types of plans…

• Recurring-fee membership to the wholesaler’s inventory and services
• One-time, up-front investment for a lifetime membership
• Small, per-order fees paid when products are ordered
• No-fee, free-to-use drop shipping services and inventory

Over the next several weeks on the Webplus Shop Tips & Tricks Blog, we’ll examine these different plan types along with the pros and cons of each method.

Read all of these articles on wholesalers and dropshipping.

If you would like specific info on wholesale relationships available to you as a Webplus Shop Merchant, please give us a call at 1-866-338-8883.

You are acting as a Copywriter any time that you use your writing to promote your products or services.  (Wikipedia has a longer definition.)  One of the strongest areas to turn a customer into a sale is in a product’s description.  Webplus Shop calls this a Product Long Description and they can be found on the Inventory > Products > [Edit] page.

There are plenty of resources available for writing a compelling product description, such as TheMauritius.com’s How to Write a Product Description article.

A good product description conveys the benefits of using the product and not just the facts around the product. A good product description convinces the customer that they need the product and they need to purchase it from you.

In short, don’t just explain what the customer is looking at, but also why they want to buy it.  Before you begin editing your descriptions though, understand that it is important to have a consistent “voice” used in all of your copywriting. FutureNow’s 2 Simple Steps to Finding Your Website’s Voice article explains more about voice and how to give your own store an identity through writing.

I would argue that copy is perhaps the most important element for conveying your website’s personality or voice. As a copywriter, there are two things you must do:

1. Have a clear understanding of your personality, brand or voice
2. Convey that personality, brand or voice to your audience

Use these resources and keep these ideas in mind to write better copy, especially in your product descriptions.  If you want to learn more a copywriting, start by reading Copyblogger.  The insight you’ll gain there will be invaluable as an online business owner.

There has been some questions coming in regarding the new Webplus Shop 6.6 shipping configuration within the Merchant Interface. Here is some clarification. You may contact us if we have not addressed your question.

Q: How do I set a handling fee?

A: The Handling fee is set on the Settings > Shipping page. A handling fee can be set for each “Carrier-Calculated” rate, but not for flat rates. It is assumed that flat rates include any handling fees in them already.

Q: How do I get rid of the “Rest of World Option”? I can only ship my stuff within the US and as it’s configured it looks like a customer could ship for free anywhere outside the US?

A: You cannot currently remove the “Rest Of World” option, as it is used as a fallback. There are 2 workarounds that can be done. 1) You can go through each country and disable it. This will take a long time, as there are over 200 countries. 2) You can set a “Rest of World” rate that is very high to discourage sales from other countries.

We are working on a way to disable this, along with a way to disable continents (instead of just countries) for a future release.

Q: Don’t understand the “Shipping Rate” field?

A: Shipping in Webplus Shop 6.6 is completely different than in previous releases. It is assumed that all shipping is flat rate, except when set to “Carrier-Calculated” rates. The Shipping Rate field is the rate for a flat rate shipping option.

Q: Where do I select the carriers I plan to use?

A: The new shipping system allows the use of “Carrier-Calculated” rates for USPS, UPS and FedEx within the US only. International carrier-calculated shipping will be added in a future release. As a result, you need to create a US shipping rate to enable this. Here is how to do it:

1. Click “Add New Shipping Rate.”
2. Select “North America” for the continent.
3. Select “United States” for the country.
4. Choose “Carrier-Calculated Rates” for the Rate Type option (which appears when “United States” is selected for the country).
5. Select the shipping carrier you wish to offer. Only one carrier can be chosen for each shipping rate. If you wish to offer multiple carriers, then you need to create multiple shipping rates (all for North America -> United States). Note, if a carrier is already setup in another shipping rate, it will not appear on the list to prevent duplication.
6. Check the shipping services you wish to offer for the chosen carrier (Example: FedEx 2-day, etc.).
7. Enter the Handling Charge to be added to the carrier-calculated rates

   One of the first questions facing many merchants new to selling online is whether they should set up their new online store themselves or pay for professional online store setup. It may seem logical that if you are able to set up the store yourself you should. Why pay someone else to do something you can do yourself, especially if you are on a tight budget? However this is not always true. Below is a brief discussion of the pros and cons of setting up an online store yourself vs. paying a web designer to do it for you.

