Is an Ecommerce Consultant the Right Type of Person to Discuss Ecommerce Goals and Strategy With?

I have many design ideas for my products but can I discuss them with an Ecommerce Consultant? I need to discuss with someone on how to market my products, how to have security on my website so competitors do not steal my information and so my customers' information is safe as well. I also need to know if this is the right time to sell my design or am I too late (my design has to do with a particular TV show which might soon be coming to an end). Also, I need to know all my copyright rules and make sure my product design does not break any laws or rules. Would an Ecommerce Consultant be my best option for this? Any other suggestions?

 

Thank You! Is my best bet to just google search my city's government funded groups of business mentors and locate the nearest ones?

 

Sounds like you may need a copyright lawyer as well. But I agree with Brillance471 you could start with a free government program such as SCORE. Once you figure out the copyright stuff you can then think about how to market it afterwards.

 

Another option is to talk to fellow webstore owners or ecommerce web development companies. They've been through this and will give you some insights. Where are you located?

 

The problem with the term ecommerce consultant in general, is that it's ambiguous and would likely be very difficult to vet. You can pay hundreds of dollars per hour for useless or outdated or biased information. Often posting more targeted questions in a forum such as this one will lead better results, especially for basic information. I will say finding a good marketing company is probably going to be the most difficult part. I've been running sites for more than 15 years and even with that knowledge, it's hard for me to make specific recommendations to someone who isn't very capable of marketing themselves, it's just so easy to spend an unlimited amount of money with no returns.

But with the description you provided you almost certainly need someone who can help immediately because you're dealing with a time sensitive issue.

So, just in the sense of hopefully providing some direction, here's my suggestions from a rough task list.

First, I would address the copyright concerns. This is one area where it may be worth it to consult with a trademark/copyright attorney. If you can't figure out how to sell and market your products without getting sued, it's really a non-starter.

Next, find a platform or shopping cart to sell your product on. Since you're referencing a relation to a TV show, I would want out of the box integration with facebook, instagram, youtube, and other social media platforms. By using an existing solution, you have a tested and secure platform usually with a good administrative system, and you should have access to secure payment methods, API's with gateways and processors, and likely paypal out of the box. You won't have to worry as much about security as you won't be storing card information, it's handled entirely with paypal or the payment gateway. You may need to get a pre-built or a custom design for your store, but that's typically the easy part after you figure out how you are going to sell.

Finally, and probably the most important, I would address the marketing plan. This could conceivably be done before anything, as it's likely make or break if you cannot find a reliable and effective way to get your products in front of other people. Again, starting from scratch, you probably want to use a company who specializes in social media, PPC, and other forms of online marketing. Some will actually work for a percentage of sale, others want a monthly retainer. The difference in quality and price between marketing companies can be substantial. Some will work with you quite a bit, so will want to handle everything themselves. In any case, you need to keep them on a really short leash. Online marketers and firms IMO tend to need to be heavily managed, otherwise the accountability and results decline.

If you can learn and start taking over marketing yourself, even if it's just some of it, I would highly recommend looking at that path as well. There's many resources online devoted to PPC and social media marketing, it's something you can learn, and learn to be very good at, if you have the time.