As an independent entrepreneur running your own e-commerce
business, what is your selling routine? Do you list daily, just over the
weekends, or perhaps it’s a “when you have the time” kind of thing?
If you fall into that last “when you have the time” category, then
this article is for you. Building a successful business has a lot in common
with training like an athlete, and before you say I’m no athlete, you don’t
have to be you have to adopt just a few of their tactics.
Any athlete will tell you that the key to staying at the
peak of their game is to build a routine and stick with it. Since we are
primarily focused here on growing the number of listings you have for sale and
not body mass, let’s break your tasks into sets of routines.
Prepping
Photographing
Listing
Shipping
Now the ultimate goal is to sell more merchandise, and you
can do this by gradually improving your ability to perform these tasks. Set
aside a minimum of three days per week in which to do these (with the exception
of shipping) and block out a few hours to give these tasks your undivided
attention. Day one prep, day two photography, day three listing you get the
idea, and In order to streamline these processes, be sure that you have a
dedicated workspace and stick to a single task until the job is completed.
Prepping- For example, if just received a load of women’s
apparel and are eager to get it listed, the first thing you should do is prep
the entire load. You may suffer from an overwhelming desire to just pull out
the good stuff and post it quickly but fight this temptation and stick to the
routine. If your prep consists of unpacking, sorting, racking, tag removal,
steaming/pressing, do this before you photograph and list a single item.
Photographing- With step two, it’s all about taking quality
photos, and this can be done with your phone easily enough, just be sure that
things like lighting and your background are appropriate. You can experiment a
bit with this add more lighting or try a different or unique backdrop just
remember you do not need to spend a fortune on equipment to take a good
picture.
Listing- For many sellers, this is the most challenging
task, the blank description that needs to be filled. The good news is that you
can fill up your listings with some basic facts that are readily available like
brand, style, size, and color. Create either a template for your listings or a
checklist of essential details that way, you can cross them out as you create
the listing and not have to worry about leaving out critical information.
Shipping- We leave this for last because it’s the last step
and also the mark of success. The more your shipping means, the better you’re
doing steps one, two, and three. Do this last step either first thing in the
morning or right before you go to bed but do every day with no exceptions!
Remember, as a seller, your competing against same-day delivery with some
online retailers, so shipping just a few times a week is no longer an option.
One final note with all of these tasks, speed is important,
so you should time yourself and try to improve upon your processes but never
sacrifice quality over speed. Take one good picture now rather than
photographing again weeks later or spend an extra minute writing a great
product description rather than an ok one. Great photos and great descriptions
sell merchandise.
Want to stay at the peak of your selling game, then create a
routine and stick to it.