   First off, I should say that many shopping carts do not leave an option for you. Many are very complicated on the backend and require a programmer to do all setup and future changes. Unless you have programming knowledge I would not recommend attempting to set up a store yourself with such a shopping cart. For the average merchant, I would not recommend this type of cart at all since all future changes will require you to hire a programmer which can get very expensive. Only in the event that you have a programmer on staff or happen to be a programmer yourself would I recommend a cart which is this technical. With that said, Webplus Shop, our shopping cart software, leaves both options open for you as it is simple enough for you to set up yourself and we also offer affordable website setup for just $349.

   So back to the question, should you set up your online store yourself or pay for professional setup? In most cases, if resources allow, I would recommend paying to have your online store set up by a professional web designer who can make the website look great and get it done in a timely fashion.  Web designers usually have years of experience in what makes a website enticing to visitors and can showcase your products in a way that, in most cases, would be better then if you set up  the website yourself. The initial setup of your online store is very, very important to the future of your online business so you want it to look as inviting as possible. You should use the initial setup of your online store to learn from your web designer which you can apply as you make changes to the store down the line. As you get more experienced running your online store you can begin to add your own touch. Then there is the time factor. As if it weren’t time consuming enough running a small business now you have to worry about setting up a website as well! For many small business owners just finding the time to get all their products entered into their online store can take weeks. In ecommerce, time is money! You are missing out on sales every day that your store is not online selling for you. For this reason, the couple hundred to couple thousand dollars that most web designers or shopping cart companies charge to set up your online store is well worth it and a small investment for the long term. Our company charges $349 for complete online store setup and can usually have your website live within 48 hours.

   Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not completely against setting up your online store yourself. There are some cases in which it makes sense. If you have a very limited budget or are simply experimenting with a product concept, it may make sense to set up an online store yourself to test the waters without much of an investment. If you are good with programming or graphic design you may want to put your skills to work as well. Or if you have adequate time to learn new software and do the store setup, again, you may consider setting up an online store yourself. This may be true of retired individuals or those whose business is currently more of a hobby.  Webplus Shop is very easy to use with no programming knowledge required. We usually figure it takes under an hour to learn. If you are looking for an online store solution that is easy to set up yourself please do give it a look.

Previously, we discussed an excellent way to begin setting up your online store with good search engine optimization (SEO) by setting the <title> and <meta> tags in your store’s pages. Now, we will take it a step further by optimizing the category pages.

Your category pages are some of the most important pages in your online store. After the home page, the category and product pages drive sales the most. Optimizing them for search engines will significantly increase your sales and add a boost to all of your other promotional efforts.

Like the other pages you optimized by setting <title> and <meta> tags, you can do this on your category pages. By default, the <title> tags are set to match the name of the product or category displayed. This will help your store somewhat, but adding additional relevant keywords to the product and category name will give your customers a better chance to find you.

Here is a simple method for setting the <title> and <meta> tags for your category pages:

1. Login to the merchant interface of your webstore (link opens in a new browser window).
2. Click on the “Inventory” tab.
3. Click on “Categories” option that appeared.
4. Select the category you wish to optimize by clicking on it’s name.
5. Click on the “Marketing and SEO” section to expand it.
6. Enter your desired <title> and <meta> tag keywords. Keep in mind that the most relevant and important keywords should be first. Also remember to refrain from repeating keywords too much, or your business website may be considered spam and be rejected by search engines.
7. Repeat this for each of your categories to customize the keywords for each specific category.

Customizing the SEO information for each category will drive more customers who are looking specifically for the products you sell in that category. This will help them find your online store and place an order with greater ease.