In the first quarter of 2007, e-commerce sales were $31.5 billion, up 18.4% over the first quarter of 2006. Are you positioned to take advantage of all possible online sales opportunities?

To grow your online business and maximize your opportunities beyond eBay, Amazon.com, and Overstock.com, you’ll need to develop your own strategy to generate interest in your products. This requires establishing a home base, your own e-commerce store. From this online store, you have the opportunity to grow your business over a multitude of e-commerce channels based on your unique ROI terms. Plus, it provides the ability to strengthen your brand while eliminating insertion fees, final value fees and commissions paid to online marketplaces.

Drive traffic and potential buyers to your website by using the same strategies the largest online marketplaces use to attract millions of buyers to their sites. First, optimize your e-commerce store for natural search. Next, get your products listed on comparison shopping engines. Then develop paid search campaigns.

Keep customers returning to your e-commerce store. Once a buyer has found you and purchased from your store, be creative with your strategy to generate repeat buyers. Use techniques that naturally draw the buyer back to your site again and again. Send periodic newsletters to remind customers when new or discounted merchandise is available. Start a blog and establish yourself as an expert in your product category.  If your products are complex, develop “How-To” content to enhance your conversion rates. If your products can be tied to emotional times in buyers’ lives, use this opportunity to create a whole community of buyers.

At the heart of your growing online business is your store presence.