Having an eCommerce business can be both challenging and exciting. Seeing your strategies reaping rewards can be so addictive that you want to stay on top of everything and do some of the tasks yourself.
As tempting as that may be, the fact remains that your time as a business owner is much too valuable to be spent writing emails or doing product research. There are definitely more important aspects of your business that require your attention and focus. Plus, these tasks are better off given to people who are considered experts. Since most of these tasks are done online anyway, it makes perfect sense to outsource them to eCommerce freelancers.
To make sure that you’ve got everything covered, we recommend you outsource the following key tasks to not only help you save time but also to take your business to the next level.
Customer Service
Your customers are the life of your business. Make them happy and they will surely come back over and over. Upset them, however, and you’ll not only lose money, but your reputation will also take a hit through bad reviews.
You convert buyers to loyal customers by providing them with timely and helpful support whether they have a presales inquiry or a post-sales complaint. Customer service freelancers are also an extension of your voice. The way they talk and handle customer requests and inquiries reflects your personality as the business owner.
The great thing about outsourcing this task to freelancers is that there are a lot of them you can hire with years of experience as customer service representatives. This gives you the assurance that they are capable of handling any type of customer, especially those who are quite difficult to deal with. It also helps that these freelancers are located all over the world.
Customer service requires attention 24/7, so having them working while you sleep gives you peace of mind, knowing that your customers are being cared for.
Product Sourcing and Listing
Sourcing your next best-seller
Product sourcing is one of the most important aspects of an eCommerce business. Being a part of the selling industry, it’s no question that you should always be on the hunt for your next best-seller. This makes product sourcing a continuous and never-ending process.
The thing about product sourcing is that it takes a lot of time. It requires in-depth research and constant communication with distributors and manufacturers, something you don’t really have the time to do.
We’re just talking about product sourcing here. We haven’t even touched on product listing yet. Listing can be even more time-consuming than research if you want it done right.
The good news is that there are freelancers who specialize in this type of work. These VAs know exactly where and how to look for sellable products, they speak fluent English and sometimes the manufacturer’s language, too, and are capable of handling back and forth discussions with suppliers.
These freelancers are also knowledgeable in some of the leading product search apps which is a huge advantage since you can focus on working with the person to get them familiar with your specific system.
Optimizing your listings
Equally important is hiring a product listing specialist. Your product listing is the initial step in the buying process. It’s how you get people to find you and attract their attention to make a sale.
Each of its elements from the title, the product description, all the way to the images, need to be able to serve their purpose. They need to work together in harmony so people will not only take notice but make a purchase.
Having a well-crafted product listing is crucial for an eCommerce business, but creating a product listing that converts is nowhere near easy. The images you use should be high quality, the title and product descriptions should be catchy and have your keywords in them, and key product features should be highlighted.
These are just some of the elements that a good product listing needs to have. Can you imagine the time it takes to create one and make sure that all the elements are the way they should be?
Store Design and Functionality
People’s attention spans are very short nowadays. When it comes to website navigation, many shoppers will give up if they can’t find what they need or certain features don’t work as expected. You don’t want to risk losing customers because of a malfunctioning shopping cart, do you?
Your website’s design doesn’t have to be riddled with special effects to attract attention. An effective website design is one that’s clean, readable, and allows easy navigation. It definitely requires someone with a certain amount of skills, deep knowledge of web design, and years of experience to achieve.
With a global talent pool at your fingertips, there are more than a handful of freelancers you can hire that fit the description. There are even services that bring you specialized knowledge in eCommerce web design and development to align appearance with functionality.
By connecting with a freelance web developer, you’ll have someone who can readily fix website malfunctions and you only have to pay them for the hours they worked.
Marketing Guru
When you’re in the business of selling, marketing will always be a part of it. You need to have strategies in place to promote your product to the right audience.
While most business owners may have a trick or two up their sleeves, you still need someone with professional expertise when it comes to promoting products and services. You need someone who has a good track record of helping brands grow. Marketing is not just about promoting products and services. It also requires in-depth research and the ability to get into the minds of prospective buyers. What triggers them to buy? How can your list stand out and persuade people to buy from you?
Only someone with a deep understanding of all this can help you build and implement a solid strategy. Passing this task off will also take a huge chunk off your plate so, giving you more time to concentrate on what you do best.
Having an eCommerce business requires plenty of marketing. You need to promote your products and the business itself. What makes the task complicated is the number of channels you have to promote to. Your website, your social media channels, your blog, your newsletter, and Ad campaigns are just some of the channels that require a specialized marketing strategy. You’re better off outsourcing these highly technical responsibilities to a freelancer who is considered a marketing guru.
Advertising and Content
When you have a business that resides online, the primary concern is always traffic. A site can’t thrive without web traffic.
It’s a numbers game. The more people you reach, the more chances you have of gaining followers. The more followers you get, the more chances you have of converting some to loyal followers and eventually, returning customers.
Encouraging website traffic by providing valuable content is one way to increase brand awareness. This can be in the form of blogs, videos, or social media posts. The goal is to draw people to your brand by giving people so much value that they return to your site, looking forward to similarly helpful content until they become loyal followers.
Another way to drive traffic to your business is through paid advertisements. The key to running successful ad campaigns is to be able to target your perfect audience. When it comes to PPC, every click matters, so you need PPC experts to do all the researching, writing, and ad campaign builds that will bring you those high-quality clicks.
The freelance market is full of content creation specialists and PPC experts who can drive traffic to your website with great content and carefully-crafted ad campaigns.
Conclusion
Running an eCommerce business is no walk in the park. It requires a lot of work, time, and dedication to establish a profitable brand.
While you may be familiar with most of the tasks above, you are probably not an expert at all of them, and your time as the business owner is best spent on the ones you do best.
Resist the temptation of doing everything on your own. It often does more harm than good for the business, especially since it means that you can’t focus.
The smarter thing to do is to outsource these tasks to experienced freelancers or the pooled specialists available to help at Shogun. They will help you grow your business by bringing in their valuable skills and taking some of the load off your shoulders.
Connor Gillivan is the CMO and co-owner of FreeeUp.com, a rapidly growing freelance marketplace making hiring online simpler. He has sold over $30 million online, has hired hundreds of freelancers to build his companies, is a published author, and is the owner of ConnorGillivan.com. He currently lives in Denver, CO.
The post The 5 Most Useful Freelancers for E-commerce Businesses appeared first on Shogun Blog.
