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hi everyone and welcome today's video my
name is Michelle and I'm gonna be going
over seven steps to starting an online
clothing business it's time to just get
out a notebook and jot down every idea
you have think about your target
audience and how old they are and why
they want what you have to sell this is
going to be helpful later when you need
to market to them take some time to also
think about your style are you going for
something more modern vintage or
something completely new think about why
you even want to start a business what
appeals to you most do you like the idea
of marketing sketching the designs or do
you just like the idea of owning a
business try getting together with some
friends of yours you don't have to go
into business with them but they can be
an important part of the planning
process running ideas by them is a
really great way just brainstorm you
could write down ideas on post-it notes
and just have your friends vote on the
best ones let's move on to step number
two
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it's time to do a lot of research so hop
on your computer and go to some of your
favorite clothing websites think about
what draws your eye and the user
experience and what has you coming back
to the same website again and again you
don't have to stay on your computer
though you can go to the local mall and
just shop around see what's popular
think about the materials that are being
used in some of your favorite styles and
also look at pricing this is going to be
really important later when you decide
how to price your items remember that
you want to create something that's
important to you it helps to have an
audience but passion is going to be the
thing that drives you styles are always
changing so you need to ask yourself how
do I prevent my online store from
failing something that I like to do is
bookmark helpful resources to help me
along the way and I'll link some of my
favorites in the video description let's
move on to step three so now that you
know what you want to sell it's time to
think about creating them do you have a
skill like sewing knitting or screen
printing are you going to be the one
who's creating them look into
manufacturing or wholesale suppliers
maybe drop shipping is the best solution
for you think about connections that you
have and collaborate with talented
friends you don't have to have the
biggest inventory to get started the
most important thing is just getting
started let's move on to step four
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it's time to get people excited about
your new business social media is an
obvious first step and it's important to
think back to your target audience and
where they like to hang out Facebook is
a popular choice and depending on where
you end up hosting your online products
you might even be able to connect your
Facebook store to your online store that
way your buyers can purchase from you
without even leaving social media
Instagram is also a really great place
to showcase your products because of the
visual focus get together with some
friends or have models try on your
outfits and take really cool pictures to
post online or you can even do YouTube a
try even better if you have a friend
who's a videographer that can help you
out with the process the most important
thing is just being genuine talking
about your mission and showcasing your
beautiful products but don't stop there
give snapchat Tumblr and Pinterest to
try as well engage with your following
and report any feedback you get in the
process you can also think about paid
advertising Facebook ads and Google
AdWords are a great place to start
content marketing is also a really great
way to get traffic to your store without
spending money on advertising
you just need quality content to drive
traffic to your store and build a
connection with your potential buyers to
make sales consider connecting your
online store to an existing blog that
you have or maybe it's time to create a
brand new blog or vlog channel to
attract subscribers that have an
interest in what you're selling some
blog ideas to be fashion tips how-to
videos or anything else that you think
would be interesting to your target
audience I also want to go over email
marketing it's important to have an
email provider like MailChimp to send
out automated emails to your subscriber
list that way you're not on your
computer all day manually sending out
newsletters to your buyers to acquire
these subscribers you can do this in a
number of ways consider adding a
subscribe button to your online store
website or offering a discount code in
exchange for an email address you can
even allow your customers to opt in to
receive special offers from you via
email a check out moving on to step 5
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it's time to get out another notebook or
a spreadsheet and just start estimating
the cost of starting your business think
about marketing branding inventory
production shipping and how much money
that you need to be making continue to
do research throughout the process to
stay ahead of the curve and subscribe to
helpful resources like founder you four
tips step number six it's important to
choose an e-commerce platform that will
give you the ability to keep track of
your inventory this way you can track
what things are selling out and what
might need to be discounted use the
information you collect to make sure
that you're stocked around the busiest
times like during a big sale or around
the holidays step 7 so now that you've
figured out all the challenging parts to
running an online business it's time to
create it first off you want to make
sure that you register your domain name
so go to a site like GoDaddy before you
get too involved in the branding process
when it comes to bringing your online
store to life
there are so many options you want to
choose an e-commerce platform that would
be simple scalable and have all the
features that you need to be successful
if you have a blog see if there's a way
to connect by now buttons and widgets to
your existing blog to keep things simple
sales calm has all the features you
could possibly need a drag-and-drop
store builder event and cart emails
customer management and the ability to
embed your products on an existing
website like WordPress or Squarespace be
sure that the e-commerce platform that
you choose has helpful resources and a
good support system here itselves
you don't have to be a professional web
designer to create a beautiful store
sales comm also has 24-hour support a
detailed help center free online
training and a blog for entrepreneurs
like you once you've completed these
seven steps you'll have all of the
important bases covered remember that
success does not happen overnight be
sure to keep coming back to the plan
that you've created and keep the
momentum going
ready to get started sign up for sales
calm for free and create your own online
clothing store good luck and happy
selling
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