How to Start Your Online Bookstore

Finding your carefully researched niche is important for several reasons. With the likes of Amazon and Barnes and Noble as competition, you have to carve out a very specific small piece of the online bookstore pie and serve it with whipping cream. In other words, your bookstore needs to be a focused niche with something those huge sites miss out on - your special, personalized touch.

The Pros of Owning an Online Bookstore

I have chosen affiliate programs as the basis of my bookstore because I don't have to deal with receiving payments, accepting credit cards, processing orders, storing inventory, taking back orders, shipping, and so on and on.

Going to work in a bricks and mortar store would mean putting together the whole package - dress, hair, makeup - with my own online store, I can do what I want, when I want, looking like I want. My store is open 24/7/365 to customers around the world, I never meet cranky people face to face (just sometimes in emails!) and my store is private and always peaceful (no cranky kids!).

How to turn a small affiliate income into a steady trickle? Find a bookstore with a great affiliate program such as the one that's been called "the world's best bookstore".
Faced with a decision between two ideas for how to run my store, I chose option #1. I can simply fill my site with quality, relevant content pages and encourage visitors to click through to the merchant's website to purchase, or I can use a data feed to create a carbon copy of the original store on my website. I still have to write original copy, to make it unique and not be penalized as duplicate content, but I can have a huge site instantly, automatically updated. Visitors then don't need to leave my website to make their purchases.

The Cons of Owning an Online Bookstore

Of course there are always arguments against shopping online; the cons are that bookstores are lovely places to visit. There are book signings, readings, and the joy of finding a few interesting books, taking them to a comfortable chair, and giving them a good look before deciding whether to purchase. And of course, online sites malfunction more often than stores have to unexpectedly close.

Affiliate marketers need to write content that overcome the obstacles potential customers present: their lack of trust, annoyance with difficulties, and reluctance to make that final click.

If your customer knows exactly what they want, no problem, but if they want to "window shop" the process can be painfully slow as they move from page to page. If they like to "scan and let something pop out at them", they can become frustrated at only being able to view what fits on one page at a time.

When it's time to pull out the plastic, they may question the security of ordering with their card online, wonder if they want to pay high shipping costs, and what happens if they need to return an order?

How I Made My Decision

Most of the cons can be compensated for or avoided by careful choosing of affiliate programs. Few online book companies simply offer books. They also offer reviews, contests, coupons, and ways to participate in what feels like a community.

Website design with care taken to make navigation clear and simple can make browsing and comparison shopping easier, and of course stores with great track records, testimonials, and security in place make all the difference when it comes to consumer confidence.

For me, love of my niche combined with love of books convinced me that I'd made a great choice, and success is almost assured as my next love, writing, makes it easy to write book reviews. If this all makes sense to you, then you just might want to try an online bookstore.