Off site shopping

what's the best option

[hasbeen]

My wife is interested in doing some work from home (finally!). She is interested in selling children's books via a quasi MLM firm. She can take the business online (this is where I come in) but the only problem is, whereas the front end can be built by me, the shopping has to be done from the company's central store. Therefore all shopping will need to be redirected away from our Domain to the company's (a prospect I'm not too thrilled with). Apart from building a front end that resembles the store's, what are my options as far as SEO, making the buyer as comforatble as possible with the transition, etc.?

Let me add that the redirects will be heavily laden with session, user and product ID's. Therefore a ton of ? and @ symbols...

[tilt]

This sounds analogous to a user being sent to a 3rd party hosted shopping cart. Are you worried that the user will be uncomfortable with the transition? I think users are accustomed to this. You can make the transition between your web site and the company site smoother by having a similare layout. Will the company host or include your graphics? Can you specify font and colors etc? If not, then consider making your front end with a similar layout and look to the company's. I don't think redirects laden with session data will be an issue for you. You will be optimising your front end site, not the company's site.

[hasbeen]

Thanks for allaying some fears. That's what I pretty much had decided to do, just wanted some reassurance. Maybe there's some opportunity with the parent company if I propose they use templates or something to get some variety out there...hmmm

[Marcia]

If the purchasing has to be done at the company's site, there's no choice. Some people I know who do MLM (party supplies, dental stuff, all different kinds) also have to send shoppers to the company to purchase. So then, a remote cart like Mal's or PayPal isn't even necessary.

It can be set up just like you'd set up an affiliate site. You just do flat optimized HTML pages geared to some specifics, with links to the company, just like you'd do if it were a regular shopping cart. They're like a little "mini-site."

I've been talking to some gal who's got an MLM coffee site (no traffic, no sales). She and all the others in that bunch use the same wording as the parent site does, which isn't worth a hill of beans. All it's worth is the inbound link they get as a distrubutor. They sell direct, so they have to buy the kit.

I wanted to know, so I asked her if when they're with that company they can do affiliate programs on their sites. She can - some allow it, some don't. There are only two phrases that can be used, so setting up related affiliate stuff would broaden the possibilities for her. No problem if it's not allowed, it's easy enough to get around that one. I'll probably point her to some gal who heads up a couple of MLM groups for WAHMs.

hasbeen, get her the site done up and then send her off online on her own to do some "relationship marketing" at women's communities. It's fertile ground for picking up a downline for those who learn the ropes.

[hasbeen]

Great tips Marcia and tilt...thanks a ton.

>>which isn't worth a hill of beans

I get that...funny.