eCommerce Success: Is It Luck or Something Else?

 

I find far too often that eCommerce sellers get excited about things that should be common occurrences in their online business. A great sale with high profits, sourcing an item they will make hundreds on, having a bunch of people like your Facebook page, and the list goes on. Don’t get me wrong, I love when you have something wonderful happen! I just don’t want it to be because of luck! You work too hard in your business to rely on chance.

 

 

Another trap we fall into is seeing someone else do something a certain way and automatically thinking that will work for our business, too. I am a big advocate of planning and goal setting. These are two things that will take you from luck in sales to intentional strategies for profits. I had a tremendous business coach, Janelle Elms. She would always tell me I needed to be intentional in my business and it took me quite a while to figure out just what that meant. I needed to stop using spaghetti marketing techniques, which meant going from week to week trying something new until I found something that would “stick” (picture throwing the spaghetti noodles on the wall to see if they were done). Instead I learned to write out a marketing plan, set a marketing calendar and be intentional about what I was putting out there for my potential customers to see.

 

 

One of the things that will grow your business is consistency. Consistency in your message and in your products. Nowadays your customers need to develop a relationship with you; they need to “like” you so-to-speak. This happens when they start feeling a sense of stability in your message and what you are saying to them. What doesn’t work well is to one day be listing antique glass and the next high fashion clothing; this sends the wrong message to your customers and to the search engines that drive those customers in. You may very well sell many of the items, but in the big picture will this be good for your business? Will those customers come back, and when they do will they find something else to buy?

 

 

My advice to sellers is to write a plan, know who you want to be online. Meaning, what is your message to potential buyers? Can they trust they will always find the things they are looking for by coming straight to you? Do you have a message in your social media marketing that will speak to them in a way that makes them feel they know you? By building these things, you will find more consistent sales happening for higher prices, you will have an easier time with your social media marketing and hopefully you will no longer be surprised when you get something really great happening in your business because you planned on it happening!

 

No more luck! With the right plan and consistent marketing that good stuff can happen all the time!