Best professional networking sites

With the online retail sales steadily growing, Forrester Research predicts that e-commerce sales in the US will continue to grow at a 10% compound annual growth rate through 2014. For those of you interested in another statistical titbit: business social networking sites are forecasting that online retail sales will hit $250 billion this year, that’s up from $155 billion in 2009. As a budding online entrepreneur, even capturing a small piece of that pie, would be a huge success. How do you break into this market? What steps should you take to and start? And most importantly, how do you do so in a manner that sets you up for success.

It is trading in products or services using computer networks, such as the Internet. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the professional networking sites for at least one part of the transaction's life cycle, although it may also use other technologies such as e-mail.

Plan with the help of business social networking sites:

Before you start thinking about all the tactical stuff you’re going to need to accomplish over the next little while (getting a website, finding products, getting your name out there etc.) Slow down and think strategy for a moment or two. What do you want to sell – you literally have millions of options, and you can’t sell all of them, so narrow your field and look for your own little niche. A good starting point: think about your interests and brainstorm if there’s a target market that can spin out of that

Create a business plan with the help of a professional virtual community:

Next, sit down a write a serious business plan for yourself. It doesn’t need to be a behemoth of an undertaking. Simply set a few realistic goals and take a

good hard look at what you’re trying to accomplish with the help of a professional virtual community. Is it feasible and is it a viable money-

making opportunity? Consider your target market – is it too much for a small start up to tackle? If so, focus your efforts on a smaller and more manageable niche and then work on growing it out once you’ve reached profitability. Is it

too small to reach and sustain adequate levels of profitability over time? If the answer is yes, look to expand your product offering so it meets the needs of a larger market. Or look to sell something else. Then create a road map of all the tasks you need to accomplish and the due dates and milestones you’re

going to attach to each one.

Find suppliers with the help of professional networking sites:

Most online sellers, don’t create their own products from scratch, they locate and resell those products for a profit. You can locate a wholesale supplier who rather than shipping inventory to you, will ship straight to your end customer once an order is placed. This is called a drop ship supplier.