Sales Tax Permit – Online Business

A Sales Tax Permit is also one of the important items in the formation of your online business and getting legal. This is issued by the state where you reside and allows you to collect taxes on the sale of merchandise within your state.

It’s what most wholesalers will require in order to set up an account. Obviously, that’s going to be a critical step in the process so you won’t be able to skip this one. In fact, if a wholesaler doesn’t ask for your sales tax permit number, that’s a big ol’ red flag.

Legitimate wholesalers don’t want to be held liable for paying tax on their inventory. That’s your job. Having your sales tax permit is a bit of CYA for the wholesaler. If they don’t ask for it, you may be dealing with a middleman who is charging you a premium to access the wholesaler’s inventory. Steer clear of any wholesaler or manufacturer who suggests they don’t need the sales tax permit.

Nothing special about obtaining a sales tax permit provided you’ve filed the certificate for your business structure. Sole proprietorships will need their social security number. Partnerships, LLCs and Corporations will need their federal EIN (Employee Identification Number).

You will also need the following handy depending on in what state you’re filing:

A North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) number:

Don’t let this throw you for a loop; you just need to determine what NAICS number applies to your business type.

It’s a Census Bureau thing. You can look up a NAICS number at http://www.census.gov by doing a keyword search. For example, the keyword “bicycle” gave me 16 different potential classifications including everything from bike part manufacturers to bicycle courier.

Each business classification has a six digit number associated to it. Drill down to the right definition for your business and jot down the number.

If you’re a partnership, LLC or corporation then you’ll need the social security numbers for each partner or corporate officer.

Depending on the state, you may be able to scan and email, fax or complete the process online.

If you’ve heeded my advice and selected a general name for your business, you will likely need to file a DBA (doing business as) to legally operating your website. This is a very simple process that most states allow you to file online. We operate our business as an LLC that consists of multiple e-commerce sites. We file a DBA for each website. In some states, such as Texas, a DBA is referred to as an Assumed Name Certificate. It might also be referred to as a “fictitious business name” or a “trade name.” It’s all the same thing.

Regardless of your state’s terminology, I recommend you file the appropriate form required by your state of residence.

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4 Key Marketing Strategies When Setting Up An Internet Business

The success of your online business will, in the end, be a result of your ability to get customers. You will not have a business if you do not have any customers and to get customers you need marketing. A business without any marketing is going struggle to survive. Marketing is not just about placing some advertising space when you set up a website business. Advertising is just one element of the marketing mix.

A Marketing Plan For Setting Up An Online Business.

Some people think that marketing and advertising is the same thing. As mentioned above, advertising is an element of marketing whether you’re setting up an online business or working on an established business. Advertising is a more passive activity and marketing is more active. When you place an ad it sits there and does its job, but marketing is about getting people to see those ads and everything else you do to promote your business.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

An important online marketing technique when setting up a web business is search engine optimization or SEO. This is the technique that search engines, such as Google, look for keywords within your website to deliver search results. Keywords are the words and phrases that somebody types into a search engine when they are looking for something on the internet. SEO takes time to set up, but it also needs to be kept up to date on a regular basis. Search engines like fresh and relevant content, and when you’re setting up an online business you’ll have lots of new ideas and content that you can add to your website. Just remember to keep adding new content to your website on a regular basis.

2. Building a List of Customers.

The process of building an opt-in mailing list is a vital element of your marketing strategy when setting up an online business. This means getting people to provide you with their email address so that you can market to them when ever you want. In exchange for an email address you need to give something of value. This includes things like like special offers, exclusive information, free reports or free online videos.

3. Email Marketing.

People need to see your message anything between 7 to 12 times before they will take action. Effective email marketing is very important when setting up an online business simply because it enables you to develop a relationship with the individuals on your list. Every message you send should have value. Irrespective of whether you are delivering information or selling one of your products or services, it has to be of benefit to the person reading it. his way they recognize the value that you are sending to them and be more inclined to purchase from you.

4. A Well Designed Website.

A well designed website allows you to compete on an even playing field as your website visitors do not know if they’re dealing with a multi-national company or a one-person operation. When you’re setting up an online business, your website does not have to be all flashy and high tech. As long as you clearly show the benefits of your products and services and the website is easy to use you are off to good start. Keep your website navigation simple and make sure that it can be viewed correctly in the popular internet browsers like Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari and Firefox.