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Alibaba is to the People’s Republic of China what Amazon is to the USA. Alibaba was founded on 4th April, 1999, by a perennial failure named Jack Ma and his 17 close friends, who scraped together just US$80,000 from 80 small investors to start what was possibly a Third Revolution for China. Alibaba was China’s first online marketplace for Chinese companies. Today, the Revenue from Alibaba has topped US$56 Billion, with a Net Income of US$12 Billion. Jack Ma himself became the richest man in China, with a personal worth that exceeds US$47 Billion on Nov. 19, 2019. All this acquired in a span of just Twenty Years or less. And this is what makes the story of the History And Growth Of Alibaba so fascinating to follow.

Who is Jack Ma?

In a sense, the story of Alibaba is the story of Jack Ma. It is the story of a man who never gave up, whose herculean efforts are now legendary. Even during the beginning of his childhood days, he had failed in his exams for Primary School, twice. During his Middle School exams, he failed three times. Entrance Exams to Universities were failed thrice. He wrote and applied Ten times to Harvard University, only to be rejected every time. Finally, he joined Hangzhou Normal University and did his Bachelor’s degree in English. Then came a protracted period, when he desperately tried to land a decent job, failing each time. Typically, KFC rejected his application, after accepting 23 other candidates. Even the Police Force refused him 5 times. But Jack could not be stopped. Even failing in two of his early Entrepreneurial Enterprises failed to damp the Spirit of Jack Ma. Overcoming his obstacles was second nature to him by now, and in 1995 he finally visited the US, for a Govt Project on Highway Building. In the US, he first came in contact with the Internet. He realized that while China’s economy was burgeoning on all aspects, the Internet Market was being sadly neglected. Ever the Dreamer, Jack Ma decided to change the scales of balance in his own country’s favor.

The Beginnings

Alibaba began life as an eCommerce startup after Jack managed to convince 17 of his friends to join him in 1999. Trust was the key. Jack managed to build trust in the Chinese people on an Online System that promised Online Delivery of Packages and Payment, purely based on trust. Investment was still low, but at the age of 31, Jack Ma was on his way. All this was without knowing anything about computers or the Online, or ever selling any goods or services. Without a cent in external investments, only the US$80,000 they had scraped together initially from around 80 small investors, operating just from Jack’s Hangzhou apartment as an office, Alibaba took off like a space rocket to the skies. SoftBank invested US$20 Million. Then another investment of US$5 Million was made by Goldman Sachs. Alibaba now had more or less captured the Chinese Market, having seen off biggies like Amazon already. The never failing courage and optimism of Jack Ma’s personage rubbed off on the now vast organization, as well as the courtesy of all members of this fraternal company. Alibaba was now ready to look outside China for more business.

Reaching For The Stars

Alibaba now expanded across the globe, rapidly shedding the China shell, and venturing on to center-stage in the USA itself. With total assets of US$144 Billion, Alibaba has been welcomed with open arms by Wall Street, and regularly feature in Sensex, Nikkei, Dow Jones and all major Share markers, along with Sensei. As far as online traffic their ecommerce assets rival even the largest source of online traffic which of course is adult sites (click here). The fact that adult dating sites and other adult content is rivaled by high converting ecommerce destinations is astounding.

In Charge On Top

Alibaba is not just China’s largest online eCommerce Company, it is on certain measures the World’s biggest. There are literally hundreds of millions of users on their roles. The Empire is divided into three sites: Alibaba.com, Tmall, and Taobao. Together, they handle more businesses than any other eCommerce company in the World. Incidentally, Taobao City is the main corporate campus for Alibaba Group, at Xixi, Handzhou. The History And Growth Of Alibaba can be summed up very simply, in Jack Ma’s own words: “We keep fighting. We keep changing. We don’t complain.”…

How To Set Up An Ecommerce Site

Step By Step

The following Steps, in answer to the question, How To Set Up An Ecommerce Site, are recommended:

