Internet Stores

Internet Stores was Originally Posted on December 26, 2009 by lavarock

I wonder if you have heard of Clark Howard, the consumer advisor known especially to his listeners in Atlanta, but now on Headline News with a TV show?

My friends often hear me quote him, as I have learned a lot from him. He is frugal and well respected in both the travel and consumer fields.

He has many books and CD’s out and has been on the NY Times Best Sellers list. In fact, he cares so much about saving you money, that he even encourages you to buy his books second-hand, much to the dismay of his publisher! He can tell you what price gimmick tells you if WalMart is losing money on a product and is clearing it out.

Today on a Clark Howard minute he mentioned a survey which shows how people who work from home and run their own businesses can be happier than those working for others. However, he also cautions people about “work-at-home” scams and how you must be very careful.

Recently, I had someone aproach me with three items which immediately sent up flags, because I listen to Clark often. The first was that she was going on this great vacation to the Bahamas. It seems someone called her out of the blue (here in Hawaii) with a “you have to book now and go later” deal. Oftentimes these are horrible deals. The second thing she told me was that she needed to renegotiate her mortgage and a “lawyer” had called her. She sent him $1,000 in advance and he disappeared. Finally she decided to make some money by selling pre-paid legal, which also can be sub-optimal for most people.

Anyway, Clark’s website is http://ClarkHoward.Com and there is a wealth of info there. He even has a forum where people can post anti-Clark messages when they disagree with him.

A couple weeks ago a neighbor went to one of those “Internet Shopping” sales pitches. They show up at hotels and offer free dinner and you listen to stories about how you can make millions selling items in your very own store. They will help you and will even link you to products for sale. She did not sign up, and I had told a number of people in advance and warned them to do their homework. After paying hundreds you find that you need to pay thousands and then end up reselling the same products as everyone else in this companys “associates”. When you hear that you CAN make “X” dollars, realize that you probably won’t. Also if the the company says that you don’t even need any skills or products, then why do they need you? Because you are just a worker for their own sales efforts.

With that said, you may wonder why I tell you that “I” can help you set up an internet store? I have hosting accounts and credit card processors and free website software to offer you. When someone calls and says they want to set up a store, I ask them what they will be selling, where it comes from, who they want to market to, what is their budget, and offer all sorts of information. I do this because I am tired of seeing people pay too much for too little. My motto is “never pay retail”

I had a guy from the island here call me about a website. He was wanting to resell products but didn’t have much information about what he was going to sell and how it would be delivered, etc. I think he had gone to one of these seminars. Months later he called back and asked about setting up an affiliate site. I assume he and his friend are sstill looking fro a project and store, but I am not going to get in the middle and help them lose money.

I don’t have products to sell, unless someone wants to resell my coffee! I help people set up internet stores using evry cost-effective means. I don’t do very fancy websites, but can direct people to someone who does or direct them to software that does it for free.

A complete website with a domain name, hosting for a year, professional shopping cart, SSL security certificate, dedicated IP address, links to payment companies and turnkey is about $100 a year! Imagine these people paying thousands for a small subset of this. The cart can be set up and loaded in a day or two and I do training and hand holding until you get going. You do NOT need to be a computer expert, but the more you know, the faster and easier it is.

I have set up and run websites for many of my neighbors and they are quite happy. They had a product to sell already. I made suggestions about how to package and ship the istems cost-effectively and help them decide how to charge fro them and when to do a sale and how to offer discounts.

Because the software is open source, it is used worldwide by tens of thousands of people. It knows different curriencies, languages and shipping and payment procedures. Patches are offered quickly and there are online forums for those who wish to take command and manage it themselves.

If you are thinking about starting an internet business, here are my suggestions. Decide on a product which you know and can define. Know who you think your customers are. Know what the itemss costs you (either to make or purchase and modify). Although shopping carts can sit in the background and make money for you, you also may want to sell your items at a swap meet or locally. You need to do some marketing to tell the world about your product. Just setting up a store won’t necessarily get the job done,

If you want to get into internet business, you are welcome to contact me and we can discusss things. If your only at the stage that you think you want to open a store, but don’t know what to sell, then I probably can’t help you.

My website at http://ItsKona.Com is a simple site with a shopping cart. I have 10 other sites to send you to if you want to see more.

If you just want a place to host forums, a blog, get you mail, have your own domaim name like Fredsplace.com, let me know. That can be quite cheap for you. You can host all sorts of items, start a classified ads site, rent rooms or condos, even have online chat for more information. A sample of a forum is at http://Planet-Aloha.Com.

My hosting site is at http://Planet-Aloha.Info where a couple different hosting suggestions are listed, however, I can tailor one just for you at a lower cost.

I sugggest you need to look for bargains and compare things. Know if you are getting a bargain. Tou should be able to start out slowly and cheaply and add items and processes later.

Perhaps I’ll see you on the internet soon!