So you have this amazing idea of a classifieds website but you’re not sure how to start, what your first step would be and how you would proceed. Trust me, it happens all the time! But there are certain steps that you could take to at least get the feeling that you have everything covered and under control.
In this post I will be reviewing some of what I believe very important steps that should be considered when starting am online classifieds business:
1- Set priorities.
I don’t care if you use a paper and a pen, pieces of Lego with stickers on them or one of the online software solutions available (just like Trello) but you have to write things down and put them in priorities. It is very essential to see all of the things that you have to do right in front of you.
This way you will be able to account for everything and have a plan developing in your mind, and that’s why strategists always have a map in front of them with pieces representing what they have and actions to be taken.
2- Keep financial issues in check
Try to think of how much everything would cost, from web hosting to script price and even accounting for your own time spent on this project. If necessary, you might find a need for an investor and you could assign yourself a salary. But the main point is not to neglect financial issues or you will end up losing money on the long run
3- Know when to hire an expert
We were just talking about financial issues, but let’s face it: We don’t like spending money. Sometimes you might face an issue where you might think that you can do it yourself and that you don’t have to get anyone to do it for you. You could be right about some issues, but sometimes you could end up wasting a large proportion of your time which costs money as well. So, my advice here is to consider hiring an expert whenever you decide to do it yourself and see what difference it makes.
Although, especially in classifieds websites you need to know who to hire, you need someone you can trust, who can deliver and without any surprises when the deadline comes.
4- Talk about your issues
Arrange some meetups with other entrepreneurs or people with similar ideas, talk about your issues with them and listen to theirs. You could be surprised what brilliant inspirations might come from those meetings, and your issues are not solving themselves while you’re sitting at your desk doing nothing.
5- The importance of publicity.
I mentioned something about this at an earlier post, but even if you have the most creative and successful classifieds website idea if no one knows about it then it’s not worth anything. My first advice would be to use your existing network of people you know, social media or e-mail newsletters, but you have to get the word out. The second step would be attracting more users by creating useful content on your classifieds website. Content creation is now the key word and the major trend in online marketing so why not use it? And remember point #3 up there!
I hope those points come useful to you and let me know what you think, leave a comment in the section below and share your experience or feedback on this.
Regards from Kinan and Open Classifieds team
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