  • Domain Name: A brand new Ecommerce site is often characterized by the Domain Name. This may be the first step towards a Brand Name. It is therefore worth considering very carefully. A vast number of Domain Names are always up for purchase, but the Domain targeted by the new Ecommerce site must be visualized very early on the game. If the target is local only, a single Domain Name may be fine. But if the target is multiple, or in different localities, regions or countries, then purchasing several Domain Names may well be in order. Of course, some organizations or individual entrepreneurs plan to deliver all their products and services through a single, international door (or brand), then a suitable single Domain Name may just be the right approach.
  • Secure Certificate: Ecommerce starters not using a pre-packaged service, will also need an SSL certificate. This is to secure communications between a visitor’sweb browser and the web server hosting the User’s website. For this, one needs to approach one of the several SSL certificate providers in action right now. Some of the most popular are Symantec and Thawte. Other options also exist, such as inclusive hosting companies who take care of a number of requirements for a new Ecommerce website, such as purchasing SSL certificates. Costs vary from provider to provider, but it is not prohibitive.
  • Hosting Package: OfferIng a choice of Domain Names often comes wrapped in an all-inclusive Hosting Package , together with necessary services like obtaining an SSL certificates. But the main areas to select the Package wisely are often as follows:

Uptime and Performance: The ability and record of the hosts to support continuous usage, especially times of high demand, is sn essential feature of the decision to choose one host over another. The host is the true support of an Ecommerce site, and it is their reliability in providing quality support continuously that can determine the performance and hence the future of a budding Ecommerce site.

Shared hosting environments: This is clearly not a good idea, as there is no choice in the matter of who is co-hosting. Both the Control and Security of the User’s site is at stake here, and if and when the site takes off, this may become an insurmountable hurdle. New Starters would be well advised to steer clear of this option. You may be sharing hosting with a company or site that is completely unrelated to yours. You wouldn’t necessarily wanted to be hosted with a sex site like free fuck book or another adult site for example if you have products that aren’t geared toward that same demographic.

Website Speed: The website speed can vary relative to the time difference between the location of the Site and the buyer’s location. This may involve different countries altogether. Of course, if the locality is the same, the website may be rapidly loaded. In general, however, its best to use a CDN (Content Delivery Network)to help localize the Owner;s site to different target countries. No visitor can then be lost in this way.

PCI: Most hosts can offer PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant hosting for Ecommerce customers, thereby making payments for purchases more customer-friendly and also easy for the seller.

  • Platform: Ecommerce is extremely dependent on the Platform selected for access to the right customers. Of course, it is possible to change Platforms later as the business ripens, but it is a very time consuming process to move large numbers of products, sometimes numbering in the thousands. SaaS (Software as a Service) storefronts offer a vast range of Ecommerce Platforms, with many offering customized solutions. Benefits and drawbacks should be carefully considered before choosing the right Platform.
  • IMA: An Internet-ready Bank account is necessary for Ecommerce transactions online. This IMA (Internet-ready Merchant Account) have a number of requirements and information that the Bank may need in order to set an account up for the Owner of the Site (or “Merchant”). These accounts are different from normal accounts in that the Merchant has no direct access to the funds collected until they are cleared by the Bank.
  • PSP: Ecommerce Merchants must next secure a PSP (Payment Service Provider) or a gateway for processing the payment. The rates for PSPs vary widely, so a shrewd Merchant shops around for a PSP before making the final choice.
  • PCI SSC Compliance: The PCI SSC (Payment Card Industry Security Standard Council) has an International presence, and ensures the best practices for security of online card processing for Ecommerce transactions. Each online Merchant needs to satisfy the level of compliance dictated by this worldwide organization, which creates a safety net for all the parties concerned in each online transaction.
  • Digital Marketing: Ecommerce Merchants must actively promote their website to draw customer attention to the products and services advertised online. Professional help is available, but again, careful selection of the appropriate expert is essential.

If you search for online business ideas, you will be flooded with a lot of information. Every friend, relative and online portal will have individual opinions about it and it’s not unusual to be confused about it. Ultimately your dream business will always evade you not for a lack of idea but for so many ideas.

Don’t fall into this trap. We have covered you at such a crucial hour. Take a look at these best online business ideas and invest in these. And you won’t have to look back ever again.

