5 Ecommerce Ideas Perfect for Tech Writers

Note: This is a guest post written by Tracy Vides

tech writer

What can a tech writer do? What does a technology writer have anything to do with ecommerce?

It turns out that writers in general are all set to make it big on the Internet. There was a time when writers could die of starvation. Today, we’re at a point when businesses will die without content, and therefore, writers. The internet is all about information creation, curation, and consumption. Writers sit right there on the stage that intrigues the world.

Sometimes, you can stay on this path, scale up, and build your writing business. Maybe you could deviate from this path and do something that’s related but not exactly the same. You might have to pivot one thing and launch something else at the same time.

If nothing, the “writing habit” forces you to clarify your goals. It goads you into action. It helps you to communicate better. It assists you with a lot of things that an entrepreneur needs, as Michael Hyatt reveals.

If you can write, you can do anything. You could do miracles with just a technology blog. Keep that running and try your magic on tons of other things. You can do whatever you’d want to since you already have everything going for you.

If you are a technology writer and if you’ve been scratching your head as to how to venture into ecommerce with writing as a skill set, read on for a few ideas:

Your service business is already ecommerce

emtythYou provide technical writing services and you are already in ecommerce. Exchange of cash for services already fits snugly into the definition of ecommerce, and this isn’t new. If you could offer your services for a fee, you’re in business already. You could twist your services by productizing them and you have another stream of income.

Now, this service business is hard to scale. You won’t be selling a million dollars’ worth of services in a single year if you’re a one-man operation. Without clear goals or benchmarks, you risk overworking yourself, going broke, or worst of all, ending up hating your work.

Michael E. Gerber offers a solution for this in his book The E-Myth Revisited: Every “technician” – a person who is skilled at something and enjoys doing it; in this case, a writer – must balance their personalities to also be an entrepreneur and a manager at the same time.

It’s hard to get away from “you” as a technician, but when you do so successfully, you can call it ecommerce. Being this micro business owner is cool too!

Writing is scalable

Ok, you are a technology writer. The point, however, is that you can “write” – be it technology or real estate, fashion or home décor, finance or self-help.

If you choose provide writing services, that’s fine. If you would like to scale up, you’ll have to find other great writers to support you. You’ll need an all-star team. Find writers, train them well, and leverage your service business. It might not grow as fast as a product business does, but it’ll scale nonetheless. Further, service businesses are profitable from the start.

Get this: writing itself makes money. You’ve probably been there already but instead of just providing copywriting services, you can actually do something more. You can create digital products, which puts you on the warpath to scale and grow your business with leverage built right in. For example,

  • Launch a magazine (or a series of magazines for each tech-related niche) to review the flood of new apps, software, and technology tools for businesses.
  • Create a store that sells small reports on specific technology topics.

The business of breaking down complex to simple

Tech writers have two specific gifts: first, they understand technology. Second, they can write about it.

Plug those two together and you have a business idea popping right up here. Think about creating value for an entire legion of readers who don’t understand technology the way you do. Most people are intimidated by technology. Then there are others who love to use gadgets and are eager to dive into software but just don’t know how. Find such groups of people and market to them.

Brett Kelly of NerdGap.com wrote his super-popular Evernote Essentials based on a simple notion. Evernote is a very popular note-taking app but not everyone gets it at first. Brett took it down and made it unsophisticated.

Feel free to port this idea to your niche. Can you break down technology for others who don’t get it?

Build a legacy

All businesses are writing businesses – one way or the other. Eventually, you’ll move on to do something bigger. Move from pure writing to speaking. Host conferences, conduct workshops, write books, and start technology boot camps. When you begin to teach what you know, you’ll create a legacy.

A brand begins to form. Nurture that brand. Build multiple streams of income into each of these endeavors you take up. As a technology writer, you already know how to communicate effectively. Use that to:

  • Start courses online and offline
  • Write books
  • Create podcasts and webinars (audio and video)
  • Host conferences
  • Launch events
  • Conduct workshops

Start a technology business

They say that to start something, you’ve just got to know about that something. You write on something that drives business – technology! Nothing works better to your advantage. You are sitting on opportunities right there!

Thanks to all that passion and geekery welling up within you every day, you can easily create solutions for technical problems. There’s only one thing you have to do: take some action and keep at it. Pick up the gauntlet and hunt.

A mix of tech knowledge, a bit of familiarity with code, and widely available ecommerce capability will help you stir your secret sauce. Once you have a workable business plan for launching a digital business, the strategy, logistics, operations, team, and everything else will fall into place.

Patch together a machine, host a site, create an app. It’s time to disrupt.

Ecommerce ideas are everywhere. Initiative is all that’s standing between a fully functional storefront and you. Use the skills you are already blessed with to make things happen for you. Launch a business. Sell your services. Deal with technology products. Teach others.

Go work miracles every day.

Note: This guest post was written by Tracy Vides. Tracy is a content strategist and serial blogger who writes about everything under the sun, including finance, tech, fashion, and chocolates! Hit her up on Google+ for a chat. She’s @TracyVides on Twitter.

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