Being an online retailer requires a good command of the industry, the insights of it. But where can one learn about that stuff? One of the best solutions is reading industry publications. This source can help you learn how to market the products and make up the product lines according to your customers’ requirements.

Some words about Trade publications

First of all, what’s a trade publication? According to Lisa Suttora (WhatDoISell.com), it is:

“A trade publication is a magazine, newspaper, or even email newsletter that is written specifically for industry insiders.”

A trade magazine supplies you with a great amount of extremely important information:

• Product lines that are being sold
• The ways of successful marketing of the products you are dealing in
• Reports on what is selling good at the moment and what is likely to be popular in the near future
• All the upcoming industry events
• Contact Information of suppliers (as you already know this information as well as the choice of the right wholesale suppliers can be crucial for you business)
• The new products the manufacturers are likely to come up with
• All the latest trends and tendencies in the industry

Rely on your knowledge

No matter what industry you are into, each has its own publications which are as a rule available only to subscribers. Some of these subscriptions come for free, others cost money. But even if you pay a monthly fee you can still save a lot of money by learning from others’ mistakes instead of doing your own ones. In order to find these industry publications you can run a Google search under “trade publication” or “trade magazine.”

Does it really give me a competitive edge?

Of course if does! Reading such publications ones gains valuable knowledge on the structure of his business and his/her sourcing choices become more conscious than blind. You can learn all the latest trends beforehand and thus have a competitive edge over your competitors.

Perfect Product Sourcing

Trade publications help you make the product lines more versatile. The give you a clue on how to make the selling strategies and tactics more effective.

Suttora continues:

“You’ve got to look at all the ideas available for different kinds of products to sell. You can’t do that in a vacuum—you need a system to help you have creative ideas.”

When you are on the edge of opening an eBiz or already have one, you still have to keep in mind that it is a real business and the approach to it must be a proper one. You have to make sure all the legal formalities are carried out. Consider all the legal issues in order not to lose money in case of emergency.

Do I Need to Charge Taxes Online?

Taxes issues

When you own an eBiz you have to keep current on taxes that are connected to your activities. As you are a retailer you have to be aware of the payments of state sales taxes.

Jim Reed, www.tetontax.com, comments:

“The collection of sales tax for items sold over the internet is only required if the business has a physical presence in that state.”

To cut the long story short according to Jim if you sale a product to a customer from a different state you need to charge this customer the sales tax.

Besides taking extra money from customers (as taxes) you are responsible for delivering this money to the government. As a rule in the majority of states you have to fill out a tax return.

Reed continues:

“You’re required to fill that out, whether you have sales or not, once you obtain a sales tax license. Each state has its own sales tax form to be completed, signed, and filed, and the tax remitted, based on what taxes have been collected during that period.”

Some thoughts on the structuring of eBiz

In order to make your eBiz legally proper you need to give a careful thinking on how to structure it. There are a number of type of eBiz structure:

1. Sole Proprietorships

This type of business is usually set up by eBiz owners who want to avoid the costs of incorporating. At the same time this type of business makes you property vulnerable in a lawsuit.

2.Corporation or an LLC

Remember that the major advantage of a corporation is getting your property insured. In case your company is used only the belongings of the corporation are at risk. The fees associated with setting up a corporation or an LLC are fairly minimal

To conclude: no matter what type of property you decide on, take your time to consult a CPA and an attorney in order to be sure that you are legally squared away and find out what scheme is the most effective in your case.

When you are a small online business owner you have to think about the promotion of your site sooner or later. To my mind, the most effective way to do it invented so far is the email campaign.

What are your options?

In fact, you have 3 choices of software types for the campaign:

1. Desktop software
2. Web server software
3. ASP hosted service

The third option has one significant competitive edge over its opponents – you are not responsible for the delivery of e-letters. Subscribing to this type of service you get a certain number of email for a monthly fee.

Dr. Ralph Wilson, Wilson Internet Services, says:

“With desktop or web server software, basically you’re responsible to get them delivered… Whereas if you’re paying someone else for that service, it’s their job, and many of them take it very seriously.”

A desktop server has another advantage – its cost.

Follow the tips:

If you decide on a desktop or server solution here are a couple of tips that will help you get the mail delivered to the users:

1. Don’t be spam. How not to be spam? Here are some pieces of advice that will help you avoid spamming:

• Don’t use all caps.
• Don’t use HTML messages that are primarily graphics.
• Don’t try to trick filters by replacing letters with asterisks or breaking words up with punctuation marks. Filters are getting smarter, and you could end up on a black list.
• Don’t use sloppy HTML.
• Don’t use large or small fonts. Stick with H1, H2, or H3 heading tags

2. Use sender certification

There are companies like Habeas.com and BondedSender.com that certify your small business. Once you get your company certified you can be sure that you can get through spam filters right to the hearts of your potential clients.

Issues with a Hosted Server

If you decide to sign up to a hosted server here are a number of things you should keep in mind:

• What precautions do they take to prevent spammers from enrolling? A good host company will have measures in place, such as confirmed opt-in, to make sure that they’re not allowing spammers to join.
• Do they take any precautions to prevent spammers from signing with the service?
• Does the service offer any tracking system? Nowadays a number of hosted servers allow you to see how many email recipients have opened your letters and visited your site through the links provided by the letters
• Is their customer service good? In order to tell a good one from a bad one you can simply see if it takes a long time for them to respond to your inquiries.