Affiliate marketing is in

One of the best and perhaps easiest ways to make money online is affiliate marketing. This refers to someone who gets a commission for allowing other companies to sell their products through their portal. The best part about it is that you don’t have to put much effort and develop any product yourself and you can simply earn money by selling others’ products.

For example, Amazon has an affiliate marketing portal. Here you can sign up as an affiliate and start selling any company or individual’s products through a referral link. Once someone purchases the items, you will get a commission. The highest commission is 8%. Also remember that gardening and household are the best product to derive high commission.

Sell your brand

If you have a passion to do something new, then you may start your brand. Here you have to invest a few bucks during the initial phase to set the brand. You may create designs for books, t shirts, calendars, greeting cards, hats, bags and posters and start selling these through your portal. Once the brand gets higher visibility and reputation you can earn substantial amount from these. Some of the significant sites to sell products and earn some bucks are Lulu, Teespring, Zazzle etc.

Develop apps

App development is so much in trend because of its requirement and craze among several e marketers. Google app store and Apple store are filled with numerous apps and the number is increasing everyday. Leveraging such an audience and gaining some bucks is a great opportunity for the app developers. Take some time and develop an app. You may also take assistance from an app development company. Here you can earn bucks in two ways. Firstly, you may seek to develop app for other companies and start earning substantial amount. Or you may want to develop your own app and sell it in the market. Here you can sell the app and get the audience to use your app and make built in purchases. App development can seem intimidating or too large of a pursuit. Contrary to that attitude, there are so many niches, sub niches, and even micro niches in the app development space that allow for great profits. Many online entrepreneurs build multiple apps in multiple different niches and verticals. It may come as a surprise, but when it comes to app development the adult space is a very fertile testing ground for many internet entrepreneurs. Companies like Friend Finder Networks have built a large app empire stemming from their adultfriendfinder app. Startup companies start with adult apps like Local Sex App to test their success in the adult space because of the sheer amount of online traffic. They then transfer their successful strategies to other markets.

Sell domains

Buying and selling domains can be a good marketing strategy. You can leverage this opportunity. Initially it will take some time and investment but you can definitely get that money back i due time. You have to purchase a domain with registration price at a cheap price and then establish it as a reputed site. Then several companies or start-ups would like to buy your domain at a much higher price. So you can earn a substantial amount with this. You may try reputed sites like Sedo.co.uk, Afternic.com, or expired domains.net to buy domain. Simply search with your keyword or the type of domain you want to buy. And you will get a lot of options in the above mentioned sites. Now buy your preferable one with a little registration fee and start earning.

Create an e commerce portal

Woocommerce, Shopify, Bigcommerce – all these platforms have made it easier for everyone to develop an e commerce site. You can easily build up an e commerce portal with little investment. If you are facing any trouble, you may take assistance from any mobile app development company. Don’t consider this to be a spending as the investment will readily pay you back.

You can sell any product or lend the portal open to other companies or affiliate marketers to sell their products. Whatever revenue they earn, you can get a commission for each sale.

Become a consultant in social media

Business firms or large corporations often hire full fledged staff coordinator to operate their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram account. But small businesses need to manage their marketing in social media portals.

However, this is an overwhelming task for the small business owners since they need to be preoccupied with all the aspects of enterprises. You may avail this opportunity and become a consultant for these in social media. Make sure not to charge too much for this. Of course we don’t ask you to do this as a social service at free of cost. But if you charge less price for being a consultant, chances are that these small companies will appoint you.

Try these innovative and creative online business ideas and start earning money in no time. …

For the fresh entrepreneurs, drop shipping is a prominent business model. This is because the internet marketing skills is far outweighing the capacity of financial matters. It is possible to begin a drop shipping business with limited funds since you don’t have to handle or stock the items you are going to sell. An ecommerce website functioning on a drop shipping model buys the products from a third-party supplier or the producer who when fills an order for the item. This frees up your time to concentrate on every effort on the acquisition of customer and it also cuts the cost of operations. It is crucial to follow some steps if you are thinking to start a business. It is required to put lots of hard work to start a drop shipping business and doesn’t need startup up fund much to launch this business.

