I love ecommerce.
You can sell anything to anyone and anywhere in the world. You are limited only by your imagination. And the limits you put on your store. That’s it.
I started my ecommerce story in 2001. At a time when ecommerce was virtually unheard of. I was selling a marketing service where international suppliers would buy a marketing service from my site at 180 dollars a pop. Hey…not bad for a 20 year old.
I had a very basic website (like 5 pages), a marketing service, and a virgin credit card processor. It was all so new to me, but very exciting. I was an entrepreneur overnight. It was unbelievable.
So what did I really do?
Step 1: Get an ecommerce website
Note: The difference between a regular site and ecommerce store is the feature to complete transactions online. You need an online payment solution such as Stripe or Paypal. I’ll write an another article on the various online payment processing solutions available to ecommerce sites.
Step 2: Get a product or service
Back in 2001, there weren’t many products to services to sell online. So I created one: I sold a marketing service to international exporters that would connect them to their target buyers. Because what does every seller need? A buyer. Simple.
Step 3: An online payment processor
With the internet still evolving, payment solutions were still in the wild wild west. I remember it being a jungle out there. But Pay Systems (no longer active) was, by far, the best credit card processor in the world. Inmho tho.
My ecommerce venture lasted for a good 5 years. Till it gave to another one of my ecommerce projects, the World Seafood Directory. All my learnings, insight, shortcomings and failures made me a better online entrepreneur.
The point of this story?
Just start. Don’t wait. Don’t worry. Some things do take care of themselves. And others just fit right in.
Studies are designed for students whose scheduling commitments would otherwise make it difficult to enroll in a full-time higher education program. Offered for individual courses, diplomas, associate’s degrees and certificate programs, online studies are a valuable option.
Church released!