How to Open an Online Store for Free

Creating an Estore has never been easier. With Zlio you can create a store for free and have it fully stocked within minutes. There’s no need for inventory, all of the products you sell are linked to merchant sites such as Buy.com, The Apple Store, and even Sony. When a customer clicks on a link in your store, it automatically redirects them to the merchant’s site where they can purchase the item.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Computer
• Internet Access
• Some Free Time

1. Follow the link (under resources) to be taken the website
2. Click on “create my store” button in the top right corner. Fill in the required information and click register. A validation email will be sent to you in a 1 -10 minutes. Once you verify your account you are ready to create your first store. Before you do though make sure to complete your profile and fill in your payment information in the report panel section.
3. Research is key when determining what items to sell is your Zlio store. Try to find Niche Markets if possible and offer items that are in high demand from customers but in low supply. For example: there are hundreds of computer stores on Zlio.com but only a few gardening, tool, and comic book stores.
4. Probably the most important aspect, brainstorming is vital to the success of your eStore. Use your imagination and try to think of ideas about what you want to sell. Try to specialize your inventory to one category to target a specific audience. Come up with a catchy store/domain name to use, for example the name of my sunglass Zlio store is http://wwwStyliciousSunglasses.zlio.net. Create a tagline as well as a description that describes your store, keep it short and simple. Pick a suitable template that compliments your store. Zlio even allows you to implement your own CSS code to further customize your eStore.
5. From your report panel, select the “Create a Store” button. Zlio allows you to create up to 20 different stores, all with inventories of up to 1000 items.
6. Once you’ve chosen what you want to sell, categorize your items by brand, name, genre, etc from your store products panel. Next, add inventory to each of your categories. Zlio allows you to search their database and easily select which items you wish to sell. Explore the products catalog to find specialty items that may be popular.
7. Zlio allows you to incorporate “store modules” which help to promote your store, track visitors and even optimize traffic. Update your inventory regularly to stay up to date with the newest products. Zlio also provides a custom domain name service. Purchase your own domain for as low as $20 dollars.
8. Sign up for Google Adsense, a program which allows you to place targeted ads on your site through Google. It pays you on a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) basis which means every time someone clicks on an ad on your site you earn a referral commission. This is how a majority of Zlio store owners earn a profit.
9. Promoting your Zlio Store and generating traffic is probably the most time consuming portion of creating a store. There are a few simple way to get the word about a site here are a few of the simplest ways. (1) Submit your URL to the Google and Yahoo indexes (2) Sign up for Google Adwords, it does cost a little but it guarantees traffic to your site (3) Submit your site to as many directories as you possible can (4) Use chat rooms, message boards, MySpace, Facebook, and classified ad sites (5) Start a blog and write reviews and submit them to Digg.com
10. Don’t stop with just one store; create up to 20 to maximize your income.