The steps to consider starting a drop shipping business

It is important to consider some steps before starting a drop shipping business.

Performing competitive research:

It is essential to keep in mind that you will be competing with other drop shipping organizations and also retail giant companies. It is the place where many numbers of drop shippers think wrong as they keep searching for the item which is small to no competition at all. It becomes the indication that such item doesn’t have any demand.

There are various purposes why the item doesn’t have any competition. It could be due to issues of supplier and manufacture, high shipping costs, or even poor profit margins. Let’s look for the item which has competition as this is an indication that business design is sustainable and there is a high demand.

Choose a niche:

When you choose your niche, it needs to be focused on laser and which is something that you are actually interested in. An item which isn’t concentrated is complicated to the market. If you don’t choose the niche, it seems that you will be more opt in turning discouraged. It requires too much of work to scale of drop shipping business. Some points you need to consider while choosing your niche. Another strategy to remember is to do proper competitor research. Lets say you are considering a dating niche. You will want to perform some searches related to that topic and analyze competitors sites. When researching competitors to gain a stronger understanding of what works for a particular niche you have to understand that different types of businesses, products, and services are in that niche. For example, if you are considering the adult niche, you will be in competition with everything from porn sites to adult dating and free sex hookup sites. These sites might be capturing a lot of the targeted traffic for that particular niche so it is always important to keep users and potential customers intentions in mind when honing in on a particular niche.

  • Low shipping costs

Low shipping costs is an important aspect. Although your manufacturer or supplier will handle the shipping, if the price is high then it acts as a repellent of customer. Always look for a low shipping cost because it offers you the choice to give free shipping to the users. Also, you can take that price as an expense of business for attracting more sales.

  • Seek attractive profits

Seeking the profits which are attractive is important. Your concentration is on customer acquisition and marketing when you are running a drop shipping design. Thus, the work amount needed to sell a twenty dollars product is same as it would sell a product of 1500 dollars. Choose the niche with the high-priced items.

  • Attract Customers
  1. Ensure that your item appeals or attracts for impulsing the purchasers with the income which can be disposable.
  2. Ensure that the individuals are searching for your item in an active manner.
  3. Make sure to produce your own brand. Your drop shipping businesses possess more value if you can rebrand whatever items you are selling or creating your own brand. Let’s look for the item which can be sold as your own brand with branding and custom packaging.
  4. Select anything which your user cannot be able to find in the market. This way you seem to attract the potential customer.

Securing a supplier:

Your business can be ruined if you partner with a wrong supplier. Make sure to perform correct diligence. Try to pick the suppliers with whom communication is secured and important in terms of ability and speed to understand each other in a good way. You can find many sources on the web about how to secure a supplier.

Constructing your ecommerce website:

Utilize a simple platform of ecommerce for launching a website which supports the drop shipping model business. You don’t need to have a background of technology to get up and run. You can just have many apps to help enhance your sales. Even though you posses a budget which is sizeable which would enable you to hire the web developer or designer can produce a custom solution. It is better to utilize one of the plays and plug options. Once it is started and income is coming then you can explore extra customization of website.

Optimizing and analyzing:

For growing your business, you need to track all the information and available metrics. This involves acquisition of Google and Facebook conversation. When you are capable in detecting the each and every single conversion for understanding from where the user came from and what way they are on a website which led to a sale. It allows in scaling what works and removing what doesn’t required. You have to test the fresh opportunities and fine campaigns which enable you to optimize.

Create a plan of customer acquisition:

Consisting of a great website and the item is best thing but without the users looking to purchase then it means you don’t have a business. You can have various options attracting potential users but one way is starting an ad campaign of Facebook.

This enables you in generating the revenue and sales right from the beginning which can contribute to scaling in a quick way. Facebook enables you in placing the offer directly in front of the targeted audience in a highly manner. This offers you the capability to rival with the largest retailers and brands. You also need to think about the email marketing and search engine optimization. You need to gather the emails from the beginning and put up automated sequences of email which offer special offers and discounts. It is a simple manner to leverage your base of existing user and generate the income without spending extra money for marketing and advertising.

Thus, these are few things to consider before starting a drop shipping business. …

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