So you want to be able to sell stuff on the Internet, eh? There’s eBay and even Amazon, but, if this blog has had a common theme of late, it’s been pushing independent retailers–particularly bike shops–to start thinking about e-commerce, and to take charge of things themselves. Given the huge shift in consumer shopping patterns, I think it’s borderline inexcusable that so few retailers have yet to expand onto the Internet in at least some way. Selling things on eBay is great, and can get you added exposure for your shop, but it won’t build the same kind of following that a blog will, and why send people away from your site, when it’s just as easy to sell them stuff right there in your blog?

My particular angle is that small, aggressive and hard-working but underfunded businesses should be leveraging the Internet as much as possible, because there’s never been a better equalizer in the world of business–or the world, in general–as the Interet. With the right approach, small retailers can compete with much larger companies.

Some entrenched brick-and-mortar retailers–the kind that tend to strangle the smaller and sometimes much more dedicated and knowledgeable retailers–will bitch that nobody should be allowed to sell anything on the Internet and all this needs to stop, these kids with their punk rock music and texting, etc., etc. To these retailers I would only say, don’t worry, guys. This whole Internet things is just a fad. You can go back to sleep now.

While I’ve been offering some general advice about first steps retailers can take, I hold particular disdain for business consulting bullshit-mongers who make big promises to small businesses based on vague concepts and expensive products and services. Having searched for small business resources on-line myself, I know what it’s like to try to find answers to even the most common questions about taking a business on-line. The sheer number of graphics-heavy sites that lack any substance whatsoever, snake-oil salesmen pitching “SEO” ranking systems, and “white papers” about “synergizing the maximization of your ROI” is staggering.

The services industry built to support small business can be a vague and spooky place. I’ve always hated that.

So in thinking about ways small businesses can begin selling products on-line, I wanted to be specific. So far, I’ve stressed the importance of having content. Your shop is a brand. That brand doesn’t just sell products; it sells itself–its customer service, its knowledge, its story. Establishing a brand is the first and most crucial step in integrating e-commerce into your business. Once you’re generating content, though, it’s time to look for really inexpensive ways to start selling stuff.

Again, a personal goal is for my advice to be based on doing instead of talking, so let’s look at one very specific way you make your first Internet sale. This is a work in progress that I’m going through for the first time myself, and we’ll only cover the first part today.

Start Selling On-line, Part 1: WordPress

The first step is to set up a WordPress blog. I should have written “decide on a platform,” but just use WordPress. You may prefer a different method for communicating with your customers, but I recommend WordPress for a few reasons. First, it’s a totally developed “ecosystem,” which is a fancy bullshit term that’s come to mean “an organized place with rules and standards so that lots of people can contribute to it.” That means you can bolt-on all kinds of capabilities. Second, it’s pretty simple and stable. Enough people are using it that lots of resources exist to help you get questions answered, and it lets you do a lot without knowing much, if anything, about writing code or how websites work. My eleven-year-old writes her own book review site for kids using a WordPress blog. If you already have your own basic web site, there are also ways to embed a WordPress blog pretty easily, which is nice.

Another reason to use WordPress is that my detailed instructions are going to pertain to it, though a lot of what I write can be extrapolated out to apply to similar systems.

Step 1: Get Some

You can sign up for a free WordPress blog pretty easily. It’ll have ads and stuff, which sucks, and won’t have as much room to store images and videos, and won’t let you customize that much, but, well, it’s free.

A cheap alternative is get a domain name and to go to an inexpensive host. If you go this route, you’ll want to pick out a domain name–like frankensteinsunicorn.com (that one probably isn’t taken). My goal isn’t to go through how to set up a domain name here, but I can offer help with that, if anyone out there needs it. E-mail me. Usually, you can just contact a host and they’ll help you out from there, but they charge more, so consider going to a place that specializes in domain name registration, like GoDaddy.com, Register.com, or NetworkSolutions.com. Yes, the GoDaddy guy can be a sexist prick who murders elephants and they supported the flaming bag of shit that is SOPA, before caving and fighting it, but they’re cheap, and really all domain name registrars are massive assholes. If you go this route, just close your eyes and pick one.

After you have a domain name, you want to find a host. I use Bluehost, and for something like $6 a month or so, you can host a site–a bunch of sites, actually–on a server there. Most importantly, they make it incredibly easy to install WordPress, and many other things, on your site. I recommend you find a host that offers this easy installation service, as it makes your life so much easier. Bluehost literally has a feature on the dashboard that lets you manage your site called “Simple Scripts.” Click it and you’ll see a bunch of programs you can install right into your site files with one click. Instant WordPress site.

One additional advantage to paying a little for your own domain name and host is that you can have your own swanky e-mail addresses. No more, “awesomeprobikes@gmail.com.” Setting up e-mail accounts is also outside my scope here, but easy to do. Use the form at the right to contact me if you need help. Again, with just a little guidance, this is really easy to set up.

My goal is to make this a really basic–and extremely specific–introduction, so that’s it for now. Anyone interested in taking me up on this, please feel free to comment or use the e-mail box to contact me, and I’ll be happy to help. I would love to help any small bike shops out there.

Next week, we add the ability to sell stuff. I have a Surly Big Dummy frameset I’ve decided not to build up, and that will be our 40lb guinea pig. Before you know it, you’ll be a freakin’ Internet entrepreneur. Or at least able to unload that set of Tioga Farmer John’s tires you still have right from your very own blog.